May 11 2009 Another Day, Another Cosmic Eyeball
We've already seen God's hand, God's eye and the Eye of Sauron, so why not another cosmic ball of eye? This here is the latest in a batch of images from the Hubble Space Bubblescope of planetary nebula Knockout 4-55. Enter Punch-Out tie-in here. I AM THE L337 BLOGGAR!
Planetary nebulas have nothing to do with planets. They were named so because in early telescopes, they had the fuzzy look of planets in our outer solar system. In fact planetary nebulas sit throughout our galaxy. This one contains the outer layers of a red giant star that were expelled into interstellar space when the star was in the late stages of its life.Ultraviolet radiation emitted from the remaining hot core of the star ionizes the ejected gas shells, causing them to glow.
In the specific case of K 4-55, a bright inner ring is surrounded by a bipolar structure. The entire system is then surrounded by a faint red halo, seen in the emission by nitrogen gas. This multi-shell structure is fairly uncommon in planetary nebulae.
BOOM, YOU DIDN'T EVEN KNOW YOU WAS GETTING ASTRONOMY LESSONED! Now, for your astrology lesson: it's all bullshit. Also, you will make decisions soon. NO I AM NOT HIGH. Tell me, if eyes are the windows to one's soul, is a cosmic eye THE WINDOW TO ANOTHER DIMENSION?! And, if so, is there a dinosaur park there? ZOMG -- quick, tie me to a rocket engine!
Hubble Photographs Giant Eye in Space [yahoonews]
Thanks to Watch-303, who may or may not be operating out of Boulder/Denver region.
Apr 21 2009 Man Wants Camera Installed In Prosthetic Eye, Temporarily Settles For Terminator Eye
Rob Spence has had eye problems since a shooting accident at 13. Now 36, Rob had the eye removed three years ago and decided he wants a video camera in it's place. Only problem: getting a video camera in its place.
Thus far, they've built devices that create wireless NTSC signals--the sort of standard wireless signal a television uses--and are now working on getting this to work in sync with a miniature camera and a battery, all attached to a printed circuit board, all of which has to fit inside a prosthetic eye.
So in the meantime Rob sports the Terminator eye to drum up interest in the project and try to score some funding. Good luck, Rob. And by good luck I mean I won't hesitate to go John Connor on that ass if I have to.
Hit the jump for one more shot and a link to the superlong article.
Mar 31 2009 Frost The Head And The Body Will Die
This is a zombie cake loyal Geekologie Reader Carol made for her boyfriend. It really made me hope that, somewhere out there, a woman is honing her baking skills and waiting to meet me. Of course, I'm not holding my breath. But I am holding my penis hopes up. Per Carol:
Apparently there isn't much of a market for face/limb based cakes so just purchasing molds was out. I ended up using about 5 layers of aluminum foil and shaped them in to a half assed face and hand.
Coat the molds with cooking spray and put them in to standard baking pans, it helps to re-enforce the mold with balled up foil underneath so it doesn't distort under the weight of the cake.Slap your cakey zombie bits on to a sheet or round cake and get creative...
I used a shit ton of green food coloring, lindor truffles for eyes, and white chocolate for the teeth/finger nails.
Good looking, Carol. Or should I say, "NHAAAR, BRAAAAAAINS"! Oh, I shouldn't? Okay. Well good looking, Carol. Or should I say, "good tasting"? No? "NOM NOM"? I'd hit that shit like a corpse!
Thanks to Carol, who actually came up with that whole frosting the head bit, I'm just a thief. You see this? Yeah, that's your heart.
Feb 28 2009 Astronomers Photograph the Eye Of God
Finally, a clear shot of God's eye.
The European Organisation for Astronomical Research in the Southern Hemisphere, aka (mercifully) ESO, has released an impressive image of the Helix Nebula captured by La Silla Observatory in Chile.
The nebula, lying at around 700 light-years away in the constellation of Aquarius, has quickly been dubbed the "Eye of God", for obvious reasons.
I've got news for you folks: this is not, in fact, God's real eye. How do I know? Well you remember in Raiders of the Lost Ark when the Germans finally opened the Ark of the Covenant? What happened? Precisely -- ghosts and shit flew out and shot through their stupid Nazi faces and killed them all. That one dude even melted. So, you still alive? Exactly.
Stargazers peer into the 'Eye of God' [theregister]
Thanks to Tim, who knows the true eye of God burns like a laserbeam.
Dec 24 2008 A Little Holiday Something From Me To You
No need to thank me folks, just spreading some holiday, um, nipple-stache. And remember, it's not too late to add "new eyes" to your last minute Christmas list.
The nipple mustache [iosoup]
Thanks to Kevin, who allegedly grew a crotch-stache for his senior prom.
Dec 1 2008 The Race Is On: To A Camera In Your Eye
Remember the story a few weeks ago of the artist woman that wanted a webcam installed in her eyeball? Well it turns out she may have been beat to the chase (and subsequent fall and eye gouging) by Steve Mann, who is *this close* to having the procedure done. Check out the Eyeborg blog for more info on Steve's quest to become part machine (and thus, a mortal enemy). There's even a really gross video of Steve getting his (already damaged) eye removed. Awesome! And by awesome I mean I just threw up cereal all over the keyboard! Cool! Not really! But kind of! Okay I'm mostly just grossed out! Can you tell the period key is stuck?
