houghtonlib:

Caveat Lecter: Laboratory tests confirm that a book at Houghton Library is bound in human skin. (Two other Harvard books believed to be bound in human skin were actually sheepskin.)

Not something for the faint at heart, but a reality nevertheless: a book bound in human skin.

Handmade Swords - Wardhllokur (Spirit Song)

• Maker & Copyright: Jake Powning
• Measurements: overall length 86.4 cm; weight: 1,275 kg

A pattern-welded Viking sword made in 2009. It feature a bog-oak grip while the scabbard if yellow bitch with Mammen style ornamentation. The hilt is bronze with silver & copper wire accents.

Sidenotes:

1. Mammen Style is a phase of Viking art in the period from the 960s-c. 1000/1025, the name deriving from finds recovered from a chamber tomb in Mammen on Jutland, Denmark.
2. Among these finds was an axe decorated with designs in inlaid silver of which one side shows a markedly stylized animal with long appendages braided along the body.
3. There are animal representations that can have a more realistic style, like one of the lions on the Jelling stones. During this style there was an introduction of plant motifs.

Source: Copyright © 2014 Jake Powning Swords

herbertwest:

miss-mother-fucker:

There’s an outbreak of malaria. 

Everyone takes the necessary precautions to avoid mosquitoes. 

You’re outside, when a mosquito lands on your arm. 

You raise your hand to it, ready to kill it. 

Then it squeaks. Curious, you lower your ear to it. 

You can just barely make out “Not all mosquitoes”. 

m’laria

floopydisc:

buy merican

Sean is a longtime Godzilla fan; he’s been watching the various incarnations of the kaiju since he was 3 years old. He always imagined it would be wonderful to be the person inside the suit and used to make claws and fins from construction paper. When he saw the announcement for Legendary’s Godzilla, he decided it was time to finally make a Godzilla costume of his own, and I’d say he did an impressive job.

Aftering figuring out how his body would fit in the suit, he started the massive build. He dubbed it Project: NAUTILUS Cosplay and dove into construction around November 2013. He created everything from the stilts (using these instructions) to the scales and listed the money spent on each step. Godzilla’s body was made with polyurethane foam – the kind used for couch cushions. He traced patterns for the body onto the foam and cut the pieces out and glued them together. He made the skin from latex and attached it to the foam body with spray adhesive.

You can see step-by-step photos at his Facebook page.

via Fashionably Geek

Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem rocked The Muppet Show. I bet they take the party anywhere they go. Coolest Homemade Costumes user Peter built the entire band from Janice to Animal for Halloween, and he and his muppet friends were a hit. He used pretty simple materials and techniques to assemble the costume and seeing how easy it was has me wanting to make a muppet.

I made the heads by paper macheing balloons for the heads, stretching fleece over the heads, and adding fake fur, felt, feathers, and foam-materials that all start with F.

To save money on fleece, I bought those $5.00 micro fleece blankets instead of paying $8.00/m at the fabric store. I used the Dollar Store for materials as much as I could, such as Zoot’s over sized sunglasses, and Animals eye’s which are painted Christmas balls. There were thing that I could not find in town so I used eBay for Zoot’s blue hair, and the ostrich feather for Animal, and Sgt. Floyd Peppers stash. The ostrich feather was the most expensive material @$5.00/ft for ostrich fringe.

via Coolest Homemade Costumes

J.J. Abrams addresses the Millennuim Falcon rumors in the best way possible — by outright denying them in a note placed a top a certain holochess set. Wait a minute ,you!!!!

Read more...

What happens when you successfully gain control of an abandoned spacecraft after decades? Disbelief, a happy dance, and hugs, of course.

Read more...

Most news stories about Helium-3 discuss its potential as a future energy source, due to its abundance on the Moon's surface. But, here on Earth, it's a rare substance that's getting rarer. And that worries the Pentagon, which uses Helium-3 as a key ingredient in equipment to detect nuclear smuggling.

