Shared posts

03 Feb 14:55

A Handwoven Moving Block That Changes Its Shape

by sodiumnami

Studio Drift created a large-scale moving block as a modern interpretation of one of the world’s oldest operas, l’orfeo. ‘EGO’ is handwoven from 10 miles of reflective Japanese fluorocarbon. Studio drift had to develop its own weaving room for the production of the moving block. Designboom has more details: 

during the performance, a puppeteer directs the block live via algorithms and software so that it is completely aligned with the dancers and singers. as the object changes shape and state, it conveys the shifting perspectives of the opera’s protagonist
l’orfeo, a major multidisciplinary performance — collaboratively created by director monique wagemakers, choreographer nanine linning, and artist lonneke gordijn (studio drift) — premiered in the netherlands on january 28, 2020. ‘developing this opera in a close collaborative process with director monique wagemakers and choreographer nanine linning opened up my eyes for the magical possibilities of a theater setting and made me re-think the role of the public and its importance in our work,’ explains lonneke gordijn, who founded studio drift with ralph nauta in 2007.
another world is created in which an entire group is immersed simultaneously,’ gordijn continues. ‘techniques can be used that create visual effects that are impossible in a ‘real’ situation. stimulating all the senses with amazing power and impact. it was a delight to be introduced to this new world and I feel inspired to explore in more depth how we can bring and audience through an emotional journey with artworks outside of the theater or gallery space. in this 
process we enhanced each other, puzzling together to sculpt an experience where dance, music, voice, sculpture and technology become one voice.’

image via Designboom

30 Jan 18:43

Whoa: The Most Detailed Images Of The Sun Ever Captured

sun-detail-1.jpg These are the most detailed images of the sun taken to date, captured by the National Science Foundation's recently completed Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope atop the summit of Haleakala, Maui, in Hawai'i. Some more info about just what the hell we're looking at, which apparently isn't unpopped popcorn:
The image shows a pattern of turbulent, "boiling" gas that covers the entire sun. The cell-like structures - each about the size of Texas - are the signature of violent motions that transport heat from the inside of the sun to its surface. Hot solar material (plasma) rises in the bright centers of "cells," cools off and then sinks below the surface in dark lanes in a process known as convection. In these dark lanes we can also see the tiny, bright markers of magnetic fields. Never before seen to this clarity, these bright specks are thought to channel energy up into the outer layers of the solar atmosphere called the corona. These bright spots may be at the core of why the solar corona is more than a million degrees!
Fascinating. I can still remember the first time I looked at the sun through binoculars when I was a kid and couldn't see at night for two weeks. I also remember the first time I looked at a booger under a microscope. My point is, science: I've been doing it for a long time. Keep going for a trippy gif of the sun in action. I think the devil tried to speak to me!
30 Jan 18:42

You're Hurting My Brain: Ames Window Optical Illusion

This is a vintage video of Deane Hutton from the Australian children's television program The Curiosity Show discussing and demonstrating the Ames window optical illusion, a two dimensional window that appears to stop and change direction when it's actually spinning 360-degrees. Admittedly, an impressive illusion. Still, the most impression illusion of all time remains-- "Whatever you orchestrated to score a girlfriend." Now that was just pure magic. No but seriously I was going to say-- "The detachable thumb trick." HOW DO THEY DO IT? Keep going for this video, as well as another they did prior because the illusion was so popular.
29 Jan 18:10

Fan-Made Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild Animation In The Style Of A Studio Ghibli Movie

This is a short The Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild fan-made animation in the style of a Studio Ghibli movie. I enjoyed it. Of course I enjoy almost anything Zelda or Studio Ghibli. Unfortunately, as much as it pains me to admit since I'm such a bigger Zelda fan than all of you combined and doubled, I'm only just now playing Breath Of The Wild because it took two and a half years for somebody to finally buy me a Nintendo Switch. "Why didn't you buy one yourself?" What's it look like, I'm made of money? "More like piled turds." Like dry and tough like little bricks or-- "Fresh and mushy." You're a jerk. Keep going for the video.
27 Jan 20:31

