science

i got a reminder about the world science festival
even though it isn't until june 11 i'm really, really excited.
last year was great.

diamond

grow a diamond
piggybank
by daniel loves objects

wow!
strange new species found on great barrier reef
there are more than these three...

visualizing the bible

you have to read about it

tilted twister

tilted twister is a lego mindstorms robot that can solve a rubix cube in about 6 minutes.
pretty cool.
it uses light sensors to pick up the colors of the cubes and then calculates a "corners first method" solution to solve the puzzle.

pleo

while i'm thinking about dinosaurs and robots, now might be the time to share the #1 place on my wish-list.
it's pleo - a 1 week old robotic dinosaur whose sensory system of 40 "devices" enable sight, touch, and free movement - so says john frost on the disney blog.
pleo is incredible - the videos of him on the disney blog are adorable - and the coolest thing about him is that he can express emotions that he bases on his own life experiences.
he starts out as a baby camarasaurus, but then he develops a personality, mood and habits - he even has three stages of development (hatchling, infant and juvenile) and expresses a range of emotions from lively and playful to sad or confused.
it beats the hell out of a tomagachi and a furby, for sure.

robots

i seriously can't believe i missed this.
from july 30-august 3, 15 life sized "dinosaurs" took over madison square gardens,
including a t-rex, in an event bringing to life the bbc series walking with dinosaurs.
these guys look amazing.
this spring, i saw disney's lucky the dinosaur at the world science festival's street fair. lucky was a great robot, so lifelike, and it was great to see the way little kids reacted to a moving dinosaur.
but the bbc's dinosaurs were designed to be as realistic as possible - nothing like lucky - and with the exception of the human legs coming out the bottom of a few of them, from what i've heard the robots were incredible.
i'm so sad i didn't see it.
i love dinosaurs, and i really love robots.

hexapod

i really love robots, my brother and i used to build little ones as kids.
so i though this article about building robots that respond to human emotions.
what i really like about it is the way these guys look. the one shown above responds to emotions like a small child or pet, and he looks really sweet - like a handstitched little lamb, but with a heartbeat and a breathing belly.
the other one, the hexapod, is a little weirder. not as cuddly or friendly, and he "latches" on to strangers. bizarre! and accordingly, he's a pointy metal spider, kind of sinister - but still really neat.