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The sad fate of Jimmy Carter’s solar panels

In his new book Renewable, science writer Jeremy Shere offers a fascinating history of renewable energy in the United States, and a look toward its future. In this excerpt, he tells the almost-forgotten story of how President Jimmy Carter tried to make the White House run on solar power. On June 20, 1979, the White…

Lifeforce the TV series is a thing that is happening

Who wants to watch a show about Space Vampires? (Who may or may not be constantly naked this time?) Deadline is repoting that Ringleader Studios has purchased rights to adapt Colin Wilson’s 1976 novel The Space Vampires for television. Yes, the SAME story that was adapted into the 1985 flick Lifeforce. The series will also…

How Your Mistakes Can Make You a More Rational Person

As humans we make mistakes all the time, but we don’t often recognize them for what they are: setbacks that are begging to be recognized as useful lessons. Here are some amazing brain hacks that help you learn from your screw-ups and become more rational. To learn more about this, we spoke to Spencer Greenberg.…

This Chair Was Made From Artichokes And Cooking Oil

Dinner! Time to tuck into a delicious side-dish of artichokes while sitting comfortably on a chair… made of artichokes? University of Edinbugh grad Spyros Kizis engineered a new material made from artichoke thistle (Cynara cardunculus)—a naturally occurring, resilient crop in his native Greece—mixed together with a bio-resin composed mostly of waste oil from cooking. Together,…

How Much Would You Pay for Buzz Aldrin’s Undies?

If your answer is more than $2,189 (the current bid) you’ve got a shot at being the proud owner of this relic from the Space Race. https://gizmodo.com/heres-your-chance-to-own-a-piece-of-the-space-race-1468623330

Here’s Your Chance to Own a Piece of the Space Race

For as much as Richard Branson would like to convince us otherwise, regular folks like us have precious little chance of ever leaving the comfort of Earth’s atmosphere and venturing into space. But that doesn’t mean you can’t own an item that already has. Today is the final day to bid on more than 890…

Insert Da Vinci Cello/Code Pun Here (via Gizmodo)

Video of the “viola organista,” an instrument designed by Leonardo Da Vinci five centuries back, but only now just built for the first time, via Robert Sorokanich of Gizmodo. More details at theage.com.au. https://gizmodo.com/listen-to-da-vincis-genius-piano-cello-played-for-the-1468934693

Nexus 7, iTunes Money, Black Friday Gaming, Nose Hair [Deals]

Amazon has jumped the line and matched any upcoming Black Friday deals we’ve seen for the current generation Nexus 7. You can now get a 16GB model for an even $200, or the 32GB model for $40 more, both of which are $30 less than retail. Gizmodo loved it, and it’s absolutely the best small…

The final 15 minutes of last night’s Arrow made me dance

Last night’s Arrow was furiously frustrating for the first three quarters of its air time. Then, just when things were getting hopeless, the show pressed the gas pedal to the floor and just drove. It was beautiful and amazing, and had me dancing like nobody was watching, although people were watching. Last night’s show, “State…

The space station is now fully armed and operational with a cannon

Watch the International Space Station’s cannon in action. It’s name is J-SSOD and it’s attached to the Japanese module Kibo. But wait, you say, what happened to the no weapons in space thing? Is this Death Star Alpha? Don’t worry, this cannon doesn’t fire projectiles or laser beams or proton torpedoes, which is good because…

The Kids in This Billboard Point at Actual Planes Flying Overhead

In an attempt to entice more people to travel on its airline, British Airways has created a couple of digital billboards to promote its ‘Magic of Flying’ campaign where footage of children pointing at actual planes flying overhead is displayed. The only problem is that’s actually a little creepy. The advertisements use readily available GPS,…

A fascinating look at the photo evidence of Kennedy’s assassination

Errol Morris talks with Tink Thompson—the author of the must-read Six Seconds in Dallas—about the photographic evidence of JFK’s assassination in this new fascinating video. From the New York Times: The Kennedy assassination changed Tink’s life. In 1967, he was an assistant professor of philosophy at Haverford, when he published “Six Seconds in Dallas.” Short,…

The 10 Types of Writers’ Block (and How to Overcome Them)

Writer’s Block. It sounds like a fearsome condition, a creative blockage. The end of invention. But what is it, really? Part of why Writer’s Block sounds so dreadful and insurmountable is the fact that nobody ever takes it apart. People lump several different types of creative problems into one broad category. In fact, there’s no…

Dot City: Welcome to the Age of Virtual Geography

Last week’s news that London had applied for a .london top level domain name (TLD)—joining a small handful of other cities and regions around the world, including .nyc and .paris—raised the question of how a city might define itself online, where the edges and outer boundaries of a city might be when you’re clicking around…

Abandoned Warehouse From The Wire Is Now a Fantastic Design School

Recognize this Baltimore building? Today, it’s the gleaming Baltimore Design School. But not long ago, it was an abandoned warehouse used by HBO for scenes of urban decay in The Wire. Talk about a comeback story. As Co.Design explains, this public 6th-12th grade school offers architecture, graphic design and fashion design curricula, bringing new life…

Ask an astrophysicist anything you want about nearby asteroids!

Amy Mainzer is an astrophysicist at the Jet Propulsion Lab who builds instruments for space telescopes that allow us to study Earth’s nearest neighbors, including asteroids, comets, and stars. She’s here today to answer your questions about all the objects whizzing past Earth — and which ones we should be keeping our eyes on. Mainzer…

Ever wonder why Silicon Valley is funding the new space race?

Northern California public radio and TV station KQED has just produced a great documentary about how the rulers of Silicon Valley turned their attention from cyberspace to outer space. Watch it here! Learn more at KQED

This Starscream Hoodie Will Transform What Your Co-Workers Think of You

After delighting kids and toy collectors in the 1980s, it’s nice to see the Transformers still enjoying some modicum of popularity. And while the Hollywood blockbusters have been forgettable, this wonderful Starscream hoodie—complete with presumably non-working wings—is not. Following in the footsteps of Nike’s excellent Megatron sneakers, this hoodie pays tribute to the Decepticons’ second-in-command.…

The new SkyDrive app for iOS can automatically back up all your photos. Go grab it; you can never have too much redundancy.

America’s Largest Carbon Fiber Ship Is a Seafaring Speed Demon

The answer to designing ships that are both fast and stable has traditionally been to make the vessels as narrow as possible (to reduce drag) and sit them lower in the water (to reduce the buffeting effects of plowing through waves). But US Navy’s M80 Stiletto is not your typical ship. Combining cutting edge construction…