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11 Nov 2011 11:17

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Tech: Listen, let’s make a pact to not tell magicians about this, okay?

  • We really can hide objects. … We can switch for a short moment and make it disappear.
  • Ali Aliev, a physicist at the University of Texas at Dallas, about his “invisibility cloak” technology • Right now, the “cloak” is only as big as a few threads. Those threads are made of carbon nanotubes which light bends around when heat is applied to the strands. Aliev said that the technology could “easily hide large objects, such as military tankers” eventually. Anyone else get a tremor of terror when they read that? See it in action at the source — it’s pretty freaking crazy. source

29 Sep 2011 23:15

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Offbeat: Ig Nobel prize: From bladders to wasabi, dubious science celebrated

  • When people reach a point when they are in so much pain they just can’t stand it anymore, it was like being drunk. The ability to hold information was really impaired.
  • Ig Nobel Prize-winning scientist Peter Snyder • Describing his team’s findings — that really having to use the bathroom creates an effect on drivers similar to driving drunk or on limited sleep — at the 2011 Ig Nobel Prize awards ceremony Thursday. Snyder’s bladder-busting team (who won for medicine) was only one of many to get awarded for their weird or dubious honors, including that crazy Lithuanian mayor who used a tank to prove his point about illegal parking (he won the Ig Nobel Peace Prize), a Norwegian group that produced a useless study on sighing (psychology), and a group of Japanese researchers who created a fire alarm that uses the smell of wasabi as its key alarm agent (chemistry). All in all, a pretty Ig Nobel night. source

25 Apr 2011 13:48

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World: Assad government turns up military might against protests

  • The dance of an authoritarian state: The crackdown against those Syrians with the courage to protest the rule of Bashar al-Assad is already horribly violent — human rights groups claim the deaths of more than 300 people by the hands of the Assad government since the protests began. That’s just the visible deathtoll, to boot — Syria is widely regarded as one of the world’s worst states on human rights, with torture being a valued tactic, so it’s hard not to believe there are people having some pretty terrible things done to them as we write this. Tanks have now been unleashed into Dara, the origin of much of the anti-government protest. Once you’ve arrived at this point, can there ever truly be a “going back?” It looks like Syria may face a protracted and bloody conflict. source

05 Feb 2011 10:53

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World: In Egyptian “Rock Paper Scissors,” “human chain” beats “tanks”

The protesters, united in a line, effectively blocked the tanks from getting into Tahrir Square. Awesome. source

29 Jan 2011 09:52

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World: Egyptian military just letting protesters deface their tanks

  • Leave Hosni, you, your son and your corrupted party!
  • Graffiti left on a tank by protesters in Egypt • And a phrase that says it all, really. According to the NYT, protesters did this without any interference from soldiers. “This is the revolution of all the people,” said another tank. Why so chummy? Well, every male in Egypt has to serve in the military at some point, which appears to be taking some of the edge off between military and protesters. Interesting. source

19 Nov 2010 12:00

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World: Afghan War apparently needs tanks now, for some reason

  • The Afghan War’s been going on for nine years. Know what it’s been missing all this time? That’s right. Tanks. The Afghan War is finally getting its first tanks. About freaking time, if you ask someone who knows nothing about military policy (or why it’s necessary to take on terrorists with something this big), but just thinks tanks are awesome. source

18 May 2010 21:30

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World: The Red Shirts are screwed: Thailand pulls out the tanks

Is it us, or does this have the makings of a major human rights violation? Hopefully this ends well for everyone involved, especially the Red Shirts. source