Nike Invents Shoe for Prosthetic Legs, Can Now Sell Shoes to People Without Feet
For years now, we've seen athletes with prosthetic running blades break all sorts of boundaries that were previously insurmountable. And now Nike is crossing the final barrier by making a shoe that it can sell to people who have no feet. Snarking aside, the Nike Sole is the missing link for running blade users, providing better grip and a more natural stride length.
Notch Offers to Fund Psychonauts 2 After Tim Schafer Reveals No One Wanted To
Tim Schafer'sPsychonauts is one of the best video games ever made. It's that simple. It has its flaws, sure, but everything has flaws, and the ones in Psychonauts are so minute that they're extremely easy to overlook. Similar to how good television gets canceled in season one or two, no one bought Psychonauts when it first released. After dropping in price over the years and releasing on other platforms (like Steam), Psychonautsstarted making money. Mastermind Tim Schafer never let the initial abysmal sales get to him (which would make sense, considering the critical acclaim the game continues to receive, even to this day) and revealed to Digital Spy the other day that he pitched a sequel to the game to publishers "several times," but no one would bite. "I'd love to do that game," he said, "but I'd have to convince someone to just give me a few million dollars, that's all." In a perfect storm of beloved gaming icons, Notch got wind of Schafer's statement, and tweeted that he'd fund the making of Psychonauts 2. Wat.
$2 Smartphone Diagnosis and Liquid-Lens Glasses Could Bring Perfect Vision to Everyone
When you think of Third World problems, you general think of lack of food, lack of shelter, lack of clean water supplies, and things like that. While these are some of the more prominent issues, there are also many, many more you probably wouldn't think of, like lack of access to corrective lenses, for example. Over one billion people in Third World countries are getting by with eyesight that is anywhere from "pretty bad" to "totally abysmal" because they lack access to optometrists, diagnostic equipment, and lenses. There may be a solution on the horizon however: $2 smartphone-operated diagnostic scopes in conjunction with liquid-lens glasses that can make themselves.
Watch a Russian Power Plant Explode, Look Terrifying in the Sky [Video]
Everything about this video of a Russian power plant exploding off in the distance and lighting the sky a range of colors seems too perfect. The car that caught the video happened to have a dashboard mounted camera, and the driver seems to be listening to John Lennon's "Imagine," playing just softly enough to make this video not unlike a teaser to some nuclear holocaust movie. Extremely unsettling.
Man Rescued From Stuck Elevator, Gets Stuck In Another Elevator Immediately Afterward
A Chicago man found himself trapped in an elevator between the 21st and 22nd floors of the massive 49 floor condo development near Millenium Park. Fortunately, he was quickly rescued by a firefighter and ushered into the building's second elevator. Unfortunately, once inside, both rescuer and rescuee found that they were trapped once again. Clearly, neither of them was going to see the end of the Super Bowl.
Star Wars “Galactic Dance Off” Coming to a Kinect Near You
There is a Star Wars-branded thing called "Galactic Dance Off" and it's coming to a Kinect near you, that is, if you can't manage to run away fast enough. Before you get too excitedupset excited, this isn't a standalone property. No, it's a mode available in the upcoming Kinect Star Wars, a detail that seems to speak volumes about the game's actual content. But it gets even better.
Official Skyrim Mod Tools Released, Along With Portal 2 Space Sphere Mod
Only the second title to be featured on Steam Workshop, the creation area of Valve's community, Bethesda has finally brought us Skyrim's official modding tools, the Creation Kit. Along with giving players the ability to legitimately mod Skyrim, the kit comes with a high-resolution texture pack for the game, and oddly enough, teamed up with Valve to release a Portal 2 mod for Skyrim, the Space Sphere mod. That's right, everyone's favorite insane personality sphere can now follow players around the world of Skyrim. The creation kit is free, and around only 40 megabytes in size, so go grab it, and start modding your Dragonborn heart out, and visit the Creation Kit wiki for all your modding needs.