What Sorcery is This?: Stream Appears To Flow Uphill

This is a video from near the French border in northern Spain of a stream that appears to flow upward. Why is it doing that? Let me copy/paste that for you while I try to convince a coworker pee actually flows from the urinal into your penis:
A gravity hill, also known as a magnetic hill, mystery hill, mystery spot, gravity road, or anti-gravity hill, is a place where the layout of the surrounding land produces an optical illusion, making a slight downhill slope appear to be an uphill slope.
Fascinating. You know I really do learn something new every day. Granted nothing that's going to help me succeed at a life, but that didn't stop me from going to college for seven years either, did it? "How are those student loans, GW?" Suffocating. "After all this time?" Always. Keep going for the full video.
27 Jan 14:55

Holy Smokes: A Full Length Shot-For-Shot Remake Of Toy Story 3 In Real Life

toy-story-3-irl.jpg Eight years in the making (and after receiving Disney's permission to post without cease and desisting), this is Toy Story 3 IRL (links to Facebook project page), a shot-for-shot remake of Pixar's Toy Store 3 faithfully recreated by brothers Morgan and Mason McGrew (an M named family) using stop action in real life (previously posted trailer HERE). That...must have been a hell of an undertaking. Still, the results speak for themselves and *nudging results on stage* well -- go on. "We suck." Dammit, no -- just like we practiced earlier. "We're awesome!" That's more like it! Now let's go get some pizza and ice cream, champs. Keep going for the video, which, yes, is an hour and forty minutes long because it is the whole movie shot-for-shot.
27 Jan 13:02

Kylo Ren Returns to Saturday Night Live for Another Round of Undercover Boss

by Julie Muncy

And he only kills, like, a couple of people. Truly, he’s growing.

Read more...

24 Jan 21:12

A Harvard Team Has Finally Solved The Mystery Of How Stress Turns Hair Gray

by Franzified

Over a decade ago, in 2009, the New York Times appeared with the headline, “After 44 days in the White House, Obama’s hair is grayer.” It was a reference to a common trend of presidents’ hair turning dramatically gray during their terms in the White House.

The idea of stress turning hair gray, is often called the Marie Antoinette syndrome, which is a reference to the often-told, but most likely apocryphal, story of the ill-fated French queen’s hair, which is said to have turned white overnight after she was captured during the revolution.

While the idea of one’s hair turning white in an instant after a sudden fright is an amusing cartoonish fiction, there is a solid body of anecdotal evidence describing instances where hair rapidly turns white after months, or even weeks, of stress or trauma.
“Everyone has an anecdote to share about how stress affects their body, particularly in their skin and hair – the only tissues we can see from the outside,” explains senior author on the new study, Ya-Chieh Hsu. “We wanted to understand if this connection is true, and if so, how stress leads to changes in diverse tissues. Hair pigmentation is such an accessible and tractable system to start with – and besides, we were genuinely curious to see if stress indeed leads to hair graying.”

Learn more details about this study over at New Atlas.

(Image Credit: Julim6/ Pixabay)

24 Jan 12:15

Sure, Why Not?: A Light That Projects An Imaginary Window On Your Wall

window-lights-1.jpg These are the REVEAL lighting systems available from Adam Frank Incorporated. Powered by halogen ($280) or LED ($320, and 1/10th of the energy consumption) bulbs, the lighting systems project an imaginary window anywhere you want one in the dark using "multi-plane analog images to create real depth of focus." Plus "air currents through the projector create organic, non-repeating movement in the background." How about that! Each light includes five different window style slides, and five different tree views for a total of 25 different combinations so you can find your perfect fake window. Of course if you're got $280 to spend on an imaginary window you've easily got the money to buy a sledgehammer, duct tape, and a roll of clear plastic sheeting to make a real window. Shoot, for that kinda money I'll make you all the windows you want. AND skylights. Keep going for several more shots and a video.
24 Jan 12:13

When a Man Took a Joke in a Pepsi Ad Seriously

by Miss Cellania

In 1995, Pepsi ran a promotion in which they offered merchandise for "Pepsi points." You could redeem your Pepsi points for clothing and accessories and all sorts of neat stuff, as you can see in the original ad. The prizes ran all the way up to a Harrier jet for seven million Pepsi points.

The joke is simple enough: they took the idea behind Pepsi Points and extrapolated it until it was ridiculous. Solid comedy writing. But then they seemingly didn’t do the math. Seven million sure does sound like a big number, but I don’t think the team creating the ad bothered to run the numbers and check that it was definitely big enough.

