Incredibly, impossibly beautiful time lapse video

   

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I’ve been posting a lot of time lapse videos lately, and they’re so amazing I keep thinking they can’t possibly get any more beautiful.

I keep thinking wrong.

"El Cielo de Canarias" (Canary Sky) is simply, unbelievably breathtaking.

Wow. I mean, wow. Daniel López is a gifted photographer. While looking at his photographs, my jaw literally dropped. They are that extraordinary.

Many years ago I visited La Palma, one of the Canary Islands, for a meeting. In the distance we could sometimes see the very top of Mt. Teide, seen in this video, poking over the clouds. It was so unearthly and captivating, and López has captured that feeling here. This video has everything! The fluid motion of the clouds, a double rainbow (yes, yes, I know), a corona around the Sun (not the Sun’s atmosphere, but a lovely optical effect from water droplets in the clouds), standing-wavelenticular clouds, even a Green Flash! Watch the stars as they wheel across the view; can you spot the Pleiades, the Andromeda Galaxy?

As many of these videos as I have seen, I’m still looking forward to more from Sr. López. This one is absolutely stunning.

Former Senator Wants to Mine The Moon

Posted by samzenpus on Thursday May 05, @01:47AM 

from the dig-that-moon dept.

MarkWhittington writes"Harrison Schmitt, Apollo Moonwalker, geologist, and former United States Senator, recently presented a plan to solve the world's long term energy problems by developing fusion power fueled with helium-3 mined from the Moon. He presented this plan in a speech at Williston Basin Petroleum Conference."

Pandora gets a case of the giggles, now offers comedy stations

By Brad Molen  posted May 4th 2011 4:23AM

Pandora is letting its hair loose, expanding beyond the realm of music-based radio stations into the world of comedy. Thestreaming music service will offer more than 10,000 clips from over 700 comedians, and will be loaded and ready to go sometime today. If you're already familiar with the service, this brand-new genre will work the same exact way as any other Pandora station: create new radio stations based on your favorite comedians and you can still give the thumb up or down for those tracks you feel strongly enough about. The press release is no laughing matter, but it's available for your reading pleasure after the break.

Nielsen estimates show first drop in TV ownership in 20 years, Mayans nod approvingly

By Richard Lawler  posted May 3rd 2011 2:52PM

The Nielsen Company has announced that its estimated number of TV households for 2012 is dropping to 114.7 million (96.7 percent), down from 115.9 million (98.9 percent) the year before which is the first time it's gone down in two decades. While some will say this marks the end of theTV era as we've known it, there are a couple of factors to take into account, starting with how the numbers are gathered -- Nielsen only counts TVs that are capable of tuning into at least one channel. If you've cut the cord and gone all internet / Blu-ray / DVD without putting up an antenna or never upgraded for digital broadcasts (as some rural or low-income homes have not) then your TV doesn't count. After reviewing the numbers and watching Apocalypto twice we still can't tell if this means it's already over for linear TV or if it's more of a temporary bump due to an uncertain economy like it was in 1992. Of course, the fact that we rented the movie on iTunes may be telling.

Working Model Factory Made With Lego Robots

Posted by samzenpus on Thursday April 21, @01:29PM 

from the because-you-can dept.

kkleiner writes"In his continuing obsession with all things Lego, robotic, and awesome, Chris Shepherd recently constructed the Lego Quad Delta Robot System, a full working model of an industrial robotics line in a factory. The Lego Quad Delta Robot System has four flexing arms that can move in three dimensions, each equipped with a pneumatically driven gripper. Those arms pick up blocks moving on two conveyor belts marked with special light sensors that detect the block's position and color. The system can move 48 of these blocks per minute. Oh, and the whole darn thing, including the impressive support frame, is made out of Lego!"

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Chili Fumes Poison Neighbors in Australia

Published April 20, 2011

| NewsCore

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MELBOURNE, Australia -- Aussies are famed for their love of barbecues -- but one would-be chef's attempt at outdoor cookery ended up poisoning his neighbors with chili fumes, Melbourne radio station 3AW reported Wednesday.

A number of people needed medical attention -- with symptoms including nausea and respiratory problems -- as the fumes spread down the street in Cranbourne, Melbourne.

Paramedics rushed to the scene amid confusion as to what was causing the widespread sickness.

"At one stage there was a large number of people standing in the street and we didn't know what had caused them to become ill," medic David Llewelyn said. "We had up to 10 people who were coughing and were dizzy and nauseated."

With households up to 500 feet away affected, paramedics and firefighters went house-to-house searching for the source of the stink.

