Groonk's Newsmine 2.0

« November 2007 | Main | January 2008 »

December 22, 2007

2008: There's an Asteroid Out there with Mars' Name on It

There is a 1-in-75 chance of 2007 WD5 hitting Mars; researchers can't be more confident than that because of uncertainties in the asteroid's orbit. If this unlikely event were to occur, however, the strike would happen somewhere within a broad swath across the planet north of where the Opportunity rover is.

"We estimate such impacts occur on Mars every thousand years or so," said Steve Chesley, a scientist at JPL. "If 2007 WD5 were to thump Mars on Jan. 30, we calculate it would hit at about 30,000 miles per hour and might create a crater more than half-a-mile wide." The Mars Rover Opportunity is currently exploring a crater approximately this size.

Such a collision could release about three megatons of energy. Scientists believe an event of comparable magnitude occurred here on Earth in 1908 in Tunguska, Siberia, but no crater was created. The object was disintegrated by Earth's atmosphere before it hit the ground, although the air blast devastated a large area of unpopulated forest. The Martian atmosphere is much thinner than Earth's so a similar sized impactor would be more likely to reach the ground.

(via nasa@gov)

Posted by Groonk at 11:09 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Mars

December 21, 2007

Man Finds Future Self Under Sink. Feels Really Good About It.

"Quite simply, I met myself there in the future and had a great time."

And managed not to ask himself how old he was or what date it is..er,was...er, will be. Also, he managed not to tell how he got back or to vid the surrounding area. But he did video himself with his future self.

Color me non-believing but intrigued by the video. For some reason, I feel I've seen this video before.

I'm not even trying to set up a joke there.

Well, maybe just a little.

UPDATE: Being curious I searched and found this thing is old. I guess I was too busy with my present to be bothered with his future at that time.

(via digg,5min life videopedia )

Posted by Groonk at 07:08 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Quotables, Research, Timey Wimey, Video, Weird

KUNG FU DUNK: Curious and Watchable, but Why?

(via b ball fu you tube, iwatchstuff)

Posted by Groonk at 05:02 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Martial Arts, Movies, Trailers

December 19, 2007

Galaxy 3C321, Fully Armed and Operational

Astronomers have spotted a distant galaxy zapping its smaller neighbor with a deadly, Death Star-like particle beam.

The beam is a jet of particles moving at near light-speed out of a super-massive black hole at the center of the larger galaxy. The beam has smashed into the nearby second galaxy, where it is probably decimating an untold number of planets.

(via discovery news)

Posted by Groonk at 03:09 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Science

(Not Completely) BLIND CLICK 21

(via some twitter link)

Posted by Groonk at 03:06 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Art

December 17, 2007

Man Turns Cordless Drill into Tesla Gun

He wins my forever praise in the process.

(via geekologie)

Posted by Groonk at 01:39 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Tesla, Video

Humans Evolving Faster, Becoming More Different

-- “We aren’t the same as people even 1,000 or 2,000 years ago,” he says, which may explain, for example, part of the difference between Viking invaders and their peaceful Swedish descendants. “The dogma has been these are cultural fluctuations, but almost any temperament trait you look at is under strong genetic influence.”

-- “Human races are evolving away from each other,” Harpending says. “Genes are evolving fast in Europe, Asia and Africa, but almost all of these are unique to their continent of origin. We are getting less alike, not merging into a single, mixed humanity.” He says that is happening because humans dispersed from Africa to other regions 40,000 years ago, “and there has not been much flow of genes between the regions since then.”
[...]
in China and most of Africa, few people can digest fresh milk into adulthood. Yet in Sweden and Denmark, the gene that makes the milk-digesting enzyme lactase remains active, so “almost everyone can drink fresh milk,” explaining why dairying is more common in Europe than in the Mediterranean and Africa, Harpending says.

He now is studying if the mutation that allowed lactose tolerance spurred some of history’s great population expansions, including when speakers of Indo-European languages settled all the way from northwest India and central Asia through Persia and across Europe 4,000 to 5,000 years ago. He suspects milk drinking gave lactose-tolerant Indo-European speakers more energy, allowing them to conquer a large area.

But Harpending believes the speedup in human evolution “is a temporary state of affairs because of our new environments since the dispersal of modern humans 40,000 years ago and especially since the invention of agriculture 12,000 years ago. That changed our diet and changed our social systems. If you suddenly take hunter-gatherers and give them a diet of corn, they frequently get diabetes. We’re still adapting to that. Several new genes we see spreading through the population are involved with helping us prosper with high-carbohydrate diet.”

