Quantum Mechanics as Reality TV!

Only on Wired's site could you ever imagine taking the extremes of quantum mechanics and reality tv and putting them together. Why you might ask.... well if you can grasp the concept, it's a light hearted way to describe just what all the buzz is about with the lhc. With tongue firmly in cheek we are told that if you can grasp the compexities of reality tv you too can understand physics at the quantum level.

The article is certainly funny, but for me, it was a geeky way to learn how to understand reality tv!

<- More! ->

Invisibility Cloak Undone!

This has got to be an example of technology moving so fast that it literally trips over itself. Over the past several months we have been hearing more and more about tech being studied and developed that would allow a functional "invisibility cloak". Well it seems now that such a device may never happen. Why? Well it is not because a massive hole has been found in the concept, no, it's because a group of Chinese researchers have proposed a theoretical "anti-cloak" that would partially cancel the effect of the invisibility cloak, making the invisibility cloak technology partially infective. Their "anti-cloak" would be a material with optical properties perfectly matched to those of an invisibility cloak. Before you start cashing in your invisibility cloak stock, lets look at one of the major problems of a "truly" invisible material. Something that bends light around itself doesn't absorb any and doesn't reflect any. If you put a sheet of this material over yourself you would become blind. What the Chinese researchers have done is to solve this problem. Envisioning this problem, they developed in theory a way to cancel out small sections of the "cloak" so that you could see out.

Ingenious yes, but considering that we have only been able to bend certain wavelenghts of light so far and only in a lab, making "accessories" is something way on the fringe.

<- more in Science Daily ->

SoftBank Mobile testing smart movie posters

Pink Tentacle posts an article about some new "MallCityish" tech being tested that should send Saunders screaming. SoftBank Mobile is testing tech for what they are calling smart movie posters. The "posters" use Near Field Communication (NFC) — a short-range high-frequency wireless communication technology that lets users view digital content simply by holding their compatible cellphones near the posters. Throughout October participants will be able to receive information about the movie by holding their compatible device close to the poster. If they have the proper television at home, they will also be able to view this beamed material on their home equipment as well. The tests, which are designed to help the companies evaluate the effectiveness and potential of smart posters as a promotional medium, could be a sign of things to come in the field of poster advertising.

<- Source: Nikkei Net via Pink Tentacle ->

Artist Mark Bryan's futuristic artwork

Through IO9 I read about artist Mark Bryan and his skewed look into a futuristic society. Check out a full gallery of Bryan's work, including a robot Mona Lisa, clown carnage and weird fembots. Bryan describes his paintings as, "a cosmic stage for human activity. I'm in the audience like a court reporter taking notes with my sketchbook and brushes, playing the critic, here to observe and make comment."

<- Gallery ->

Samurai Girl preview

TV Sqaud Blog is giving us a preview of ABC Family channel's newest offering called Samurai Girl. The program is based on a series of young-adult novels. The show will play over three nights for a total of six hours. The mini-series will play out with two hours a night on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, starting September 5. Brett Love writing for TV Sqaud says:

• My first impression is that this feels like what you would expect from ABC Family. The movie shares more with Disney's Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior than it does with something like Machine Girl. Those concessions meant that the violence has been toned down, and there are about 400 gallons less fake blood than in my usual imported kung fu romp.

All in all not a bad thing. I am not sure exactly what intrrigues me about this show. But for some reason I am looking forward to seeing just what all the buzz is about.

There are more of Brett's comments here.