Category: Technology
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Why pirates wear an eye patch
An eye patch, a parrot, a wooden leg, and a limp; these iconic attributes paint the picture of a pirate in popular culture. However, there’s more to the eye patch than meets the eye—quite literally. Contrary to common belief, famous pirates didn’t wear an eye patch due to a missing eye. Instead, it served a…
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The original Apple Watch: Seiko’s TV Watch from 1982
In what was amazing technology for its day, the Seiko TV watch (Model T001-3) from 1982 is still one of the smallest TVs ever made with a 1.2-inch screen. Watch tv on your wrist With a Liquid Crystal Video Display (LVD), the images would only appear in 32-pixel resolution when exposed to light. So the…
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Dual head-mounted listening devices
This dual-mounted listening device served as an aircraft detection device before the invention of radar in 1935. The Dutch military used the elephant-looking ears to detect approaching enemy aircraft by listening afar for engine sounds. There were various iterations of the acoustic locators. The Germans created a dual sight and sound system in 1917 that…
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Watch styrofoam dancing to sound waves in a Kundt’s tube
Put your hands in the air and wave them like you just don’t care. What looks like a dubstep rave of little ghost people is actually styrofoam dancing to sound waves in a massive plexiglass pipe known as a Kundt’s tube. In 1866 German physicist August Kundt constructed the experimental acoustical apparatus to measure the speed of sound in…
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Watch a Chimpanzee using Instagram
This video of a chimpanzee scrolling through Instagram is eye-opening. Touch is intuitive; the candy-colored screen all too addicting. Generation thumbs transcend humans. Still, it is the ability to communicate and tell stories that released humans from the prison of biology. This video echoes what Yuval Noah Harari noted in his book Sapiens: A Brief History…
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The rise and tragic death of Sweden’s Broccoli Tree
“In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes,” said Andy Warhol. That was certainly true for the “broccoli tree” in Sweden. In March 2018, the once anonymous broccoli-shaped tree on the shoe of Sweden’s Lake Vättern disappeared due to the popularity of its Instagram account of over 30,000 fans. The tree became a tourist attraction…
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The first supercomputer, IBM’s 305 RAMAC from 1956
In September 1956 IBM launched the 305 RAMAC, the world’s first supercomputer with 5 MB of data. The machine weighed over a ton — it took a team of people to transport it. To put the computer size and storage in perspective, our pocket-sized phones contain 256GB of storage. A grain of rice dwarfs the…
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Christopher Reeves explains what Superman represents
In this video, the late Christopher Reeves who played Superman explains what the fictional superhero represents. In a world of selfishness ushered in by smart devices and social media, Superman as a friend metaphor is a subtle reminder of the power of relationships. It’s nice to know that there’s someone out there who’s willing to…
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MesoSPIMs: Custom-built microscopes that can scan individual neurons in the brain
MesoSPIMs are open-source light-sheet microscopes for imaging cleared tissue. The custom-built microscopes enable scientists to look at individual neurons using sheets of light rather than cutting a brain into slices. The mesoSPIM Initiative paves the way for the future discovery and understanding of the brain’s complex organization. The studies may one day reveal vital information…