But someone else did. At the time, each AV‑8 Harrier II Jump Jet brought into action cost the United States Marine Corps over $20 million and, thankfully, there is a simple way to convert between USD and PP: Pepsi would let anyone buy additional points for 10 cents each. Now, I’m not familiar with the market for second-hand military aircraft, but a price of $700,000 on a $20 million aircraft sounds like a good investment. As it did to John Leonard, who tried to cash in on this.

Leonard did the math, and bought enough Pepsi points to get the jet. The company was caught by surprise, because they didn't do the math. Read how that turned out, and why the ad company couldn't see it coming at Literary Hub.  -via Digg

23 Jan 12:41

Solar System Changes

"Actually, Jupiter already has a very impressive ring system!" --someone who knows Jupiter is within earshot
23 Jan 12:40

Astonishing Coin-Stacking Skills

by John Farrier

Japanese Twitter user @thumb_tani is a master of balance. He'll put coins, glasses, fruits, and other household items on top of each other and they will stay in place!

He's not cheating at all. As you can see in this video, he really can just line up items vertically.

Not surprisingly, he's also an expert juggler. I suspect that there's a lot of overlap between these two skills.

-via Nag on the Lake

23 Jan 12:33

British Scientists Accidentally Discover Immune Cells That Kill Cancer

by sodiumnami

A new type of T-cell has been accidentally discovered by researchers at Cardiff University. The researchers were analysing blood from a bank in Wales when they found the new type of immune cell. The cell carries a receptor that has never been seen before, allowing the newly-discovered immune cell to latch on to most human cancers, ignoring the healthy cells. Yahoo News has more details: 

Professor Andrew Sewell, lead author on the study and an expert in T-cells from Cardiff University’s School of Medicine, said it was “highly unusual” to find a cell that had broad cancer-fighting therapies, and raised the prospect of a universal therapy.
“This was a serendipitous finding, nobody knew this cell existed,” Prof Sewell told The Telegraph.
“Our finding raises the prospect of a ‘one-size-fits-all’ cancer treatment, a single type of T-cell that could be capable of destroying many different types of cancers across the population. Previously nobody believed this could be possible.”
Asked if it meant that someone in Wales was walking around completely immune to cancer, Prof Sewell said: “Possibly. This immune cell could be quite rare, or it could be that lots of people have this receptor but for some reason it is not activated. We just don't know yet.” 

image via Yahoo News

22 Jan 12:41

World’s Oldest Known Impact Crater Confirmed in Australia

by George Dvorsky on Gizmodo, shared by Cheryl Eddy to io9

A 70-kilometer-wide (43-mile) impact structure in the Australian Outback has been dated to 2.2 billion years old, making it the oldest known asteroid crater on Earth. Fascinatingly, this asteroid likely plunged into a massive ice sheet, triggering a global-scale warming period.

Read more...

21 Jan 14:45

Whoa: This Beautiful Star Wars CGI Short, 'Last Stand'

This is Star Wars: Last Stand, a short fan made CGI film featuring a bunch of beautifully rendered stormtroopers (in 4K too) attacking an unseen foe. In the creator's own words while I too lash out at an unseen foe and worry my coworkers. ADMIT IT -- ADMIT YOU'VE BEEN STEALING MY DREAMS:
Star Wars: The Last Stand is a dynamic, gritty and somewhat over the top full CGI depiction of battle worn storm troopers facing off against an unknown enemy. Stormtroopers are often portrayed as somewhat silly and incompetent, so I wanted to create a film to showcase troopers as skilled fighters, which is how I see them. Having the simple idea of showing Stormtroopers fighting, I knew the crux of the project would be to illustrate the battle in an interesting way. To do this I wanted to use dynamic camera angles, focusing on moments and scenes we don't usually see in Star Wars films. I worked on this piece on and off for 3 years, mostly by myself.
That's cool, but what were they fighting? Because as much as you really wanted to "showcase troopers as skilled fighters," I'm fairly certain they either caught a group of their own in friendly fire, or, perhaps even more likely, were just attacking and losing to a reflective surface. Keep going for the video while I ignore all argumentative comments about blaster colors.
21 Jan 14:43

These Advertisements On Vehicles Failed Miserably

by Franzified

Marketing people should be paying attention or else their ads on vehicles will fail miserably like these. Check out these epic fails over at Sad and Useless.

