Like every other major metropolis, New York City has tunnels for people, tunnels for cars, and lots of tunnels for trains. But it also has something rather more unique: tunnels for cows. Or does it? This is the story of New York’s lost, forgotten, or perhaps just mythical subterranean meat infrastructure.
Read More → "The lost cow tunnels of New York City"
Ever since a single Bitcoin became worth a small fortune, there have been people trying to steal them. Sure, there have some small-time thieves who’ve stolen a few hundred dollars worth of Bitcoin here and there. But there have also been heists. Massive, highly orchestrated attacks that lead to millions of dollars … Read More → "The 6 biggest bitcoin heists in history"
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) this week began discussions over whether it should allow testing of a controversial procedure that would create babies from the DNA of three people. As the Associated Press reports, supporters of the procedure say it could prevent children from inheriting many diseases, though others have expressed ethical concerns, saying it could lead to the development … Read More → "FDA examines the science of making babies from three parents’ embryos"
Lickestra uses cones with embedded capacitive sensors. The ice cream sits within the cones and, when licked, causes the sensors to send an electronic signal to an attached Arduino board. The Arduino, in turn, feeds a computer on which a library of melody loops and beats is stored, and that controls the subsequent audio output.
“We worked closely with Arone Dyer, who crafted a four-part composition that included sounds reminiscent of winter icicles and … Read More → "Artists create ice cream that plays music when licked"
Weird as it may seem, mycelium is really having a moment as a next-generation building and design material.
The quick-growing fungus is can be forced to fit pretty much any mold, creating a dense, foam-like substance that has of late made headlines as an architectural tower and bio-plastic.
Read More → "Eat mushrooms that grow off the top of this living lampshade"
Scientists have discovered a system of matter unlike anything they’ve ever seen before, capable of being both crystal-like and a liquid. The new matter is called “disordered hyperuniformity,” it may drastically change the way we can design materials, and, oh yeah, it’s only found in chicken eyes.
Essentially, the new matter demonstrates order at large distances and disorder at shorter distances–almost like an Impressionist painting. … Read More → "Scientists discover a new state of matter in chicken eyes"
The reason why a pruning robot is actually a really good and important idea is that climbing trees and then holding on with one hand (or no hands) while sawing big heavy bits of them off is rather incredibly dangerous, with injury rates about 10 times that of working in a factory. This teleoperated robot means that you can stand very, very far away while the pruning gets done, and the ‘bot seems to … Read More → "No tree is safe from this chainsaw-wielding robot"
Subway Symphony is a proposal by longtime New Yorker James Murphy (formerly of LCD Soundsystem) to change the shrill turnstile beeps in the New York City subway system into a pleasant-sounding music installation. Murphy proposes that the turnstiles be reprogrammed to play from a selection of up to five notes per station, so that a given station would play a short sequence of notes as passengers pass through the turnstiles. Each … Read More → "Subway Symphony, James Murphy’s proposal to turn New York City subway turnstiles into a music installation"
On his website, Extension 765, Soderbergh has combined Alfred Hitchcock’s and Gus Van Sant’s versions of Psycho into a single film, which he’s titled Psychos. Van Sant’s 1998 remake has largely been converted into black-and-white, and since it covers Hitchcock’s film nearly shot-for-shot, Soderbergh is able to quite seamlessly cut between the two … Read More → "Steven Soderbergh mashes two versions of ‘Psycho’ into one movie"
If you’re going to lose a game of chess, it might as well be against the greatest player in the world right now (and arguably ever). World Champion Magnus Carlsen just released a free iOS app that lets you play simulated versions of himself from age five up to his current age of 23.
via Geekosystem
