2. The Illusion of Time

1. What is Space?

NASA News Conference: Voyager Reaches Interstellar Space

Seaweed - the fuel of the future?

Gizmag | New and Emerging Technology News

 

One of the biggest criticisms leveled at biofuels that are derived from crops such as wheat, corn and sugar cane, is that they result in valuable land being taken away from food production. For this reason there are various research efforts underway to turn seaweed into a viable renewable source of biomass. Now a team from Bio Architecture Lab (BAL) claims to have developed a breakthrough technology that makes seaweed a cost-effective source of biomass by engineering a microbe that can extract all the major sugars in seaweed and convert them into renewable fuels and chemicals.

 

Common Recording Problems

If you're having trouble with the sound over-peaking on a recording, it is usually caused by one of three main things:

1. Poor quality microphone, or possible just working too close to it without a windshield.
- wind blasts from the mouth can cause a low-frequency pop or rumble, and often sound distorted as the mics innards are working too hard!

2. Overloading the input amplifier (often called "preamp" - a preamplifier that brings up the level on the input to the main mixer).
- many basic systems have no adjustment for the preamp, but it's obviously worth experimenting with levels if you have the chance....

3. Overloading the digital recorder - if you over-peak when recording digitally, then you will get a nasty crackling sound. On old analogue machines you would have got a bit of distortion and the recording might still be usable, but you have to be more careful with high levels in digital systems.
- the best way to get around this is with a software plugin such as a compressor or limiter. Either (or both!) of these will help to reduce the peaks while not producing any distortion (providing they are set up correctly...).

The white light technology that could finally make 3D awesome - without glasses

The white light technology that could finally make 3D awesome - without glasses: "The current generation of holograms are generally monotone creations, requiring a single color laser to construct. However, Japanese researchers have devised a new type of hologram technology that could be just around the corner."

How physics simulations and GNU emacs found their way into Tron Legacy

How physics simulations and GNU emacs found their way into Tron Legacy

Software developer JT Nimoy has an amazing collection of images from Tron Legacy on his site, where he explains all the math, physics, and old-school computer geekery that he put into making Flynn's digital world.

"I started with a regular physics simulation where a particle has an upward force applied at birth, sending it upward while gravity pulls it back down resulting in a parabola. I then added particle-children, followed by various artistic styles, including what our team has called "egyptian" across several jobs — which is a side-stepping behavior. We were trying to create fireworks that looked enough like real fireworks but had interesting techno-aesthetic. As a homage to the original Tron character Bit, we used icosahedrons, dodecahedrons, and similar. I was disappointed that Bit isn't in this one. After doing this simulation, I've grown more aware of how often fireworks are used in movies."