BMW. racing. sci-fi. innovation. design. technology. beauties.
All science and technology related topics, excluding internet and science fiction
source site – Peter Hirshberg on TV and the web | Video on TED.com
In this absorbing look at emerging media and tech history, Peter Hirshberg shares some crucial lessons from Silicon Valley and explains why the web is so much more than “better TV.”
an interesting video clip on the evolution of the TV and computing media.
source site – Big Buck Bunny on Vimeo
Big Buck Bunny tells the story of a giant rabbit with a heart bigger than himself. When one sunny day three rodents rudely harass him, something snaps… and the rabbit ain’t no bunny anymore! In the typical cartoon tradition he prepares the nasty rodents a comical revenge.
Big Buck Bunny from Blender Foundation on Vimeo.
Quite a nice animation licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution license.
source site – Best of Spore Creature Creator – Top 5 Sci-Fi Aliens in Spore – Popular Mechanics
Spore is finally, almost, upon us. We had a chance to play the full version at this year’s E3, but on Sunday, players around the world will discover what happens when a game of epic scope and unparalleled ambition actually lives up to years of hype. Most players will be content to create a spastic race of brightly colored Muppets, or a more random, dog’s breakfast of spiny bits and oddly placed eye-stalks, and dutifully grind through the various stages of the game.
spore is potentially the best and original game to come out in a long time.
TED.com covered this some time ago….
We often marvel how computing technology has progressed over the years. I remember about 20 years ago, most home computers did not have much storage space, and disk(ettes) had sufficient capacity for 720 kilobytes of data. Today now one spreadsheet file can easily be 720kb in size. Computers today are on the verge of becoming a personal appliance capable of providing its user with education, information, entertainment and inspiration at a click of the mouse (or touch of the screen / surface).
Some of these computing technology is starting to find its way into another science fiction favourite: robots. Combined with increasing artistic realism (see Ron Mueck’s ultra realistic human sculptures), the possibility of lifelike humanoid robots is starting to look like realities within the next decade.
As I reflect on the 2007 advances, I start thinking that despite all the war, fear, hate, disease, killings, and famine in the world, humankind is still doing some good work in making things better. The future is still positive… although it is getting more difficult to find good these days. Or are we just jaded?
In reflecting, I noticed that we have seen a lot of progress in the area of robotics. Unfortunately, robotics -like most human concepts- can be both good and bad. Science fiction has portrayed both sides of robotics. I won’t go into the pros and cons for now… but would share the following links to stimulate the mind…
Humanoid robots in our lifetimes?
Japanese develop ‘female’ android
TimesOnline: No sex please, robot, just clean the floor – ethical questions on robotics… a new species?
Wired online magazine did an article on the top 10 scientific breakthroughs of 2007 recently.
Welcome to the first annual Wired News rundown of the year’s 10 most important scientific breakthroughs. 2007 was an amazing year for science. Unlike recent years, there were no high-profile cases of scientific fraud — none that went uncovered, anyway. Journal publishers took extra care, requiring scientists to duplicate results in an effort to avoid scientific, not to mention public relations, fiascoes. And while those are entertaining, we’ll take solid science over Sturm und Drang any day. Here we count down the top 10 scientific discoveries that rocked our Wired world the hardest this year.
Essentially, 2007 saw further progress on computer chip materials and manufacturing technology, and thus continuing Moore’s Law of computing. Connected to this, we see further advancement in materials technology, opening up improvements in lightweight structures and materials. We also saw a number of medical science breakthroughs in the exciting area of stem cell research, progress in curing Rett Syndrome, and enzymes to address blood type compatabilities.
Also from the nature point of view we saw greater understanding of the evolution of life of the dinosaurs and primates, and new habitable planets.
I look forward to more promising scientific discoveries that would improve our understanding of life and make our lives a whole lot better.