Students of Technical University of Munich don’t have to take stairs or lift down to the ground floor of the building. Instead, they can ride a giant slide.
Every building should be set up like this. Just for the record.
Slide at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich via Buzz Hunt.
Dr. Michio Kaku attempts to build a real Lightsaber from the Star Wars universe using modern technology.
Okay, now I know what I want for my birthday.
Make it so. (See what I did there?)
Theoretical physicist Michio Kaku via ScienceDump.
For decades, every Soyuz rocket crew packed a sidearm in their emergency kits—even after joining the International Space Station partnership. This “survival gun”, the TOZ 82, had three barrels and a swing-out machete.
[T]he official purpose of the gun — which could fire rifle bullets, shotgun shells and flares — was for survival in a harsh environment, such as the Siberian wilderness, in the event of an off-course landing.
But according to journalist James Oberg, one of the leading U.S. experts on the Russian space program: “I proposed that to guarantee the gun only be usable in an off-course landing, it be stashed in compartment accessible only from outside the Soyuz, after landing. There never was any response to my helpful suggestions”.
The practice has been unofficially suspended; by “unofficially” I mean that the weapn is included on the inventory list, but it is then removed by vote before each individual flight.
Via io9.
Bionic Boots are high-tech footwear that can help you reach running speeds comparable to professional athletes like Usain Bolt.
The ultra light boots feature innovative springs inspired by the Achilles tendon of ostriches or kangaroos, lending the wearer more force while running and literally putting a spring in their stride.
The boots are the brainchild of inventor Keahi Seymour, who has always been fascinated by the effortless speed and agility of ostriches, the fastest running birds on the planet. He has been working on the gadget for several years, producing dozens of prototypes in the process.
If only these had been around in the pre-gunpowder days, I can imagine some fantastic military infantry charges. Hm. Sounds like a book in there.
Via Oddity Central.
Istanbul-based musician Görkem Şen ditched the traditional instruments and created a new, multi-purpose instrument called the yabahar that sounds as strange as it looks.
The instrument can be played in various ways because it has a vertical fretted neck with strings that connect to coiled springs that end at two drum-like membranes.
The fretted, stringed neck can be played by plucking the strings or with a bow while the membranes and coils can be hit with a mallet like the head of a drum.
A little bulky to put in a travel case, but neat looking.
Via Mashable.
Britain was taking a beating from the German ships and submarines and were looking for something to build a ship out of that couldn’t be destroyed by torpedoes, or at least could take a major pounding without incurring a fatal amount of damage. With steel and aluminum in short supply, Allied scientists and engineers were encouraged to come up with alternative materials and weapons.
One of [scientist Geoffrey Pyke’s] ideas was to build a 2,000 foot long, 300 foot wide and two million ton carrier. Besides the ship’s size, what was so different about Pyke’s vessel was that it would be built of ice.
There is no real limit on the availability of ice; it’s easy to make, fairly durable (except in warm temperatures), buoyant, and very easy to repair when damaged. Further, repairs can be made extremely quickly with the right equipment, even during a battle.
A dome made of the same substance – 96% ice, 4% sawdust.
Early experiments ran into problems, with the ice actually being too fragile to take much of a pounding, and the idea was shelved. Later that year, a firm from New York tried adding 4% sawdust and wood chips, and it worked much, much better – slower to melt, more buoyant, and stronger.
So what was the catch? To keep it from warping, the ship’s surface had to be covered in insulation and carry a refrigeration plant and system of ducts – actually not as crazy as it sounds, and a small scale version was built that worked perfectly well even in summer temperatures.
Better still, ballistic tests showed that it was very resistant even to direct torpedo hits. The ship would need a monster of a rudder, and its top speed was very slow, even for the time, so given the experimental nature of it the plan was ultimately scrapped.
As a footnote, the smaller test vessel took three summers to completely melt it.
Via Today I Found Out and Wikipedia.
Scientists who study wild animals want to get as close as possible to their subjects without stressing them out or disrupting their natural behaviors.
[T]he researchers disguised the rover as a penguin chick and sent it into a colony of notoriously shy emperor penguins. The birds allowed it to approach and in one case even infiltrate a creche of chicks.
I’m going to argue this qualifies as a parenting fail by said emperor penguins.
Photo by Frederique Olivier/John Downer Productions, Le Maho, et. al., Nature Methods.
Via Wired.