tech bits

Mar 28th, 2009 Posted in tech | no comment »

A few bits of technology recently found online: a car you can fight crime in. One word: Hotelicopter. Cheap finger tracking, multitouch interactive whiteboarding, and virtual reality head tracking using the Wii remote (thanks for the pointer, Sekou). And if you’re interested in some older technology, one of Galileo’s telescopes is currently visiting Philadelphia.

first sounds

Mar 29th, 2008 Posted in history, tech | no comment »

Scientists at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory have succeeded in playing back the first known sound recording, made in 1860 by a Parisian named Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville. What’s interesting is that the sound waves (of a woman singing) were actually recorded on paper, and the LBNL scientists were able to convert the graphical waveforms back into audio.

not your ordinary office

Mar 19th, 2008 Posted in science, tech | no comment »

Here’s a list of five (and five more) unbelievably cool research facilities. Not sure which is my favorite, although my photographer’s eye is certainly drawn to the Z Machine.