Interesting Buildings

Wanna see interesting architecture! I found an album dedicated to it.

Here are some I found elsewhere:It's in China, but I don't have much information. I'll edit this when I do.

I am not so sure about this one.This one is the Giant Basket Building of the Longaberger Basket Company. Newark, Ohio.

The Gel is Alive!

A group of Japanese roboticists, led by Shingo Maeda at the Shuji Hashimoto applied physics laboratory at Waseda University, have created a chemical gel capable of independent motion, similar to that of a caterpillar.

Using a process that combines polymers, the material not only moves on its own, but also can change colors and can be used to perform calculations. According to the scientists involved in the project the morphable material could even one day be used as components of a future robot, thus making the notion of the incredibly scary Terminator T-1000 a real possibility.

Here is the chemical gel struggling to move.

Who would ever. ever wear this?

There are people who are really, really obsessed about green products.

travel to north korea!

Photographs of North Korea, some of which would not have been permitted: one, two.

And a travelogue.

the pyongyang metro

The Pyongyang Metro

Built to link secret underground military facilities, the Pyongyang Metro is nevertheless an important part of the transport infrastructure in the capital of North Korea (officially, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea or DPRK). There is evidence that it includes secret government-only lines, although the extent of these, if they exist, is unknown. Its station architecture is among the most attractive in the world. However, relatively little is known about the Metro outside the country, as few visitors are able to investigate the system. In recent years North Korea’s economic crisis has affected Metro operation, and service has apparently been reduced significantly. Yet in recent years replacement trains have been bought from Germany, and plans still exist to expand the system, particularly in the direction of other military command posts.

people against obama!

Well, it's actually against his administration's management of the economy.

"Most Hurtful Quote" from Paul Krugman:

"This is more than disappointing. In fact, it fills me with a sense of despair."

More here. There are two pages.

against protectionism

Man, I love it when economics writers get snarky.

We are suffering from the ruinous competition of a foreign rival who apparently works under conditions so far superior to our own for the production of light, that he is flooding the domestic market with it at an incredibly low price.... This rival ... is none other than the sun....

We ask you to be so good as to pass a law requiring the closing of all windows, dormers, skylights, inside and outside shutters, curtains, casements, bull’s-eyes, deadlights and blinds; in short, all openings, holes, chinks, and fissures.

More on the writer here.

what movie is it?

Oh yes, I wonder what movie it is.

I am so tempted to use this blogskin for the blog. But I have limited admin power zzz.

will you mar-

Wondermark!

bohemian rhapsody by old computer parts; judy's toe sings

I smashed my toe last Saturday. But to my surprise, my toe came alive and started to sing. I decided to name it Joe. But Joe likes to haemorrhage very often because he's sometimes quite sad that I don't pay attention to him. Ah well.

By the way, the video that everyone is waiting for:

evolution and body fluid salinity

Evolution and Body Fluid Salinity

As the title suggests, this is about how the salinity of body fluids is regulated in various types of animals, as a result of evolution. It is rather interesting to read (and perhaps awesome).

interesting and awesome things

Greetings dear friends, here is a place where we may post interesting things! It will be a source of entertainment in our dreary post-school/working/army lives. Clearly this is an excellent idea. :D