close menu

This Week in Science: Ebola Answers, Invisibility Cloaks, And PORTAL 2 Brain Games

Digging through the web this week, I uncovered all this geeky goodness. You can find the thousands of links from previous weeks here.


I have marked my favorite links with a ∞. Enjoy.


Science to Read, Watch

If our brains were attentive enough to catch the stunt doubles in movies, we’d be paralyzed

Partially flighted birds are boons for evolutionary biologists, if they can get close enough without being assaulted

Pygmy falcons are too busy dive-bombing the shit out of their prey to worry about domestic matters

“We may sink into sleep the way our ancestors sank into the depths of the ocean.”

∞ A news study busts more myths about cheetahs. They aren’t nearly as fragile as we thought

These are mermaids’ purses

Daddy longlegs have glue-covered arms

∞ Just how contagious is Ebola?

“In less than two human generations, population sizes of vertebrate species have dropped by half.”

Many quadcopters died to bring us this information

The Dyna-Soar was a weapons system that never got off the ground. It also had a badass name

Yes, a peregrine falcon is faster than tandem skydivers. Finally, we have these answers

The guts of mice feed their microbial residents when the host is too sick to eat

∞ This Isn’t Contagion or Outbreak: What You Need To Know About Ebola In The U.S.

“The number of chemicals contaminating our environment is growing at exponential rate

Incredible blackwater diving images and an octopus defending itself with Man-O’-War tentacles

I’m a “social introvert,” apparently

“Is that a cold ocean wind a blowin’?” “No captain, that be sea monkeys.”

We’ve lost enough arctic ice for it to be reflected in the local gravity

You can never really see the true beauty of the universe without help. Why? Biology.

∞ We had people test their strength against apes and monkeys to see how our muscles punyfied for our brains

The “pluto is/isn’t a planet” debate rages on

Your DNA is at war with itself. It’s a stalemate.

How a loss of faith can manifest itself in the mind and body

Tree-impersonating wind turbines are killing bats, but knowing that can help us save them

Watch A Hyena Climb Inside a Buffalo Carcass And Play Peek-a-Boo

Make an invisibility cloak with four lenses and some science, no magic required

∞ Bats: Wonders of the Night

Monkeys use inquiring researchers as predator shields, sometimes

“Cyranoids are people who do not speak thoughts originating in their own central nervous system.”

How Sex Is Like Your Thermostat

 

Extreme Nerdery

∞ The fantastic art of Simon Stålenhag is the perfect expression of retro-futurism

The Supervillain’s Guide To Fashion

How the Klingon and Dothraki Languages Conquered Hollywood

∞ I’ve been pouring juice wrong my whole life and that annoys me

The Oculus Rift will probably change the way we make digital art. And digital spiders.

What sweet science can you glean from the final Interstellar trailer?

If the rest of the universe was antimatter, the result wouldn’t be as explosive as you think

Maps Of Modern Cities Drawn In The Style Of J.R.R. Tolkien

You live in the past. The Flash doesn’t. I explain in my first Because Science video!

Fans a re-creating all of Ocarina of Time…in 2D

∞ Portal 2 bests Lumosity as a brain game. You really have been learning with portals, for science…you monster

A breakdown of Days of Future Past’s VFX, which apparently was all Mystique and football stadiums

Stitch together sci-fi CG and archival war footage and you get War of the Worlds meets Half-Life 2 meets WWII

I am loving the Last of Us art that is infecting the internet

∞ Talaaya’s 3D-printed Samus cosplay is fantastic

I explain a beautifully simple invisibility cloak on Nerdist News!

Movie quotes with the iOS 8 keyboard

If skinny jeans bend your phone, you’re probably ripping your pants with that tightness

 

Sciencey GIFs and Images

∞ A 3D simulation of the Giant Impact Hypothesis over 59 days

The COSMOS graphics package

A US Nuclear Regulatory Commission visitor badge as the day goes on

Do you even camouflage bro?

Crazy high density lets you sit atop a pool of mercury, but I don’t recommend it

There is no iPhone 6

A man saves a great white (or mako?) with his bare hands

∞ Just look at how much finesse goes into an owl strike — the feathers, those talons

Texas A&M’s car barrier is more of a driver smasher that stops cars

The space shuttle Atlantis, September 8, 2000, creates a cloud and a rainbow

Speaking of contagious falsehoods: Here’s a few dozen

With such a simple camera trick, you can walk on water, and it’s gorgeous

Grinding of Hubble’s primary mirror at Perkin-Elmer, March 1979

Gawking at the anatomical collages of artist Travis Bedel

35,000 walruses have a climate change party

In case you didn’t know, don’t put a scissors in your pocket and walk up to an MRI

With slow, immense pressure, the Japanese turn ice cubes into perfect ice spheres for cocktails

Water is never really destroyed, which makes your water dino pee

∞ Artist Eleanor Lutz is back with another gorgeous animated infographic

They don’t have horse shows like they used to jeez

Artist Judy Schmidt put 100 planetary nebulae in one image and it is gorgeous

DOUSE IT IT’S FIRE

 

Pop Culture Happenings

∞ Anna-Maria Hefele is a polyphonic singer. You’ll be blown away when you find out what that means.

Why Not Eat Octopus?

These are Samsung’s bend testing butt robots

How The Dead Space Saga Lost Its Way

The Aral Sea is dead

Facebook apologizes for manipulating us without consent

∞ worstcats.tumblr.com

Free Birth Control and Sex Education Slash Rates of Teen Pregnancy and Abortion

The disaster-porn of Chernobyl is probably a myth

President Obama has faced three times as many threats on his life as past presidents

∞ The Daily Show absolutely burns Congress on climate change

50 Years Of Climate Change, Habitat Loss Somehow Unable To Take Down Goddamned Parrotfish 

∞ 96% of deceased NFL players examined had brain disease

SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY, Fabulous Cat Papers!

I want to see drone technology succeed, but John Oliver nails exactly where we shouldn’t want it to

Our meat industry is incredibly efficient, but you’ll need a strong stomach to see it at work

“Emergent” looks like a fascinating project to track (and get to the bottom of) rumors spreading online

Uri Geller has the dumbest explanation for bending iPhones, if you want to hire him to tell you about it

 

Daniel Radcliffe's Penis Saves the Day in SWISS ARMY MAN Red Band Trailer

Daniel Radcliffe's Penis Saves the Day in SWISS ARMY MAN Red Band Trailer

article
Gaming Daily: MINECRAFT Celebrates Acquisition on CONAN, KILLZONE Devs Rumored New Game

Gaming Daily: MINECRAFT Celebrates Acquisition on CONAN, KILLZONE Devs Rumored New Game

article
Angelina Jolie Gets Villainous in a New MALEFICENT Trailer

Angelina Jolie Gets Villainous in a New MALEFICENT Trailer

article

Comments

  1. Thanks for the list! 😀 This would fill my day with knowledge!