(Image Credit: Sad And Useless)

20 Jan 13:05

Unsubscribe Message

A mix of the two is even worse: 'Thanks for unsubscribing and helping us pare this list down to reliable supporters.'
20 Jan 13:05

Netflix adiciona 21 títulos do Studio Ghibli em seu catálogo

by Priscila Ganiko

Títulos serão adicionados ao longo dos próximos meses

The post Netflix adiciona 21 títulos do Studio Ghibli em seu catálogo appeared first on Jovem Nerd.

17 Jan 12:21

Newly Sequenced Giant Squid Genome Raises as Many Questions as It Answers

by George Dvorsky on Gizmodo, shared by James Whitbrook to io9

One the most intriguing and mysterious creatures on the planet—the giant squid—has finally had its genome fully sequenced. But while the genome is helping to explain many of its distinguishing features, including its large size and big brain, we still have much to learn about this near-mythical beast.

Read more...

17 Jan 12:20

New Research Casts Doubt on Theory That Volcanoes Caused Dinosaur Extinction

by George Dvorsky on Gizmodo, shared by Cheryl Eddy to io9

Scientists have new evidence in their quest to settle the longstanding debate about whether it was a gigantic meteorite or massive volcanic eruptions that triggered the mass extinction that wiped out the dinosaurs.

Read more...

17 Jan 12:17

Bad Map Projection: South America

The projection does a good job preserving both distance and azimuth, at the cost of really exaggerating how many South Americas there are.
16 Jan 12:51

Thanks, Internet: Darth Vader Voiced By George Castanza's Dad

frank-costanza-darth-vader.jpg This is a video edit of Darth Vader imagining the character voiced by Frank Castanza from Seinfeld. It's pretty much the very reason the internet exists. Well, that and *checks to see if girlfriend is online, she isn't* nudie pics. *sees her sign on suddenly* LEARNING AND E-COMMERCE. Keep going for the video.
15 Jan 12:29

Has Hubble Detected Rogue Clumps of Dark Matter?

by Ryan F. Mandelbaum on Gizmodo, shared by Cheryl Eddy to io9

Scientists using the Hubble Space Telescope have discovered evidence of small clumps of dark matter warping the light from distant quasars.

Read more...

15 Jan 12:28

Interstellar Stardust Found Inside Australian Meteorite Is a Staggering 7 Billion Years Old

by George Dvorsky on Gizmodo, shared by Cheryl Eddy to io9

A meteorite that crashed into Australia back in 1969 contains stardust dating back some 7 billion years, predating the formation of Earth by 2.5 billion years. The remarkable discovery offers a snapshot of the conditions that existed long before our solar system came into existence.

Read more...

14 Jan 12:38

What The?: This Crazy Visual Illusion

This is a video of a visual illusion made by optical illusion creator (and 2017 Optical Illusion Contest winner!) Gianni Sarcone and smoothly animated by Chris Said. None of the colored lines are moving and they're all the same length. Pretty wild, right? "Like Mr. Toad's Ride." Solid reference, like a healthy turd -- one you can really be proud of for eating right and not drinking too much. Thanks to Carey A, who agrees the greatest optical illusion of all time is this hologram we're living in that we call reality.
10 Jan 17:33

The Wild West: Driving Through Tumbleweeds Blowing Across The Road

This is a video from Richland, Washington of a car driving through a migration of tumbleweeds, which *David Attenborough voice* are presumably heading south for the winter to bone in the warmer, desert climates and return in the spring with their weedlings. "Just how dumb are you, GW?" I mean at least eight, right? There's also another video of a crew removing tumbleweeds that have completely engulfed a car. Now that's a lot of tumbling weeds! Could you imagine if you were allergic to tumbleweeds and they just kept following you everywhere? Allergies are the worst. I'd fill my pockets with the heaviest rocks I could find. "And?" Walk straight into the ocean and drown. Keep going for the videos.
10 Jan 13:50

Turma da Mônica e Star Wars no melhor crossover das galáxias

by Lari Medeiros

Dessa vez o plano infalível do Cebolinha atravessou a galáxia! Não entendeu? É que a Mauricio de Sousa Produções, MSP para os íntimos, lançou um episódio especial da Turma da Mônica Toy (série da turma, veiculada no Youtube) para comemorar o novo filme Star Wars: A Ascensão Skywalker.

