Posts Tagged ‘cool things found online’


Our robotic future

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With the rise of drones, we’re becoming a lot more conscious of how little robots are interacting with us in everyday life. Recently Mary and I watched an interesting and funny film about that very topic set in the near future called Robot and Frank. Frank is dealing with some kind of Alzheimer’s or dementia and his son, who lives five hours away, thinks a robot will be make his own life a little easier by taking care of Frank for him. It’s touching, and funny, and also has some jewel heist scenes, which you know always make a movie better. Read more…

Why isn’t the sky blue?

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This Radiolab story about the color blue has fascinated me for years. I re-listened to it again last night and it’s still great. A mix of science, linguistics, and Homeric poetry. Why did Homer use the phrase “the wine-dark sea?” Why does he never use the color blue? In the entirety of the Iliad and the Odyssey, there’s no reference to blue! Why is that? Why is it linguistically the last color added to languages across the world. It’s a great segment if you want to find out. It’s hard not to listen to this and wonder what it is that Read more…

Nature Is Magical, Exhibit A

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Fast forward this video to the 1:40 minute mark for the good stuff. [vimeo http://www.vimeo.com/47138207 w=500&h=283] This just made me happy. An HD camera, a torpedo with a GPS guidance system … and a pod of dolphins. Voila! A long shot from inside the pod like no one's every filmed before. From Kottke.