Sep 15 2009 I Smell Hoverboards!: Scientists Successfully Float Mice Using Magnetic Fields

That's right folks, scientists have successfully hovered mice using nothing but magnetic fields. You read correctly: no black magic this time! (I'm still skeptical)

Scientists working on behalf of NASA built a device to simulate variable levels of gravity. It consists of a superconducting magnet that generates a field powerful enough to levitate the water inside living animals, with a space inside warm enough at room temperature and large enough at 2.6 inches wide (6.6 cm) for tiny creatures to float comfortably in during experiments.

The researchers first levitated a young mouse, just three-week-old and weighing 10 grams. It appeared agitated and disoriented, seemingly trying to hold on to something.

"It actually kicked around and started to spin, and without friction, it could spin faster and faster, and we think that made it even more disoriented," said researcher Yuanming Liu, a physicist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. They decided to mildly sedate the next mouse they levitated, which seemed content with floating.

I want to float! Remember that time in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory where Charlie and his alcoholic grandfather drank the Lifting Fizzy Drink and then floated around the bubble room? Yeah, I did that one time when I was tripping. It was awesome. Well, until I swallowed a bubble and got the hiccups. I was hiccuping colors!

Mice Levitated in Lab [yahoonews]

Thanks to Totex, who once made his assistant hover before somebody in the audience yelled, "I can see the wires!" and ruined the illusion.

Jun 23 2009 Only In Latvia: Secure A Loan With You Soul

Actually, I heard it works in hell too. But for those of you that like it a little cooler, a Latvian firm is offering loans of 50 to 500 Latvian lats ($100 to $1,000) secured only by your immortal soul.

Riga-based firm, named Kontora, does not require credit history record or proof of employment.

According to the agreement, the only security required of the borrower is their immortal soul, which they are asked to confirm as their previously unmortgaged property.

Damn you, previously unmortgaged property clause! You see, I was in Georgia sawin' on a fiddle and playin' it hot. I won a bike. With a red-hot poker for a seat. Damn you, devil!

Latvian firm accepts souls as guarantee for credits [mosnews]

Thanks to Spikey DaPikey, who lost his soul in a game of beer pong. Jesus, Spikey -- I like your style.

May 3 2009 Sure: Art Student Paints Car To Be Invisible

University of Lancashire art student Sara Watson painted an old Skoda Fabia to appear invisible when looked at from just the right angle. This happens to be the right angle. If you were standing next to it it would just look like a spraypainted piece of shit. Still, good looking, Sara. You, not the car. Let's do it.

Hit the jump for one more picture.

Continue Reading " Sure: Art Student Paints Car To Be Invisible "

Nov 3 2008 Damn Son, You Just Got Literally Rick Rolled

Okay, so the wave of literal translations of music videos continues. This time it's Rick Astley's Never Gonna Give You Up, aka the Rick Roll song in case you've been a vegetable for the past year and just came to. And, if that is the case, it's good to have you back. But tell me -- was there a tunnel? Was a bearded man beckoning you towards the light? Did he creep you out at all? One time The Superficial Writer passed out humping the water cooler and said all angels have perfect tits. Is it true? Can you touch them or does your hand just pass through like that time I copped a feel on Casper's mom?

Youtube

Thanks to Lamezoid, who once Rick Rolled Rick Astley and then punched him in the face. Also, to AJ, "if you are going to thank me for the tip, write 'AJ says LSDiesel and Sharpie suck balls'"

Aug 11 2008 It's About Freaking Time: An Invisibility Cloak

Scientists at the University of California Berkeley have announced they're one step closer to the development of an invisibility cloak.

The light-bending effect relies on reversing refraction, the effect that makes a straw placed in water appear bent.

One approach used nanometre-scale stacks of silver and magnesium fluoride in a "fishnet" structure, while another made use of nanowires made of silver.

Light is neither absorbed nor reflected by the objects, passing "like water flowing around a rock," according to the researchers. As a result, only the light from behind the objects can be seen.

The team says the principles could one day be scaled up to make invisibility cloaks large enough to hide people.

Sweeeeet. Can you imagine the chaos once everybody gets their hands on an invisibility cloak? The entire world will collapse and I'll die trapped underneath a bench in the women's locker room.

Oh, and in case you were wondering, that really is me in the picture with an invisibility helmet I've been developing the past couple months. Works like a charm!

Invisibility cloak 'step closer' [bbcnews]

Thanks to Ema, Popadopolis, Paul, and moe mentos, all of whom are ninjas and don't need invisibility cloaks.

Apr 28 2008 Sure, Why Not?: See-Through Monitor Display

Remember the Holographic Vaio Zoom laptop concept from awhile back? Pretty titillating wasn't it? I wanted one. Did you want one? If you did maybe we could start a club. You know, something with a secret handshake. My dad said we could even use the storage shed out back as a clubhouse. So whattaya say? Fine, but you're missing out. My mom always makes snacks for me when I'm done playing in the yard. Oftentimes accompanied by, oh I don't know, a piping-cold glass of chocolate milk!

So this is a video of what a transparent laptop display would look like. IT IS NOT REAL, it's just been rendered with a little green-screen magic so you could imagine the possibilities. Which, I've got to admit, seem pretty unexciting. "Holy staplers, that's my desk! I can see my desk through the monitor!" That said, it's cool and I'd buy one if it was the same price as a regular monitor. It would be good for taking notes in class while still managing to sneak a peek at the girl that sits in front of you. The one you've had a crush on the whole semester. You know, the one you finally managed to muster up enough courage to ask out on a date, but mid-conversation you very audibly tooted because you were so nervous and she ran away to her friends laughing? *sniffle* Yeah, that one.

Transparent Display Concept Proves There's a Use For Anything [gizmodo]

Nov 2 2007 The British Develop An 'Invisible' Tank

The British have allegedly developed an 'invisible' tank that will be ready for service by 2012. Basically the technology "uses cameras and projectors to beam images of the surrounding landscape onto a tank." While I can understand that it will probably be better than paint, I get the feeling it will only look 'invisible' if you're looking at it from the exact perfect angle. And obviously the picture above isn't real. The man behind the dream is the Ministry of Defense's Professor Sir John Pendry, who said the only real drawback was the reliability of the cameras and projectors. He then added "The next stage is to make the tank invisible without them - which is intricate and complicated, but possible." Proving beyond shadow of a doubt that the whole project is indeed run by a crackpot.

Army tests James Bond style tank that is 'invisible' [dailymail]

thanks to David, the man James Bond was modeled after, for the tip

Aug 9 2007 Kameraflage Secret Message Apparel

You may have already seen this because you're much hipper than I am, but you're not more attractive. Captain Handsome bows to no one in the good looks department. Anyways, someone has developed a technology that allows hidden messages to be printed on shirts, and only show up through a digital camera. According to the company,

Kameraflage is possible because digital cameras see a broader spectrum of light than human eyes. By rendering content in these wavelengths we are able to create displays that are invisible to the naked eye, yet can be seen when imaged with a digital camera.

So basically you can now wear a t-shirt with dirty words on it that will only be visible when someone takes a digital picture of you. Which is pretty brilliant - or so I thought. Let's just say my grandparents were less than impressed with the Kameraflage "Eat a Dong" t-shirt I mistakenly wore in our annual Christmas card photo.

Kameraflage Secret Message Apparel [Official Site]