Lil' ol' Earth.

It is exceedingly difficult to wrap the minuscule human mind around the idea of exactly how enormously vast our universe is. It is, indeed, a haughty boast to even call it 'our universe', seeing as how we are but a fraction of a trace amount of its whole. To illustrate this point i present the following video. Watch it if you ever wanted to know our size in relation to Betelgeuse. Also, check out aclevercookie for further images of planetary scale.

Keep the World in Perspective

Action Abilities Test!

Cursor*10 is a Flash game that will test your mettle for serious. It's got a really unique game mechanic and it will give your finger and your eyes a workout in the ten minutes you'll spend beating it.

Spanish Artisan Forsees Future?

Well, not really...Pictured above is the breathtaking Ieronimus Cathedral, built by Episcope de Salamanca in 1102 A.D. Among the carvings that adorn the ornate structure is this cleverly hidden astronaut, who was recently added by a restoration crew with a scientific sense of humor.

Automated Steampunk Orchestra

Science Patrol is just beginning to understand the origins and inner-workings of this amazing device; however, to attempt to explain something this magnificent and beautiful is to negate the very thing itself.

2007: the Year in Nanotech

To my advanced brain, nanotech is the most radical area of science in development today, since the work being done right now may change the very nature of reality, creating machines which assemble themselves, flocks of microscopic robots, and sheets of crystalline diamond, among other sci-fi ideas. The work being done now could be considered primitive compared to these imaginative leaps, and yet, the implications are far-reaching. Technology Review has gathered the most interesting work of the past year in their Year in Nanotech feature.

(Shown above: the microscopic pads on a gecko's feet [bottom] inspired this nanotech 'gecko tape' [top].)

What the Duck?!?!?

It's probably because i have been suffering from a horrendous, mind-nullifying virus for 4 days, but i find this lamp terribly interesting. It is the work of Sebastian Errazuriz (the lamp not the virus), who in addition to making weird light fixtures also dabbles in "Urban Art". Some of his installations include a tree growing in the middle of a football field and a cow grazing in the grass outside a corporate campus. There are pictures of the "urban art" at his website, which i will link again here in case you didnt click it the first time around.

Take Flight, Winged Adventurer

Sometimes the simpler ideas are more illustrative of great scentific truths. Or perhaps they're just more fun. In this video, a paper airplane takes off from 300 feet above NYC and glides for a full minute before touchdown.

Happy New Year!

Dr. Theopolis and Twiki join Science Patrol in wishing you a happy New Year. May this revolution around the sun be a joyous one for you and yours.

Room with a View.

Massaud Studio designed this beluga whale shaped airship that will serve as a flying hotel. Filled with helium, the hotel will feature 60 rooms and a 500 square meter meeting area. Cruising at 173 mph, the hotel will circle the globe in 3 day non-stop trips. Airships FTW.

Face Fish Swim Among Us

Let this Korean woman tell you all about the mysterious Real Face Fish which have apparently been discovered in that region. Early sightists report this beast is some sort of hybrid, probably resulting from hurried, drunken sex with a mermaid princess--commonly known as a dugong or a sea-cow. Just kidding, folks, those are mammalian, and these are clearly fish, although the origin of those cheekbones is in question.

The NEW Google Earth

Alright guys Google Earth has been cool before, and now it is way new and improved.
Leave it to google to integrate a (pretty intricate) flight simulator and the (science related) google sky. Where ever you are on earth simply go to View>Switch to Sky and you can get a view of the night sky, then simpy click on a star and see a hubble image of it. Really something worth trying out. You won't leave your chair for hours.

This was a Triumph.

Im making a note here: huge success. Its hard to overstate my satisfaction.

brickshelf

Movies From Another Dimension

Future technologies will allow us to view these images in the safety of our homes.

Upload Your Life

As bandwidth continues to increase in every aspect of our lives, the issue of home network storage is becoming more and more urgent. It has become clear that the optical disc is a dead format. Every day that I store data on discs, I am increasing the likelihood that it will become corrupted in the future; already, I have thrown away more scratched and broken CD's than I will ever buy--and most of my current collection has also accreted scratches that carry over to any mp3 copies, so they must be thrown away as well. My DVD and game collection is not large, but it has already overflowed its alloted space in my apartment.

