We always feature the most amazinglytastic and awesomerest architecture, packed with high-tech materials and impossible shapes. And yet, every time I come across something like the Universe house, I keep coming back to the same thought: The best architecture is the simplest one. No need for titanium plates, no need for complex computer-aided design—just good design integrated in the perfect natural spot. Add a hammock and an internet connection, and you'll be set, thank you very much.

Created by Mexican artist Gabriel Orozco and architect Tatiana Bilbao, Universe's design is based in the Jantar Mantar Astronomical Observatory, which was built in Jaipur, in 1724. Orozco—who visited the observatory in 1996—wanted a house that captured the concept of the Indian building. Bilbao's office drafted the detailed plans after his sketches, and a team built the house in the traditional way, which included the help of a donkey called Panchito, who ferried some of the materials and stones into this wild spot in the Sea of Cortez.

The house offers a 360-degree view, with no glass windows—just some wood planks in case a hurricane comes by—with a swimming pool in the middle replacing the observatory bowl from the Indian temple. A design change that I strongly agree with—and I would enjoy, Margarita in hand, if I were so lucky as to watch the sun set from there. One day. [Tatiana Bilbao and Interview with Gabriel Orozco via Archdaily]

Entropy is the big topic in the whole "end of the universe" reasearch. Basically there's speculation about whether there is such a thing as a maximum level of entropy, a point at which all molecular motion (and therefor life) will stop. The concept is thought of as "heat death" and these researchers want to know when it might happen.

In order to even attempt to estimate the end of life, they need to quantify the level of disorder in the universe , which isn't exactly an easy task. So, it's no surprise that previous estimates were a tiny bit off:

An analysis by Chas Egan of the Australian National University in Canberra and Charles Lineweaver of the University of New South Wales in Sydney indicates that the collective entropy of all the supermassive black holes at the centers of galaxies is about 100 times higher than previously calculated. Because supermassive black holes are the largest contributor to cosmic entropy, the finding suggests that the entropy of the universe is also about 100 times larger than previous estimates.

Researchers still can't know if their new calculations are truly more accurate than prior estimates. What they can know is that no one accounted for supermassive black holes during the last number crunching. Wonder if a Muse song inspired someone to remember it this time. [US News via Pop Sci]

Each type of particle has its antiparticle, leading to some inevitable cosmic quandaries. First, we're surrounded by matter; where did all the antimatter go?

We can even ask this question because when antimatter meets matter, they destroy each other. This leads to the second question: Why didn't all the antimatter destroy all the matter early in the universe? Physicists think the big bang should have produced equal amounts of both matter and antimatter. In other words, the universe should have poofed all matter and antimatter out of existence.

That's just one interesting point about antimatter. Head over to the link to read 9 more. [Discovery]

Notes on image:
IN SPACE - (UNDATED PHOTO) A composite image of the Crab Nebula showing X-ray (blue), and optical (red) images superimposed is shown in this undated photo. Multiple observations made over several months with NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and the Hubble Space Telescope captured the spectacle of matter and antimatter propelled to nearly the speed of light by the Crab pulsar, a rapidly rotating neutron star the size of Manhattan. (Photo by NASA/Getty Images)

The mega laser, formerly used to generate fusion data for nuclear weapon simulations, works by frying iron and other materials. The laser's intense heat vaporizes metal, and the reaction should allow scientists to "get inside" gas giants like Jupiter, where internal pressure is hypothesized to be 1,000 greater than the center of the Earth. "The chemistry of these planets is completely unexplored," says Raymond Jeanloz, the man with his finger on one of the most powerful lasers in the world. "It's never been accessible in the laboratory before."

Eventually, if all goes according to this mastermind's ingenious plan, the laser could provide the data necessary to create a commercial fusion power plant. Or was the the data necessary to end the world? I forget. [New Scientist]

Magnify the speck and you'll realize that it actually contains a model of the known universe. Made by a group of three designers named To22, #5 is a stylish reminder that there's something much bigger than all of us - whether that's a scary or comforting thought is up to you. [To22 via Dvice]

One branch of theoretical physics believes that the Universe is just a holographic version of 2D information. And scientists have observed such being true, the 2D horizon around a black hole encoding the data from its earlier 3D star stage. You've observed the idea yourself as well, as it's not so different from a 3D movie playing from a DVD, or even music playing from data on a CD, really.

From New Scientist:

If space-time is a grainy hologram, then you can think of the universe as a sphere whose outer surface is papered in Planck length-sized [ed: uber tiny] squares, each containing one bit of information. The holographic principle says that the amount of information papering the outside must match the number of bits contained inside the volume of the universe.

Since the volume of the spherical universe is much bigger than its outer surface, how could this be true? Hogan realised that in order to have the same number of bits inside the universe as on the boundary, the world inside must be made up of grains bigger than the Planck length. "Or, to put it another way, a holographic universe is blurry," says Hogan.

We won't rewrite New Scientist's entire brilliant piece, but needless to say, that Hogan guy in the quote above not only thinks that a new experiment may have found that noise in our holographic signal—he predicted the experiment's results before they happened. Hit the link to blow your pea brain for the day. Then ask yourself if we're all just bits of information on God's hard drive. [New Scientist and image]

Obviously, it's not a spaceport like Mos Eisley, even while it looks like it. But you can call it a "starport" or "skyport" because it has been designed to capture astronomical events from the rooms—called "skyspaces"—inside the volcano. Turrell, an artist expert in optics and perceptual psychology, has spent the last 30 years creating it, removing tons of land and pouring in tons of concrete and steel to make it happen. His Roden Crater light temple is going to be the pinnacle of his work.

A skyspace is a structure that has an opening in the ceiling at calculated angles. At certain times during the day, and sometimes while combined with other kind of lighting, a skypace gives the viewer the sensation of floating in midair. The rooms in the Roden Crater have been carefully designed by Turrell to provide with this sensation, while offering unique vantage points to different astronomical events that happen during the year.

So in a way, this is a spaceport, although not for alien ships to land or take off, but for people to enjoy the wonders of light and the Universe around us.

The light chambers are accessible through a 854-foot tunnel from the side of the volcano, as well as from an entrance on the top, which opens the way to a hall which actually look like the interior of an spacecraft.

Looks like it's time to prepare a trippin' trip for 2012. [Deputy-Dog]

Scientists also believe that when two large, planar bodies, referred to as branes, collide in the universe, they release enough energy to create a rapid expansion that can spawn a new universe (see explanatory gallery here).
While they can re-create scenarios they believe to be the same as these events, the lack of monitoring tech available makes it impossible to verify. The list of mysteries and theories that scientists have attacked over the last few years makes this an interesting read for fans of Hawking-esque space thinking. [PopSci]