Oct 21 2009 NASA Testing First New Rocket In 30 Years
NASA, an organization that has actually convinced itself they put men on the moon despite it being all staged in Hollywood, is now testing a new rocket. The phallic booster is the first new design to come out of agency since 1981. Which, incidentally, is the year I was born. What does all this mean? I'm 28!
The rocket is Ares I-X -- a suborbital prototype for the Ares I rocket NASA plans to use to launch its shuttle successor, the Orion spacecraft. Currently the world's tallest booster, the Ares I-X rolled out to the launch pad early Tuesday and is slated to blast off Oct. 27 at 8 a.m. EDT (1200 GMT) on a short demonstration flight.
"The Ares I-X is going to fly straight up and straight out," said NASA commentator George Diller as the 327-foot (100-meter) tall rocket began moving toward Launch Pad 39B at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. "During that time we'll be testing the stage separation to determine how well the first stage separation motors perform, as well as the performance of the booster itself, namely the parachutes and other apparatus that will deploy."The $445 million rocket's rollout comes on the eve of a final report from an independent committee appointed by the White House to review NASA's plans for future human spaceflight.
You want me to tell you about the future of human spaceflight? Cause it goes like this: The Geekologie Writer builds a rocketship in the shed behind his house and blasts himself into the sun. Everyone is so sad rockets are banned for ever. Then everybody dies because you couldn't colonize Mars. The end.
NASA Unveils Ares 1-X Rocket for Historic Test Flight [foxnews]
Thanks to joseph, who tied his little brother to a bunch of fireworks and was just about to light the fuse when his mom caught him and yelled at him for having matches.
Mar 22 2009 I Believe I Can Fly: Terrafugia Takes 1st Flight
Remember the Terrafugia "roadable aircraft" (drivable plane)? Well it took its first test flight earlier this month, and as is evident from this video after the jump, it was boring as shit. The Terrafugly has a 450-mile flying range, converts from plane to plane that can drive in 30-seconds, and is still scheduled for sale in 2011 for about $200K. Which means your kids can probably expect a wealthy neighbor crash-landed in the backyard sometime soon. ZOMG, his eyeball is hanging out of the socket. Quick -- poke it back in with a stick!
Hit the jump for the video and a bunch more pictures (one of which gave me a little twitter down there).
Continue Reading " I Believe I Can Fly: Terrafugia Takes 1st Flight "
Dec 31 2008 Google Streets: Porsches & People Pissing
This is a Google Maps Street View of what is allegedly a Porsche prototype being tested in Colorado. Hit the jump for another picture of several different cars, all being covered as the Google Street View van rolls by soliciting children with the promise of free Chupa Chups. And, as a special added bonus, there's a Street View image of some woman pissing behind a car in Madrid, Spain. Because, just like the country song, "sangria makes you piss behind subcompacts".
Hit it.
Continue Reading " Google Streets: Porsches & People Pissing "
Dec 5 2008 Geekologie Reader Gets Credit For Spider
Geekologie reader Dustin got partial credit (2/5 points!) for pulling the ol' picture of a spider trick on an algebra test in college. Good looking, Dustin! It's just too bad your teacher's a dick -- I think we can all agree that spider's easily a 3-pointer.
Thanks again Dustin, may all your future math tests be arachnid-y.
Sep 16 2008 Tokyoflash: Telling Time With The Negative
Tokyoflash is back at it, this time with a wicked new design -- The Negative. The appropriately named device tells time using the negative space created by lit LEDs.
Available in polished silver or polished black, Negative's LCD screen is always displaying the time, allowing the wearer to read it with a quick glance. What really brings this design to life is its multi color LED light guide. At the touch of a button, the display can be backlit with one of seven user selectable colors, a feature which is most impressive at night.
The watch can display time both vertically and horizontally, and will set you back about $162. I'm really digging it. The Negative. Speaking of which, guess what -- the test came back and I AM NOT THE FATHER! This can only mean one thing -- my girlfriend is slut positive.
Hit the jump for several more pictures of the awesome.
Continue Reading " Tokyoflash: Telling Time With The Negative "
Aug 1 2008 Because Working Out And Dieting Sucks: Scientists Develop A Workout In A Pill
Scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla, CA announced on Thursday that they've developed a drug that gives you the benefits of exercise without actually doing anything. Unfortunately, they tested the compound on mice instead of my bedridden lover.
Sedentary mice that took the drug for four weeks burned more calories and had less fat than untreated mice. And when tested on a treadmill, they could run about 44 percent farther and 23 percent longer than untreated mice.We have exercise in a pill," said Ron Evans, an author of the study. "With no exercise, you can take a drug and chemically mimic it."
When asked what was in the drug, Evans replied, "It's difficult to explain....but have you ever been to a rave?"
Hit the link if you want to read a really long article about the stuff.
Drug gives couch potato mice benefits of a workout [yahoonews]
Jul 11 2008 Dummy On Segway Kisses Another Dummy
This is allegedly a Segway crash-test video used to determine the effects (including potential eroticism) that can occur when someone plows their Segway into a stationary person. If you can't watch it, it basically looks like two dummies kissing. Honestly, I don't even know why they performed this test in the first place. I can tell you what happens when you crash your Segway into something: you look even stupider.
Segway Crash Test is Awkward For All Parties Involved [gizmodo]
May 8 2008 Mouse Coat Created, Raises Ethical Questions
The Museum of Modern Art in New York recently had this installation, "Victimless Leather", on display. It's a coat made out of mouse embryonic stem cells. However, after just a month the coat was too large to continue growing in its flask and had to be killed. Now the creator of the exhibit doesn't know know how to feel about it.
I've always been pro-choice and all of a sudden I'm here not sleeping at night about killing a coat...That thing was never alive before it was grown.
This is almost certainly going to open a whole new can of whoop-ass worms on the ethics and moral dilemmas associated with experiments and art of this nature. Perhaps the most important of which is, "It's totally straight to shrink ray your kids so they fit in little mouse coats, right?"
Jan 22 2008 Message Tape: Analog Packing Tape Is Lame
I touched on this packing tape back in October, but now SUCK UK is selling the stuff, in both traditional LCD and Pixel varieties. A mini roll will set you back £5 (~$9.80) and the big ones go for £7.50 (~$14.70), which is pretty freaking expensive for some damn tape. Still, if you can't stand the look of plain analog packing tape, maybe this is for you. You know, the pixel tape kind of reminds me of the opscan forms you had to fill out for multiple choice tests in college. I would always get two and after I was done taking the test I'd put a fake name on the other and fill in the bubbles to look like a monster penis. Ah, college.
A NSFW example of an old test of mine if you don't know what I'm talking about, after the jump.
Continue Reading " Message Tape: Analog Packing Tape Is Lame "
