Apparently, engineers came up with a novel way of heating nuclear land-mines to survive cold German winters in the early days of the cold war.

No, it’s not a new cartoon show. It’s a… well… you should see for yourself because the description just doesn’t do it justice.

Thanks to Craig for the heads up.

This is probably only of interest to me, but I’m posting it as a reminder to myself. A Swiss company called ID Quantique is offering a chip-sized source of true randomness based on an optical quantum process. They’ve partnered with the University of Geneva to create a random number generator Web site anyone can use.
Continue reading →

Mohammed Bah Abba, an engineer and consultant for the UN, has developed a very interesting refrigerator for people without electricity. His invention, the pot-in-pot, is simple to the point of being revolutionary. I’d love to put one of these together just to see what kind of temperature gradient it can produce in hot weather. It wouldn’t work so well in San Diego (not hot enough and too humid), but I bet Las Vegas or another Mojave city would be a good testing ground…

Ah, those quirky robotics fans are at it again.

Does the thought of a giant, driverless Machine of War losing its bearings by driving under a pedestrian bridge scare anyone else? I’m not sure whether to laugh myself silly, hide, or try to build my own…