In the final shot of the Force Awakens trailer, the Millennium Falcon pulls out of a precipitous dive to engage two TIE Fighters above a vast desert landscape. It’s a pretty intense aerial maneuver. The question is: How intense is it, exactly? And could Han Solo (or anyone, for that matter) … Read More → "What would a ride in the Millennium Falcon actually do to your body?"

Stem cells are basically like biological alchemy. You can turn them in to almost anything, including it seems sperm or eggs. Researchers working jointly in the UK and Israel have figured out how to create precursor cells for gametes, you know the bits that combine during fertilization to create a tiny human. There’s still a long way to go before viable eggs or sperm can be created in a petri dish, but this is a major … Read More → "Scientists take a step towards curing infertility with stem cells"

Students at MIT revived an old campus tradition by building a large wooden roller coaster by hand on campus for incoming freshman–who also served as the main labor force for construction. Much to the chagrin of the engineers behind the project, early plans for a large loop had to be scrapped for safety reasons.
via … Read More → "MIT students build a wooden roller coaster by hand for incoming freshmen"

“Pixel” is the latest from Adrien M / Claire B, a French dance company specializing in cutting-edge physical-digital performance. The group’s choreography extends beyond its dancers—by projecting light onto the stage and backdrop behind it, the company creates dynamic virtual worlds that respond to and interact with the people among them. In this latest spectacle, dancers spin inside virtual rings; … Read More → "A high-tech dance performance melds human bodies with code"

In the New York Public Library’s Instagram account, Information Architect Morgan Holzer is posting images of 3×5 cards pulled from a shoebox collecting 50 years’ worth of weird questions that were posed to the system’s reference desks, which were strange and notable enough to warrant addition to the collection.

It’s a great collection of the kinds of weird miscellanea that today we pose to search … Read More → "Difficult questions posed to the NYPL reference desks before the net"

In The Hobbit, Bilbo Baggins owns a sword named Sting. This magic sword glows in the presence of Orcs or goblins. Pictured above is a modern version: the WarSting. It glows when it detects unsecured WiFi networks.

Spark IO built it into the body of a toy model of Sting. It’s an educational tool designed to encourage people to encrypt their WiFi networks. Krista Peryer … Read More → "Hobbit sword glows in the presence of unsecured wi-fi"

Smarter Every Day has found out a solution to a mystery that even a Nobel Prize in Physics like Richard Feynman couldn’t solve: Why spaghetti never breaks in half, but in three or four parts. To find out he filmed the break at 250,000 frames per second—it’s a fascinating answer to a question I never had.
via Read More → "Mystery solved: Why raw spaghetti always snaps in more than two pieces"

We’ve lost a number of classic films—even some Oscar-nominated ones. But occasionally, lost films will pop up in places where you least expect them. Such was the case with Walt Disney’s first Christmas short, Empty Socks, which was rediscovered at The National Library of Norway in 2008. A restored version of the film was shown at the library earlier this week.

The silent … Read More → "Missing Disney Christmas short from 1927 discovered in Norway"

[A] new 3D printer algorithm that claims to provide super-efficient 3D printing of Christmas trees with zero material waste may be just the ticket. Using a system of printing entitled “Approximate Pyramidal Shape Decomposition,” the algorithm also promises a way to produce accurate molds for casting chocolate Santas and reindeer too.

Computer science professor Richard Zhang from Simon Fraser University, in conjunction with visiting PhD candidate Ruizhen Hu from Zhejiang University, China, lay … Read More → "New 3D printing algorithm creates Christmas trees with zero material waste"

A court case involving Sandra, a 29-year-old orangutan in Argentina may have ramifications for other apes, or even other non-primates. An animal rights group filed a writ of habeas corpus on behalf of Sandra, alleging that her rights were being violated by her confinement at the Buenos Aires Zoo.

In a landmark ruling that could pave the way for more lawsuits, the Association of Officials and Lawyers for Animal Rights (Afada) … Read More → "Orangutans are legal “persons” in Argentina"