Play-I - Toy Robots Teach Children To Program

I'm always looking for interesting toys that promote children's education. Here's nifty new one that incorporates logic, experimentation, programming and play. The two toys, Bo and Yana, are designed to teach different lessons, but can also work together and teach programming skills using music, annimation and stories. They are available for pre-order HERE.

Here's a video from the developers.

A Cow Cologne That Can Prevent Malaria

Moo

Pretty much everyone hates mosquitoes. The itching bites are bad enough, but the diseases that they carry infect hundreds of millions and kill millions of people every year.

A California company, ISCA Technologies, may have a solution. They are developing a human scented "cologne" for cows. The idea is to draw the mosquitoes to cows instead of people. This would be sprayed on the cows and would make them smell like humans for up to a couple of months. If also treated with insecticide, the mosquito dies.

If you want to read more here's a link to the Smithsonian.com article.

Cultivating The Perfect Pepper

Fun Time! LEGO Han Solo vs. General Grievous!

And the truth about Ewoks...

The Work Of National Geographic Photographer Cory Richards

The Last Living Navajo Code Talker Has Died

Chester Nez was one of 29 of the original Code Talkers recruited by the Marine Corp during the Second World War to develop an unbreakable code using Navajo. The Corp had decided that the characteristics of the Navajo language were almost impossible for a non-Navajo to learn.

As a child he was forced to attend a boarding school that punished him for speaking his native language. Perhaps war in the Pacific would have gone differently had Nez's teachers been successful in obliterating his language.

He died peacefully at his home Wednesday. He was 93.

Travel Photo of the Week

The Shenandoah Valley from the Skyline Drive

Bricksy = Lego Banksy

Because.

Trash Amps

The Trash Amps website proclaims "ridiculously loud portable speakers" and "amazing sound from simple earth-friendly materials". What I see is another group of young people producing a great sounding, tiny guitar amp (also useful for your MP3 player) from the bare minimum of parts.

They are currently offering two kits for you maker types (mason jar amp and wooden box amp) and a finished mason jar amp.

Juggling with Light