Happy Halloween! This Way Up!

This Way Up from Nexus on Vimeo.

Halloween Post #3 - Everything Will Kill You

Halloween Post #2 - Travel Photo of the Week

Transylvania

Halloween Post #1 - Severed Hand Prank

High Speed Evolution

The next time someone around you casts doubt on the work of Darwin, you can now offer the humble green anole and this article from the University of Texas Austin as proof of the theory of evolution.

Here's an excerpt from the article...

"After contact with the invasive species, the native lizards began perching higher in trees, and, generation after generation, their feet evolved to become better at gripping the thinner, smoother branches found higher up.

"The change occurred at an astonishing pace: Within a few months, native lizards had begun shifting to higher perches, and over the course of 15 years and 20 generations, their toe pads had become larger, with more sticky scales on their feet."

It's just another boot to the head of the anti-science rabble

The Tiny House Movement Is Growing

Here's an excerpt from an article on Lloyd Kahn's Shelter Blog site.....

"As a result of the bursting of the housing bubble, subprime mortgage crisis, world recession and growing concern about our national and personal debts, America is downsizing its houses, cars and lifestyles."

Fun Time! LEGO Electronica!

Play House from Alex Allmont

Trailer For Animated Short Film "Tant De Forets"

Tant de Forets from Acme Filmworks.

Are Tiny Houses a Viable Solution For Homelessness?

From BillMoyers.com

Travel Photo of the Week

Martinique

Future NASA Contractors Will Be Using 3D Printers

It looks like NASA is taking 3D printing very seriously for building habitable structures. They have awarded a grant to Contour Crafting to pursue further research into their unique process of 3D printing large structures using a paste like material similar to concrete.

If they can figure out how to use materials found in space (asteroids, moons), housing and work space could be available to spacefarers when they reach their destination.

Rotating Glass Sculpture Contains Four ‘Hidden’ Paintings

This is the work of Thomas Medicus. You can see more of this piece on Colossal.

Wind Power Is Cheapest Energy, EU Analysis Finds

There's an interesting article in The Guardian that doesn't seem to be getting much play here in the States. It seems that a study was done on the cheapest way to generate power and guess what wins. Onshore wind farms. Here's a quote from the piece...

"The paper, which was written for the European commission by the Ecofys consultancy, suggests that the Conservative party plan of restricting new onshore windfarms will mean blocking out the cheapest source of energy when environmental and health facts are taken into consideration. It has been suggested the Tory plan could be done through a cap on onshore wind turbines’ output, lower subsidies or tighter planning restrictions."

The report says that for every megawatt hour of electricity generated, onshore wind costs roughly $137, compared to gas and coal which can cost up to around $209 and $297 per megawatt hour. Nuclear power, offshore wind and solar energy are all comparably inexpensive generators, at roughly $160 per megawatt hour.

Now, I guess the political battle will heat up as this could mean that traditional energy industries will be seen as less and less cost effective.

Not that it will make any difference to our Congress.

Fun Time! 480 Star Wars Fans Made This Shot-for-Shot Remake Of The Empire Strikes Back!

Schooling The World

If you wanted to change an ancient culture in a generation, how would you do it? You would change the way it educates its children.

New Evidence Lost Civilizations Really Existed

I have often wondered why man has existed on Earth for perhaps a half million years and we've only risen to be a highly technological civilization in the last two hundred.

Here is an interesting article that gives some background on research being done that points to the strong possibility that humans developed high civilization tens of thousands of years ago and it was wiped out, leaving the remainder of humanity the long task of rebuilding.

A few intriguing quotes from the article,,,,,

'"Everything we’ve been taught about the origins of civilization may be wrong. Old stories about Atlantis and other great lost civilizations of prehistory, long dismissed as myths by archaeologists, look set to be proved true.'~ Danny Natawidjaja, PhD, senior geologist with the Research Centre for Geotechnology at the Indonesian Institute of Sciences."

"Since 2011, Dr. Natawidjaja and his team have worked on a geological survey site in Indonesia about 100 miles from the city of Bandung."

"What Natawidjaja discovered at Gunung Padang was astounding. The hill was actually not a natural hill but a 300-ft high step-pyramid. And what’s even more controversial is that the structure was much older than anyone imagined. Natawidjaja radiocarbon dated the terrace structures at around 500 to 1,500 BC, similar to previous estimates. He also used tubular drills to bring up cores of earth and stone from various depths underneath the surface megaliths. As the drills dug deeper, Natawidjaja continued to discover that the columnar basalt structures extended far beneath the surface and yielded much older dates. At depths of 90 feet and more, the material was found to be 20,000 BC to 22,000 BC years old. Using radiocarbon dating, Natawidjaja and his team proved that man-made megalithic structures and hence a prehistoric human civilization existed well into the Ice Age."

