The Superconductivity Group School of Physics and Astronomy at Tel-Aviv University put together something that is cool to watch and begs the question of practical use in the real world. Static and dynamic levitation and motion – does science get any cooler? This demonstrates the quantum physical effect of superconductivity and the Meissner Effect as well as magnetic flux pinning. …
For 22 minutes, kids around the world were greeted with a surprise when they went to the Sesame Street YouTube channel, and it wasn’t the kind of surprise that Elmo would have approved. Hackers took over the account on Sunday, deleted all of the videos uploaded by Sesame Street, and uploaded porn. Google and YouTube responded quickly and the account is currently down. The name on the account was changed to MrEdxwx, a YouTube user who has since responded with a video saying that he wasn’t responsible. His channel has been hit with hundreds of comments ranging from admiration to death threats. Here’s…
It’s hard to decide whether this is a testament to how technology is advancing and making things more accessible to people of all ages or whether we’re training the children of today’s society to rely on electronic devices, losing part of our heritage and enabling a reliance on technological innovations to define our methods of media and communication. Either way, it’s adorable. According to YouTube user UserExperiencesWorks: Technology codes our minds, changes our OS. Apple products have done this extensively. The video shows how magazines are now useless and impossible to understand,…
It has been speculated that home entertainment would meld with online and app-based engagement more and more over time. Today, Nielsen revealed that 40% of tablet and/or smartphone owners use them while watching television. As people continue to Tweet or post to Facebook when watching TV while others explore and research information about the shows they’re watching, a growing number of people are using television time as email time. For most activities like email and surfing unrelated information, the gender gap is slim. The notable exceptions are visits to social networks (which women…
They made the mistake in the beginning by not slapping a Trademark on the word that has become synonymous with the posting on their site. Now, Twitter will finally have the rights to the word, “Tweet”. James Eliason, CEO of Twittad, announced in an interview that he would transfer the registered trademark of “Tweet” over to Twitter in exchange for them dropping the lawsuit they filed against his company in September. “We’ve arrived at a resolution with Twittad that recognizes consistent use of Tweet while supporting the continued success of Twitter ecosystem partners like Twittad,”…
The concept of “world phone” that Apple proposed when they first released information about the iPhone 4S is becoming a reality as Apple plans on offering an unlocked, contract-free variation in November that will work on supported international GSM networks as well as AT&T. It will not work on CDMA carriers such as Verizon Wireless or Sprint. Users will need a local micro-SIM card for the phone to work properly abroad. The prices on the unlocked iPhones are up there in the iPad range with the 16GB at $649, the 32GB at $749, and the 64GB at $849….
Many politicians in both parties are pointing to the Solyndra debacle as proof that we’re either handling the solar energy industry incorrectly or that it’s simply not valid in today’s world. Then, there are those who say Solyndra was an isolated case, that the industry as a whole is still thriving and valid. Who is right? The infographic below points towards the “isolated case” side of the debate, demonstrating that despite Solyndra’s massive failure, that the industry shouldn’t be tainted as a result. General Motors and Chrysler nearly failed just a couple of years ago – should we stop building…
In 6 years, Google Earth has been downloaded one billion times. The desktop client, mobile app, and plug-in combination have taken geospacial technology and put it at the fingertips of users across the globe, allowing us to see places, explore the seas, and view the sky from anywhere with a reliable internet connection. Google has built a website dedicated to the experiences that people have shared using Google Earth: “One World. Many Stories.” Here’s the video that the Google Earth YouTube channel released yesterday: …
Apple has often been noted as having the uncanny ability to see into their future. It isn’t simply having products that are ahead of their time. It’s about having a vision that can come true. On today, the day that Steve Jobs died, let’s take a look at one of the most profound examples of Apple’s predictive abilities. In 1987, Apple produced a video that described the “Knowledge Navigator”, a virtual personal assistant that worked through voice commands to perform many different tasks such as scheduling, searching for things, and contacting people. Siri, previewed yesterday by Apple as part of…
When people think of “cat videos” on the internet, most assume that it will be some sort of funny or silly feline doing something funny or silly. Occasionally, they hiss. Usually, they simply fall. In this case, they explode (50% of the time). Thanks to the good folks at MinutePhysics, our minds can be blown again. By again, I mean that most college-educated people have heard a variation of this mind-bending perspective from quantum mechanics, but seeing it in cat form makes it that much more interesting. When you’re done watching, ask yourself, “Who is watching you watch the video or not?” …
For the first time in 15 years, IBM has a higher market value than Microsoft., closing at $214 billion yesterday compared to Microsoft’s $213.2 billion close. It marks a symbolic victory for a company that has been under investor scrutiny for 6 years ever since abandoning their roots of hardware when they sold their PC business 6-years ago to put full effort on corporate software and solutions. It still trails Apple, the world’s largest tech company, by a large margin with Apple closing at $362.1 billion yesterday. “IBM went beyond technology,” said Ted Schadler, an analyst with Forrester…
We have the technology. The hanging-chad debacle of the 2000 presidential election proved that we had the need. Now, as more states adopt electronic voting machines to register the “voice of the people” during election times, stunning allegations are being leveled on Diebold voting machines and the ease in which they can be hacked. According to the Vulnerability Assessment Team at Argonne National Laboratory, these machines can be hacked for $10.50 and an 8th-grade science education, casting doubt over the validity of the votes that will be going on across the country during the Republican…