Child’s Valentine’s Day Card is Unintentionally Threatening, Hilarious
When you're a kid, you don't quite grasp the finer points of subtle implication. Or maybe you do, and you use your parents' assumptions otherwise to make them increasingly uneasy with your progressively less subtle suggestions that they are completely at your mercy, now and forever, and you are not to be angered. You know, testing the depths of their denial. Or maybe Michelle here just thought she'd remind her parents that life is a gift, oblivious of the creepy undertones. It has to be the second one, right? Yeah. Right?
OK Go Plays Music By Running a Chevy Into, Over Things in Super Bowl Ad
Thus far we have seen OK Go dance on treadmills, sing with dogs, perform with a camouflage marching band, and execute a song with a massive Rube Goldberg device. However, last night's Super Bowl ad may have topped them all for complexity, when the band used a specially modified Chevy Sonic to perform their song "Needing/Getting." It involves actuated mechanical arms, air-fed melodicas, a thousand wrecked instruments, and some pretty impressive stunt driving on the part of frontman Damian Kulash. Trust me, you need to see this.
How to Make Your Facebook Cover Look Extra Awesome
Hey, remember those clever image combinations that particularly festidious Facebook users put in place during the last major overhaul to the social networking site? Well, because of Timeline, all of those are going to be completely messed up. Thankfully, the new enormous "cover" image at the top of the redesigned user pages has ample opportunities for image shenanigans. If you're keen to try something like you see above, check out the instructions after the break.
Study: Dating Services’ “Scientific” Matching Systems Are Total Bunk
Most online dating sites like to try to give themselves a somewhat scientific, methodical veneer. However, a recent study concluded that dating sites as they currently exist are not scientific in the least bit. In fact, the study found that none adhered to any scientific methodology, and that their practices were flawed in principle and well as execution. Does this mean I need to stop obsessively checking OkCupid on my phone?
This is What the Beating Heart of a Chicken Embryo Looks Like
The minute vasculature that feeds a chicken embryo normally remains hidden within its yolky confines. However, biologist Anna Franz from the University of Oxford was able to reveal their complex structure by injecting a minute quantity of ink into a 72-hour old chicken embryo. This not only revealed the pathways that carry nourishment to the growing chick, but also the pumping action of its tiny heart. The sight was so spectacular that it netted Franz the 2011 Nikon Small World in Motion award, though my first thought was if the chicken survived the experience. See the amazing video, after the break.
The Entire PlayStation Network (PSN) Rebranding as Sony Entertainment Network (SEN)
Move over, venerable PlayStation Network, for Sony doesn't dig the sound of you anymore, and you shall forever be known as the Sony Entertainment Network (until Sony doesn't like the sound of that and changes it to something else). Starting tomorrow, February 7, all PSN accounts will be rebranded as SEN accounts. This shouldn't affect users too much, other than having to associate everything they thought they once knew with the SEN. Sony assures its users that this change is only a name change, and users' account information will stay the same.
I know that most of you have thought about your health and digestive system while slurping down a bowl of Maruchan instant ramen. However, if you haven't, I'm about to force the issue thanks to a new art-science crossover projected called Mouth to Anus (M2A, not kidding). The brain child of artist Stefani Bardin, working with gastroenterologist Dr. Braden Kuo of Harvard University, the project centers around data from a pill cam that shows you what processed food looks like during digestion. In case you're wondering, the answer is "distressing."
Super Bowl Reaches Over 12,000 Tweets Per Second, Doesn’t Come Close to Annual Movie Screening’s Record
With each subsequent big event, we continue to see Twitter's tweets per second record rise. Super Bowl XLVI was yesterday, and one can assume that Twitter was pretty active. If you didn't see the people you are following spamming your feed to death with extremely informative tweets like "!!!" or "omg," you still probably wouldn't be surprised to know that Twitter was quite active during the game, especially during the last three minutes, which is when the tweets per second count was at its highest. During the last three minutes of the game, a count of 12,233 tweets per second was reached. This eclipsed last year's Super Bowl tweets per second record of 4,064, but didn't come close to an annual Japanese screening of Castle in the Sky, which hit 25,088 tweets per second.
1 in 5 Researchers Have Been Asked To Cite Superflous Papers To Boost Journal Reputations
You might think that scientific journals are the arbitera of professionalism when it comes to publication practices, but a new survey indicates they have their sketchy side as well. While scientific journals are definitely interested in publishing valuable information and interesting studies, it seems they are also concerned with building and maintaining their reputations. This may be why 1 in 5 researchers reported being asked to add bogus citations to specific journals in their published papers.
