Using photos of oft-snapped subjects (like Notre Dame) scraped from around the Web, Photosynth (based on Seadragon technology) creates breathtaking multidimensional spaces with zoom and navigation features that outstrip all expectation.

This is fucking astounding.

We're not that far from pervasive social construction of reality.

TED | Talks | Blaise Aguera y Arcas: Jaw-dropping Photosynth demo (video)

VIDEO games are notorious for raising adrenalin levels but now there's one that calms you down.

Julian Spillane of game studio Frozen North Productions in Toronto, Canada, together with a programmer who goes by the name Ne0nRa1n, have created a version of Tetris called BioBlox. Players put one hand on a device that measures their pulse rate. As their pulse rises, so does the speed of the blocks falling from the top of the screen. That makes the game harder, creating an incentive for the player to calm down and so get a higher score. "I'm a big fan of weird input devices," says Spillane.

In 1999, Nintendo released Tetris 64, which also used pulse rate to control the speed of play, but it ran only on Nintendo's console. BioBlox runs on Windows-based PCs and will be available online soon.

Modified Tetris has calming effect - 19 August 2007 - New Scientist

Aerogel is nicknamed “frozen smoke” and is made by extracting water from a silica gel, then replacing it with gas such as carbon dioxide. The result is a substance that is capable of insulating against extreme temperatures and of absorbing pollutants such as crude oil.

It was invented by an American chemist for a bet in 1931, but early versions were so brittle and costly that it was largely consigned to laboratories. It was not until a decade ago that NASA started taking an interest in the substance and putting it to a more practical use.

I read something about this a few years ago, but it seems to be making headlines again.

Scientists hail ‘frozen smoke’ as material that will change world.

Sending your kid off to school these days isn't what it used to be -- at least that's what one company called MJ Safety Solutions would have you believe -- because they're selling a bulletproof backpack. That's right, two worried parents in Boston have created "My Child's Pack," a $175 bulletproof book-bag that will stop an assortment of bullets (including hollow-point 9mm) dead in their tracks.

Back-to-school shopping? Don't forget the bulletproof backpacks - Engadget

The moon should be developed as a sanctuary for civilization in case of a cataclysmic cosmic impact, according to an international team of experts.

'Lunar Ark' Proposed in Case of Deadly Impact on Earth

BEIJING - A Chinese couple seeking a distinctive and modern name for their child chose the commonly used Internet 'at' symbol, much to the consternation of Chinese officials.
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The unidentified couple and the attempted naming were cited Thursday by a Chinese government official as an example of bizarre names creeping into the Chinese language.

@???

Couple tries to name baby 'at' symbol - Yahoo! News

File this one under "you cannot be serious" until we see pictorial evidence, but the North Denver News is reporting that a local man has had thumb-altering surgery so as to better use the touchscreen on his iPhone.

You know, most people would just opt for the phone with bigger (or real) buttons... What a moron.

Man gets thumbs surgically

A Shropshire pensioner trying to withdraw money from her savings account was refused - because she was 'dead'.

Mary Welsby's Isa account had been closed by Abbey and the �3,000 in it paid out, reports the Daily Mail.

Despite flashing photo ID, Mrs Welsby was informed that she was still officially deceased and could not draw out any cash.

The 77-year-old said: "I know I'm quite long in the tooth now but I'm certainly not dead.

"The young lady serving me began typing away on her computer but all of a sudden looked puzzled and told me that according to their records, I was dead.
...

Eventually, after the bank investigated further, it discovered that a woman with a name similar to hers and around the same age had died.

By mistake, Mrs Welsby's account had been closed and the money paid out to the dead woman's family.

What a shitty way to find out you've passed.

Ananova - Bank tells woman she's dead

Could extraterrestrial life be made of corkscrew-shaped particles of interstellar dust? Intriguing new evidence of life-like structures that form from inorganic substances in space are revealed today in the New Journal of Physics. The findings hint at the possibility that life beyond earth may not necessarily use carbon-based molecules as its building blocks. They also point to a possible new explanation for the origin of life on earth.

Interesting... I wonder what would happen if you snort it.

'It might be life, Jim...', physicists discover inorganic dust with lifelike qualities

They should have gotten a clown from Killer Klowns from Outer Space to run up to her and start petting her.

YouTube - Lady is scared to death of Clowns - Coulrophobia