• Technology

    The Top Five Space Illusions

    By Paul Adams Posted on 3.12.2009 2 Comments

    Martian Irrigation Canals As bizarre as it may seem now, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries it was commonly believed that there were artificial canals on Mars. The rumor started in 1877 when Italian astronomer Giovanni Schiaparelli observed long, linear features on Martian surface through his telescope. He named the features "canali," which translates to "channels" or "canals" in Italian. Schiaparelli did not intend for the term to be interpreted as "artificial" canals; he actually meant simply "narrow waterways." But the coined phrase took on a life of its own, and some people even believed that Martian intelligent life had constructed a canal system to bring water from the polar regions to its cities.

  • Entertainment & Gaming

    Taking 10 Volts Straight to the Face

    By Abby Seiff Posted on 2.13.2009 1 Comments

    Daito Manabe is many things—a coder, a composer, a DJ and an artist. He's also the star of one of the strangest science videos ever put on YouTube—the unpretentiously titled "electric stimulus to face -test3." The video, which has been watched over 1.2 million times, references everything from early internet-based interactive art projects to the classic face-shocking experiments of Dr. Guillaume Benjamin Amand Duchenne, whose 19th century photographs of electrically stimulated faces were later appropriated by Darwin to illustrate his book The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals. Incredibly, "electric stimulus to face -test3" is merely a work in progress. Daito's ultimate plans are even stranger and more wonderful than his original YouTube hit. Read on to find out what they are...


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February 2012: The Future of Fun

Science is reinventing play, from extreme sports to gamification to ridiculous roller coasters to the playgrounds of tomorrow, and this issue is chock full of fun. Also, on a less fun note: Did global warming destroy my hometown?


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