Month: September 2004

Paul Graham, in What the Bubble Got Right: “someone who doesn’t expend any effort on marketing himself. A nerd, in other words, is someone who concentrates on substance.”… Read the rest

Dutch artist Theo Jansen makes gigantic, wind-powered, walking “animals” out of steel and polyester sheeting, such as this 2-ton Animalis Rhinoceros Transport. (via Engadget)… Read the rest

I can’t figure this out. With crude oil prices almost at a record-high $50/barrel, you’d think gasoline prices would be shooting up, too. But they’re not. In fact, the price of gasoline remains at historically low levels, when adjusted for inflation.… Read the rest

The molecules making up microtubules, the protein filaments that form the internal “scaffolding” of your body’s cells, are replaced every 10 minutes. Actin filaments in the dendrites of your neurons are recycled even quicker: every 40 seconds. In fact, the entire brain’s composition turns over every couple of months.… Read the rest

I have to admit I’m insanely jealous: The multitalented Xeni Jardin will be flying on one of Zero-G’s first commercial zero-gravity air flights, 32,000 feet up. NASA has used parabolic flight trajectories to train astronauts in weightlessness for years. Now, Zero-G will begin selling these flights — 90 minutes, including 15 thirty-second episodes of varying degrees of weightlessness — for $3,000.… Read the rest

Police in Paris discovered a fully equipped movie theater in a large and previously uncharted part of Les Catacombes, underneath the 16th arondissement. A smaller cave next door had been turned into a restaurant and bar.

When police returned a few days later, the secret theater’s power and phone lines had been cut and a note was left on the floor: “Do not,” it said, “try to find us.”… Read the rest

Want to know what happened on a particular day in history? dMarie’s Time Capsuler will tell you: Just enter a date and it gives you the top headlines, songs, and more. Very fun!… Read the rest