Homely Scientist

 I know this might seem hokey, but wait read on:
We’ve all dreamed of having a mini-greenhouse that we could plug into our computer, but until today it was just that — dreams. But dream no longer. Geeks.com is selling a USB-powered Mini Greenhouse that includes a computer interface which helps you monitor growth rate and that includes a calendar, wallpaper and bookmark settings to aid you in monitoring the growth of your greenhouse. Source: USB: Grow Plants with the USB-Powered Mini-Greenhouse – Gizmodo
What about using this as a great science experiment with your kids?  I’m sure the software is fun …read more

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No, this is not a goofy free energy thing like I saw at Gnomedex on Saturday (ugh, it still bugs me).  This is real science, real physics, and doesn’t violate the laws of thermodynamics: heck it uses them!
This papercraft engine only needs to sit on a cup of hot coffee to drive its pistons. No, it’s not the precious caffeine that drives the motion, but the Stirling engine design, in which the difference between alternating hot and cold gas pressure is harnessed for power. Source: Cheaper Than Gas: Paper Stirling Engine Runs Off Hot Coffee – Gizmodo
Boing Boing has …read more

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From Lifehacker …
How To Pull A Van Uphill (with Only A Rope) – video powered by Metacafe
This video shows one of the simplest machines, the pulley–not a lever as Lifehacker says–and how it increases your ability to lift/pull heavy things.
If you want to try this at home … try something other than a car … log or something.
Technorati Tags: simple machines, physics, pulley

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This caught my eye on Read/Write Web:
A new project from the University of Oxford (UK), the University of Portsmouth (UK) and Johns Hopkins University (US) aims to harness the power of the human brain to identify and classify galaxies and stars. On the Galaxy Zoo website, users are asked to identify the objects in photographs as spiral or elliptical galaxies, the direction of rotation, or if the photo depicts a star or merger of galaxies. The site launched yesterday and says they have already had an “amazing response.”
“The human brain is actually better than a computer at pattern recognition tasks …read more

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 Besides using your laser pointer to entertain your pets (and yourself) or presentations. did you know you could do magic with a laser?  Me neither.  If you have any doubt about this watch this video:

Was that coolio amazing or what?  OMG!  Of course you do have to be careful when using lasers.
Little safety lesson here folks, don’t ever, EVER, point a laser at someone’s face (let’s include animals in this okay?).  Even the cheapo laser pointers you can get just about anywhere can seriously damage someone’s eyes.  Yeah, yeah it’s fun playing laser gun sight with people.  Uh huh.  Well …read more

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SciTalks is a new site that has videos of lectures on a ton of science topics.
“Science and scientists are going to be more fun and accessible because of SciTalks. Students will be able to hear the voices and passion of the actual discoverers of the subject they’re studying in class. Teachers can assign selections to their students… no matter how limited your school’s resources, if you have access to the internet, you can now get a great science education. It’s like crack for science geeks.” says founder Lee Vodra. Source: SciTalks.com launches video site for science lectures | 901am
You know …read more

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Thanks to Geek Dad I bring you some full moon facts like:
21 Scientists have long battled to explain the “moon illusion” – whereby the full moon appears to be larger the closer it is to the horizon. The phenomenon is understood to be caused by human perception rather than the magnifying effect of the earth’s atmosphere.

and
15 According to superstition a male child is more likely to be conceived at full moon.

countered by:
35 An analysis of the birthdays of 4,256 babies born in a clinic in France found no relationship between the full moon and fertility.

The next full moon is June 30th so, …read more

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As if there was any doubt what so ever:

Hat tip to Brad Feld, who is also a total geek, btw.
Technorati Tags: geek test

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No, really.  I went to my first Monster Truck thingy (it wasn’t a huge show and there were only two trucks) over the weekend.  I wish I had a) brought my camera and b) had my b5 press pass on me so I could have pictures and got to talk to the owners/drivers because any truck that goes around with tires that weigh 660 pounds each has got to have a lot of science going on.
Let’s  look at the tricks they do first.  You have the car crushing, flying through the air stuff.  These folks have to be pretty careful …read more

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No, I’m not kidding:
The real world version of “kryptonite” – which according to media reports will be officially named “jadarite,” after the place where it was discovered and because it does not contain the element krypton – is white, does not glow and is reportedly harmless to humans and/or natives of the planet Krypton.
Despite the harmless nature of this world’s kryptonite, Superman is far from off the hook. The first storyline in the newly-launched ongoing SUPERMAN CONFIDENTIAL series, from writer Darwyn Cooke (New Frontier) and artist Tim Sale (whose work has been featured on NBC’s “Heroes”), revealed a new take …read more

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