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Massive Lego model of Nvidia GeForce GTX 690 graphics card

Xiosheng Li recreated his Nvidia GeForce GTX 690 graphics card as a massive Lego build. It’s over six feet long and completely not functional, but pretty damn rad. Using 11,396 bricks and taking over three months, the cost of this build is around ¥10,000 (USD $1,640). “Xiaosheng used the Lego Digital Designer software to model…

Is Design To Blame If a Building Collapses After a Nuclear Attack?

The World Trade Center’s Tower 7 collapsed at 5:21 pm on September 11, 2001, after fires ignited by debris from the first and second towers weakened its structural columns. But were the building’s designers and developers responsible for anticipating the attack? According to a new decision from a Manhattan judge: no. The opinion stems from…

Gut feelings could foretell future marriage happiness

Couples’ unconscious feelings can be used to better predict their future happiness than what they actually say, according to a study of newlyweds. Top photo by luc.viatour via flickr The study, published in Science, followed 135 couples for the first four years of their marriage and found that gut-level feelings, which they were either unwilling…

If you want to discourage fruit flies, hide your oranges

It seems like fruit flies will target any fruit that’s lying around in your kitchen. But when given the choice, these annoying pests actually prefer citrus like oranges, limes, and lemons. And there’s a good reason for it, too. The common fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster) has long been a “model organism,” which allows scientists to…

Are Astronauts Still Sexy?

Back in 1962, Parade magazine asked American women about the sexiest professions for a potential partner to have. Doctor topped the list. And somehow writer came in second. But astronaut came in a very respectable third place. Which got us thinking: is being an astronaut today more or less sexy than it was during the…

Google’s Auto-Awesome Will Make Your Photos Snow or Twinkle

Google’s Auto-Awesome feature that’s baked into Google+ already does cool things, like make your pictures more balanced, auto-stitch panoramas, and even create animated GIFs. Today, it’s adding two new Holiday-ish Auto-Awesomes. It’s either the best new feature, or the cheesiest, worst new feature. You decide. Starting today when you take a photo of something that…

Avoid Injuries With Smart Sneakers That Tell You How To Run Properly

A daily run can be great for your health and fitness, but it can actually be harmful too if not done properly. Of course the right shoes are an important part of the formula, especially this sensor-laden pair developed by the Fraunhofer Institute which provide real-time feedback on your running style, and how to improve…

Who’s your Big Daddy? Concept art from that cancelled Bioshock movie

Remember the Bioshock movie that almost got made a few years back? Now at last, here’s your first glimpse of what it could have looked like, thanks to concept artist Tim Flattery. Universal was pretty serious about making a movie out of the amazing video game Bioshock, with Gore Verbinski (Pirates of the Caribbean) directing.…

Today’s Paper Is the New York Times Online, Organized Like Print

The thing about newspapers is that you don’t really need the newspaper to read the newspaper any more. The Internet! If you find reading online a little hollow for some intangible reason, you might like the New York Times’ new web app, Today’s Paper, which is organized like the New York Times in print. It’s…

Even the U.N. Is Using Drones to Spy on People Now

The United Nations now has its own drone program. Its first unmanned aircraft took off earlier this week in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Joining some 87 countries with the capability, the organization says it’s just keeping up with the world’s technological advances. But there’s a big caveat to the UN’s drone fleet: the…

How a century of dog breeding ruined these beautiful animals

Watching how one hundred years of dog breeding “improvement” actually ruined perfectly beautiful, athletic, and useful dogs, turning them into a caricature of themselves full of health problems, is really sad. Just look at the deformation endured by the bull terrier above these lines. Science of Dogs collected these old photos from Breeds of All…

Plant Your Next Garden With A Boom, Using Repurposed Shotgun Shells

For all the hubbub about California banning the use of lead in ammunition, there’s been less of a focus on safer alternatives—but designer Per Crowell has taken this to perhaps its most tongue-in-cheek extreme, proposing shotgun shells filled with seeds. The project website appears to take its mission quite seriously, suggesting that these are shells…

Space technology company builds a functioning artificial heart

An artificial heart that took 15 years to develop has been approved for human trials. The device, which was fashioned from biological tissue and parts of miniature satellite equipment, combines the latest advances in medicine, biology, electronics, and materials science. It’s built by the Paris-based company Carmat and it’s the brainchild of French cardiac surgeon…

10 Robot Deaths That Were More Moving Than Almost Any Human’s

When any beloved character dies, it’s heart-rending — but sometimes, the death of a beloved robot (or android) can be the saddest of all. Maybe because we bond so intensely with artificial beings, their deaths can feel like losing a best friend. Here are 10 robot deaths that are more devastating than almost any human’s.…

Ask an Expert Your Questions About Genetics and Sex Differences!

Sarah Richardson is a science historian at Harvard who studies how people understand the genetic science of sex difference. She’s here to answer your questions today about the development of genomics, ideas about sex difference, and the history behind the two. She is the author of the book Sex Itself: The Search for Male and…

Biking Across a Pool of Cornstarch Beats Walking on Water Any Day

The minds behind theHard Science YouTube channel have given us a crash course in the exciting world of non-Newtonian fluids in the most awesome way possible—by biking across a pool of cornstarch that is, at once, both solid and liquid. By creating a mixture that’s two parts cornstarch to one part water, the team was…

Arguing that it is “not a currency in the real meaning of the word,” Chinese authorities have banned financial companies from using Bitcoin. This is to “protect the status of the renminbi as the statutory currency, prevent risks of money laundering and protect financial stability.” [New York Times]

Arrow will make you want to marry Barry Allen

Did you go out and sniff the air last night? That special tang wasn’t the nog n’ pine scent of the holiday season, that was people across America falling in love with Barry Allen. “The Scientist,” last night’s episode, makes that doe-eyed dork absolutely irresistible. We start with something battering down a giant set of…

Electronic Triage Bracelets Prioritize Who Needs Immediate Care

In a disaster situation, triage and rescue workers typically tag patients with a colored paper bracelet that correlates to the severity of their injury. But a patient’s situation can change after being tagged, making it difficult to keep track of who needs what care. So researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute have developed a cheap electronic…

Watch Bilbo face off with a giant, invisible dragon on the Hobbit set

The latest behind-the-scenes Hobbit video blog is out, showcasing just how difficult it must have been for Martin Freeman to act against the giant nothingness that was Smaug. Plus, check out five clips from the actual film itself. We love these video blogs Peter Jackson puts out, mostly for the insane access they give to…