Startup rocket company Space Exploration Technologies (we all know them as SpaceX) is set to launch their Dragon capsule to the International Space Station early in the morning (3:44am EDT!) on Tuesday. SpaceX will be webcasting the launch on their website, SpaceX.com, starting at 3:00am Eastern Time. You can also follow along as SpaceX CEO Elon Musk … Read More → "SpaceX Ready to launch first Dragon to the International Space Station this morning"

With a host of improvements rumored for the next Kinect, it’s a little surprising to see that there’s still room for the current Kinect to get better: Microsoft has added face tracking capabilities to Kinect for Windows through a software update. Which means, Kinect will be able to read and react to your facial expressions.
via Gizmodo

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Air guns are good for more than launching potatoes, marshmallows, or testing missile ballistics. Turns out, they’re also really handy for making cars fly.

Originally invented by iconic stuntman Hal Needham, the nitrogen-powered straight fire cannon is an essential tool for modern vehicle stunts. They’re often used in film and television, for shots considered too dangerous to be performed by actual stunt drivers. It works on the same principle as a toy pop-gun—using air pressure as the propellant, rather than combustion.
via < … Read More → "This gigantic pneumatic cannon fires cars"

On Sunday, Northern Italy was rocked by a magnitude-6.0 earthquake. In the process, many cheese factories in the region suffered damage—and it is estimated that over 300,000 wheels of cheese, thought to be worth at least $320 million, have been destroyed.

The region, just north of the city of Bologna, is most famous for its Parmesan and Grana Padano. As the earthquake struck, wheels of the cheeses—which can weigh up to 90 pounds—came toppling from their storage shelves. It’s suspected that, if anything, the $320 million total is an underestimate of the … Read More → "$320 million of cheese destroyed in Italian earthquake"

Did you catch yesterday’s annular solar eclipse? I wasn’t on the Western hemisphere to see it. Luckily, there are photographers like Cory Poole who did a fine job capturing the “Ring of Fire.” Poole’s timelapse of the entire eclipse might just be one of the best out there.

In Poole’s own words: 

700 pictures through a Coronado Solar Max 60 Double Stack telescope were used to make this video. The Telescope has a very narrow bandpass allowing you to see the chromosphere and not … Read More → "Amazing timelapse of the solar eclipse yesterday"

In 1983, advertising pioneer David Ogilvy summarized his mission as follows: “I do not … Read More → "Make mainframes, not war: how Mad Men sold computers in the 1960s and 1970s"

Millions looked skyward Sunday to gaze upon the spectacular light show known as the annular solar eclipse, where the moon passes in front of the sun, leaving only a bright ring of light. Missed it? You can catch the next showing — in 2023.
via Time

< … Read More → "Great photo gallery of annular eclipse photos"

Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson may well be the Richard Feynman of our day, a “Great Explainer” in his own right, having previously reflected on everything from the urgency of space exploration to the most humbling fact about the universe. In this short video, Tyson contributes a beautiful addition to this omnibus of notable definitions of science and explores subjects as diverse as the nature of originality and the future of artificial intelligence.
via Read More → "Neil deGrasse Tyson on why we’re wired for science & how originality differs in science vs. art"

No one will like you if in college if you don’t have a laptop. Kidding! But seriously, in college, a laptop is your life. Microsoft wants to help you kiddies out: Just like last year, if you buy a Windows PC, it’ll throw in a free Xbox 360.

Here’s how it works.

via Gizmodo

… Read More → "Internet Protocol over Xylophone Players (IPoXP)"