Over at the New Yorker, Jonah Lehrer looks at recent research on the neuroscience of choking. 

Last Sunday, at the Memorial golf tournament in Dublin, Ohio, Rickie Fowler looked like the man to beat. He entered the tournament with momentum: Fowler had recently gained his first ever P.G.A. tour victory, and he had finished in the top ten in his last four starts. On the first hole of the final round, Fowler sank a fourteen-foot birdie putt, placing him within two shots of the lead.

And that’s … Read More → "The neuroscience of choking under pressure"

The Machine Light series comprises 12 different models produced in low volume production. Each object is manually produced from up to 200 individual parts. Each light is … Read More → "Machine Lights, beautiful light sculptures by Frank Buchwald"

… Read More → "NASA | SDO’s ultra-high definition view of 2012 Venus transit"

If you’ve been looking for the best low-cost, low-tech solution for encrypting your messages and you have a real affinity for World War II-era cryptography, then have I got the DIY project for you: The Papercraft Enigma code machine. Papercraft Alan Turing is spinning in his grave.

While we’ve shown you other ways to replicate the Engima’s legendary code-making capabilities, never has it been done so … Read More → "How to make your own papercraft enigma code machine"

With a few exceptions, most of the battery technology that we write about isn’t exactly close to making your gadgets better in the near term. This battery technology is, and it could triple battery capacity within a year.

Batteryologists at Washington State University have figured out a way to make lithium-ion batteries using an anode made of tin instead of graphite. The anode, as I’m sure … Read More → "Tin nanowhiskers triple battery capacity, on the market in a year"

In the Star Wars movies, moisture farmers on dry planets like Tattoine use droids to help with the repetitive, back-breaking labor, but that’s in a galaxy far, far away. There’s no doubt that robots are cool, but are robots on farms far off in our future? Actually, the future is already here, with highly advanced milking machines on some dairy farms and a fully automated robot planting tractor set to hit the market this fall.
via Read More → "Robots are coming to a farm near you"

Tesla had originally pegged the Model S’ first delivery for June 22nd. At least one owner, though, is getting an early treat: one of venture capital firm Draper Fisher Jurvetson’s namesake managing directors, Steve Jurvetson, just picked up his red-hued EV sedan in the San Francisco Bay Area. He can also rightfully claim to have the very first production Model S anywhere, as he’s since posted photographic proof on Flickr that his car was the earliest to have completed the factory run< … Read More → "Tesla delivers first Model S a little early, EVs take a big step forward"

… Read More → "How to anodize aluminum"

Who doesn’t want thin and lightweight electronic devices? From flexible computer displays to printable solar cells to medical equipment, the possibilities are myriad. However, testing the durability of nanoscale electronics under strain—twisting, bending, folding, etc.—provides a challenge. The substrate (the layer upon which electronic components are assembled) as well as the electronics must endure stresses, meaning the entire device needs to perform adequately under the same adverse conditions.

< … Read More → "Bend me, shape me: flexible electronics perform under punishing conditions"

If you want to catch this year’s transit of Venus without damaging your retinas, several sites will bring the astronomical event to your screen of choice.

For sky watchers, the transit is a big deal — it happens when the planet Venus passes directly between the earth and sun. And, that doesn’t happen that often. The spectacle comes in pairs that occur eight years apart about once a century. The … Read More → "Watch the transit of Venus from your desktop"