A Labyrinth Of Salt
Japanese artist Motoi Yamamoto has been turning the floors of a 13th-century French castle into elaborate salt labyrinths. The amount of work that has gone into the project so far is mind-boggling, especially since it’s just temporary. We hope no one lets the draft in.
To Space! India’s ISRO Launched Its Mini Space Shuttle
The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has successfully launched its first mini space shuttle, marking the first time the country has created a reusable spacecraft. Reusable spacecraft, like SpaceX’s Falcon 9, will dramatically decrease the amount of money needed to get things into orbit, which is one of the major hurdles holding humanity back from reaching further into space.
Levi And Google Team Up To Make A Denim Jacket
Google and Levi teamed up to create this new smart jacket that, at first glance, appears like any other denim jacket, but it’s so much more. This Jacquard-powered device allows a wearer to control her music, navigation, and phone functions by simply touching certain parts of the fabric. It’ll be interesting to see where the project goes in the future (smart underwear inbound).
The FDA’s New Nutrition Label
The FDA has finally figured out that people like to eat an entire bag of chips in one sitting, which has led them to create a new, more readable nutrition label. Did you know that a serving of Oreos is just three cookies? Who in their life has ever only had three Oreos? Maniacs, that’s who. So, to make the public more aware of how much they’re eating, the FDA has designed a new label that shows a more realistic figure. This means that, instead of showing the calories for three Oreos, they would maybe have the number for six. (That’s 320 calories, by the way. So worth it.)
Crocodiles At The Museum
To help patrons understand more about different crocodiles and alligators, the American Museum of Natural History in New York has brought in live ones to lend to a hand. Yup, there’s living crocodiles and alligators on display in a place that is normally reserved for the dead and stuffed, which must be a bit like having a fish tank at a sushi restaurant. Either way, who can resist baby American alligators?
The Pentagon Still Uses Floppies
In a new report, the Government Accountability Office has made perfectly clear how outdated some government systems are. One of the most shocking is the Department of Defense Strategic Automated Command and Control System, which is used to control America’s nuclear arsenal. It’s literally the system that could destroy the world. Oh, and it’s so outdated that it still uses eight-inch floppy disks because it’s a 1970s computing system.
Brian Greene Taught Stephen Colbert About Supernovas
Theoretical physicist Brian Greene joined Stephen Colbert on air to discuss how supernovas work. Yes, it was as awesome it sounds. During his presentation, Greene used a Galilean cannon to explain how stars first collapse and then shoot matter into space. He broke a record in the process, too, which just made it cooler.
There’s A Hole On The Sun
NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), which continuously watches the Sun in search of solar winds and other activities, recently snapped pictures of a coronal hole. Coronal holes are basically less dense regions of the Sun’s corona. These areas send out faster solar winds and can be seen in visible light, though this image was taken while the SDO was exposed for ultraviolet.
America’s Special Operations Forces Have a New Stealth Motorcycle
America’s Special Operations Forces just announced that they are developing a new stealth motorcycle called the SilentHawk. Though motorcycles are often loud and pretty much the opposite of stealthy transportation, this bike is about as quiet as a vacuum cleaner when running on fuel and about as quiet as an office while running on electricity.
