Celestron SkyScout Is Almost As Cool As A Pink Floyd Laser Light Show

"When I was a kid it was enough to stick those glow-in-the-dark stars and planets on the ceiling. At first, I tried to do a scale model of the universe but realized there was no scale that would make any sense in my bedroom. I got a bit older and turned the ceiling into a Van Gogh Starry Night-inspired trip-o-sphere. A month later, it became clear that the Starry Night was even dorkier than the scale model of the universe, and that I would never be able to convince a girl to come over and listen to my Pink Floyd albums, anyhow.

Puberty would have been different if I'd had the Celestron SkyScout. This gadget is about the size of a video camera and becomes your own personal planetarium. Just go outside into the freezing night and point the SkyScout to the sky at a specific star or object, and you'll get commentary on that particular object. Up to 6,000 objects are pre-programmed into the SkyScout, so expect to be entertained for hours.

One day, it might even play Pink Floyd.

The SkyScout won a Best of Innovations honor from the Consumer Electronics Association.

thanks Gizmodo:

Mobile Chic = Old Handsets

The other day as I headed out of the Versace store at the mall, I felt like I was missing something to go with my sequin-beaded, pre-torn shirt-and-jeans ensemble. I needed an accessory that screams chic, but is retro and old school. Then I found these DIY mobile handsets that I could customize yourself with paints and glitter! Like, totally! I pictured how good my ass would look with a bright orange, glitter-ridden phone handset hanging from the pocket and liked what I saw. The handsets come in all kinds of fashionable colors like white, pink, blue, and lime. Using a cellphone adapter, you plug in your handset to start talking like it's 1965 all over again. Regular models go for $2,500 while the baby model goes for $750. Or you could Google around a little, get some paint, and do it all for under $40 by yourself. But you have more money than taste, admit it. [link]

'Old school' headset for mobile phone [Akihabara]"

Mobile Chic = Old Handsets

The other day as I headed out of the Versace store at the mall, I felt like I was missing something to go with my sequin-beaded, pre-torn shirt-and-jeans ensemble. I needed an accessory that screams chic, but is retro and old school. Then I found these DIY mobile handsets that I could customize yourself with paints and glitter! Like, totally! I pictured how good my ass would look with a bright orange, glitter-ridden phone handset hanging from the pocket and liked what I saw. The handsets come in all kinds of fashionable colors like white, pink, blue, and lime. Using a cellphone adapter, you plug in your handset to start talking like it's 1965 all over again. Regular models go for $2,500 while the baby model goes for $750. Or you could Google around a little, get some paint, and do it all for under $40 by yourself. But you have more money than taste, admit it. [link]: "

Team Maps Dark Matter In Startling Detail

"Clues revealed by the recently sharpened view of the Hubble Space Telescope have allowed astronomers to map the location of invisible 'dark matter' in unprecedented detail in two very young galaxy clusters. The team's results lend credence to the theory that the galaxies we can see form at the densest regions of 'cosmic webs' of invisible dark matter, just as froth gathers on top of ocean waves, said study co-author Myungkook James Jee, assistant research scientist in the Henry A. Rowland Department of Physics and Astronomy in Johns Hopkins' Krieger School of Arts and Sciences." [Link]

This is the snapshot of the computer simulation of the dark matter Universe. These filamentary structures are called "cosmic webs" of dark matter. (Image courtesy of Johns Hopkins University)

Wireless USB Hub is Near

"Wisair is working on a USB wireless hub which will consist of a wireless dongle and the hub itself.  If it's reasonable enough, I'll be one of the first to sign up.  I have quite a few USB devices that connect to my laptop (probably around 10 or 12 using 3 hubs), so it'd be nice to get the wires off my desk: Not much else is revealed except the..."Link:

Coffee Jump-starts Short-term Memory

Just in, to help you remember where you put your keys drink more coffee. Interestingly enough, I remember being told several years ago that caffeine and ciggaretes increased memory retention as well. At least one of those components is still socially acceptable these days.

"Caffeine exerts a positive effect on short-term memory and reaction times, according to a study presented today at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA)." [Link]:

Hopping Microbots for Mars Exploration

"Penelope Boston and Steven Dubowsky have received some bling-bling in the form of a grant to design hopping microbots for NASA. A rover would deliver hundreds of these miniature robots to the Mars surface for exploration purposes. The small spheres store up muscle energy and release it causing it to hop into various directions. The microbots would be able to analyze the surface material and map out the planet.

Hopping Microbots for Mars Exploration:

New Scientist News - Sony patent takes first step towards real-life Matrix

"The technique suggested in the patent is entirely non-invasive. It describes a device that fires pulses of ultrasound at the head to modify firing patterns in targeted parts of the brain, creating 'sensory experiences' ranging from moving images to tastes and sounds. This could give blind or deaf people the chance to see or hear, the patent claims"[link]:

Boing Boing: Are reusable water bottles dangerous?

Are reusable water bottles dangerous?
At The F Blog, former BB guestblogger Jenn Shreve writes about her quest to find an environmentally-reasonable yet non-toxic portable (and potable) water container:

Being the green gal that I am, but not wishing to sacrifice my own health for the planet (sorry, earth, just being honest), I decided just to re-use the flimsy plastic water bottles for as long as I could. I was happy with this solution for quite some time, until I learned the horrible truth: HARMFUL BACTERIA! Yes, with each refreshing sip I was backwashing germs into my water and providing them with a warm, wet place to grow.

So I did what any bacteria-fearing primate would do and bought a nice, reusable Nalgene bottle. Boy oh boy, nothing makes you look or feel more like a tree-hugging, mushroom hunting nature girl than one of those bright, hard plastic bottles! Until it comes out that Nalgene gives you BRAIN DAMAGE! Yes, Bisphenol A, used to make Nalgene bottles and other hard plastic projects, apparently seeps into the body and can, in certain doses, mess with the function of the brain. (I’m paraphrasing/exaggerating and not everybody agrees, so look it up.) I could almost dismiss the fear as environmentalist fear mongering, but it turns out that California legislators take the threat seriously enough to consider banning it in children’s products.[link]

Flaming Meteor Streaks Across Northwestern Skies

"SEATTLE - A fireball streaked through the night sky across the western half of the Pacific Northwest on Saturday, startling people all the way from southern Oregon to the Seattle area"[link]