It is amazing how clever crooks can be, as you can see in this photo essay:
This scam is so simple… but it nets $4,000 for the crook. Since knowledge is power, you can now avoid this scam.
See also How ATMs work.
Click here to see the world’s largest spider web, which may trap a million mosquitoes a day:
Also interesting: no one is sure where the webs came from. For more info see: How Spiders Work.
Aerogels are about to hit the mainstream, according to this article:
A new form of aerogel is flexible and promises to: improve outdoor clothing, cut IR radiation from military vehicles, provide better sound insultation, and improve bullet-proof clothing.
See also How Body Armor Works.
The article is called the top 20 most bizarre experiments of all time. Some of them are so bizarre (in a fascinating sort of way) that they just blow your mind. Some of them are bizarre in a twisted sort of way. Some are bizarre in an educational way - the results are far different from expected. Certainly they make you think.
Three of the more interesting to whet your appetite:
Here is one of the articles that offers a glimpse of the possible future:
The Gphone is coming; how Google could rewrite the rules
From the article: “If done right, the Gphone will change the wireless industry, at least in the U.S. If not done right, the Gphone will be just another cell phone with some advanced features. Here’s what it might look like, if done right…”
For more information see How Cell Phones Work
If you like to use the Internet in the U.S., it can be painful to read articles like this:
Japan’s Warp-Speed Ride to Internet Future
Here is why it is painful: “Americans invented the Internet, but the Japanese are running away with it. Broadband service here is eight to 30 times as fast as in the United States — and considerably cheaper. Japan has the world’s fastest Internet connections, delivering more data at a lower cost than anywhere else, recent studies show. Accelerating broadband speed in this country — as well as in South Korea and much of Europe — is pushing open doors to Internet innovation that are likely to remain closed for years to come in much of the United States…”
This is becoming a consistent theme. If you take time to think about it, it is interesting how many areas we lag in. Cell phone speed shows a similar pattern (here’s a typical article). Health care too (example: United States slips to 42 in rankings of longevity). Manufacturing. Infrastructure (the recent bridge collpase being an example). Maybe space travel if China keeps accelerating.
For more info see How Internet Infrastructure Works
I have a fascination with the incredible shrinking motherboard. For example, a Pico-ITX motherboard is only about 4 inches by 3 inches. Here’s an example:
VIA EPIA PX10000G Pico-ITX Mainboard
Now Samsung has come out with a new monitor that moves the graphics card off the motherboard and into the monitor:
This would allow the motherboard to be even smaller. You could combine that with a hard disk that is made from a 16GB CompactFlash card like this one:
Or an external USB hard disk would work. It would not be the fastest computer in the world, but the CPU would fit in your pocket.
I don’t know why, but I feel a disturbance in the Force when I read this article:
NASA shuttle to launch Luke’s lightsaber
From the article: “When the space shuttle Discovery launches the STS-120 crew in October, the force will be with them. Stowed on-board the orbiter, in addition to a new module for the international space station, will be the original prop lightsaber used by actor Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker in the 1983 movie “Star Wars, Episode VI: Return of the Jedi”. The laser-like weapon is being flown to the orbiting outpost and back in honor of the 30th anniversary of the George Lucas-created franchise.”
Where does the disturbance come from? Perhaps it’s because it is a pure publicity stunt? Perhaps because this stunt serves no useful purpose? Perhaps because the lightsaber is deadweight? Perhaps because this deadweight does not advance science in any way? Assume the lightsaber weighs two pounds. I am sure there are thousands of high school of college students who could design useful science experiments or micro-satellites that weigh two pounds.
Or maybe I just woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning… Anyway, for more info read How Lightsabers Work
Wired looks at the trend toward multi-core CPUs and the effect that it will have to have on software:
Why You’re Not Getting Your Money’s Worth Out of That New CPU
A dual-core CPU doesn’t really suffer from this problem so much, but any processor with more than two cores will. It’s interesting - it means that, if multicore CPUs are really going to do us any good, programmers will have to start working a lot harder when they create software.
For more information see: How Microprocessors work.
Some nice pictures and thoughts about Pansonic’s monster plasma screen:
Gizmodo tests the 103-inch Panasonic Plasma
For more info see How Plasma Displays Work.
Both of these are interesting:
1) Astronomers Select Top Ten Most Amazing Pictures Taken by Hubble Space Telescope in Last 16 Years
2) Top 10 Wackiest Conspiracy Theories
For more info see: How the Hubble works and How Conspiracy Theories Work
If you watch Mythbusters or shows that cover demolition, you will often hear about “shaped charges”. This video shows how powerful a shaped charge can be:
Shaped charges can have devasting effects:
To learn more, see How C4 Works.
