Fun Science :  The Moon!  (How'd it get there, Bill?!)

Chearlieissocoollike Talks about the moon in this weeks Fun Science Video. Check it out :)
Cheers to science and geeks with cameras.
-D-
 

Tech insight of the day:

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Many people wonder how technology evolves. How is it that one day something is one way, and it seems to spontaneously leap to something so radically different the next day. Well I'd like to point out that the world doesn't often have leaps and bounds in technology, and things are actually a lot slower, and more similar, than we imagine. 
Take the CF Lightbulb for example. We can't find anything but in today's stores. To achieve the luminosity these bulbs are designed for, we see on the inside are two itty bitty  incandescent light bulbs. So at the heart of this newt tech is yesterday's ingenuity.

Cheers to technology and the relics and stamps of the past left on every modern thing we touch...
-D- 

 

All hail our computer overlords!

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Watson's performance on Jeopardy makes waves in the computer-tech world. The system performed incredibly well with only minor slip-ups. Watson did indeed beat his human competitors in round one of the three scheduled. 
The computer system has been a project that has had input from all over the world but some of it's origins can even be traced back to Ottawa, Ontario. If you missed the original article describing Watson, click here --> IBMWatson on Jeopardy TONIGHT!.
There are still two rounds to go before we know for sure if Watson will mop the floor with human minds, but one thing is for sure... Computer science and artificial intelligence will never be the same again!

Cheers to quantum leaps forward in tech!
-D-
 

Geekgasm! IBM takes on Jeopardy in a whole new day

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IBMWatson
It's a fresh test of a brand new kind of computing. Computer giant IBM has developed possibly one of the most amazing computers on Earth! No it's not going to be put in a satellite to orbit the planet, nor will it be in a robot of any kind; it's a Jeopardy contestant!
So that doesn't sound like the most awesome computer ever, but I swear it is. This computer will practice many interesting functions from voice recognition to remembering order and board structure, to decision making and best of all scanning a logical database for answers, or questions rather, for Trebek's approval. 

The show is set to air tonight, so be sure to catch Watson in all his glory. If you, however, are still not convinced this isn't just a way for IBM to show off... consider this next video a demonstration in what Watson means for all of our futures.

Can a computer "learn", can they be trained to analyse and answer questions from data sources? Imagine the functionality of a Watcon-esque Google search capable of scanning millions of data sets to find you just what you asked... and it goes so far beyond this; from medical applications to business analysis to social interactions. IBM reasserts their dominance on the market of ideas by computer human codes and "reading" our existence.

Cheers to analytics technology and the future of computer science!
-D-
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It took 10 years to complete, cost over $271 Million and is buried under the South-Pole. It's the IceCube Neutrino Observatory and it's a telescope longer than the World's tallest skyscrapers stacked one on another. (Total length is over 1.4kms!)

The construction of this massive project wrapped up last week making it the World's largest neutrino observatory.

The IceCube observatory is operated by the University of Wisconsin-Madison joint with the National Science Foundation, with funding provided by the United States, Belgium, Germany, and Sweden. The Barbados, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, Switzerland and the UK are also contributing help in the form of researchers.

The ultimate goal is to find extremely high energy neutrinos—tiny subatomic particles—originating from supernova explosions, gamma-ray bursts and black holes (with an emphasis on expanding humankind's knowledge of Dark-Matter).


The projects principal investigator, Francis Halzen, stated optimistically:

Since the 1970s we have dreamed of building a detector of this size, and we have spent 20 years working toward IceCube [...] If the science to come brings half the excitement of completing this instrument, we have a bright future ahead. With the completion of IceCube, we are on our way to reaching a level of sensitivity that may allow us to see neutrinos from sources beyond the sun.


During the project, researchers have posted a great blog titled IceCube which you can check out here!

Cheers to the unimaginable immensity of human endeavors; We are only limited by our imagination...and our $271 million dollar budgets!


-D-


 
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Image sourced from http://www.pantherkut.com
It's been four long years, but we finally have an answer. For so long we've pondered the mysterious and illusive ways that cats drink. The conclusions we've found along the way are just simple astonishing!
1. Cats don't use straws... no matter how hard you try!
2. Cats don't like fizzy drinks... gives them gas...
3. Cats have very expensive taste in wine... must be the refined sense of smell
4. There is no #4.
5. I'm just making this rubbish up, let's get back to the real science.


So this is an actual thing, researchers have actually been studying the way cats drink for four years and have released their findings in science journals. It turns out cats all drink the same way. Whether it be a tiny house-cat or a lion, they all employ the same tricks to lap up liquids. The method, sticking a barbed tongue into the liquid and quickly removing it to form a column of liquid that they clamp their mouth shut on before swallowing the fluid. Some cats have even developed the ability to curl their tongues into a ladle like shape to scoop the water into their mouths. Sound a bit weird? Well watch it in slow-mo for yourself: 


 
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We here at Memento Mori have spent an arduous amount of time researching the contents of the internet. We've spent hours gathering stats on what you people like and what sorts of things keep people coming back, day after day, to the net...

From the data we've gathered, we have determined without a doubt that... you people are sick! Oh my! The stuff you like is disgusting and wrong, very wrong!


The only thing we found that wasn't perverse, gross, or borderline illegal was cats! How you guys love your cats! Whether they are doing funny things, speaking with poor grammar, or relentlessly chasing cheezeburgers... you guys have made it loud and clear! Bring on the Caturday!


 
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Ever wondered what it would be like to lose a limb? Ever wondered what it would be like to have tentacles (Message to anyone living downstream from Pickering Ontario: What's it like to have tentacles?...And if you don't get that...investiGoogle it; I'm not going to pick on Chernobyl, they've been through enough)


Well designer Kaylene Kau, graduate (BFA) of the University of Washington's school of Industrial Design, thought that the tentacle would be an outstanding replacement for the human limb. Ideally replacement limbs and prosthetics serve much the same purpose as the missing parts. Often hands are replaced with static hooks and claws, arms are jointed but just... sometimes robotic and animatronic limbs are simply replicas of the absent member. Kaylene thought slightly outside the box and decided that she would design a limb that, instead of replicating human motion, would exceed the capabilities of our structures.


 
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Tonbridge, Kent, United Kingdom Specimen: WeevilTechnique: Episcopic illumination


No one will be taken aback by the fact that WhiskyGuyD is a photo-nut. Photography on all scales amazes him, so it's no shock that this next post is about photographic marvels!

Every year BioScapes holds an international digital imaging competition and this years winners are simply incredible. My absolute favorite is this photograph of a weevil by Me. Laurie Knight of Kent in the UK. Taken with episcopic illumination, this photograph is beyond macro!