Japanese engineering at its . . . well, I’m not sure what you could use this for.
But it still looks pretty cool.
Antikythera: 2000 Year-Old Computer
The Antikythera is an intricate series of wheels and cogs made by the Greeks for astronomical calculations long before they were “supposed” to have these things.
Watermelons and Sex
The next time you want to make sexy time with your woman, consider watermelon instead of Viagra or Cialis:
A cold slice of watermelon has long been a Fourth of July holiday staple. But according to recent studies, the juicy fruit may be better suited for Valentine’s Day. That’s because scientists say watermelon has ingredients that deliver Viagra-like effects to the body’s blood vessels and may even increase libido.
Hot. Imagine the games you can play with the seeds.
Bird balls prevent urban cancer water
LA’s Ivanhoe Reservoir contains millions of gallons of drinking water for LA residents. In the summer, however, problem presents itself: the water can potentially become contaminated with bromate (depending on daily outbound flow rates, one would presume), which is a natural reaction between solar light, chlorine (a treatment chemical) and naturally-occurring bromide.
Seeing how chlorine is a necessary treatment additive and the bromide is a natural element within the water, Ivanhoe officials got creative and decided to keep sunlight away from the water by dropping over 3 million black spheres (called bird balls) into the reservoir. This effectively created an opaque layer atop the water that serves as a solar shield, which eliminates the solar component of the reaction. Problem solved. Yay, right?
Check out a video of the action here.
But allow me to think out loud for a second: Ivanhoe is preventing the formation of a carcinogen by interrupting the photochemical reaction that forms bromate, the threat in question. But is anyone thinking about the potential toxicity of millions of plastic balls leeching into the drinking water supply, especially millions of black balls that take the beating of the LA sun all summer? To me, this seems like you could be trading one problem for another.
A bunch more photos at Curbed.
(via Unfiltered)
mass or zombie takeover. (redundant?)
Tape
Speaking of tape, NPR ran an interesting piece recently:
“One of the nightmare situations that I start to dread more and more is each time I have to move, that sound of the Scotch tape unpeeling from the roll,” he says.
The Brains of Jazz Musicians
Scientists funded by the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) have found that, when jazz musicians are engaged in the highly creative and spontaneous activity known as improvisation, a large region of the brain involved in monitoring one’s performance is shut down, while a small region involved in organizing self-initiated thoughts and behaviors is highly activated.
Time Lapsed Total Lunar Eclipse – February 20, 2008
[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=IVkkCVh5t0E[/youtube]
“Taking Prozac for depression is mostly a waste of time”
A review of clinical trials found that they worked no better than a dummy pill for mildly depressed patients and for most people suffering severe depression.
Am I the only person who finds this article wonderfully vague?
