The breezy dark corridors between a city’s tallest buildings seem like shady respites from the blistering summer sun. But it turns out those shadowy urban canyons are actually making your city more hell-like. NASA released some images today shot from the International Space Station which help to illustrate why.
via Gizmodo
Also, this: Why the Turing Test is Bullshit
http://io9.com/why-the-turing-test-is-bullshit-1588051412/+ericlime…
Toyota today said it’s investigated the possibility of vehicles that are capable of hovering just above the road, technology designed to improve efficiency. In an interview at Bloomberg’s Next Big Thing Summit in San Francisco, Hiroyoshi Yoshiki — the managing officer with Toyota’s technical administration group — said that the company had been studying a similar idea of flying cars at … Read More → "Toyota is investigating cars that hover above the road"
Even Linus Torvalds, one of the most influential computer scientists alive today, doesn’t believe everybody should learn to code.
Torvalds, the creator of Linux and Git (a version control system for dev teams, and the technology behind GitHub), opened up for an unusually lengthy Q&A& this weekend. Now 44, Torvalds shaped modern computing, and yet his views contrast recent learn-to-code campaigns like Codecademy’s Code Year.
< … Read More → "Linux creator Linus Torvalds: I do not believe everybody should learn to code"
ReFILL is an interactive installation that gives a glimpse at the pile-up of would-be trash that’s destined for a second life; everything that goes in is scanned super quick, then projected onto an adjacent building like a big game of urban Plinko.
Digital artist Lukasz Karluk came up with the idea for this year’s Vivid Sydney festival of lights—a … Read More → "Interactive trash bin turns recycling into a giant game of Plinko"
The Zero Gravity Cocktail Project is an ongoing endeavor to develop a cocktail glass suitable for use in space. The cup relies on capillary action to deliver liquid to the rim of the glass without creating a zero gravity cocktail mess. The Zero Gravity Cocktail Project is by the Cosmic Lifestyle Corporation, a design and branding company that develops products for “off-world use.”
via Read More → "The Zero Gravity Cocktail Project, boldly designing a cocktail glass for space"
Eugene Goostman seems like a typical 13-year-old Ukrainian boy — at least, that’s what a third of judges at a Turing Test competition this Saturday thought. Goostman says that he likes hamburgers and candy and that his father is a gynecologist, but it’s all a lie. This boy is a program created by computer engineers led by Russian Vladimir … Read More → "Computer passes Turing Test for first time by convincing judges it is a 13-year-old boy"
Artist Diemut Strebe and scientist collaborators have “regrown” Vincent van Gogh’s missing ear using cells from one of the painter’s distant living relatives. The project, which reminds me of artist Stelarc’s “Third Earl.” Van Gogh’s ear is currently on display at the ZKM Museum in Karlsruhe, Germany. From the ZKM:
The ear is grown from tissue engineered cartilage and is “identical” in shape to van … Read More → "Van Gogh’s missing ear “regrown” as art"
The US government loves Twitter. For NASA, it’s a public relations goldmine. For the State Department, it’s a bizarre weapon in the fight on terrorism. For the CIA, it’s a chance to revel in kitsch. The agency, which somehow did not yet have a real social media presence, has just posted its first tweet.
via Read More → "The CIA has joined Twitter with the best first tweet possible"
Playing up those billboards that rotate through multiple advertisements during the day, Samsung stuck one of its vacuums on top of this sign, and it roars to life with suction whenever another ad attempts to rotate into place.
via Gizmodo
… Read More → "Amusing vacuum billboard sucks its own ad back into view"
