Flying car has its first flight March 31, 2009

The Jetsons come to life! I love when science fiction, and Saturday morning cartoons for that matter, inspire science and engineering.

Terrafugia has had the first successful flight, albeit for 33 seconds, of a flying car.

I kid you not. It’s the same concept as the approach shoe in rock climbing; the company said the goal of developing this car was to create a vehicle that could drive a passenger to the airport, take off, land, and then drive them to their destination.

Despite the trouble we all have driving on pre-determined grids in essentially only two dimensions, making three dimensions even more scary, this is a pretty cool development.

Robot Supermodel March 30, 2009

A new model is on the scene, and she doesn’t eat anything. And that’s okay.

A company is Japan has designed a robot supermodel. Her body is still a little metallic, making her look like she’s out of a science fiction film, but she has got swagger.

Check out the video of her modeling moves here.

rainbow fossil for sale March 27, 2009

A fossilized ammonite from Alberta will soon go onto the auction block at Christie’s, for $68,000. What’s so special about it? It’s rainbow-tinted. Completely 100% natural.

The rainbow effect occured when the shell substance turned into a mineral called aragonite.

“The conditions that produce this phenomena have only been found in the Bearpaw formation in Southern Alberta (Canada).”

The one pictured is actually smaller than the biggest one going up for bid on April 7th, with the larger expected to fetch well over $100k.

It’s like the ultimate mother-of-pearl. What’s amazing is nobody made this, it’s just that pretty due to natural causes.

Music helps stroke victims March 26, 2009

I’ve been reading about this really interesting study about how, by listening to his favorite music, a stroke victim can recover much more easily than when he was doing therapy without the music. What’s odd is that it actually helped repair eye-brain connections.

“In a prominent paper published last year in Brain, Finnish researchers measured the cognitive recoveries of 60 stroke victims who listened to music, audio books or nothing at all while undergoing standard therapy. Patients in the music group fared best…”

From the Discover Magazine article:

“Says lead researcher David Soto: “One of the patients chose Kenny Rogers, another Frank Sinatra and the third a country rock band. It’s not a particular kind of music that’s important, as long as the patient enjoys it” [Daily Mail].”

I can imagine it now: people of my generation in their senior years carrying burned CDs of Cake and Weezer with “Play in Case of Stroke” written on them.

Pretty planet maps March 25, 2009

And you thought those science maps were cool!

As featured in Wired Science a couple of years ago, these very modern-art looking maps are actually maps of many of the different planets and their moons in our solar system. They were a series created by the U.S. Geological Survey and NASA between 1971 and 1998.

dark side of the moon

 The colors correlate to geological materials and phenomena, and WOW do some of these moons and planets have a lot of geological phenomena.  

The maps themselves a little tricky to navigate to, even with the links provided in the article, (NASA/USGS Maps: Moon, Mercury, Mars, Venus and the Jovian moons Io, Ganymede and Callisto), but they are really gorgeous and worth the adventure through cyberspace to find these maps of planetary bodies in outer space (or more appropriately inner space). AND because these are government documents it’s totally legal to download these and use them as computer desktops, or even full-size maps. Now where can I find a giant poster printer?…

Solar tower wins award March 24, 2009

Do you vaguely remember a blog post I wrote several months ago about the True North/Lux Nova tower in Vancouver, BC? It’s a piece of architecture designed by Sarah Hall, and the windows are embedded with solar panels, creating a very cool look.

Well, the AIA (that’s the American Institute of Architects) has given Sarah and her team an award for their design and construction of the Light Tower.

All the attention and interest has also created a niche market for Hall and her gang…hence the Art Generates Amps website constructed to promote this very concept. I’m really surprised this hasn’t taken off more in our “go green” world. It’s too bad these guys are in Toronto (and that I’m broke), or I’d be placing orders left and right.

Medical imaging from days of yore March 23, 2009

Hope you’ve all had your coffee this morning, because we’re starting this week off by jumping right into the deep end.

Wired Science recently featured a post about a series being created of military medical images and illustrations from back in the day, ranging from the Civil War  to Vietnam eras. The collection is being put together by Mike Rhode, an Army archivist. 

Some of the images aren’t so bad — I think the guy with the fig leaf tied around his waist for his “nude” picture is pretty funny, and there are some illustrations of steamboats from the day, which are pretty cool (who doesn’t love boats?) —  but some are pretty icky. I’m not sure what is so attractive to people about the images of deformed bones and peoples legs blown off. Possibly to end all war? Possibly to promote funding for modern medical imaging? For the sheer “yuck” factor?

Rhode’s reasoning: “You pay taxes. These are your pictures. You should be able to see them.”

Fair enough.

 

U.S.A. Hospital Steamer “City of Memphis” (CP 2657).

Physicists hung up on hang’s sound March 20, 2009

I read this pretty interesting article from Physics Today about the hang (pronounced “hung”) a cousin of the steel drum, but made by PANArt in Bern, Switzerland. It’s played flipped over with the convex side of the bowl facing up. The player hits the drum with their hands, making all sorts of interesting sounds. And not just sounds like a steel drum or a xylophone, but sounds that can mimic the long notes of string instruments.

Physicists Andrew Morrison and Tom Rossing got really interested in the hang and how it makes all its different sounds. The article explains what they looked at on the hang and what they found.

“By examining the modes of vibration and the sound intensity fields of the hang, physicists can gain a better understanding of how the instrument produces its distinct sound. Such investigations also advance the science of musical instruments.”

Student stratosphere photography March 19, 2009

Four students from Spain have learned how to take photos from Space on the cheap!

Using a point and shoot digital camera attached to a heavy-duty weather balloon, the students were able to take pictures of the stratosphere and the Earth with enviable quality.

Story from the Daily Mail.

Guitarists’ minds get in sync March 19, 2009

No, not the band N*Sync.

Researchers recently found that when professional guitarists perform a duet together, their minds will actually get on coordinating wavelengths.

Read on…