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Futurology #121
Monday, 30 November 2009
Unidentified Crashing Object: I's possible another galaxy is currently crashing into the Milky Way. The UCO colliding with our galaxy is a cloud of hydrogen discovered last year called Smith's Cloud. Matthew Nichols and Joss Bland-Hawthorn of the University of Sydney have calculated that Smith's Cloud may, in fact, be up to 100 times larger than originally estimated.
But apparently it's nothing to worry about.
[Comment: In a galaxy far away ...]
The claim comes from Dr Mark Cregan, medical director at Swiss healthcare company Medela, who admits that it's based on "very preliminary evidence." There is more at IO9.
[Comment: shouldn't this always have been obvious?]
Do computer habits change brains? Melanie DG Kaplan on SmartPlanet describes how her habits are changing from using computers a lot.
Web surfing has also been cited as a brain-changing agent (for the better).
[Comment: the times I've typed a phone number on my keyboard, picked the phone up and wondered why it's not ringing ...]
How geeks measure the world: In 1958, the MIT chapter of the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity used pledge Oliver R Smoot to measure the Harvard Bridge in Massachusetts, coining the 'smoot' as a unit of measurement in the process — one smoot equalling 5 feet, 7 inches. Smoot (the man) lay down on the bridge, his position was marked, and he moved on (or was moved on — eventually, he was so tired from the movement that his frat brothers carried him). The bridge was established as being 364.4 smoots, plus or minus an ear, in length.
Appropriately, Smoot would later become chairman of the American National Standards Institute. Wired has 10 other way geeks measure the world on GeekDad.
[Comment: what are 'doodads' then?]
Fleets of aqua-robots: The Scripps Institution of Oceanography is preparing to roll out hundreds of small, seafaring robotic explorers.
The San Diego-based Scripps Institution recently got funding from the National Science Foundation to build and deploy legions of "autonomous underwater explorers," or AUEs. In the design given on the Scripps website, these devices look like small weather balloons with boom-box antennae rising from the top. The largest models would be about the size of soccer balls.
[Comment: with tartare sauce, do you think?]
Photographer documents climate change: Photographer James Balog is known for his death-defying trips to Iceland, Greenland and Alaska, where he's documented the melting icecaps using photos and time-lapse images.
Balog was just written up in the Wall Street Journal for his Extreme Ice Survey, which involves a mix of mountaineering and nature photography to capture the effects of global warming. Balog explained the process to IO9.
[Comment: what, the climate is changing?]
3D models of early hominids: For decades, paleoartists have told the story of human evolution through sculpture and drawing. But their tools have evolved, too.
Computers allow a level of detail and control that isn’t possible with other media. Their creations can come closer than ever to bringing our ancestors to life. Wired showcases Victor Deak's 3D modeling (that's an example pictured above).
[Comment: is it just me or is that Captain Picard?]
[Comment: is it just me or is that Captain Picard?]
