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18 Cool Inventions From the Past

The time between the wars – the Great War and WW2 was one of great loss and uncertainty, but also one of invention, creativity and new ideas. The horrors of WWI shattered enlightenment belief that progress would continue and reason would prevail. New ideas and patterns of life developed in the 1920′s and in the way that people looked at the world [1]. The fast pace of technology change in the 20′s brought us the lie detector, traffic signal, bubble gum and Penicillin. An all-electronic moving-image television system somewhat similar to that used today was invented and demonstrated in 1929 [2]. The 30′s were not less invention-intensive bringing us the jet engine, helicopter, tea bags, sticky tape, ballpoint pen and the first photocopier [3]. However, somewhere between these great world-changing inventions there were some fun and sometimes even hilarious inventions the world has forgotten. Bike Tyre Used As Swimming Aid (Germany, 1925) One Wheel Motorcycle (1931) Radio Pram (USA, 1921)

50 Posts About Cyborgs: Archive Johnny Carson Once Caused a Month Long Toilet Paper Shortage Embed This Quick Fact: <a href=" title="Johnny Carson Once Caused a Month Long Toilet Paper Shortage"><img src=" alt="" title="Johnny Carson Once Caused a Month Long Toilet Paper Shortage" border="0" /></a><br />Source: <a href=" title="Random Quick Facts">Random Quick Facts</a> Click Here to Read More Toilet Paper Facts Text Version Johnny Carson once caused a near month long toilet paper shortage in the U.S. in December of 1973. After several days of toilet paper shortages due to this hysteria, Carson went on the air to try to explain it had been a joke and apologized.

Utopia Forever A map of the world that does not include Utopia is not worth even glancing at, for it leaves out the one country at which Humanity is always landing.—Oscar Wilde The cities in which we live today are unfortunately not the cities that we need for a humane and sustainable tomorrow. We have learned from the 1960s and 1970s that utopian visions are one of the most important catalysts for fundamental change. Utopia Forever is a collection of current projects and concepts from architecture, city planning, urbanism, and art that point beyond the restrictions of the factual to unleash the potential of creative visions. Whether created by established architects and artists or new talents, the projects in Utopia Forever are radically shaping our notions of life in the future. Related Gestalten.tv Videos Joep van Lieshout: The Fifth Horseman Jürgen Mayer H.: By Spatial Demand

Computer Gamers Decipher Structure of AIDS Enzyme - In the News Computer Gamers Decipher Structure of AIDS Enzyme Posted on Sep 20, 2011 To the astonishment of scientists, online gamers deciphered the 3-D structure of an enzyme of an AIDS-like virus in just three weeks, a feat that had evaded researchers for 10 years. The gamers used a “fun for purpose” video game called “Foldit,” developed in 2008 by the University of Washington, to unwind chains of amino acids and create an accurate 3-D digital model of the monomeric protease enzyme, a “cutting agent in the complex molecular tailoring of retroviruses,” including HIV. —BF AFP on Yahoo Games’ Plugged In: Cracking the enzyme “provides new insights for the design of antiretroviral drugs,” says the study, referring to the lifeline medication against the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). New and Improved Comments If you have trouble leaving a comment, review this help page.

UTOPIA FOREVER. Visions of Architecture and Urbanism Un mapa del mundo que no incluya la utopía ni siquiera merece la pena mirarlo, ya que deja fuera el único territorio en el que la humanidad está siempre desembarcando. —Oscar Wilde. Las ciudades en que vivimos hoy no son, por desgracia, las ciudades que necesitamos para un futuro más humano y sostenible. Las sociedades y los políticos están buscando desesperadamente soluciones e ideas para las zonas urbanas del futuro. Es por ello que el desarrollo y discusión de las utopías es, junto a temas de sostenibilidad, el más actual de la arquitectura contemporánea. Hemos aprendido de los años 1960 y 1970 que las visiones utópicas son uno de los catalizadores más importantes para un cambio fundamental.

<i>Contagion</i> doesn't skimp on science Ferris Jabr, reporter (Image: Claudette Barius ©Warner Bros Entertainment Inc) It's hard to name many Hollywood blockbusters that are as invested in the realities of science as Contagion. There certainly are plenty of enormously successful science-fiction films that abuse science in the name of drama, like Outbreak and The Day After Tomorrow, but very few Hollywood productions realistically portray the process of science, both its successes and frustrations. Directed by Steven Soderbergh - who previously directed Traffic and the remake of Ocean's Eleven - Contagion's all-star cast includes Marion Cotillard, Matt Damon, Laurence Fishburne, Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Kate Winslet. The story begins with Beth Emhoff (Paltrow) coughing in an airport in Chicago, on her way back home to Minneapolis after a business trip to Hong Kong. Throughout the film there is the suggestion that the virus might be a bioweapon, but that idea is never validated. You can look again now.

