De Rotterdam, a massive tower designed by Rotterdam darling Rem Koolhaas, has opened. It is the city’s largest building—a little bit of Manhattan, in Rotterdam. It’s also, in an odd way, a tribute to the original World Trade Center. Read more…
See more here:
The Netherlands’ Biggest Building Opens 16 Years After It Was Designed
If you want to add books you don’t purchase from Apple into your iBooks library, you have two main methods: sync with iTunes or sync with the iBooks app in Mavericks. They’re both not the most intuitive things in the world though, so if you’re sick of bothering with them, Cult of Mac points out that sending an email with an Epub attachment does the job. Read more…
More:
Skip iTunes and Add Your Own Books to iBooks with an Email
The answer to designing ships that are both fast and stable has traditionally been to make the vessels as narrow as possible (to reduce drag) and sit them lower in the water (to reduce the buffeting effects of plowing through waves). But US Navy’s M80 Stiletto is not your typical ship. Combining cutting edge construction and a unique hull design, this fast attack boat can cut through rough seas like a hot knife through drawn butter. Read more…
Original post:
America’s Largest Carbon Fiber Ship Is a Seafaring Speed Demon
From the audience, this instrument looks like a typical grand piano. Then the maestro takes his seat and begins to play. It’s a sound nobody has heard before, because this instrument, designed by Leonardo Da Vinci five centuries ago, has just been built for the very first time. And it sounds heavenly. Read more…
Read More:
Listen to Da Vinci’s Genius Piano-Cello Played for the Very First Time
Home security and automation are rarely mentioned in the same sentence as the word cheap, but it’s totally possible if you’re willing to do a few things yourself. We checked out a $200 DIY kit called Ninja Blocks , and were able to get a home automation and security system up and running in about 10 minutes. Read more…
See more here:
Make Your Own Cheap Home Automation in 10 Minutes with Ninja Blocks
The so-called ” Roominaroom ” project by London-based architects atmos studio won a 2013 UK Wood Award yesterday for its extraordinary level of craftsmanship—from computer-milled, cut, and fitted ornamental oak beams to precision joinery—for a renovated house in the city. Read more…
Read more here:
Bendy Wooden Room Snaps Together Like Tetris, Takes Over House
Researchers have been using graphene to develop an assortment of technologically advanced things for a while, from camera sensors and contact lenses all the way to frickin’ lasers . That’s why it’s not a surprise to see a group of engineers from Columbia University create the world’s smallest FM transmitter using the atom-thick material. The end product isn’t just for show, either, as it can pump tunes over the airwaves to a regular FM radio — the team even used Gangnam Style to prove that it works. As interesting as the teensy transmitter is, the engineers have no plans to build a radio for ants, and this is merely part of a larger study into nano-electromechanical systems. Now all we need is for someone to make a tiny violin and a pair of tweezers small enough for us to play. Filed under: Alt Comments Via: IEEE Source: Columbia University , Nature
Read more here:
World’s smallest FM receiver built with graphene, ruined by Psy
In the future we should hope for all of our displays to be OLED; it’s thin, light, deep with color, and energy efficient to boot. It’s also incredibly expensive. That could soon change, though, thanks to a jumped-up inkjet printer. Read more…
Originally posted here:
The OLEDs of the Future Could Be Inkjet Printed
cartechboy writes “Last year’s Gallup poll showed that car salespeople are the least trusted professionals in America, ranking even below members of Congress. Enter, Carvana, an online dealership operating in Atlanta, Georgia. They allow customers to shop for cars online, secure loans online, and pay for cars online. Now they have gone one step farther and are claiming to remove the despised car salesperson from test drives and even post-purchase pickup by creating, yes, a giant auto vending machine. The facility, which will open at the end of November, will be a fully digital, 24-7 interactive ‘vehicle-delivery center’ designed to offer customers pick-up options after purchasing a vehicle online. They’ll have floor-to-ceiling windows, custom LED lighting, flat screen TV’s plus interactive keypads that identify customers based on unique buyer credentials. There will be three car pickup bays to allow for simultaneous pickups. One thing they won’t have: car sales people (Note: there will be customer service reps there to answer questions). Carvana plans to expand on the idea, presumably if this Atlanta facility works.” Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Original post:
Online Car Retailer Launching Nation’s First Car "Vending Machine"
Off the coast of Japan, an exploding volcano has formed a new island about 650 meters in diameter. You can see it spewing and spouting off black volcanic ash all around as it fills itself out. Pretty cool. Read more…
Excerpt from:
Watch a volcano birth an entire new island