• Science

    Playing Games With Science: Magic Pen

    By Adam Weiner Posted on 9.2.2008 8 Comments


    [Via Diggy Games] Welcome to Magic Pen. This fascinating little game displays a delightful plethora of physics principles in action. The object of Magic Pen -- as in some similar games, like Crayon Physics Deluxe -- is to roll a ball into a goal. The catch is that you can't touch the ball directly: you can only interact with it by drawing shapes with the mouse. These shapes then interact with the ball, obeying basic principles of physics. For example, draw a rock. The rock then falls due to gravity, collides with the ball, and pushes it towards the goal, which is marked by a flag.

    9.2.2008 at 05:39pm - Comment by privatepilot92

    got to level 20...took me a while though, longer than I wanted...this game is very addictive.

  • Technology

    Who Birthed the Electric Plane?

    By Posted on 5.6.2008 7 Comments

    The small airplane is too dirty for an environmentally threatened world. Thats not the view from eco-activists, but from some of the leading lights in general aviation—the category encompassing small planes such as Cessnas flown by citizen pilots. At some point, some environmental group is going to figure out that small aircraft fly leaded fuel, said Mark Moore, NASAs personal air vehicle program manager, to a meeting of engineers, aviation advocates and a billionaire corporate titan with his own private jet. Their goal, however, is not to bury private aviation, but to remake it as the greenest form of personal transit.

    7.4.2008 at 12:18am - Comment by privatepilot92

    Not to long ago on POPSCI there was an article that mentioned "paint-on Photo Voltaic Cells" If they could paint an airplane with this (or at least the top) this could replace solar panels or sheets on a wing, and it probably would be lighter too. Wind powered doesn't seem practical to me, this would cause drag which you want kept to a minimum.

  • Technology

    New Models for Moon Land-Grab

    By Posted on 5.19.2008 13 Comments

    Sure, you can sign up for a little piece of property on the Moon, but the little certificate you get in return won't mean anything. Now that the space tourism industry is starting to heat up, though, a few space lovers are calling for a plan to truly open up the lunar real estate business.

    7.4.2008 at 12:09am - Comment by privatepilot92

    There should be another prize similar to the X-prize for the first private spaceship to get to the moon and back safely. After that happens or nasa goes back a few times I don't see how anyone could talk about land claims...seems a bit early to mention that.

  • Gadgets

    The 411 on Your Next Cellphone

    By Posted on 7.2.2008 8 Comments

    Next-generation super-phones won’t just be slimmer versions of today’s devices; they will be entirely different machines. Chipmakers are reinventing every processor that powers your portable. From PS3-quality videogames to built-in cameras that can fill in for your current point-and-shoot, a chip for it is in the works. And thanks to shrinking transistors, the new phones won’t be any larger or more power-hungry than today’s ultrathin models. Below, we've pulled together the technologies being released in the next year and a half to build the smartest smartphone possible.

    Article Rating:
    7.3.2008 at 02:01am - Comment by privatepilot92

    This would be an awesome phone, but it would be way more than I would pay I'm sure, and it looks like something like this could come out sometime in late 2009 to 2010, but with all the new technology the price would be sky high, it would probably be more likely something like this would come a few years later when the tech becomes cheaper. Plus the longer you wait the technology will get better and more compact, most likely cheaper after a while too...just like early computers and cell phones.



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