Em um crossover intergalático, os personagens criados por Mauricio de Sousa foram transformados em cavaleiros Jedi, Siths e membros da Resistência. Mônica e Cebolinha estão representados como Rey e Kylo para recriar o embate dos protagonistas. Nem os pets ficaram de fora! Dá uma olhada nas imagens:

O episódio, que já está disponível no canal da turminha no Youtube, foi desenvolvido para ser veiculado antes das sessões de Star Wars: A Ascensão Skywalker. O título do crossover é “A sensação Sansão”. é o episódio 31 da sétima temporada e tem pouco mais de 30 segundos. O vídeo é sucesso, já tem mais de um milhão de views, quase dez mil likes e você pode assistir aqui em baixo:

E essa não é a primeira vez que as crianças do bairro do limoeiro colaboram com a Disney nos cinemas. A MSP também já realizou crossovers em Capitã Marvel e Vingadores. Na verdade, o estúdio vem apostando em diversos projetos ligados ao mundo geek.

Qual será a próxima aventura cinematográfica da turminha? Estamos ansiosos! Mas se você não quiser esperar a próxima novidade é só ir no canal da Turma da Mônica e assistir aos outros episódios de Mônica Toy. Lá tem episódios com referências a X-Men e diversas outras obras da cultura pop, vale à pena!

Star Wars: A Ascensão Skywalker foi produzido por Kathleen Kennedy, J. J. Abrams e Michelle Rejwane, dirigido por J. J. Abrams e tem roteiro de J. J. Abrams e Chris Terrio. Esse é o nono filme da franquia, estreou em dezembro de 2019 e está prestes a atingir US$ 1 bilhão na bilheteria mundial.

A força os nerds têm – e a nossa dentuça favorita também!

O post Turma da Mônica e Star Wars no melhor crossover das galáxias apareceu primeiro em Garotas Nerds.

09 Jan 13:01

Alien Abduction Ring Doorbell Glitch

This is an alleged glitch in a recording from a Ring doorbell where the video freezes and the homeowner appears to be beamed up to an alien ship. Per Youtube commenter iga ninja, "See this all the time in cameras. Not uncommon" and BibleReadingMum123, "Its because the lens is like a circle or something like that." Valuable info...from two aliens posing as Youtube commenters! Going with the Bible reading name too -- that's deep undercover. Nice Try, Zazixzan, or what your your real name is. No, I suspect this was a legit abduction. *shrug* Stranger things have happened. "Like what?" Two seasons already. And, AND -- our love. "Yeah that hasn't happened." Maybe not yet, but one sip from this love potion you'll fall head-over-heels for me. *gulping, choking* Tastes like...Nordstrom. "Jesus, was that cologne?" Let's kiss and see if it worked. Keep going for the video, but the gif is it really.
08 Jan 21:05

Popping A Single Popcorn Kernel With A Blowtorch And Levitating It With A Hairdryer

In but how many takes did it take news, this is a short video created by Swiss filmmakers Zita Bernet and Rafael Sommerhalder of a single popcorn kernel being dropped in front of a blowtorch where it quickly pops, launching it into the low pressure column created by a hair dryer, levitating it there. Cool, but I asked for butter. Also, how can I possibly play the penis in the popcorn trick on myself with so little popcorn? I'll know it's there all along. Keep going for the full video while I melt a stick of butter and drink it.
07 Jan 18:23

7 Mysterious Geological Formations That Still Baffle Scientists

by Miss Cellania

The world is full of wonders, and that includes some that even scientific research hasn't figured out yet. But curious scientists are working on them. Some are fairly inaccessible and difficult to study, some have been studied but have more than one plausible explanation, and some are just baffling. The picture here seems to show what's at the end of the rainbow, a bubblegum pink lake named Lake Hillier.

This small, saltwater lake on an island off Western Australia is only one-third of a mile long, but its bubblegum-pink color makes it especially striking. The lake was documented in 1802 by British explorer Matthew Flinders, who took a sample of its waters but failed to understand how it got its startling hue. Tourists can visit only by helicopter, though it is safe to swim in the waters.

Scientists today suspect the color is due to the presence of a pink alga, Dunaliella salina, and/or a pink bacterium, Salinibacter ruber. But unlike other pink lakes around the world, such as Lake Retba in Senegal, Lake Hillier’s color doesn’t fluctuate with temperature or sunlight—so the investigation goes on.

That explanation leaves us with another question, though- hasn't anyone taken samples from the lake? Are the helicopter pilots charging too much? Lake Hillier is only one of many geologic mysteries around the globe that scientists haven't yet solved. Read about six more of them at Mental Floss.

(Image credit: Kurioziteti123)