NASA engineers are using a 3D laser printing system to produce intricate metal parts such as rocket engine components for its next-generation Space Launch System (SLS). The method called “selective laser melting “ (SLM) promises to streamline fabrication and significantly reduce production costs.

Rocket engines are as complex as precision watches, but watches don’t have to deal with highly corrosive or cryogenic … Read More → "NASA using 3D laser printing to create complex rocket parts"

Ladies and gentleman, it’s finally happened. Battlestar Galactica: Blood and Chrome is here. Even better than just being here, Machinima Prime has released two episodes of the web series today. That’s a full 23 minutes and 13 seconds of glorious footage. The series follows a young William Adama during the First Cylon War, making it a prequel to SyFy’s Battlestar Galactica. Give a watch, with episode one above and two below, to see if the series lives up to the hype.
via Read More → "You can watch two episodes of Battlestar Galactica: Blood and Chrome right now"

The Art of Video Games, the Smithsonian’s partially crowd-sourced exhibit on the visual history of video games is going across the country. The EMP Museum in Seattle will play host to the exhibit from February 15 to May 12 in 2013.

The Art of Video Games explores the full range of the medium, from its humble roots on the Atari, to the current generation of … Read More → "The Art of Video Games exhibit heads to Seattle"

It’s unlikely that you speak Mandarin, but that doesn’t mean you won’t need to at some point. Now, Microsoft has created software that can analyze your speech, translate it and then spit out a new recording of your very own voice speaking in a different language.
via Gizmodo

Continue reading

The CEO of ARM says power-efficient chips for mobile devices will move into desktops, laptops, and servers.

Companies like Apple and Samsung are the public face of the smartphone and tablet boom, but they all rely on ARM, the British company that licenses the energy-efficient processor designs required by mobile devices. Those chips were once considered significantly less powerful than the x86 processors found in desktops, laptops, and servers—a market dominated by Intel—but that gap appears to be closing. Microsoft is exploring a switch to ARM’s technology for traditional computers, … Read More → "Moore’s Law is becoming irrelevant"

A newly discovered exoplanet joins the small but growing list of worlds other than our own that may host life.

The exoplanet is a super-Earth, having about seven times the mass of our home planet, but orbits its parent star at roughly the same distance as Earth does from the sun. The star, HD 40307, is located about 42 light-years from Earth in the constellation Pictor. It’s what’s known as an orange dwarf star, making it somewhat smaller and dimmer than our sun, but not by much.

Three exoplanets … Read More → "Super-Earth in 6-planet system may have oceans, life"

For a company best known for being the maker of high-end software used in construction projects (NYC’s Freedom Tower), industrial design (Tesla cars), and blockbuster Hollywood special effects (Avatar), Autodesk sure has invested in a big way in the future of DIY. If a revolution is coming, Autodesk wants to be at the forefront.

They started their new push in 2011 with the release of 123D, a piece of desktop software meant to democratize 3-D design, and then turned heads by acquiring Instructables, a community for sharing DIY how-tos. 123D has … Read More → "Want to design and print a robot? Autodesk’s newest app is for you"

NASA’s Mars Odyssey orbiter, already the longest-working spacecraft ever sent to Mars, will switch to some fresh, redundant equipment next week that has not been used since before launch in 2001.

Like many spacecraft, this orbiter carries a pair of redundant main computers, so that a backup is available if one fails. Odyssey’s “A-side” computer and “B-side” computer each have several other redundant subsystems linked to just that computer.

Read More → "Mars longevity champ switching computers"

Can you build a better buggy? Or, preferably, a better moonbuggy?

NASA is challenging students around the world to enter the 20th annual moonbuggy race. Registration opened today for the April 2013 event that will be held in Huntsville, Alabama to help inspire creative kids and, just maybe, show some old NASA dogs a few new tricks.

Last year, more than 70 teams competed in the three divisions: high school, … Read More → "Build a better buggy: registration opens for NASA’s 20th annual moonbuggy race"

There is something special about everyday items that manage to bridge the gap between art and practicality. Even after the owners of such pieces get used to the visual appeal, they’re still left with something useful. Would-be objets d’art like the Cloud House and the Eliminator table lamp fall into this category, and now we have a clock to add to the mix. A … Read More → "The Clock Clock turns a wall of analog clocks into digital art"