From Engadget: Lego Game Boy Transformer uses blocks for more than Tetris

'Bricked' Game Boy is more than meets the eye, uses Legos to transform

So what’s cooler for ’80s geeks than a Lego set, a Game Boy or a Transformers robot? Why, a Lego Game Boy Transformer, of course. At least, that’s the idea behind the latest pièce de résistance from building-block lover Julius von Brunk, who not only got the touch but also got the power to create his very own Game Boy-inspired Lego Transformer. The “Domaster” — no relation to the exercise machine for perky thighs — borrows heavily from fan favorite Soundwave and even features a Tetris cartridge that transforms into a little birdie that looks like Laserbeak. Two fake AA batteries double as blaster cannons so folks can mutter “pew-pew” at pictures of Michael Bay and Shia LaBeouf. Yes, it isn’t as big as China’s Optimus Prime and it can’t play Super Nintendo games like this Game Boy costume. On the plus side, at least this thing won’t ruin your precious childhood memories.

Lego Game Boy Transformer uses blocks for more than Tetris originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 14 Mar 2012 06:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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From Engadget: Tel Aviv University develops biodegradable transistor, literally man made

Blood sweat and tears go into many projects, and in this case almost literally — although technically it’s blood, milk and mucus. Yep, researchers at Tel Aviv University have created biodegradable transistors from proteins found in the aforementioned organic substances. When the proteins are mixed with base materials in the right combinations, it seems they self-assemble into a semi-conducting film. Why blood, milk and mucus? Apparently, the different proteins each have unique properties. Blood’s oxygen storing ability, for example, helps mix chemicals with semi-conductors to give them specific properties, while milk and mucus (the only time we want to see them together) have fiber forming, and light-creating properties respectively. The hope is that this can lead to flexible and biodegradable technology. The team at Tel Aviv says it’s already working on a biodegradable display, with other electronic devices to follow — which should help stem the flowof waste.

 

from Engadget

From Discover Magazine: Superfast 3D Printing Yields Tiny Racecar, Church, Bridges | 80beats

car

This tiny speed racer measures 285 microns long and was 3D printed using a new technique developed at Vienna University of Technology. The printer pumps out thin lines and layers of resin, which harden when hit with a pair of photons from a laser, a kind of 3D printing called two-photon lithography. By adjusting the way the laser is produced and tweaking the formula for the resin, the team managed to make the hardening process much faster, so that what used to take hours can now take seconds. The printer can now shoot out five-meters’ worth of resin—in an extremely fine line, of course—per second. Conventional 3D printers of this sort, on the other hand, produce in millimeters per second. You can watch the racecar being made here:

To strut their printer’s stuff, the team also made miniature models of a church in Vienna and a local bridge:

church

bridge

bridgedetail

Images courtesy of Klaus Cicha / Vienna University of Technology


from Discover Magazine

From Discover Magazine: How Mosquitoes Survive 
in a Downpour

mosquitoDavid Hu was sitting on the porch with his infant son when a large mosquito bite appeared on the baby’s forehead. It was pouring out, and Hu began wondering how the insect survived the impact of the drops. “A mosquito weighs only a couple milligrams, and the drops are up to 50 times heavier,” he says. “It’s like a person being hit by a bus”…

Image: iStockphoto

from Discover Magazine

From Discover Magazine: The Science Behind Why Airline Food Tastes Bad | 80beats

food

Airplane food is notoriously bad. But airlines, in financial free fall over the last decade, have been trying to bring back the luxe food of early flight in business class and first class, to lure in more high-end travelers. Biology is working against them, though. As Jad Mouawad reports for the NYTimes, part of why plane food lacks subtlety is that we can’t actually taste as well when we’re at altitude:

Even before a plane takes off, the atmosphere inside the cabin dries out the nose. As the plane ascends, the change in air pressure numbs about a third of the taste buds. And as the plane reaches a cruising altitude of 35,000 feet, cabin humidity levels are kept low by design, to reduce the risk of fuselage corrosion. Soon, the nose no longer knows. Taste buds are M.I.A. Cotton mouth sets in.

All of which helps explain why, for instance, a lot of tomato juice is consumed on airliners: it tastes far less acidic up in the air than it does down on the ground. It also helps explain why airlines tend to salt and spice food heavily and serve wines that are full-bodied …


from Discover Magazine

From Discover Magazine: US manned spaceflight infographic | Bad Astronomy

I’m a fan of simple infographics: illustrations that make a point clearly and cleanly. The folks at mgmt. design have made one for US manned spaceflight that does just that.

Click that to enboosternate it; I’ve put just a portion of it here. I like it because you can see a few things instantly, for example how short the Apollo program was compared to the total amount of time we’ve been space traveling.

Even more obvious are the gaps in flights. The biggest is post-Apollo and pre-Shuttle, when the Saturn V was essentially decommissioned before the Shuttle was anywhere near being ready. That might be something to keep in mind during the current gap in the US capability to put humans in space.

Also obvious are the pauses after Challenger and Columbia, when the safety of the Shuttle was reassessed. Now, of course, we’re in the second long gap.

I wonder how long it will last? And perhaps more importantly, just how it will end?

 

from Discover Magazine