NASA has published this image showing the M51 spiral galaxy—located 30 million light years away from Earth—eating a tiny galaxy like a hamster would it a tiny burrito, which you can see on its upper left.* It was obtained using data from the Chandra X-Ray space observatory and optical data from amateur telescopes on the ground.
The detail on this 1:6 scale R2-D2 figurine is pretty much insane, especially since this type of toys are mostly, if not completely, static. Not this one. Everything opens and lights up in this R2-D2. It's pretty damn cool. Check out this video.
There's something undeniably beautiful about prosthetic limbs, designed to echo the physical grace and mechanical engineering of the human body. For most people, these objects elicit some combination of squeamish discomfort and utmost respect. But far fewer of us connect those feelings to the untold generations of battle-scarred amputees whose sacrifices made prosthetics a public priority.
The 80s might be long gone, but your fond memories of Reebok Pumps, Cabbage Patch Kids, and those water-filled sand art pictures will forever live on—at least that last one. Because someone has gone and made an iPhone case backed with hypnotic sand art that's constantly changing as you move your phone.
Turns out you don't need a shady, possibly-issued-from-the-governor lane closure on a major bridge to jam traffic. The sensor and signaling infrastructure on our streets is so vulnerable that all you need to wreak widespread havoc is a laptop.
Today, roughly 75 percent of American households have a dishwasher. But this wonder of modern kitchen science still lags well behind refrigerators and microwaves — which are both over 95 percent. The automatic dishwasher was the high-tech promise of the 1920s. And the 1950s. And the 1970s. So why has the dishwasher taken so long to become mainstream?
