Tag Archives: Video

“Space Oddity” from the International Space Station

May 13th, 2013 | Space

Space Oddity from Space

Colonel Chris Hadfield returns from the International Space Station this evening, and he decided to sing one last song before takeoff.  This couldn’t be a more perfect end to an amazing 5 months of science communication from Hadfield.  ‘Space Oddity’, a David Bowie cover, was mixed with the help of staff at the Canadian Space Agency and features a somber piano intro and modified lyrics that reference the Soyuz capsule that will return Hadfield to Earth.  It’s a beautiful video which features a floating guitar, incredible time-lapse shots of Earth, and Hadfield darting around the space station.

The song takes on a new level of meaning when it’s sung in space.  The lyrics just match the situation perfectly!

I hope Commander Hadfield continues to share the beauty of space after his return home.
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  He is a level-headed, yet optimistic, scientist who understands the importance of research.
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 “We will go to the Moon and we will go to Mars, we will go and see what asteroids and comets are made of,” he told BBC News.

“But we’re not going to do it tomorrow and we’re not going to do it because it titillates the nerve endings we’re going to do it because it’s a natural human progression”.
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-RSB

What The Internet Is Doing to Your Brain

May 8th, 2013 | Brain

Internet Brain

Internet Brain

Ever since I started a full-time job working at a computer, I feel like my brain has gone a bit haywire.  My attention span seems shorter every day, I check a myriad of iPhone apps every 20 minutes (without much reason), and I can hardly get through a task from start to finish. I believe this is all directly attributed to my perpetual online status.

The “3 minutes on the Internet” highlighted at the beginning of this video perfectly describes the scatter brain feeling I get with endless connection to information.  Of course, I’m happy to learn everything there is to know about the violent behavior of panda bears or toilet paper orientation (DON’T CLICK THAT!), and this breadth of knowledge is great at cocktail or dinner parties, but the depth of knowledge is often sacrificed.

So what do can do about this problem?

Well, I think one good solution is to disconnect from time to time.  Print off a long article you plan to read and get away from the computer for an hour or so.  This will help with the next step…

Commit your attention.  Resist any and all urges to check email, facebook, reddit, or RobotSpaceBrain until a task is completed.  In time, this should get easier as your brain adjusts to a new level of focus.

Exercise & Practice Meditation.  Clearing your mind from the hustle of daily life is essential for well-being. Exercise has been linked to increased attention in several studies. I have never practiced meditation, but I’ve heard it can do the same.

The whole point isn’t that there’s something inherently wrong with the Internet, but I would recommend taking a moment to reflect on how it’s affecting you.  Maybe you can adjust your usage to find a little more zen in your life.  I sure hope I can.

-RSB

[via Gizmodo]

Magnetic Putty

April 27th, 2013 | Space

magnetic putty

magnetic putty

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When you add small magnetic particles to silly putty, it’s transformed into a metal eating alien life-form. PBS Digital Studios and Shanks FX used the magnetic putty in parts of their recent film short SCI-FLY, and and the shots are pretty fantastic.

They recently released a new video showing the whole process in reverse and it’s really interesting to see how the experience changes.  I’ve been seeing a lot of the video comments describing these videos as a sexual experience, which I think is hilarious.  Maybe there are some silly putty fetishes out there?

Here’s a description of the material that was used in the video:

“Magnetic Attractor Putty is a non-Newtonian solid. This means that while the putty is technically a solid, it exhibits qualities of a liquid as well. Just let your putty sit on a flat surface for a while and you’ll see it spread out like a liquid. The magnetic properties of the Magnetic Attractor Putty come from a magnetic material being mixed in with the putty itself. There are millions of tiny micron-sized magnets embedded in the putty to ensure that it will respond to any large magnet.”

They should pay someone to wear a metal suit and get “eaten” by this stuff…

You can purchase the magnetic putty here.

-RSB

The Showreel of Cris Wiegandt

April 23rd, 2013 | Space

Cris Wiegandt is one of our favorite up-and-coming artists. She constructed the incredible Paper Space Shuttle &  Paper Darth Vader Mask, and now she has created a Showreel of all of her work:

A special sort of whimsy permeates through the collection.  Of course, I am a bit partial to the space-related paper crafts, but I truly enjoy the whole lot.

And here’s a GIF of the Paper Space Shuttle I put together from the video.  It would say it’s a graphic metaphor for her career in art.  Enjoy!

Paper Space Shuttle GIF by Cris Wiegandt

See more of Cris’ work at her site.

-RSB

The Festo Robotic Dragonfly

April 19th, 2013 | Robot

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Robotic Dragonfly:

One of the very first posts I ever made on RobotSpaceBrain was about Festo’s robotic flying animals (jelly fish, penguins, birds). Their new toy, called the BioniCopter, is modeled after the complex flight pattern of a Dragonfly.
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 The robot only weighs about 175 g and maneuvers with incredible grace.
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It’s supposedly very easy to control as well, using a complex flapping motion handled by the software and electronics, allowing the pilot to use a simple smartphone app to steer the Robotic Dragonfly around in space.

How It Works:

The machine is run by an ARM microcontroller, which calculates all of the parameters relating to mechanical adjustments based on input from its sensors (accelerometers and such). The microcontroller then translates all that useful input information into control commands for the Servo motors so it can flap its wings appropriately.

Here are a few specifications from the Festo site:

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festo-robotic-dragonfly-8

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festo robotic dragonfly 7

General Thoughts:

Truly amazing products keep coming out of the German Festo Laboratories.  I am not sure who is buying them, but of course, there are many potential applications for the high-tech flying robots.  I am sure the military is keeping close tabs…
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It would be interesting to see if you could scale this up and make a Giant Robotic Dragonfly…

You can read more at the Festo website.

-RSB

Wringing out Water (In Space)

April 19th, 2013 | Space

Wringing-out-Water-In-Space

International Space Station Commander Chris Hadfield is renowned for his communication of science. He plays guitar from space, throws up incredible images of Earth from the ISS, and he’ll answer all your curiosities about living in a gravity-free world on YouTube.  This recent demonstration was a result of a question from 2 high school students, Kendra Lemke and Meredith Faulkner, who were interested in what might happen when you wring out water from a washcloth in space.
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The result is pretty amazing.  I was worried the water would short-circuit the electronics, but thanks to surface tension, all is well.
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I like how a seemingly simple task on Earth becomes fascinating when it happens in Space.
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-RSB

[via i09]

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