Carniverous Clock

h/t: Discoblog

Eel-powered Christmas Lights

Probably not a viable substitute for fossil fuels...

3D Blogging

3-D is all the rage now, with many major studio releases coming out in 3D and 3D TVs starting to make their way into homes (even though some people, like film maker Christopher Nolan dislike the technology). Normally the 3D effect is achieved by wearing special eyewear, like the iconic blue/red lenses, to deliver a different image to each eye. Newer devices, like the Nintendo 3DS, are using different, eyewear-free technology for the same effect. This video, grabbed from Joystiq, explains how it works:


You'll notice in the video, mention of another application for the same kind of technology: delivering different images to different viewers on the same screen. This could have some interesting uses - no more conflicts of TV scheduling (though unless directional audio is also part of the package, we'll still have to resort to headphones). And imagine local multiplayer gaming, without the annoying split-screen! Sony has, and has patents on a multiplayer stereoscopic system.

The Grades Your Grades Could Be Like

Look at this video, now back to me...



If you haven't seen the original, you can watch it here.

[h/t: The Thoughtful Animal]

Awesome Bird Videos

Enjoy a couple of videos of some impressive birds. First, the Superb Lyrebird. This may have been posted before, but I couldn't find it and it's worth seeing again. Narrated by the incomparable David Attenborough.



Next, a shapeshifting owl, responding to potential threats:



There's some discussion as to what the purpose of the second, "dracula" form is here. Either way, I'll probably have nightmares.

Futurama on Homeopathy

It's back, baby! Futurama returns to the television airwaves tonight after almost 7 years off the air, with all its jokes about stem cells, global warming and quantum physics. Like their take on homeopathy:



One thousand years in the future, and still no evidence...

Friday Fun: Rube Goldberg Machine

The band OK Go makes some pretty good music videos. They're all well choreographed (for example, their famous treadmill video), but my favourite has to be for the song This Too Shall Pass which features a massive Rube Goldberg machine:



I also quite like their latest video, End Love that does some cool stuff with timelapse and compression - and is even more impressive since it's one continuous camera shot!

Wind Power

The recent blogging about the Gulf oil leak (both here, and around the web) reminded me of this great commercial for alternative energy.

El Corazón

If the twang of country music isn't to your liking, you might prefer this latin-styled ode to the heart. I can't attest to the translation accuracy, but there's one blogger in particular that I think might enjoy this.

Happy Pi Day!

Today, 3/14, is Pi Day unless you are strict about using international date format (in which case, no pi for you!). Enjoy this ridiculous video.

If you have trouble remembering the first few digits of pi, try this mnemonic which is probably even harder to remember: "How I need a drink! Gingerale, of course". The number of letters in each word represent the digit. Don't ask why that's in my head.

Trace Elements

Chris Hardwick and Mike Phirman, aka Hard 'n' Phirm, are perhaps better known - at least to me - for their great bluegrass Radiohead medley, but they also do a mean country-parody about science terms and concepts. I'm not really sure what to make of this, but I can't resist a catchy tune. Some lyrics NSFW.

The Crow and the Pitcher

Thousands of years ago, Aesop wrote a fable about a crow who used stones to raise the water in a pitcher so he could have a drink.

The latest issue of Current Biology documents this behaviour in a member of the crow family, the rook.
The authors next plan to use General Relativity/time dilation to determine who actually crossed the finish line first: the tortoise or the hare.

The crows are a resourceful family of birds. They have been shown to employ teamwork, use tools and solve multi-step problems. (Follow links for video) So much for birdbrains.

The coolest/grossest thing I've seen (today)

The birthing process of the Surinam toad:Yes, those are babies bursting from its back.

(HT: Zooillogix)