If you're tired of your plain black mousepad that has a little splotch of coffee on it that never cleans off, even when you scratch at it with a penny, and want something new, fancy, and that makes you feel like a computer sultan, you can get a MouseRug, which is a fancy carpet to replace your boring mousepad. There are load of different designs, from Persian to Oriental to African, and they all sell on the product page for $19.95. Check out a few choice MouseRugs after the break.
Celebrate 500 Episodes of The Simpsons With World-Record Breaking TV Watching Marathon
As it stands, the current Guinness World Record for continuous television watching is 86 hours, 6 minutes, and 41 seconds, and was set all the way back in 2010. However, it might not last much longer as an over four-day-long marathon of TheSimpsons is being planned to commemorate the 500th episode of the series. Does this sound like a plot line from The Simpsons disconcertingly come to life, or is it just me?
Chrome Browser Comes to Android, Extends Reach Even Further
Late last year, Google's Chrome browser finally overtook Firefox in global usage. Now, Chrome is making new strides in its quest for dominance and coming to Android. For the moment, it's still in beta and relatedly only available for Ice Cream Sandwich users, but even so, it looks pretty sweet. Along with speed increases and better UI, mobile Chrome intends to make good use of its desktop sibling.
32-Foot Confucius Sculpture is Staggeringly Realistic, Staggeringly Creepy
You want the Confucius? You can't handle the Confucius! At least, you aren't likely to be able to when you're staring down this particular 32-foot behemoth. Built by Zhang Huan of An Yang City, China, Confucius here is made primarily out of silicone, steel, carbon fiber, and acrylic. His features are so surprisingly lifelike, you almost expect him to wake up and start trying to escape the floor he appears to be encased in, dispensing wisdom all the while.
Russian Team Breaches Underground Lake Vostok, Sealed for 15 Million Years Beneath Two Miles of Ice
After twenty years and 2.2 miles of drilling, a Russian scientific team has reported that they have breached the ice cap above Lake Vostok some 3,768 meters beneath Antarctica. Though many had theorized the existence of lakes beneath the antarctic ice since the 19th century, conclusive proof of one did not exist until 1993 when satellite data confirmed that an ancient fresh water lake did indeed exist. Untouched for nearly 15 million years, breaching Lake Vostok could have wide ranging effects on our understanding of life itself.
This Valentine’s Day Try DIY Brief Jerky, 100% Edible Meat Underwear
You might not want to believe me, but as it turns out, beef jerky underwear is a thing that some people want. Moreover, beef jerky underwear is a thing that some people might be willing to pay for. It's not unheard of. Instructable user Carleyy --apparently a member of the first group but not the second -- has come up with a way for you to easily make your own pair of Brief Jerky, and as a bonus, they are entirely edible. Yeah. You know you want a pair.
This is What Disneyland Looked Like in 1957 [Video]
Even though this footage is from the inferior Disney -- the land one -- it is from 1957 and looks amazing. It's as if we hopped in a TARDIS, meant to go somewhere entirely different, then ended up in 1957 California. Today I learned footage from 1957 Disneyland is simultaneously pretty and eerie.
“Transparent Screen” App for Android Lets You See Through Your Tablet or Phone While Walking
If you're from this century, you know all too well what it's like to be walking down the street -- texting -- and then trip on a curb, or accidentally kick a puppy, or fall down an open manhole. Okay, maybe you aren't that familar with the actual events, but I'll bet you've feared them before, but not quite enough to put away your phone. Well, the "Transparent Screen" app for Android has your back and, catering to your lazy fear, will let you look through your device to see all obstacles in your way.
Check Out the OMG AR-15 Unicorn, A Zombie Killing Gun for Girls
It seems like zombies have been trending forever, but guns with chainsaws mounted to them being pitched as zombie killing devices have picked up in popularity recently. That being the case, the guys over atGuns & Gardens wanted to get in on the fun too, but with a twist; their gun -- the OMG AR-15 Unicorn -- is marketed towards the little ladies in your life. Or anyone who digs rainbows, unicorns, and butterflies, really.