The new U.S. $100 bill will have a “security thread” that contains a microscopic optical device. This article describes the new device:
Currency change aimed at adding security
According to the article: “The operation of the new security thread looks like something straight out of the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. This magic, however, relies on innovations produced from decades of development. It combines micro-printing with tiny lenses — 650,000 for a single $100 bill. The lenses magnify the micro-printing in a truly remarkable way. Move the bill side to side and the image appears to move up and down. Move the bill up and down and the image appears to move from side to side.”
Several countries are already using the technology, and it should appear in the U.S. in 2008. For more information see:
The article asks and answers a fascinating question: “With all its spy satellites and aerial drones, killer commandos and millions in reward money, why can’t the world’s greatest superpower find a middle-aged, possibly ill, religious fanatic with a medieval mind-set?”
Into thin air: The hunt for bin Laden
See also: How Spys Work and How does the FBI decide who makes the Most Wanted list?
From the article: “There isn’t a brazen, two-bit, purse-snatching money caper you can think of that didn’t happen at least 10,000 times with your tax dollars in Iraq. At the very outset of the occupation, when L. Paul Bremer was installed as head of the CPA, one of his first brilliant ideas for managing the country was to have $12 billion in cash flown into Baghdad on huge wooden pallets and stored in palaces and government buildings. To pay contractors, he’d have agents go to the various stashes — a pile of $200 million in one of Saddam’s former palaces was watched by a single soldier, who left the key to the vault in a backpack on his desk when he went out to lunch — withdraw the money, then crisscross the country to pay the bills. When desperate auditors later tried to trace the paths of the money, one agent could account for only $6,306,836 of some $23 million he’d withdrawn. Bremer’s office ‘acknowledged not having any supporting documentation’ for $25 million given to a different agent. A ministry that claimed to have paid 8,206 guards was able to document payouts to only 602. An agent who was told by auditors that he still owed $1,878,870 magically produced exactly that amount, which, as the auditors dryly noted, ’suggests that the agent had a reserve of cash.’ In short, some $8.8 billion of the $12 billion proved impossible to find. ‘Who in their right mind would send 360 tons of cash into a war zone?’ asked Rep. Henry Waxman, chairman of the House Oversight Committee. ‘But that’s exactly what our government did.’”
The idea is to create a single structure that houses a million people. In this design, the structure is over two miles tall:
World’s Tallest Building to Rise Higher than Mount Fuji
The pictures are interesting, and it makes you think… See also: How floating cities will work for another take on the self-contained city.
Want to know what will kill you? Here’s your chance - have your DNA analyzed to see what diseases will bring you down:
According to the article: “Because they can map an individual’s DNA, researchers now use a simple blood test to check for different genetic flaws that often give rise to the eight treatable diseases that kill and cost the most, including skin, lung and colon cancer, high blood pressure and heart disease…”
Do you really want to know? But if you do, there is now a test.
Why are these things always delivering bad news? Why can’t there be an article that says: ” “Because they can map an individual’s DNA, researchers now use a simple blood test to check for different genetic features that often give rise to the eight valuable skills that could mean lucrative future employment options, including super coordination (valuable in many sports, but most importantly tennis, basketball and golf), prediction skills (valuable to Wall street analysts and meteorologists) and deception (valuable in certain sales and political positions)…”
See also: How designer children will work and How DNA works.
Forget the article - just look at the photo on this page to see how tow trucks are evolving in the 21st century:
Makes it easy to tow the car no matter where it is parked.
See also: How hydraulic cranes work
The fact that a huge bridge like that could completely collapse is still amazing. The fact that something as simple as pigeon poop could be the cause is even more amazing:
Pigeon dung examined in bridge collapse
According to the article: “Pigeon droppings contain ammonia and acids, said chemist Neal Langerman, an officer with the health and safety division of the American Chemical Society. If the dung isn’t washed away, it dries out and turns into a concentrated salt. When water gets in and combines with the salt and ammonia, it creates small electrochemical reactions that rust the steel underneath.”
See How does rust work? for more info. See also How bridges work, How steel works and How toilets work.
…there seems to be a lot going on this week. First, we find this debunking artice on the LATimes web site:
The story contains two nice videos to spice it up. There is also a new set of video “confessions” around the Roswell, NM UFO crash in 1947:
See also How UFOs Work and July 7, 1947: UFO Crashes in Roswell, N.M..
…as well as goji berries, pomegranate juice, purslane, cinnamon, swiss chard, guava, cabbage and beets. At least that’s what this article says:
In a previous post we talked about the “problem” of amorous dolphins bothering people in their luxury submarines. It turns out it may not be a “problem” for too much longer because the dolphins may all be dead:
Where have all the dolphins gone?
It is very sad to read the article. Dolphin sightings are down by 80%. The animals are being sufocated in nets, driven away by lack of food (overfishing) etc.
