For all you holiday anglers, today’s featured Invention Award winner is something to aspire to: a fishing lure that doesn’t pollute once it ends up on the bottom of the lake. Ben Hobbins didn’t set out to clean up his local lakes, but his IronClads baits do exactly that. The Wisconsin inventor’s idea — fishing lures that are extra-strong, eco-friendly and nontoxic — solves a serious, if little-known environmental problem.
One year ago, scientists at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Lockheed Martin Space Systems, and the University of Arizona held their breath as the Phoenix Mars Lander hurtled toward its final descent and touchdown in the northern arctic plains of Mars. It was the first spacecraft landing on Mars without airbags since Viking 2 landed in 1976. At 4:53:44 PM Pacific time on May 25, 2008, radio signals confirmed that Phoenix had survived its final descent and had landed safely on the Martian surface. The tricky and precise maneuvers involved with the spacecraft’s entry, descent, and landing were executed in a manner described as “textbook perfect,” leaving Phoenix poised almost perfectly level on the Martian surface. And the crowd at Mission Control went wild.
A new map of the spread of HIV infection in Europe indicates that the virus traveled from major holiday destinations — Greece, Portugal and Spain — to northern European countries, New Scientist reports. A virologist determined how the virus evolved by sequencing parts of the virus genome from subjects throughout Europe — 1,337 people from at least 11 countries. While a number of Mediterranean countries appeared to be sources for the virus, the UK, Netherlands, Italy, Sweden, Norway, Switzerland, Denmark, Germany and Israel appeared to be hubs, through which the virus both came and went.
What ever happened to the online virtual world revolution? You know, the one where everyone would spend hours every day blinging out their Second Life avatars and crashing weddings in World of Warcraft? Well, those days never quite materialized. The media fanfare around virtual worlds has transitioned from an initial wildfire of exuberance to essentially nothing, as expectations for growth and revenue failed to pay off.
No hooch-addled human in a bar likes to hear that he or she is being cut off. But what if the news came from a bowtie-wearing panda bear robot? Fewer fights, more peace in the world? That’s the concept behind SOBEaR, the panda bear bartender who lets you (even wants you to!) breathe in its face, and then pours you the drink you should have — rather than the one you want.
Media outlets are reporting today that German automaker and Mercedes parent Daimler AG has acquired a stake in Silicon Valley electric-car builder Tesla Motors. Word is, Daimler’s nearly 10 percent buy is the latest component in the company’s plan to expand production of cars that rely on the power grid, not dead dinosaurs, for motivation.
Invention: GenShock The idea for an energy-producing shock absorber started humbly enough, just another wild invention tossed out during a late-night dorm-room bull session. Only, the students involved were among MIT’s best, and they actually went ahead and built it. Two years later, they’ve got a shiny Hummer H1, loaned by the manufacturer to use as a rolling testbed, and their GenShock may soon find its way into the military’s fleet of Humvees.
Researchers can figure out who was the Flava Flav of ancient Mesoamerica by checking out skeletons’ teeth. Dentists who lived up to 2500 years ago (who actually sound like they might be more talented than many tooth jockeys I’ve ever gone to) used to do an early version of grills — drilling into teeth and implanting gems like jade. Be sure to check out the picture of a skull decorated in this way. Also in today’s links: baby flamingos never see the light of day, an EPA manhunt gets underway and more.
We’ve been waiting almost five months for the Palm Pre smartphone to hit stores. Now Sprint has finally announced the details: In two and a half weeks, you’ll be able to get the Pre for $200 (after a $100 mail-in rebate) in stores around the country. If you don’t have a Sprint retail outlet in your town, not to worry. Best Buy, RadioShack, Sprint’s online store, and even some Wal-Marts will carry the phone, too.
Sex for a female Lake Eyre dragon lizard is sometimes like going to bed with a man and a roaring chainsaw. The male lizard bites her neck before mounting her. If he sinks his teeth in with too much vigor, he can chomp her spinal cord and kill her. So it’s no wonder the lady lizards are choosy about sex. |