That's why Cory Doctorow's proposed solution appeals so strongly to me: a networked storage box with 3 TB of space, that allows him to store every DVD, .mp3 and .rom in his collection, accessible over home network and stuck in the bottom of the closet so you can't hear it. It would be accesible by remote anywhere in the world. In addition, a second unit would sit at his office and provide total redundancy. Now, I'm not sure keeping a third copy of every single DVD you own is an essential use of that second server, but there's no denying that 3 TB will allow you to do that for some time.

[Image by Craig LaRotonda via nikkisioux]

Space Probe Finds Four New Worlds

I tell you, when you see this headline on the front of your personal homepage, you know you are living in the future. That's how you know what it feels like to be Yanos Solong.
"Corot, a French-funded probe designed to detect worlds orbiting other stars, has found four such candidates in its first year of operation, its mission chiefs said here on Thursday..."

Story here.

Merry Christmas

Science Patrol, John McClain, and the staff of Nakatomi Plaza would like to wish you a very Merry Christmas. "Come out to the coast, well get together, have a few laughs."

Metalosis Maligna

Floris Kaayk is about to freak you out with this fictitious documentary about a fictitious disease called Metalosis Maligna. While it is terrifying, and sometimes difficult to watch; I assure you that the subject matter in the contained video is indeed based in fiction, and is not real. The video is featured at microbia.nl, which is one of the most well designed websites i have ever visited.
But dont blame me for this grotesque and fascinating piece of footage, as it was introduced to me by Yanos. Go blame him.

My God--It's Full of Stars

This video is great, but the mind-blowing part comes in the final 27 seconds, starting at 1:26, when the camera zooms into the center of the galaxy.

Could VR Be Good Again?

When I was a kid VR was the greatest concept imaginable. We would be able to see the world inside computers just like the real world now...unfortunately the Virtual Boy was the closest we ever saw to a practical home VR system. However, Nintendo has once again surreptitiously slipped VR-capable hardware into our homes with the Wii's motion sensing capabilities. Johnny Lee is one of many who have adapted the Wii's hardware to create a truly excellent proof of concept. Now,will anyone ever use this technology? Good question.

Ambassador's Day

A' la Indiepix:

300 Generations...2 Messengers...1 Dilemma...No Choice.
Ambassadors Day takes place thousands of years in the future, when the remnants of the human species have moved indoors to escape the wrath of an environment turned hostile. Many generations have passed, and all that's left of communication between these isolated sanctuaries of humankind are the Ambassadors.

Long after the End of the World has passed into myth, two envoys meet to exchange the weekly numbers of their people. It is a day like any other in Rendezvous Zone Eight-Seven Northwest, until one of the Ambassadors is ordered to shoot the other. Refusing, the Ambassador tries to defuse the situation. Unfortunately the problem began thousands of years ago, and there is nothing anyone can do about it.

Ambassadors Day Trailer
Uploaded by indiepix

Art-Science Representative Spotlight: Daniel Rozin

The meshing of art and science is one way for man to expand it's thinking about possible futures by way of breaking the mold, and envisioning new uses for current and past-prime technologies. Daniel Rozin is one such master of this domain, using art and science as one, and the results are brilliant. Like the above pictured wooden mirror, and like the peg mirror, below. Both use image capturing to see the movements in front of the mirror, and then translate that image into predetermined positions corresponding to the level of darkness or light displayed. Check out his website linked by Rozin's name, as there is a lot more interesting stuff there.

I could not resist

Attack of the Thirty Meter Telescope

The Thirty Meter Telescope will be larger than any current telescope by a factor of three. It whips the tar out of other telescopes and sends them squalling to their mammies. According to the article, it is somehow even larger than the European Southern Observatory's 42-meter Extremely Large Telescope. It may even be able to see extrasolar planets. Interstellar Rear Window For The Win.