Advanced Utopian Martian Communities, 1911 JF Ptak Science Books LLC Post 904 This futuro-Utopian homage to ET-civilizations and space travel was written just too early to have been sucked up by period-appropriate script raptors. Reading it is a little out of the question and left to the domain of sci-fi archaeologists; the book is stuffy and dry and very stiff (brittle !) without being terribly interesting and doesn’t stop for the right word when four will do. To Mars via the Moon, an Astronomical Story. written by Mark Wicks and published in 1911, left the Moon quite behind in its literary assault on a super-advanced civilization that the space travelers find on the red planet. Notes “The wonderful music I heard upon Mars still rings in my ears; and, at times, so thrilling and peculiar is its effect upon me, that I feel as though I were being almost irresistibly impelled to return to that planet.

Google algorithm change shifts billions in ad spending - Mar. 8 By David Goldman, staff writerMarch 8, 2011: 12:07 PM ET NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Google's recent change to its search algorithm has dramatically shaken up the businesses of websites that moved up or down its search rankings. Sites whose rankings rose to the top found that their traffic and revenue soared -- but the adjustment had an equally devastating effect on those that were dropped. The Online Publishers Association, a group of content producers comprising many of the Internet's largest properties (including CNN.com), estimates that the algorithm change shifted $1 billion in annual revenue. Some of the losers felt the hit immediately. The stakes are high in the Google-placement game. With control of two-thirds of the U.S. search market, Google (GOOG, Fortune 500) steers a tremendous amount of traffic to websites. That means that positioning in Google's search results can be a life-or-death issue for a business. Impact on 'mom and pop' sites Righting a wrong Share this

Ivan Leonidov and the Russian utopias Ivan Leonidov lived from 1902 to 1959. He was a constructivist architect, but also a painter, urban planner and a dreamer. From all of his works he only was able to build this staircase on a hillside in Kislovodsk: From the review of the book Ivan Leonidov , we can quote: “It is sad that the vast majority of sketchbook plans and competition entries reproduced in this album were never built. Palace Proletarian Cultural District. From the wiki : “In 1919 Léonidov attended the Svomas free art studios in Tver. Lenin Institute and Library: In the first half of his life, Leonidov’s work quickly became widely known. This project became Leodinov’s synthesis of the various ideas and artistic concerns of his life and career and also the very real sense of his dream of what future cities might be: A complete selection of Leodinov’s works can be visited here . Like this: Like Loading...

How Things Used to Be You are visiting www.rawfoodinfo.com How Things Used To Be Hi friends, I don't know who wrote this article and some of it may not be accurate but it is still interesting musing... Rhio Next time you are washing your hands and complain because the water temperature isn't just how you like it, think about how things used to be. Most people got married in June because they took their yearly bath in May and still smelled pretty good by June. Baths consisted of a big tub filled with hot water. Houses had thatched roofs - thick straw, piled high, with no wood underneath. When it rained it became slippery, and sometimes the animals would slip and fall off the roof, hence the saying, "It's raining cats and dogs." There was nothing to stop things from falling into the house. The floor was dirt. They cooked in the kitchen with a big kettle that always hung over the fire. Sometimes they could obtain pork, which made them feel quite special. Those with money had plates made of pewter. Source Unknown

Netherlands Architecture Institute - Item The NAI collection consists of a couple of million drawings, sketches, floor plans, photographs, letters and other documents, and more and more pieces are being digitised. Every two weeks, a special item from the collection will be on display. Download, collect and share them all! [Click to expand image] M.A. and J. van Nieukerken. Staircase for Bataafsche Petroleum Maatschappij, The Hague, 1917. View all items presented in the showroom You can order reproductions of all collection pieces, from small prints to poster formats.

mental_floss Blog » 8 Secrets From the Wonderful World of Disney 1. There Are Human Remains in the Haunted Mansion The Haunted Mansion ride at Disneyland is one of the scariest places in the park, but not for the reasons you’d expect. In his 1994 book Mouse Tales , former Disney employee David Koenig tells the story of a tourist group that requested a little extra time on the ride so they could hold a quick memorial for a 7-year-old boy. This wasn’t an isolated incident. 2. Each night at Disneyland, after the sunburned families and exhausted cast members have made their way home, the park fills up again—this time, with hundreds of feral cats. Park officials love the felines because they help control the mouse population. Today, there are plenty of benefits to being a Disney-employed mouser. 3. Just before the final, five-story drop on Splash Mountain, Disney cameras take a snapshot of the riders to catch their facial expressions. 4. Even though Walt Disney had a mustache himself, he wanted his employees clean-shaven. 5. So, that’s what Florida did. 6.

Extra: New Babylon January 26 and 27 the organisation LINK organised a seminar on Constants' dream of the 'unitary urbanism' at the Delft University of Technology, with the aim of investigating its background and its relevance for todays' architects. The organisers summarised it like this: "A search for the significance of the ideological, social and polemical dimension of architecture, the value of critique and the integral vision of man and the built environment." It got clear we are looking at a project which surpasses both our wildest dreams and nightmares. Also, through a series of contributions by Adolfo Natalini, Elia Zenghelis and Peter Cook it became clear how much has changed in the approach towards architecture today. On the occasion of the start of the symposium 'special guest' Simon Vinkenoog offered a short and blazing argument, which ended with the statement: 'Let's start a revolution for fun!' Day 1: New Babylon and the end of the avant-garde Day 2: Utopia and the city of tomorrow

3 MAN CHESS variant in the round

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