Read more...

gnumblr:

*saves game*

wait a minute.. did I save? better save my game just to be safe

*saves game*

wait a minute

Handmade Swords - Oakeshott XVIa

• Maker: Javier Solé of Ancient Forge
• Measurements: overall length: 125 cm; blade Width: 5/2, 5 cm; weight: 1.700 gr; point of balance: 11 cm

Source: Copyright © 2014 Ancient Forge

No I am not randomly typing on the screen. I’m taking a pause from the Starship Troopers review to establish some much-needed vocabulary. Oftimes in science fiction, details are added to things for the sake of feeling more real, but that don’t actually do anything and, more importantly to our interests in scifinterfaces, aren’t even guided by a design philosophy. They’re the equivalent of “bullshit” in the H.G. Frankfurt sense. They don’t care about the diegetic truth of themselves, they only care about their effect.

Collectively, I call these things dunsels. But don’t thank me. Thank the midshipmen in the Star Trek TOS universe.

Dunsels appear in three major places in sci-fi.

The surface of objects: Nurnies and greebles

When they appear on spacecraft or futuristic architecture, they’re called greebles or, interchangably, nurnies. These terms come to us from the folks at ILM, who coined the term while developing the style for Star Wars.

I think I’d also apply these terms to props as well, that get covered by details that may not do anything or have much design logic behind them. That means weapons and gadgets, too.

The walls: Gundans

When this suface detailing is applied to sets, it’s called gundans. This after the Star Trek TOS pipes that got labeled “GNDN,” for “goes nowhere, does nothing.” Hat tip to Berm Lee for pointing me to this term.

Interfaces? Fuidgets

Not surprisingly, we need to have a word for the same sort of thing in screen interfaces, and I’ve never heard a word to describe them. (If a competitor’s already out there, speak up in the comments.) So after some nerdy social media talk amongst my Chief Nerds and Word People, my friend Magnus Torstensson of Unsworn Industries (and long time supporter of the scifiinterfaces project) suggested combining Mark Coleran‘s acronym “FUI” for “fictional user interfaces” and “widgets” to produce fuidgets, which is pronounced FWIDG-its. I love it. I’ll high-five you when I get to Malmö in November for Oredev, Magnus.

This neologism appropriately sounds as awkward as “nurnies,” “greebles,” and “gundans,” and simultaneously conveys their abstract, fantasy, digital nature. It’s a tough thing to wrap into a single word and I’m in awe that my Swedish friend beat me to it. :)

Using “fuidgets”

The spirit of apologetics (which is, perhaps, the core of this project) asks that you don’t dismiss details as H.G.Bullshit. You try as hard as you can to find sense in them. That way we don’t get caught up in a spiral of second-guessing an author’s intent, and moreover, that’s where some of the niftiest insights of this sort of analysis come from. But try though we might, sometimes there is just no explaining odd details that litter sci-fi displays, surfaces, and gadgets, other than to admit that they mean nothing and are there only to give a sense of truthiness. So, now we have that word. Fuidgets. You saw it in Monday’s posts, and I’m sure you’re going to see it again.

‘The heavens as they were on April 25, 1384′ by the Persian polymath Mahmud ibn Yahya ibn al-Hasan al-Kashi.

Researchers at Australia's CSIRO have claimed a world record for the highest temperatures ever achieved using solar energy to generate "supercritical" steam at its solar thermal test plant in Newcastle, Australia. Featuring more than 600 directional mirrors (heliostats) directed at two towers housing solar receivers and turbines, the researchers produced the steam at a pressure of 23.5 mpa (3400 psi) and 570° C (1,058° F). .. Continue Reading CSIRO sets world record in generating "supercritical" steam using solar power

Section: Environment

Tags: Australia, CSIRO, Electricity, Energy, Mirror, Power Stations, Renewable Energy, Solar Power, Solar Power Tower, Solar Thermal, Steam, Steam Power, Temperature, Turbine, World Records

Related Articles:

• New solar thermal tower power plant being built that requires only sun and air
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• Solar Thermal Waste Heat Engine works at low temperature, low pressure
• Experimental direct solar steam generation power plant opens in Spain
• California approves its first molten salt solar power plant

As the world shifts to alternative forms of energy, ways to make homes less dependent on the grid continue to gather steam. Fuel cells, which are more efficient and have lower emissions than internal combustion engines seem like a logical candidate for taking up the slack, so the Fraunhofer Institute for Ceramic Technologies and Systems (IKTS) in Dresden is partnering with the heater manufacturer Vaillant to develop a domestic fuel cell system that uses natural gas to produce both heating and electricity... Continue Reading Fraunhofer developing fuel cell system to power the home

