FlowingData (a.k.a. Nathan Yau) has released the following chart that shows the places future contestants should focus on in their Ahab-like quest for the Daily Double. Using the fan site J! Archive (which has most clues for the first 14 seasons, and then every clue for every season after that), Yau was able to discern the placement of Daily Doubles through Jeopardy!’s 31 seasons and therefore the statistical probability of … Read More → "Here’s where to find Jeopardy!’s Daily Doubles"

When researchers at Switzerland’s EPFL set out to build Pleurobot, they spent hours looking at 3D X-ray videos of a salamanders walking, swimming, and walking underwater. The videos tracked up to 48 points on the animals bodies.

The “bones” in Pleurobot don’t match up one-to-one with a salamander’ … Read More → "This skeleton robot walks and swims exactly like a salamander"

The Eiffel Tower’s iron-clad frame turned slightly greener last week, with the installation of two new wind turbines along its lower deck. Perched some 400 feet above the ground, atop a ritzy, second-level restaurant, the slender turbines are part of a broader effort to make Paris’ most iconic monument more eco-friendly — even if only slightly.

When they go into operation … Read More → "The Eiffel Tower has new wind turbines, and they’re beautiful"

In her 2014 experimental design project Edible Growth, designer Chloé Rutzerveld has created a 3D-printed edible morsel using a combination of technical and natural processes. The morsel is grown inside a 3D-printed edible structure, with plants and fungi sprouting out after about five days. The rapid-manufactured nature of the food limits environmental impact by shortening the food chain and limiting land and energy use. The food is nutritious because it is … Read More → "Designer produces a 3D-printed edible morsel using both technical and natural processes"

NASA’s Super Ball Bot has to be one of the most bizarrely and effectively innovative robot designs we’ve ever come across. It’s a tensegrity structure, nothing more (and nothing less) than a bunch of rods connected by a bunch of cables. It’s almost certainly not what you picture when you think of a robot, much less a robot that’s intended … Read More → "NASA’s super ball bot could be the best design for planetary exploration"

To make it difficult for facial recognition systems to actually recognize a wearer’s face, the glasses feature a set of infrared LEDs around the eyes and nose that are only visible to digital cameras. When a photo of the wearer’s face is snapped, those areas, which are crucial to facial recognition working, are obscured with a bright bloom.
via Gizmodo</ … Read More → "New glasses make you invisible to facial recognition software"

Crows, as we all know, are terrifyingly smart. In the latest episode of a podcast called The Bittersweet Life, we hear from a young girl named Gabi who started feeding a group of crows, and her feathered friends started bringing her delightfully shiny presents in return, including earrings, paper clips, and even a light bulb. Her favorite gift so part is a piece of metal that says BEST. “I don’ … Read More → "A little girl fed some crows and now they bring her wonderful presents"

When we discussed how Magic Eye pictures work, a lot of people commented about how they can never see the hidden image. So what gives? Is there something wrong with these people’s eyes? Are they cursed? Are there really no hidden pictures? Is this all a hoax?

Most Magic Eye problems have to do with the way the eyes work with each … Read More → "Why can’t some people see Magic Eye pictures?"

In what may be a just a taste of what’s possible when you merge robotics and neuroscience, researchers from Portugal’s Brainflight project have successfully demonstrated a drone flight piloted by human thought.

The Brainflight project is led by Portuguese technology firm Tekever with the backing of several science organizations across Europe and follows in the footsteps of similar research efforts carried out around the globe. … Read More → "Thought-controlled drones may be just the first step in aviation revolution"

Ross has been experimenting with mushrooms since the ‘90s, when he became interested in their medicinal properties and health benefits. Once he found they were infinitely renewable and understood the materials could conform to the shapes and conditions of the environment, the artist began dreaming up more complex forms.

Mushrooms, Ross says, are a “self-extinguishing organic material” that can be used to create habitats for humans on Earth or even … Read More → "This mushroom artist grows his own fungal furniture"