Archive for December, 2008
12.31.08
Posted in Unique at 10:37 pm by Princess
New year is coming soon!
A vast physics experiment built in a tunnel below the French-Swiss border is fast becoming one of the coolest places in the Universe.
The Large Hadron Collider is entering the final stages of being lowered to a temperature of 1.9 Kelvin (-271C; -456F) – colder than deep space.
The LHC has thousands of magnets which will be maintained in this frigid condition using liquid helium.
The magnets are arranged in a ring that runs for 27km through the giant tunnel.
Once the LHC is operational, two particle beams – usually consisting of protons accelerated to high energies – will be fired down pipes running through the magnets. These beams will then travel in opposite directions around the main ring at close to the speed of light.
At allotted points along the tunnel, the beams will cross paths, smashing into one another with cataclysmic force. Scientists hope to see new particles in the debris of these collisions, revealing fundamental new insights into the nature of the cosmos and how it came into being.
The most powerful physics experiment ever built, the LHC will re-create the conditions just after the Big Bang.
Currently, six out of the LHC’s eight sectors are between 4.5 and 1.9 Kelvin, though all sectors of the machine have been down to 1.9 Kelvin at some stage over the last few months.
By comparison, the temperature in remote regions of outer space is about 2.7 Kelvin (-270C; -454F).
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12.25.08
Posted in Unique at 10:57 am by Princess
This innovative shower head changes colour according to the temperature of the water that flows through it. No need to feel the temperature; all you have to do is look and you have an instant indicator of whether the water is too hot or too cold. Saves third degree burns each morning, or having to thaw yourself out in front of the radiator. It’s a Godsend we tell you.
If the shower head light is Green, the water is cool. The light then progresses to blue, purple, and then red as the temperature increases. Check out the picture below to see how it all works. Clever huh?
It’s powered by thought. All you need to do is tell the shower head to start glowing via the language of the mind and it will light up. Alternatively, it could well be powered by the motion of the water. Either way, there are no wires, no batteries and no main electricity sources to send you to a swift and less than gratifying electro-death. Water really is quite a good conductor you know.
The perfect way to start your day. That rhymes. Not only does it produce illumination as if possessed by some generous light-giving god, but the water is also ionized giving a much softer feel to the stream of illuminating spray. If only we could actually get out of bed in time for a shower before work, we’d use it every day. As it is, we use it twice a week.
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12.23.08
Posted in Unique at 10:45 pm by Luxor
We’ve gotten so used to beer cans, why not put wine in pop-top cans, too? Swedish designers Jens Andersson and Jonas Forsman tried to make their recyclable wine cans slightly resemble a wine bottle, and now these prototypes are available for any wine companies that feel like pioneering a new mode of distribution and consumption.
However, so far, there are no takers. We’re wondering if wine snobs even want to be seen with a can in their hands, quaffing away at their heady libations in a style no different from chug-a-lugging a common Budweiser. But come on, Biff and Buffy! Look at that easy-pull tab, much classier than a lowly beer can!
They’re not going to go for it. Look, there’s no way to get your nose in there, so you can bore everyone around you with your vivid descriptions of the “notes” you’re smelling. For us, as long as it’s not a Merlot, we’re fine with chugging our rotgut from just about any container that doesn’t leak.
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12.08.08
Posted in Luxuries at 4:30 pm by Luxor
This jazzed Porsche 911 is from Russia. The filthy rich owner definitely has tons of cash strewn around to load it with 40 pounds of the pure gold. It seems only Porsche wasn’t enough for the guy hence he got it decked up to look like it is covered with golden plates
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