Silly Putty Physics Experiment. Ever drop a massive ball of silly putty from a six story parking garage? Well someone has, and they want to share their experience with you in both photograph and hilarious video form right here. Want to do your own experiment with a massive wad of silly putty? This guy has some suggestions on how to order it. [kuro5hin.org]

Site is currently swamped, but I can't wait to see how this turned out in real-time.

10:13:26 PM    

A New Breed of Wired Warriors [Business Week: Technology]

The military is planning to have their own smart mobs, who will will roll in, deploy their tech, and then be able to communicate wirelessly, via radio, secure WiFi, cell, whatever means needed. Peace dividend? In tne years expect to see commercial verisons of this tech available to the public, including unmanned vehicles patroling over cities providing broadband and cellular via wireless drones.

5:20:32 PM    

The Revolution Will Be Televised

"Last week, I experienced that same thrill yet again when I was testing the Archos Jukebox Multimedia 20. This all-in-one, portable, digital entertainment system has a 20GB hard drive, a color LCD, add-on modules, and a bunch of ports that have never before been combined on such a device. The result: A portable digital audio product that plays videos and takes photos. You can use the Multimedia 20 to download movies from the Internet and watch them either on the device's small screen or any television--all for the same price as the new iPod.

One of the best ways to test a portable player is to commute with it. So there I sat on the subway, watching a German version of The Simpsons on the Multimedia 20's little color screen and listening to the dialogue in MP3 format. When I noticed the San Francisco Chronicle on an adjacent seat, I decided to switch the Archos to music mode and have a read....

So in terms of video convergence products, Norr is generally right--the big players are indeed waiting for Congress to give them approval to control what we do with video content before they bridge the gap between PCs and TVs. But I don't think that consumers are going to wait, not when companies such as Archos are already giving them what they want. Over the next year or so, I expect a rash of video-enabled portable entertainment devices to hit the market. It'll be interesting to see which gadgets consumers choose: devices such as the Multimedia 20, which let you do whatever you want wherever you are, or devices that most likely include some sort of onerous copyright protection, such as the one that Sony folks alluded to in a recent call to me.

Regardless of which companies end up controlling this new category, it's time to brace yourselves--the video version of the MP3 revolution is underway, and it could be as unkind to the big companies as the portable digital-audio market has been to them. For the moment, Archos has the front-runner with its groundbreaking Multimedia 20. You probably need one." [MP3 Insider, via Gizmodo]

My only issue with this article is the use of the word "probably." It must be rhetorical.

I've been lusting after one of these ever since it was first announced, and I'm starting to think I should buy one before Holywood succeeds in getting these types of devices pulled off the market. As much as I love the iPod, I'd get the Archos Multimedia 20 first. Now if only Audible books would work on them.

For multimedia blogging, I guess what we really need is a cross between this Archos and an iPod, although I suppose an OQO would work just as well.

8:27:28 AM    

Missing Limb? Salamander May Have Answer. Scientists hope that the salamander's tricks may one day be applied to people. Natural regeneration would be easier than transplanting. By Andrew Pollack. [New York Times: Science]

Fascinating stuff. It seems that the systems of "lower" animals (salamanders and a modified form of mice) rather than scarring, regrow lost tissues. This allows them to regrow an entire limb, parts of their eyes, or even their hearts. Scientists hope to discover what mechanism allows this to happen, so that humans with lost limbs can benefit as well.

"So far, natural regeneration remains a medical backwater, garnering little attention. That may be understandable. Scientists have been studying natural regeneration for 200 years and have not gotten far in understanding it. Regrowing human arms in the lifetime of Dr. Gardiner, who is 53, will be difficult"

So, unless there is a tremendous breakthrough, it'll be a while before we see this commercially available. However, there is gene which seems to be vital to this process working, and working well:

One gene that appears to be important is msx1. It helps keep cells in an embryo from dividing prematurely. Dr. Keating found that when the gene was turned on in mouse muscle cells that were growing in culture, the cells de-differentiated into stem cells. Another tantalizing clue of the importance of msx1, Dr. Keating said, is that the gene is turned off in people, except in the fingertips, the one part of the body where regeneration has been seen.

Given that, it may well be possible that we can release our own stem cells, by flipping a switch to activate this particular gene in the injured area. Topical gene splicing anyone?

7:47:36 AM