11 cheap gifts guaranteed to impress science geeks Science comes up with a lot of awesome stuff, and you don't need a Ph.D, a secret lab, or government funding to get your hands on some of the coolest discoveries. We've got a list of 11 mostly affordable gifts that are guaranteed to blow your mind, whether or not you're a science geek. Click on any image to see it enlarged. 1. Aerogel Also known as frozen smoke, Aerogel is the world's lowest density solid, clocking in at 96% air. Aerogel isn't just neat, it's useful. Price: $35 2. Inside these sealed glass balls live shrimp, algae, and bacteria, all swimming around in filtered seawater. EcoSpheres came out of research looking at ways to develop self-contained ecosystems for long duration space travel. Price: $80 3. NASA has been trying to figure out how to get a sample of rock back from Mars for a while now. Every once in a while, a meteorite smashes into Mars hard enough to eject some rocks out into orbit around the sun. Price: $70+ 4. Price: $150 5. Price: $110 6. Price: $80 7. Price: $15 8.
The First Zombie Proof House Somehow, ritual drunk-conversation concerning team captains for the apocalypse has become a major part of the lives of 20-somethings. Having been matured in the Grandaddy-crowned masterpiece film (put “A.M. 180” on and forget that you have a job) 28 Days Later and the best-selling Zombie Survival Guide, we’re all a little too ready to deal with the 2012 zombie apocalypse of our dreams. “The Safe House,” designed by KWK Promes, starts to get eerily close to something I could work with, if say 200 bludgeoned members of the undead army came over to eat their way into borrowing some sugar. “The most essential item for our clients was acquiring the feeling of maximum security,” begins the designers’ website in the summary of the structure. The house, with its movable walls, has only one entrance, which is located on the second floor after crossing a drawbridge.
20 Awesome Products And Design Ideas September 2, 2011 | 48 Comments » | Topics: Design, Pics Hot Stories From Around The Web Other Awesome Stories Barcode Yourself by Scott Blake Barcode Yourself is a complete, interactive experience in the series of barcode art, created using the personalized data of participants. Enter an individual's gender, weight, height, age and location, and the barcode is formed using real-world data. The individualized barcode can then be printed, mapped, scanned, even depicted on a t-shirt or coffee mug. Uber-geeks can even test out their barcodes on their next grocery run. It is in scanning a barcode that the project reveals its humor, like a banner that reads: Disclaimer! It is here, within the confines of an American obsession with "worth," in which the fun begins. The data entered into Barcode Yourself takes a topsy-turvy twist to its personalized end numbers, with the exception of the hard-data that correlates with "location," which tallies up in the Gross Domestic Product of each country. With the complexity of mocking self-identity, Barcode Yourself lays out a fresh absurdity in the modern world of consumerism. More info in FAQ.
Ned Hardy — Curating The Internet Since Cats Took It Over How To… Embed This Infographic <a href= "><img src=" title="10 How Tos" alt="How To Infographic" border="0" class="nopin" /></a><br />Source: <a href=' title='Interesting Facts'><a href=' title='Interesting Facts'>Today I Found Out</a></a> 1) How to drastically increase the life of your shaving razor Before or after you shave (I prefer before so that the blades are dry), place your jeans on a hard flat surface; then run the razor up the pant legs about 10-15 times quickly; then repeat running it down the pant legs 10-15 times quickly. The threads on the jeans then will very effectively both fix any tiny bends in the blades that inevitably happen and will also sharpen the blades on your shaver cartidge. 2) How to make your teeth whiter Baking soda makes a good teeth whitener. 1.
Did you know Your Age on Other Worlds Want to melt those years away? Travel to an outer planet! <div class="js-required"><hr> This Page requires a Javascript capable browser <hr></div> Fill in your birthdate below in the space indicated. The Days (And Years) Of Our Lives Looking at the numbers above, you'll immediately notice that you are different ages on the different planets. The earth is in motion. The top-like rotation of the earth on its axis is how we define the day. The revolution of the earth around the sun is how we define the year. We all learn in grade school that the planets move at differing rates around the sun. Why the huge differences in periods? Johannes Kepler Tycho Brahe Kepler briefly worked with the great Danish observational astronomer, Tycho Brahe. Here you see a planet in a very elliptical orbit. Kepler's third law is the one that interests us the most. Let's just solve for the period by taking the square root of both sides: The Gravity Of The Situation Isaac Newton ©2000 Ron Hipschman
Wallpaper: Southeastern United States Seen from the International Space Station Southeastern United States Seen from the International Space Station Space Wallpaper About this Image Southeastern USA at night is featured in this space wallpaper photographed by an Expedition 30 crew member on the International Space Station. The brightly lit metropolitan areas of Atlanta, GA (center) and Jacksonville, FL (lower right) appear largest in the image with numerous other urban areas forming an interconnected network of light across the region. A large dark region to the northwest of Jacksonville, FL is the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge; likewise the ridges of the Appalachian Mountains form dark swaths to the north of Atlanta, GA and west of Charlotte, NC (center). Credit: NASA Sizes: Wallpaper download options
Download Graphic Images from the Hillis/Bull Lab Return to "Download Files" Page You are welcome to download the following graphic image of the Tree of Life for non-commercial, educational purposes: Tree of Life (~3,000 species, based on rRNA sequences) (pdf, 368 KB) (see Science, 2003, 300:1692-1697) This file can be printed as a wall poster. Tree of Life tattoo, courtesy of Clare D'Alberto, who is working on her Ph.D. in biology at the University of Melbourne. The organisms depicted in this tattoo are (starting at 4 o'clock and going around clockwise): (1) a cyanobacterium (Anabaena); (2) a radiolarian (Acantharea); (3) a dinoflagellate (Ceratium); (4) an angiosperm (Spider Orchid); (5) a couple species of fungi (Penicillium and a yeast); (6) a ctenophore (comb jelly); (7) a mollusc (nudibranch); (8) an echinoderm (brittle star); and (9) a vertebrate (Weedy Sea Dragon). Here is another great Tree of Life tattoo! Cover of Molecular Systmatics, 2nd ed Here is yet another version from Hannah Udelll at the University of Wisconson-Madisson.
Household Hints Disclaimer - As with all home remedies on this page, use at your own risk. 1) Flies or bees bothering you? Spray them with hairspray and they will take a quick dive. 2) Sealed envelope - Put in the freezer for a few hours, then slide a knife under the flap. 3) Use Empty toilet paper roll to store appliance cords. 4) For icy door steps in freezing temperatures: get warm water and put Dawn dishwashing liquid in it. 5) Crayon marks on walls? 6) Permanent marker on appliances/counter tops (like store receipt BLUE!) 7) Whenever I purchase a box of S.O.S Pads, I immediately take a pair of scissors and cut each pad into halves. 8) Opening brand new jars can be a feat in itself. 9) Blood stains on clothes? 10) Use vertical strokes when washing windows outside and horizontal for inside windows. 11) Spray a bit of perfume on the light bulb in any room to create a lovely light scent in each room when the light is turned on. 21). 22) Ants, ants, ants everywhere ... * Clean a vase. Collect cat hair.