"It emerged that someone was drying out strong chilies in the backyard and that's what caused the fumes," Llewelyn said.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2011/04/20/chili-fumes-poison-neighbors-australia/#ixzz1KY7Ux2cH

E-Book Sales Have Tripled In the Last Year

Posted by Soulskill on Friday April 15, @10:08AM 

from the now-we-only-kill-trees-out-of-spite dept.

destinyland writes"The Association of American Publishers revealed today that e-book sales have tripled in the last year. Sixteen publishers reported that in February e-book sales totaled more than $90.3 million, a 202.3% increase over e-book sales in February of 2010. Meanwhile, sales of adult hardcover books have dropped 43%, while mass-market paperback sales dropped 41.5% (earning just $46.2 million and $29.3 million, respectively). The book publishing association acknowledged that readers have 'made e-books permanent additions to their lifestyle,' arguing that publishers 'are constantly redefining the timeless concept of "books"' and identifying new audiences they can serve through emerging technologies. 'It's nice to see that book publishers are aware of the changes rocking their industry,' notes one e-book blog, 'and that they're approaching it with a sense of history.'"

Barnes & Noble treats Nook Color to Froyo; unveils Nook Apps

By Rachel King | April 25, 2011, 5:30am PDT

Summary

Just as promised, Barnes & Noble rolled out a major update for the Nook Color on Monday, which has the 7-inch slate looking even more like a tablet than an e-book reader now.

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New Nintendo HD Console Rumors Abound

Posted by Soulskill on Friday April 15, @03:32AM 

from the control-it-with-your-brain dept.

pcgfx805 writes"Game Informer has reportedly received word from 'multiple sources' that a new HD console from Nintendo will be debuting at this year's E3. They report on conflicting information regarding the power of the console compared to the other current-gen consoles, but go on to speculate that 'Either way it will offer competitive specifications.'"This year's E3 is scheduled for June 7-9.

Genes That Control 'Aging' Steroid Identified

ScienceDaily (Apr. 14, 2011) — Eight genes which control levels of the main steroid produced by the adrenal gland, believed to play a role in aging and longevity, have been uncovered by an international consortium of scientists, co-led by King's College London.

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Sorting Algorithms As Dances

Posted by samzenpus on Sunday April 10, @11:19PM 

from the dancing-aroud-the-answer dept.

mikejuk writes"You may well have seen many simulations of sorting algorithms that aim to show how the algorithm works. However I guarantee that you have never seen anything quite in the same league as the videos made by Sapientia University — they are simply crazy but in the nicest possible way. They folk dance their way though bubble sort, shell sort, insertion sort and selection sort. Very, very weird but you find you can't but help checking that they are doing it right. Now anyone want to try quicksort?"

Could You Pass Harvard's Entrance Exam From 1869?

Posted by samzenpus on Sunday April 10, @10:13PM 

from the learning-for-learning's-sake dept.

erfnet writes"The New York Times remembers back to when 'college was a buyer's bazaar' and digs up 19th-century classified ads from Columbia, Harvard, Yale, and others. In competitive efforts to attract students from the limited pool of qualified candidates, applications were taken as late as September for an October freshman class. Vassar offered lush room accommodations. The expectations were high: Latin, Greek, Virgil, Caesar's Commentaries; Harvard's entrance exam from 1869 is posted(PDF). Could any of us pass the exam today?"

A funny kiddie vid that explains a nuclear meltdown through poops and farts.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5sakN2hSVxA

The Dying DVR Box and Woz Wisdom 200

The Dying DVR Box and Woz Wisdom 200


Posted by Soulskill on Friday April 08, @03:47PM

from the wozdom-should-totally-be-a-word dept.

Lucas123 writes

"At SNW in Santa Clara this past week, a diverse group of techies shared insights into their industries, such as the DVR market. TiVo's senior director of IT, Richard Rothschild, for instance, explained how those set-top boxes track everything you watch for advertising and marketing and then combine the information with supermarket membership card data to determine how effective ad campaigns are. Oh, and TiVo's planning to integrate its box with your flatscreen, so no more set-top device. And Steve Wozniak attacked the American education system, saying students should be graded on a single, long-term project rather than a short learning/testing cycle. 'In school, intelligence is a measurement,' he said. 'If you have the same answer as everyone else in math or science, you're intelligent.'"

Star Falls Into Black Hole

Posted by Soulskill on Friday April 08, @05:12PM

from the fascinating-from-a-great-distance dept.

thodelu writes with news that astronomers recently got a look at what they believe is a star falling into a black hole. Phil Plait explains:

"As the star approached this bottomless pit, the side of the star facing the black hole was pulled far harder than the other side of the star, which may have been a million or more kilometers farther away from the black hole. This change in pull stretched the star — this stretching is called a 'tide,' and is essentially the same thing that causes tides on the Earth from the Moon’s gravity and when the star wandered too close to the black hole, the strength of that pull became irresistible, overcoming the star’s own internal gravity. In a flash, the star was torn apart, and octillions of tons of ionized gas burst outward! This material whipped around the black hole, forming a disk of plasma called an accretion disk. Magnetic fields, friction, and turbulence superheated the plasma, and also focused twin beams of matter and energy which blasted out from the poles of the disk, away from the black hole itself. The energy stored in these beams is incredible, crushing our imagination into dust: for a time, they shone with the light of a trillion Suns!"