Note also that the first cetacean has gone extinct just recently: ‘Goddess of the Yangtze’ Driven to Extinction.
See also How Whales Work.
You need to click on this link because, once you do, a single photograph will change the way you think about bicycles:
Once you are there, click on the tabs on the left side of the page to see other photos and to read a description of this beast.
Please note: I did not say that the idea is perfect - I said it would change the way you think about bicycles…
The article:
Where is the Rest of the Universe?
Its claim: “only 4 percent of the matter and energy in the universe has been found.”
The interesting question: How do we know that 96% is missing? It’s not like we have a big database that contains “everything in the universe”, and when we check it, 96% of the everything is not there. So how do we know?
The answer, according to the article, lies in gravitational pull. We can estimate the amount of matter/energy in a galaxy, but then when we look at the galazy’s gravitational pull on other objects, it is much higher than expected.
The current explanation for the extra gravity: “”Dark matter is currently the best possible solution, even though we’ve never seen any of it.” The article offers a very interesting glimpse into the attempt to solve the mystery.
I have a friend who is currently deployed in Iraq. He sent a link to this article:
It is an op-ed piece in the New York Times written by seven soldiers currently serving in Iraq. My friend feels that this article describes the actual situation in Iraq.
If you are a fan of Wikipedia, then this article tells you something you have known in your gut but have never before been able to quantify:
Seeing Corporate Fingerprints in Wikipedia Edits
This article lists a number of specific changes that were discovered:
Wikipedia and the art of censorship
Corporations from Boeing to Sea World have been changing Wikipedia to make things look better. The amazing thing (if you know anything about Wikipedia’s culture) is that the changes seem to stick.
Clearly the Wikipedia model works in one respect. The web site has gathered a giganitic amount of information in one place. The problem is: a) some of the information is inaccurate, b) some of the information (but not much) is outright fraudulent, and c) apparently, much of the information has been “spun” when it reflects negatively on people or corporations.
So a valid qestion to ask is this: How could you keep the good things about Wikipedia while eliminating the problems?
Have you ever wondered what would happen to a little Smart car if it were to crash into a concrete wall at 70 MPH? Here’s your answer:
For more information see How Smart Cars work.
This sounds like an easy way to win $1 million until you think about the challenge for a few minutes…
The Department of Defense is offering a $1 million prize to anyone who can solve the Army’s battery problem. According to this article (which includes a nice video), a typical soldier is carrying 20 to 40 pounds of batteries in his backpack. All this battery weight is slowing people down.
What the Army wants is a 4 kilogram (8.8 pound) vest that can produce 20 watts for 96 straight hours. In other words, the Army needs a 2,000 watt-hour power pack that weighs less than 10 pounds.
You can see how interesting this challenge is going to be by looking back at the prior post about the batteries from A123 Systems. These are lightweight batteries (relatively speaking), but a 7,500 watt-hour power pack for the Killacycle motorcycle weighs 161 pounds. A little simple division indicates that a 2,000 watt-hour pack should weigh something like 50 pounds. Getting the weight down to 8 pounds will not be easy.
If you look at the official rules, you see another challenge:
The complete power system must weigh 4kg or less and provide a minimum of 1920Whr. The power system must operate continuously for 96 hours. During the 96 hours of operation the system must operate: (1) continuously (i.e., 24 hours a day); (2) at partial power; (3) for a number of periods of high power of up to 200W for 5 min; (4) in a non-air breathing mode in a sealed container for a time to be determined; (5) be attitude or vertical orientation and motion independent; (6) provide output voltages of 14V and 28V. The system must attach to a vest and operate while worn. The government will provide connectors for the equipment on the course with additional cables, outlets, etc.
Non-air breathing mode??? That means no oxygen-breathing fuel cells or turbines. Yikes.
Got any ideas for how to solve this problem and collect the $1 million prize? Click here for the official contest rules.
The title is intriguing: Dolphin voyeurs kill the mood for saucy submariners. So you click on it and realize that there are not one, not two, but actually three amazing things in this article.
First amazing thing: there is a group of companies that manufacture luxury submarines, and there is a group of people who can afford to purchase them. If you go to U.S. Submarines and look at the luxury subs, you will be amazed.
Second amazing thing: Some percentage of the people who buy these subs find themselves experimenting with amorous activities in front of large windows while submerged. And the percentage is large enough that there is a “problem.” If you allow your mind to wander for a moment, your mind will immediately happen upon a number of fascinating questions.
But then we come to the third amazing thing: Dolphins, upon witnessing humans engaged in amorous activities in front of large submerged windows, often disturb those who are amorous by tapping on said window with their beaks. Are the dolphins prudish? Aficionados? Bored? Other? It seems like there are any number of scientific studies that could be spawned.
It also makes you wonder what would happen if you opened an underwater drive in theater.
For more info see How Submarines Work.
