background preloader

11 cheap gifts guaranteed to impress science geeks

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.

http://www.dvice.com/archives/2010/12/11_cheap_gifts.php

Related:  EXPERIMENTSSpaceArt, création

Make a Bouncing Polymer Ball - Experiment with Polymers Introduction Balls have been toys practically forever, but the bouncing ball is a more recent innovation. Bouncing balls were originally made of natural rubber, though now bouncing balls can be made of plastics and other polymers or even treated leather. You can use chemistry to make your own bouncing ball. Sizes of the Universe Poster Share this infographic on your site! <a href=" src=" alt="Sizes of the Universe" width="500" border="0" /></a><br />Source: <a href=" Sleuth</a> Embed this infographic on your site!

New Examples of Beautiful Typography Inspiration Home » Inspiration • Showbiz • Typography Dose » New Examples of Beautiful Typography Inspiration Typography is not only the art of rearranging the typefaces, instead it has now become a broad medium to communicate with your visitors in a more attractive and visually engaging manner while providing your design a remarkable and creative look. The results are sometime crazy, sometime artsy and sometimes beautiful, but often just different from things we’re used to. Not only can good use of typography add to your design from a visual standpoint, it can also play an important role in defining the hierarchy of the content.

Glass lens doorknob gives preview of room beyond Probably not all doors should offer previews, all the time, but this is undeniably wonderful. As it is, the knob offers bi-directional viewing; I wonder if you could half-silver one side and make it one-way? Johnny Strategy at Spoon & Tomago writes: In conjunction with Design Tide Tokyo, architect Hideyuki Nakayama Рa prot̩g̩ of Toyo Ito Рhas teamed up with UNION, a manufacturer of door handles and levers, to create a glass globe doorknob.

6 Reasons The Guy Who's Fixing Your Computer Hates You By my calculations, about 96 percent of all computer repairs are done, not by the local computer guy or the Geek Squad, but by The Friend Who is Good With Computers. Often that friend is nothing more than an average computer user who knows how to look up error messages on Google, but it doesn't matter -- once they become known as TFWIGWC, they will get the call every time something goes wrong. And they will fix it, probably for free, because TFWIGWC pities you. Still, any time a bunch of TFWIGWCs get together and share their computer repair horror stories, you learn that there are certain things their "customers" do that make them want to ram their head through a wall.

Top 10 Mad Science-Worthy Chemistry Experiments Chemistry is a fascinating science, but it's often taught poorly in today's boring schools. Here's how chemistry should be taught: by mad scientists! Here's Neatorama's list of the Top 10 Mad Science-Worthy Chemistry Experiments: 1. Briggs-Rauscher Reaction New comet likely to impress when it passes closest to Earth in December By Alan Pickup, The GuardianSunday, October 14, 2012 20:16 EDT A comet found recently beyond the orbit of Jupiter could well become spectacular late next year and may be a sibling of one of the most celebrated comets of all time. What is formally known as Comet C/2012 S1 (ISON) was not at first recognised as a comet when it was spotted as a 19th magnitude object using a small Russian telescope of the International Scientific Optical Network on 21 September. Earlier images have been found stretching back to last year, allowing its orbit to be calculated and showing that it is destined to sweep within 1.2 million km of the Sun’s surface at perihelion on 28 November 2013.

Magnetic Putty is Completely Amazing/Terrifying Magnetic putty is just like any other putty in that you can handle it, sculpt it, and squeeze it in a fist as you visualize your enemies. But place it anywhere near a strong magnetic field and it will SPONTANEOUSLY ANIMATE and move to consume anything magnetic in its path like a voracious mutated slug. In fact the putty won’t stop moving until the object has been equally engulfed on all sides.

The Top 10 Plants for Removing Indoor Toxins Common indoor plants may provide a valuable weapon in the fight against rising levels of indoor air pollution. NASA scientists are finding them to be surprisingly useful in absorbing potentially harmful gases and cleaning the air inside homes, indoor public spaces and office buildings. The indoor pollutants that affect health are formaldehyde, Volatile Organic Compounds (benzene and trichloroethylene or TCE), airborne biological pollutants, carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides, pesticides and disinfectants (phenols), and radon. These pollutants contribute to ‘sick building syndrome’, which causes symptoms ranging from allergies, headaches and fatigue through to nervous-system disorders, cancer and death. Through studies conducted by NASA, scientists have identified 50 houseplants that remove many of the pollutants and gases mentioned above. Dr.

Related:  stumble stuffHoarder's DreamArticlesCool Shitstop thinkingisaiezeCool stuffto be filedyotam.rotemCoolScienceWebpagesStumble UponCool SitesSciencedaloboTechnologyjwelte3SciencesArticlesamitsingh03WebScience/TechnologyExcitingedwardkil94Sciencestumbleupon sitessarinakaycassellTech & Gadgetsimages/design ideas