Spider silk is one of the world’s strongest natural materials . Graphene is a super material with many amazing uses . So, oddly, scientists decided to combine the two by spraying spiders with the carbon-based wonder material—and the results were surprisingly impressive. Read more…
It’s hard to imagine what the world was like during World War II. Of course, we’ve read it all in history books and and we’ve seen movies and TV shows showing what life was like, but it’s just far enough back in time and just painful and shocking enough that it’s hard to fully understand how life worked back then. Read more…
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Stunningly restored color footage of Germany in 1945 right after WWII
Here’s a fun video showing the rainbow of colors that anodized titanium can become. There are blues and purples and gold and it all changes so fast. It’s basically magic (or science!) that just applying voltage to a piece of titanium in an electrolytic bath can transform the color completely. Read more…
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Video: Anodizing titanium reveals so many beautiful colors
Ubiquitous in many classrooms since the 19th century, chalk and chalkboards are familiar to most of us. White, powdery and prone to sticking to those surfaces where it is put (and just as easy to wipe away), chalk and its accompanying board are excellent instructional aids. Notably, however, most chalk today isn’t technically chalk at all, but gypsum. Read more…
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Blackboard Chalk Isn’t Really Chalk at All
This might look unlike most cockroaches you’ve ever seen—but that’s because it was probably quite a lot more aggressive than any you’ve seen, too. It had to be, because, it likely survived by hunting (admittedly quite small) prey, some 100 million years ago. Read more…
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This Mean Predatory Cockroach Was Caught in Amber 100 Million Years Ago
In winter, ice encroaches on Lake Michigan. In summer, sediment and algal blooms from runoff cloud the waters. But on a perfect day earlier this month, the ice had melted to reveal waters so clear, you could see decades-old shipwrecks lying at the bottom of the lake . Read more…
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Old Shipwrecks Are Reappearing In Lake Michigan’s Unusually Clear Water
If you’re over the age of thirty, you’re a musical dinosaur. You probably don’t understand the garbage those “damn kids” are listening to and you don’t want to. You’re not cool. When did this happen? Spotify may have just figured it out. Read more…
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Spotify Data Proves You’re Not As Cool As You Used To Be
Welcome to Reading List , a weekly collection of great tech reads from around the web. This week explores the early days of online music piracy, the implications of America’s military drone base in Germany, the potential pitfalls of artificial intelligence, and more! Enjoy. Read more…
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The CD Factory Worker Who Broke the Music Industry
It seems that Google Glass is down, but not out: Italian eyewear maker Luxottica — better known as the company behind Oakley and Ray-Ban — has confirmed that it’s working with Google to make version 2.0 of the company’s faceputer. Read more…
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Google Glass 2.0 Is Coming, According To a Google Glass Partner
On April 23rd, 2005, YouTube co-founder Jawed Karim uploaded a masterpiece of mundanity to YouTube, his newly launched video portal. Behold. Read more…
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The Gloriously Inane First YouTube Video Was Uploaded 10 Years Ago Today