40Tech

Ok, look — I don’t know if these are real scientists or what, but a bunch of song and musical-style parody videos where the subject is crazy science concepts and gear that even I (in my extreme geekiness) know almost nothing about, well… let’s just say I was too busy giggling to find out. And that was one hell of a run-on sentence – but hey! It’s another long weekend up here in Canada, and when I get a long weekend post, I like to loosen up the reigns a bit.

Seriously, though, if you want something that will boggle your brain, and maybe make you laugh to the point where your loved ones and co-workers look at you funny (not talking about myself here… really!), then you need to take a look at these!

TED is a home for amazing things. If you’ve never been to TED.com, you should make it a point to go and spend a mini web-vacation there. Hell, spend a couple a week — it’s worth it! Their slogan is “Ideas worth spreading,” and I have yet to run into something on the site that defies that message. The awesome that I happened across this week (thanks to Pamela D Lloyd sharing a Rick Vlaha post on Google+) has made the hallowed halls of my “that was so freakin’ cool!” list.

A robot bird. Scratch that. A robot bird that looks and moves and flies like a real live bird! Holy, unmitigated awesome, Batman! The Wright Brothers’ and Da Vinci’s head would explode if they could see this.

While I was toying about with the Sparks feature of Google+ last night (yeah, yeah, another post that has a reference to Google Plus — sue me, it’s new and it’s shiny!), I came across a video that caused my brain to explode (Plus post). It’s about a visit by theoretical physicist David Kaplan to the Z Corporation, a 3D Printing and Rapid Prototyping company that has developed 3D printing tech to the degree that they can replicate tools. Yep, you heard me… Star Trek fans: replicate!

David challenges the Z Corporation to create a Crescent Wrench (adjustable spanner), complete with moving parts – and all in one pass.

Welcome to another long-weekend edition of 40Tech (Canada Day today and the 4th of July on, well… the 4th). To commemorate this joyous occasion, we present you with yet another 40Tech Random Tech Video(s)! We hope you enjoy it (them), enjoy your day, and enjoy the hell out of you long weekend. Cheers! :D

Forget the internet. Forget a fancy new smartphone or crazy new tablet. I want a rocket. You read me right. A rocket. Apparently civilian spaceflight is all the rage these days and I want in!

The latest development in firing regular folks into space happened Friday afternoon at about 3PM Danish time, as the non-profit, OPEN SOURCE group, Copenhagen Suborbitals launched a rocket into space. There was nobody in it — this time — but there could have been, and they are now one giant leap closer to that day.

The launch wasn’t all roses. They had some engine problems in the beginning, and some parachute problems at the end — overall, though, it was a huge success. Read on for a few images and a video of the launch.

Computers. We tech geeks love them, but also love to hate them when they don’t operate as intended. Whether due to an actual bug, or a glitch introduced by human error, the world has seen countless computer glitches, some of which have had dramatic implications. Here we take a look at ten of them.

Are you like me, and get frustrated when one of your gadgets doesn’t work to perfection?  It is easy to forget just how far we’ve come.  Technology advances at a breakneck speed.  The gadgets and gizmos in our lives change drastically from month to month, let alone from year to year.    An earlier comment by [...]