“Using sleight-of-hand techniques and charming storytelling, techno-illusionist Marco Tempest brings a jaunty stick figure to life onstage at TEDGlobal.”
Saturday, December 10, 2011
DIY Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation
DIY Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation:
LEGAL AND MEDICAL DISCLAIMERS… That said, check this out:
Click here to view the embedded video.
Click here to view the embedded video.
Previously:
via @eglinski
Radium infuser for drinking water
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Radium infuser for drinking water
I've blogged old radium-based health product ads before, but this one is a bit of a cake-stealer: the Revigator, sold in the 1920s, was a uranium-infused crock that you filled with drinking water so that it could be made radioactive prior to imbibing.
The glazed ceramic jar had a porous lining that incorporated uranium ore. Water inside the jar would absorb the radon released by decay of the radium in the ore. Depending on the type of water, the resulting radon concentrations would range from a few hundred to a few hundred thousand picocuries per liter.
Considerable confusion persists about the correct pronunciation of "Revigator." The solution can be found in the question-and-answer section of a 1928 sales brochure of the Revigator Water Jar Company. The answer: "re-vig-a-tor. Accent on the vig."
Produced by the Radium Ore Revigator Company (aka the Revigator Water Jar Company) of San Francisco California. Although the address on the jar itself is 260 California Street, their headquarters were at Sutter and Taylor in the Revigator Building which is still there. Their Hayward offices were located at 519 Castro Street, and 641 Castro Street. Some of their regional offices included the following addresses:
Hand-stitched Kanye West tweets
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Hand-stitched Kanye West tweets
Supervelma sells lovingly-stitched tweets from the mind of Kanye West at Etsy. Discounts are available for anyone who would like a set of three or more tweets.
Bookwheel: the multiple-tabbed browser of the XVIth Century
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Bookwheel: the multiple-tabbed browser of the XVIth Century
There I Fixed It has an historical overview of the "bookwheel," a sixteenth-century book-desk combined with a water-wheel, which lets you easily rotate several books into your field of vision.
But imagine yourself back then attempting a research project. You want to learn about a topic from multiple sources and cross-reference each one. A desk with a scattered pile of books in no logical order with all sorts of bookmarks and notes trying to make sense of it all. Agostino Ramelli, an Italian engineer born in 1531 proposed a complex but intriguing solution to this problem; the bookwheel.
Based on the design of a waterwheel, the bookwheel would hold over a dozen separate titles, all sitting open at the same angle. Using either hand or foot controls, the reader could easily sort through the books he collected at ease without the fear of losing track of his place.
Historical Thursday: Agostino Ramelli's Bookwheel
(Thanks, Phead!)
Sunday, December 4, 2011
Mind tricks to try and use
Mind tricks to try and use:
On Reddit, a wonderful thread where redditors detail their favorite "mind tricks." Here's a smattering:
When I walk through large crowds of people, to avoid walking into anyone, I simply stare at my destination. I look no one in the eyes. People actually will watch your eyes and they avoid the direction you are going. If I look into people's eyes as we are walking into each other, we are sure to collide. You have to let people know where you intend to go with your eyes. It always works for me, try it! (Poo_Smudge)
I'm a paramedic. When a patient is possibly faking unconsciousness we have 2 tricks to determine if they're really unconscious or not. First, you can lightly brush their eyelashes with your finger. Their eyes will flutter if they're faking it. Alternatively, if they're on their back you can lift their arm over their face and let it go. A conscious person will drop their arm away from their face. (Monkeybrigade)
If you're trying to find something, try looking right to left as opposed to left to right. Your eyes tend to skim over things if you search in the direction you are used to reading in, so skim the opposite way. It takes me a bit more effort to do this, but I notice more details. (icameintoadarkroom)
If you ask a question, and receive only a partial answer, respond with polite silence. Simply wait. A more complete answer will usually follow. (Kromulent)
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