Section: Around The Home

Tags: Alternative Energy, Electricity, Energy, Fraunhofer, Fuel Cell, Home

Related Articles:

• New fuel cell system produces grid electricity from natural gas
• Casio Fuel Cells for Portable Devices
• Hitachi demonstrates fuel-cells for handhelds:expected by 2005
• Harvard scientists create hydrogen fuel cell that lasts longer
• Record setting small-scale solid oxide fuel cell could power neighborhoods
• Ion Tiger sets endurance record for a hydrogen fuel cell powered UAV

Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology in Germany have created a miniature artificial lung that has the potential to significantly improve the process of developing treatments for lung cancer. In addition to the possibility of replacing animal trials currently used to test new medications, the "3D-lung" could be used to expand our understanding of how lung cancer spreads to the rest of the body... Continue Reading Miniature artificial lung could revolutionize cancer research

Section: Medical

Tags: Cancer, Fraunhofer, Lung

Related Articles:

• Study shows dogs can sniff out lung cancer
• Cheek swab technique could provide simple cancer screening
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• Lung cancer breath test to be trialed at UK pharmacies
• Researchers create artificial lung that works with air rather than pure oxygen
• Gold nanoparticle could allow powerful alpha particles to join cancer fight

Technological mandala 30. Electronic components, copper wire, paper, 122 cm x 122 cm, 2013.

Technological mandala 30, detail

Technological mandala 27. Electronic components, copper wire, paper, 150cm x 150 cm, 2013.

Technological mandala 15. Electronic components, copper wire, paper, wood frame, 80 cm x 80 cm, 2014.

Technological mandala 34. Electronic components, copper wire, paper, wood frame, 76 cm x 76 cm x 7 cm, 2014.

Multimedia artist Leonard Ulian (previously here and here) has a number of new mandalas and wrapped books created using a variety of soldered radio and computer components. The mandala is traditionally known as a spiritual and ritual symbol in both Hinduism and Buddhism meant to represent the universe, but through his deep interest in how systems can be applied to the process of art making, Ulian has adopted mandala patterns to create symmetrical networks. The artist most recently had work on view at The Flat, and you can see much more on Ulian’s website. (via Beautiful Decay)

Thank you all so much!

cocastiel:

mellro:

edwardspoonhands:

karenhallion:

miss-nobody13:

itsprongs:

Oh god guys. JK Rowling is a genius, and so is this person.

the thing I love about this fandom is that there are 7 books and 8 movies to observe. so every once in a while some blessed soul finds a piece of information that makes all the magic resurface again

Mind. Blown. 

Oh Lord…it’s a metaphor too. It’s symbolic of Neville holding on to his past, the horrors of what happened to his parents, of being a passive vessel for that atrocity. As if the terrible thing kept happening and would never stop happening. 

When he moves forward and becomes part of his own story instead of the story of his past, his strength surges. 

TEAM NEVILLE FOR LIFE

It also shows that if you give a kid the wrong tool, he may be a genius but he’s never going to be able to build something with it.

are you fucking kidding me

clientsfromhell:

Client: Hello, I asked one of my friends and he said that you built our site using Hotmail.

Me: Excuse me! What do you mean?

Client: You used Hotmail to build my site.

Me: We can’t do that, nobody can. Hotmail is owned by Microsoft and they offer free email accounts. It’s not a development environment.

Client: My friend is a computer expert and he is sure.

Me: Is your friend next to you?

Client: Yes

Me: Can you put him through?

Friend: You made my friend’s site with Hotmail. Admit it.

Me: Sir, we can’t do that. What made you think it was created using Hotmail.

Friend: All the pages in the site end with .html.

ffuuuCCCKKK

src via escapist-fiction

At first glance, these may look like Russian Orthodox iconography from the Middle ages. But they are actually striking illustrations of the works of J.R.R. Tolkien by Ukrainian artist Sergei Iukhimov.

Read more...

attn foo

Last year’s Wondermark Calendar, The Gaxian Almanac, featured 29 original illustrations of Gaxians (drawn by me, watercolored by Max Loren Shepard), exploring their unique and terrible way of life!

I’ve matted this particular one with an acetate overlay (featuring the text from the calendar page) and I am now offering it on eBay starting at just 99¢.