(via physorg.com)

Posted by Groonk at 01:14 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Science

World Not as I Left It, Glow-in-the-Dark Cats Made

By demonstrating that it's possible to clone an animal with a manipulated gene, the research could help scientists better understand human genetic diseases. For example, scientists may be able to reproduce cloned animals suffering from the same diseases as humans. Cats have about 250 of the same kinds of genetic diseases that affect humans.

The ability to clone genetically altered cats may also help to develop new stem cell treatments for humans. And, using the same technology, researchers may be able to clone endangered animals like tigers, leopards and wildcats.

(via geekologie, nightvisioned you tube)

Posted by Groonk at 12:20 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Animals, Science, Video

Something New in Antarctica. A Massive Dinosaur, Yes!

Marvel's known about dinosaurs in Antarctica ever since Kirby and Lee created The Savage Land.

But seriously, a real new big ass dinosaur was found down there.

Named Glacialisaurus hammeri, after noted Antarctica fossil hunter William Hammer, the new dino was identified by a femur leg bone and an incomplete ankle and foot.

"Scaling the material up to similar-sized relatives would suggest that it was around 25 feet long and weighed perhaps 4-6 tons," said Nathan Smith, a graduate student at Chicago's Field Museum and a member of the Committee on Evolutionary Biology.

[...]

Then warmer, Antarctica's Early Jurassic climate likely supported ultra-tall trees that sauropodomorphs, like giraffes on steroids, were adept at eating.

Positioned further north, the continent was also then connected to other landmasses.

Wagner described Antarctica as a Jurassic "freeway," since "it was the route by which dinosaurs and mammals moved from places like Africa to Australia. Then, once it broke away, it may have been a refuge, albeit a cold one."

You tell me when you run into Ka-Zar, Mr Scientists.

(via discovery news)

Posted by Groonk at 11:30 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Dinosaurs

JJ Abrams is Geek Baiting: 5 Minutes of Cloverfield is Shared

In the beginning Abrams announces the widget that gets the most clicks will win a hometown screening of CLOVERFIELD.

Oh, the ideas are turning.

I'm still calling your movie MONSTROUS though.

(via ontd)

Posted by Groonk at 05:05 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Digital Share, Marketing, Movies, Video

Freema Agyeman. She's not Wrong

If you fish in the sea of random magazine/website interviews, you're bound to get a nibble on something worth a damn after a while.

But Agyeman was also the first black assistant in the programme's four-decade history.

'It's an honour,' she says, 'but the flip-side of that is that you get labelled in a way that non-black actors never do. If we're still making comments about "the first black this..." in 50 years, then there is a problem.'

(via ontd)

Posted by Groonk at 04:41 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Quotables

Soma.fm has a Lovely Christmas Lounge of Music

It's kid and parent safe! It's one of the few Christmas laden music streams that I can stand during the holidays. It's a pity I can't hear the damn thing in my car.

And for those with less sensitive ears there's:

You can follow the playlist in their Twitter.

I repeat, the Xmas in Frisco stream is not kid friendly. All they need is some random, non-reading idiot raising a ruckus about not being warned. I did it.

I warned you all.

(via soma.fm christmas, xmas in frisco)

Posted by Groonk at 01:33 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Digital Share, Holiday, Music, Streamed Goodness

December 15, 2007

Thoughts from "My Name is Not Richard"

It has to be in you a little bit, and you've got to have that passion to want to do it, and want to be better at it, and work hard at it and learn. That's what passion does, it makes you want to work and learn. You've also got to be committed to it, you can do all those things but if it's not in you, if it's not some type of gift then you probably won't get it.

Interview with Russell Sams aka Dick from RULES OF ATTRACTION. Well, more of a conversation really. The above part stuck out the most.

(via forces of good)

Posted by Groonk at 01:23 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Interviews, Quotables

Marilyn Manson Made Me Think a Little

"the less people know about you, the more they think you're a genius"
--Marilyn Manson

This was by way of an interview with "Richard" from RULES OF ATTRACTION.

(via forces of good)

Posted by Groonk at 12:21 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Quotables

December 14, 2007

Captain Kidd's Ship Found in the Most Obvious Place

The underwater archaeology team, from Indiana University, says they have found the remains of Quedagh Merchant, actively sought by treasure hunters for years.

Charles Beeker of IU said his team has been licensed to study the wreckage and convert the site into an underwater preserve for the public.

It is remarkable that the wreck has remained undiscovered all these years given its location, just 70 feet off the coast of Catalina Island in the Dominican Republic in less than 10 feet of seawater.

Amazingly, it hasn't been looted.