Thanks to Arni, who had a camera installed in his ear but broke it with a Q-tip.
Nov 18 2008 Artist Wants Webcam Installed In Eyeball
San Francisco artist Tanya Vlach lost an eye in a car accident several years ago. And now she wants a webcam installed in her prosthetic, because she's a badass.
Tanya reasons that her aesthetic-only eye could become a source of "augmented reality," and she's got a list of possible specs up on her blog for would-be engineers to begin with. Just some of the things mentioned for inclusion are: DVR capabilities, MPEG-4 compression, a microSD slot, A/V out, and Bluetooth.
Tanya,
While a webcam eyeball would be cool, particularly if you spend a significant portion of your day in the women's locker room or staring at your own privates, I believe there are bigger fish to fry -- with a laser eye. PEW PEW!
Yours truly,
The Geekologie Writer
Monocular San Francisco artist wants webcam installed in her prosthetic eye [engadget]
Thanks to Captain Pants and Allegro, who, for the tips, get their choice of a free pegleg or eye patch.
Sep 4 2008 WTF!?: Crystal Embedded Contact Lenses
Ah yes, rocks and eyes. I mean, what a perfect match. Enter "Sparkle", a contact lens with tiny Swarovski crystals encrusted around the edge. I've got to admit, this has got to be the most brilliant eye-care product I've seen since pepper spray. Seriously, what could go wrong? Well, besides looking sexy. I'm gonna make myself a pair, I'll let you know how scandalously super-sexified I look.
UPDATE: Okay, so I glued some glitter and broken glass onto my regular contacts. Here goes nothing!
UPDATEDER: Wow, good thing I can type without looking, because I can't see a thing. Seriously though, how long does it take to grow a new pair? Ha, I'm talking actual ball balls now, mistook the paper shredder for a commode.
Sparkle - Swarovski studded contact lenses for blinged vision [bornrich]
Thanks Mary, and I trusted you to lead me to the bathroom. Pfft, some friend you are.
Jul 1 2008 HD Sunglasses Suprisingly Not High Definition
If there's one thing I've learned about fashion, it's this: I look damn good in women's jeans. Wait ,what? This is a glasses post? Ha, so it is. Well, just forget I said anything about shopping in the juniors section then. Carrying on. HD -- the new buzzterm to sell whatever the hell you want. In this case, sunglasses. So what benefits can one realize from a pair of $20 HD glasses? I'll tell you.
- HD Vision technology gives you clarity that you have never experienced.
- Enhance your vision.
- Just like High Definition TV.
- Modern European Style.
Yep, just like High Definition TV, folks. Older, tech-illeterate folks are busting a hip rushing to their land line to order even as you read this. There's a commercial for the glasses after the jump, and if you order now you get a patented HD visor clip to store the glasses in your car. Holy shit, an HD visor clip! Now that better stand for HanDy visor clip, otherwise I'm suing them for false imprisonment. Ha, did I just say imprisonment? I meant for being a bunch of misleading assholes. Poor old people.
Hit the jump for a worthwhile two minute commercial.
Continue Reading " HD Sunglasses Suprisingly Not High Definition "
Apr 22 2008 Surgeons Implant Bionic Eyes In Blind Patients
Surgeons have successfully implanted "bionic eyes" (similar in design to this, but not this) in two blind patients, in an attempt to restore some of their vision.
The device -- the first of its kind -- incorporates a video camera and transmitter mounted on a pair of glasses. This is linked to an artificial retina, which transmits moving images along the optic nerve to the brain and enables the patient to discriminate rudimentary images of motion, light and dark.
The Argus II uses a video camera to capture images. These are converted into electrical signals, which are transmitted wirelessly to the implant behind the retina. The electrodes in the implant unscramble the signal to create a crude black-and-white picture that is relayed along the optic nerve to the brain. The brain can then perceive patterns of light and dark spots corresponding to the electrodes stimulated.
That's great news. I'm all for restoring sight to the blind, and this seems like a real promising technology. They throw in the ability to see through cereal boxes so you can spot the ones with secret decoder rings and I'll laser-pointer myself in the eye right now.
Surgeons give hope to blind with successful 'bionic eye' operations [timesonline]
Thanks to Neil, who can see through walls, for the tip
Feb 28 2008 Eyeball Tattoos Give Me The Heebie Jeebies
A Toronto man nicknamed Pauly Unstoppable has been the first person to receive an experimental "eyeball tattoo". Basically a tattoo artist injected blue ink into Pauly's eye until it was completely blue -- some 40+ injections! Holy hellfire, shit and brimstone that is freaking nuts. Pauly had the following to say about the experience:
I really have to emphasize again that the procedure was extensively researched and done by people who were aware of the risks and possible complications and that it should not be casually attempted. Now that this experiment has been started, please wait for us to either heal or go blind before trying it.
Nice Mr. Unstoppable, nice. You are truly a testament to the strength of the human spirit. Willing to chance blindness for the sake of, uh, blue eyeballs. I was going to use an inkjet refill syringe to give my own eyes a little color, but I'll hold off until the experiments are complete.
Click the link for an uncensored version.
Continue Reading " Eyeball Tattoos Give Me The Heebie Jeebies "