(Click any image for bigger.)

I had a lot of fun offering these originals to interested readers last Christmas, so I’m keen to share more of them. I have a handful of different paintings left from the calendar…but of course each is original and the only one of its kind.

Bid early, bid often! Enjoy!

Oh and if Gaxian paintings are not quite your style, I also have a severely water-damaged 1977 MGB manual if you want that. Maybe just for the cool textures??

stunningpicture:

Alligator shaking his fist at the world

The model-maker's dream; a 1928/31 Brough Superior 680.  With a home nickel-plating kit, and some ingenuity, you could join the oh-so-exclusive ranks of the Superiori...

For maximum slogging power, how about a 577cc 1928 Ariel Model B sidevalver?

Off-roaders and retro '13 Rebels' re-enactors will love this 1952 AJS Model 18S, the original 'Wild One'

For those plotting evil or ready for a caped adventure, the sinister 1955 Vincent Black Prince makes a perfect project for your bat cave or mad scientist's lab...

Perhaps tweed jackets and a briar pipe are more your style?  How about a 1952 Vincent Series C Rapide?

For something Britxotic, how about Edward Turner's original OHC edition of the venerable Ariel Square 4?  This is (or will be) the 1934 600cc version...

Go Flat Tank, or go home!  You can join the ranks of true Vintagents with this 1928 AJS K7 'Big Port, a venerable sporting mount from the age of the 'fast bicycle'...

Although it's now possible to create lab-grown cartilage, there's still at least one big challenge in doing so – cartilage grown in a flat Petri dish may not be optimally-shaped for replacing the body's own natural cartilage parts. Scientists from a consortium of UK universities, however, are developing a possible solution. They're using "ultrasonic tweezers" to grow cartilage in mid-air. .. Continue Reading Levitated lab-grown cartilage could result in more effective implants

Section: Science

Tags: Bristol University, Cartilage, Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, Ultrasound, University of Dundee, University of Glasgow, University of Southampton

Related Articles:

• Lab-grown cartilage used to perform nose reconstruction surgery
• Radical tissue scaffold to treat knee injuries
• Scientists use 3D printer and cartilage cells to create artificial ears
• Nanofiber spheres carry healing cells into cartilage wounds
• Researchers hope to grow human ears from fat tissue
• 3D bioprinting of stem cell structures could combat osteoarthritis

iguanamouth:

DONT you just HATE IT when youre KNEADING BREAD DOUGH and the dough HARDENS around your ENTIRE BODY and you become TRAPPED in a COCOON of BREAD only to emerge 4 MONTHS LATER as the ULTIMATE SUBLIME STARCH MOTH and ATTACK the CITY 

jolys:

caterjunes:

spiffymuffin:

yunghau5:

3dboyfriends:

smashbrethren:

prostheticknowledge:

Dildo Generator

Online 3D experiment by Ikaros Kappler which is described as a “Extrusion/Revolution Generator” ….

Created with three.js, you can alter the bezier curves and angle of the form, and is designed with 3D printing in mind (models can be exported and saved, as well as calculated weight in silicone).

Try it out for yourself (if you wish) here

the time is now

hell yeah

ah yes, the ol rolling pin dilda

it’s called the purple ramjet

which end do you start with? the answer is yours to decide

I would rather have played Han Solo. When I first read the script I thought that's the part to be, always wry and sardonic. He's always that. I feel like a lot of the time Leia's either worried or pissed or, thank God, sort of snarky. But I'm much more worried and pissed than Han Solo ever was, and those aren't fun things to play... I had a lot of fun killing Jabba the Hutt. They asked me on the day if I wanted to have a stunt double kill Jabba. No! That's the best time I ever had as an actor. And the only reason to go into acting is if you can kill a giant monster. -- Carrie Fisher to an audience at the Hay arts festival in Wales. I'd wager there's a significant number of us who'd like to be Han Solo, so Fisher is not without friends in this area. And as for a desire to kill giant monsters, well. I think that's pretty universal as well. She also spoke about how nice it was to see her old costars again for the filming of Star Wars: Episode VII, and confirm that they all look "a little melted" by time; and had a great, biting answer for the question about whether she still has that gold bikini. You can read highlights of the talk here at the Guardian. Previously in Carrie Fisher