(via yahoo, livescience)

Posted by Groonk at 01:57 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of History

December 13, 2007

Drunken Monkeys Invade a Beach. Make Me Laugh.

Should be studying. Should be studying.

Haha! Look at that damn monkey. He's druuuunk!

No, damnit.

Should be studying. Should be studying. Should be studying.

(via amateur gourmet, legally drunk you tube)

Posted by Groonk at 06:53 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Animals, Video

FLCL Cosplay Check is More than Special

I'm avoiding work again. This FLCL cosplay moment made me smile a little.

Ok, a *lot*. Let's just keep that between you and me, internet. You know how to keep a secret, right?

(via rhythm wily deviatn art)

Posted by Groonk at 04:08 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Anime

December 12, 2007

TIME Online Talks to US Military Deserters

WATCH: An exploration as to why some soldiers decide to leave active duty

(via digg)

Posted by Groonk at 10:40 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of USA, War

BLIND CLICK 20: Oh, You Clever Little Jeans Advertisers

(via digg)

Posted by Groonk at 07:25 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Marketing, Sex

Have Yourself a Tesla Powered Christmas

That aussie fella's at it again.

(via wired)

Posted by Groonk at 07:01 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Holiday, Tesla

BLIND CLICK 19: Because you forgot

That hurt me so much that I am compelled to hurt others, too.

That's the human way.

(via last year)

Posted by Groonk at 11:00 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Holiday, Intertube Madness, Marketing, Movies, Weird

December 11, 2007

5 Year Old Boy Kills Bear. Bear Nation Beyond Upset

Tre Merritt, a descendant of Davy Crockett, was hunting with his grandfather Mike Merritt when a black bear happened upon their stand.

"His 10th great-grandfather was Davy Crockett," Mike Merritt said. "And Davy supposedly killed him a bear when he was three. And Tre is five and really killed a bear. I really doubt if Davy killed one when he was three."

Mike Merritt was in the stand at the time but said Tre did it all by himself.

You've been stuck in the woods 7 days and need food, the zombie apocalypse has finally come, or you're on a hunting trip with Dick Cheney. Those are the only reasons a 5 year old child should be walking the woods with a loaded weapon.

And I'll bet you dollars to donuts Davy Crockett didn't have a high powered 21st century rifle when he "killed" his bear.

(via medicmike, espn outdoors)

Posted by Groonk at 05:12 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Animals, Quotables

December 07, 2007

Corner of the World on a Square

Ponzu shares a bit of Portland with me from time to time. It gives me something to shoot for, it does.

(via ponzu)

Posted by Groonk at 05:56 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of USA

December 06, 2007

Scivee: Scientists very Own You Tube

SciVee is doing this thing where they preload the video without you asking. I dropped that sucker under the cut cause that's annoying as all hell.

Not half as entertaining* as Moyashimon but then again what is?

(via warrenellis)

(*Scivee is not meant ot be entertaining. It's meant to share information. But who says hard fact can't be interesting too? 21st century Bill Nye/Mr Wizard, 'Where the hell are you??')

Here's a Microbeworld video on episode 11.

Posted by Groonk at 06:55 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Anime, Science, The Future

Son of a Bitch. Look What they Dug Up.

It's the damnedest thing.

I didn't know there was a Max Headroom pirating incident in 1987.

Sumbitch.

(via warren ellis)

Posted by Groonk at 06:43 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of History, Research, Tee Vee, The Future

December 05, 2007

All I Want for Christmas is: Iron Man Mark I Armor

But this new Sarcos exoskeleton will do nicely.

What Engadget calls scary I call unmitigated *awesome*. Look at that video, especially the last bit when you see the exoskeleton covered and armor, and you tell me the difference in what you see below.

(via engadget and Oliver Tull on Fanboy Radio)

Posted by Groonk at 05:38 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Robots, Video

Challenges were Made. Art was Shared.

P&P introduced me to a forum.site called eatpoo.com were art challenges are made.

Your mission this time : Show us what the devil does, what he whispers to our ears during our daily routines, how he intervenes during our work hours, draw the string he pulls and the buttons he pets. What Would the Devil Do ?

Posted by Groonk at 02:21 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Art

December 03, 2007

Robo-One Champsionship: Now THIS is a Robot Battle!

When robot wars entered the scene, what, 10 years ago? Imagine my disappointment when all the robots turned out to be rolling pancakes bumping and grinding into each other.

Now imagine my delight when I learn that Japan has robots fighting to the death in ring matches and that one of the rules is "the robot must have two legs to fight."

That's what I'm fucking talking about!

(via yahoo news, battling bot you tube, robot dreams)

I feel the need for a little more Bot Action.