And if you have two and a half hours to spare, here is a video that talks about the man-made structures of the southern coast of Japan, that have been submerged for at least ten-thousand years.

Travel Photo of the Week

Santiago, Chile

Huge Timber Frame Barn Raising In Canada

3D Printed Fungus Foods

This is a whole new take on grow-your-own food! Dutch designer Chloé Rutzerveld has modified a desktop 3D printer to print bite size morsels of food made from multiple ingredients that has living edible plants growing from them.

Her project, called Edible Growth, prints a biscuit that starts with a base created from dried fruits or vegetables, nuts or a gelatinous paste made from algae. The base material is saturated with micro-organisms: varieties of yeast, bacteria, fungi, seeds and sprouts. The yeasts and bacteria are live cultures and alter the base in both flavor and texture and offers probiotic benefits. It whole thing then takes about five days to be ready to eat.

I have no idea why people are trying to use current technology to "synthesize" substitutes for the foods we are already accustomed to, when there is a whole new landscape of choices open to us that emerging technologies can provide.

The result looks very interesting and reports say it tastes pretty good. For more information click HERE.

Mind-Controlled Prosthetics Are Ready For Real Life

For more information click HERE.

Fun Time! The Physics Of Space Battles!

The Strati Is The World's First 3D Printed Car

Microsoft Creates Holodecks

Not exactly, but for the early 21st century, it's close enough.



For more information, click HERE.

Travel Photo of the Week

Marsaxlokk, Malta. Image by Tobias Scheck

Earthships: Self-sustaining Desert Homes

For more information, click HERE.

Beautiful Chemistry

What 3D Printing Is Like When You’ve Never Done It Before

If you're like me and about to embark on a 3D printing adventure (my printer is due to arrive in February), if you're not giddily expecting perfection on your first print, you're contemplating the learning curve and other difficulties you might be facing.

Biz Carson has written an excellent article on the issues you'll face on Gigaom. He goes through four myths about the technology and I'll let you read the article for the details, but his conclusion is that although 3D printing may be the future, it’s just not ready for the average consumer.

I remain unfazed, but then it appears that I have a high tolerance to pain and frustration.

Fun Time! Filmed In Supermarionation!

Adam Savage's Recommendations For A Beginner Toolbox

If you're in a hurry, here's the list.....

• Big Phillips Screwdriver
• Small Phillips Screwdriver
• Big Slotted Screwdriver
• Small Slotted Screwdriver
• Pliers
• Needle-Nose Pliers
• Wiha Jewelers Screwdrivers
• Claw Hammer
• Rubber Mallet
• Adjustable wire strippers
• Wire Cutters
• Soldering Iron
• Corded Hand Drill With Hand-Adjustable Chuck
• 25-Foot Extension Cord
• Set of Drill Bits (aka a Drill Index)
• Hacksaw
• Jigsaw
• Japanese Handsaw aka Ryoba
• Tape Measure
• Awl
• Digital Calipers/Micrometer
• Pop riveter
• Xacto Knife
• Single Edge Razor Blade
• Nail Files
• Adustable Crescent Wrenches
• Socket Set
• Jeweler's Tweezers
• Plier Tip Tweezers
• Eyebrow Tweezers
• Allen Wrenches
• Scissors for Everything Else
• Clip Lead
• Multimeter (w/ Continuity Tester)
• Spring Clamps (aka Grip Clips)
• C Clamps (lots of them in various sizes)
• Electrical Tape
• Duct Tape
• Masking Tape
• Doublestick Carpet Tape
• Foam Doublestick Tape
• Elmer's White Glue
• Contact Cement
• Cyanoacrylate
• WD-40
• 3-in-1 Oil
• Basic Sewing Kit
• Safety Glasses

Optional Tools and Upgrades

• Knipex Snips
• Greenlee Automatic Wire Strippers
• Multitool - Leatherman
• Bench Vise
• Drum Sanding Kit
• Circular saw
• Scissors For Cloth (or die)
• Cyanoacrylate Accelerator (or baking soda)
• Respirator (appropriate for the job)

Return To The Antikythera Shipwreck: Marine Archaeology Goes High-Tech

The Antikythera Mechanism is one of the great mysteries of the ancient world. Discovered in a
shipwreck at the beginning of the 20th century, the over 2000 year old device is a celestial computer. The mystery lies in the fact that devices of its precision and complexity did not appear until the 14th century.

Now the Greek government and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution have mounted a “Return to Antikythera” expedition to see what can be found. The new effort began in September, will continue through the middle of this month and the details can be found HERE.

Travel Photo of the Week

Longboat Key, Florida