… Read More → "World’s fastest clapping record broken (video)"

In a major step forward for tissue engineering, surgeons at Duke University have successfully implanted a bioengineered blood vessel into the arm of a patient with end-stage kidney disease. The procedure is the first of its kind in the US, and one of the first such efforts worldwide.

The engineered vein was created with donated … Read More → "Surgeons implant lab-grown blood vessel into first US patient"

A new study done at Rockefeller’s Laboratory of Neurogenetics and Behavior shows that by modifying the DNA of a mosquito, it loses its ability to use its odor receptors to sniff out tasty humans.

Researchers at the lab led by post-doctorate Matthew DeGennaro modified the “orco” gene of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes. The gene is believed to be what gives mosquitoes … Read More → "Mutant mosquitos lose their taste for humans"

Swedish photographer and retouch artist Erik Johansson and Adobe teamed up to prank pedestrians in Finland by Photoshopping them into digital ads that were on display next to their bus stop bench. This clever prank was carried out to help promote an upcoming Adobe Creative Day event taking place in the Stockholm on June 11, 2013.
via Laughing … Read More → "Artist pranks pedestrians by photoshopping them into digital ads as they wait for the bus (video)"

You don’t need to know an ancient language to help scientists read ancient literature. Researchers are looking for volunteers for a crowdsource projectaimed at transcribing (and, later, translating) the words written on a series of crumbling papyrus scrolls, found in a trash heap at the site of what was once Oxyrhynchus, Egypt.
via Boing Boing

Read More → "Help transcribe ancient Egyptian texts"

Using data from The New York Times, Matt Stiles of The Daily Viz created an interesting infographic that charts which birth dates are the most common. Inspired by the infographic, Lane Harrison created an interactive version that shows the frequencies of birth dates and conception rates from 1973-1999.
… Read More → "How common is your birthday? A chart of birth date frequencies"

William Lamson’s Solarium comes close to a real-life equivalent of the gingerbread and cake house described in classic fairy tale Hansel and Gretel. Though it uses steel instead of confectionary as a means of support, Lamson’s creation incorporates caramelized sugar to create an effect similar to stained-glass windows.

Constructed for the 2012 Light and Landscape show in … Read More → "Sugar-filled Solarium would tempt Hansel and Gretel"

It’s 185 feet below the surface of Lewis NY, and comes with “Strangelove-ian clocks that show the time in cities around the world and gun-metal gray consoles covered with analog switches and dials for you to flip and turn while making blastoff noises with your mouth.” You also get 8 acres with a “waterfront view.” Asking price: $750,000.
via Boing Boing</ … Read More → "Cold War missile silo converted to home on market for $750k"

Your brain is pretty important. If something’s wrong you want a doctor to be able to peer in and see what’s going on. But noninvasive scans are probably preferable to letting the spirits out of a little hole in your skull. Still, those scans usually have negative connotations, and Dutch painter Joris Kuipers is using CT and MRI scans as the inspiration … Read More → "An upbeat take on brain imaging"

The minuscule vacuum pump pictured here was developed at the University of Michigan and uses an array of tiny hexagonal compartments connected with even smaller channels to maximize their suction. It sadly can’t be used to clean up chip crumbs, but as a way to cool tiny electronics, it could revolutionize smartphones.

And this is actually … Read More → "DARPA made a vacuum the size of a penny"