gross, but cool.

http://www.popsci.com/bown/2009/innovator/pied-piper-mucus

Elon Musk and SpaceX launched a satellite on their commercial rocket, yay ( Read more... )

"It's called electrochemical machining (ECM), and it's so simple in principle that you can do it at home with a drill press, a battery charger and a pump for a garden fountain ( Read more... )

There's a thunderstorm tonight; I can see the flashes of lightning through my window blinds. And it occurs to me that a good thunderstorm contains lots and lots of energy; and lightning concentrates that energy into a small area. There ought to be a good way to harness that energy and put it to use ( Read more... )

I fixed my dryer today. It last broke a year and a half ago, so I suppose that's not too bad for a ~fifteen-year-old appliance ( Read more... )

"A GIANT inflatable tower could carry people to the edge of space without the need for a rocket, and could be completed much sooner than a cable-based space elevator, its proponents claim ( Read more... )

"The event will host over 70 different competitions, including 18 different events just for walking humanoids. Large scale combat robots will fight to the death behind bulletproof glass, thrilling the crowd with crashing, smashing, flame-throwing, and miscellaneous wanton destruction. The combat robots, weighing as much as 340 pounds, are what ( Read more... )

"SEOUL, South Korea - North Korea defied world powers and carried out an underground test Monday of a nuclear bomb Russian officials said was comparable to those that obliterated Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The incident drew condemnation from Washington to Beijing and set the communist regime up for a showdown with the United Nations.Read more... )

I've got my PHYS 103 students working on heat engines, and this crossed my mind ( Read more... )

JERUSALEM (CNN) -- Israel says it has successfully tested an anti-rocket system developed to protect the country from short-range rocket and artillery attack from Lebanon and Gaza, defense officials said.http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/03/27/ ( Read more... )