thebigzowie

Posts Tagged ‘zowie stuff’

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Man Invents Time Machine

In Amazing Stories, Fun Technology, Science on April 19, 2013 at 6:25 pm

rod-taylor-time-machine

Reposted from National Geographics: Iranian Scientist Claims to have built “Time Machine”

It’s not quite Back to the Future, but a young Iranian inventor claims to have built a time machine that can predict a person’s future with startling accuracy.

Ali Razeqi, who is 27 and the “managing director of Iran’s Center for Strategic Inventions,” claims his device will print out a report detailing an individual’s future after using complex algorithms to predict his or her fate.

According to the Daily Telegraph, Razeqi told Iran’s state-run Fars news agency that his device “easily fits into the size of a personal computer case and can predict details of the next 5-8 years of the life of its users. It will not take you into the future, it will bring the future to you. Read the rest of this entry »

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Back From The Dead

In Amazing Stories, Mind-Body, Strange Oddities on February 10, 2012 at 10:59 pm

back from the dead

NARVIK, Norway (CNN) — Fresh from medical school, Anna Bågenholm chose to do her residency in the Norwegian city of Narvik because of its spectacular mountain slopes. An expert skier, Bågenholm had gone off the trail with two other young doctors on a warm spring afternoon when she fell.

Bågenholm slid down a steep, icy gully and ended up submerged head first in a hole in the ice in a mostly frozen stream. Only her skis and Telemark boots and bindings protruded from the thick, opaque ice. As the 29-year-old struggled, her friends Marie Falkenberg and Torvind Næsheim began a frantic effort to free her, made impossible by a torrent of frigid spring runoff pouring over them into the hole where their friend was submerged.

They called for help, starting a chain of events that is now part of medical literature and local lore.

Bård Mikkalsen, a police lieutenant in Narvik at the time, took the call.

“I realized this was really a serious case,” said Mikkalsen, who has since retired. He scrambled a pair of rescue teams in Narvik, one from the top of the mountain, the other from the bottom. He also contacted the nearest rescue team in Bodø, nearly 200 miles away, but the Sea King helicopter had already left to transport a sick child. Watch more of Anna Bågenholm’s story »

“I told the operator, ‘You must send the helicopter to here, and you have only one minute to decide it. You have to call me back. The time is running out.’ ” The dispatcher turned the helicopter around.

Heading the rescue party from the top of the mountain, Ketil Singstad skied as fast as he could in the wet springtime snow to the spot where Bågenholm remained trapped under the ice.

Singstad said he and others tied a rope to her feet and tried unsuccessfully to pull her free, and the snow shovel and small saw they had brought were no match for the thick ice. Then he saw another rescuer heading up the mountain with a pointed gardening shovel. Read the rest of this entry »

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Madame Ching – Worlds Greatest Female Pirate

In Amazing Stories, Wild Stuff, Zowie Fun Facts on December 13, 2011 at 9:00 pm

ching-shih-pirate

Shih Yang also known popularly as Madame Ching was one of the greatest Chinese pirates who sailed the seas in the 19th century.

 At the height of her career she commanded approximately 2,000 ships and 50,000 pirates controlling the seas from Hong Kong to the Vietnamese border. Piracy was instigated by the people living by the sea; they were starving. They could see the Portuguese and English trading ships carrying fruit, vegetables and meat to the more wealthy Chinese people.

When one of these ships was wrecked by a storm, the sea-side villagers sailed out to the ship to retreive its cargo. When they got to the ship the produce was still being guarded! Out of desperation, the villagers murdered all the guards and took the food home.

This activity was soon organized into a systematic operation under the command of Ching Yih. In fact, other pirates realized how good he was and joined under his command. Ching did not limit his theivery to the sea. His crew also went inland. Along with booty and produce, this pirate crew took villagers as slaves.

The officials at Peking sent forty warships to take down this pirate armada, but failed. Ching sank all these ships except twenty-eight, which he kept for his armada. After the battle with Peking, Ching decided to ‘take’ a wife. Twenty of the ‘choice’ female slaves where brought before him bound, one being Shih Yang. Not only was Shih thought to be beautiful, but she was larger than most women and her feet had not been bound as is traditional custom. Read the rest of this entry »

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Breitling Jet Team Flies With JetMan!

In Amazing Stories, Flight, Fun Technology on November 29, 2011 at 1:09 am

The Swiss fighter jet aerobatic team sponsored by Breitling, recently surprised everyone with a new addition to their formation: JetMan!

In an awe inspiring performance, JetMan streaked across the Swiss countryside at almost 12o MPH in formation with the L-39 Albatross fighter jets to show off the stability and performance cababilities of his amazing flying suit. Seeming to easily maintain position in their formation, JetMan, aka Yves Rossy, a former Swiss fighter pilot himself, showed off the agility of his micro-jet engined flying-wing-suit and established yet another milestone in his breathtaking new venture: making self-propelled flight a reality anyone can someday enjoy.

His major sponsor, Breitling watches has kept Rossy financially powered and in the spotlight with recent exploits such as spanning the Grand Canyon and now this latest incredible formation flying with their Breitling jet aerobatic team. Read the rest of this entry »

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Huge Asteroid Near Miss Nov 2011

In Extraterrestrial, Science, Wild Stuff on October 28, 2011 at 12:21 am

Mark your calendars for an impressive and upcoming flyby of an asteroid that’s one of the larger potentially perilous space rocks in the heavens – in terms of smacking the Earth in the future.

It’s the case of asteroid 2005 YU55, a round mini-world that is about 1,300 feet (400 meters) in diameter. In early November, this asteroid will approach Earth within a scant 0.85 lunar distances. Due the object’s size and whisking by so close to Earth, an extensive campaign of radar, visual and infrared observations are being planned.

Asteroid 2005 YU55 was discovered by Spacewatch at the University of Arizona, Tucson’s Lunar and Planetary Laboratory on Dec. 28, 2005. En route and headed our way, the cosmic wanderer is another reminder about life here on our sitting duck of a planet.

Close and Big

“The close Earth approach of 2005 YU55 on Nov. 8, is unusual since it is close and big.

On average, one wouldn’t expect an object this big to pass this close but every 30 years,” said Don Yeomans, manager of NASA’s Near-Earth Object Program Office and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. Yeomans said that with new radar capabilities at Goldstone in California — part of NASA’s Deep Space Network — there is a good chance of obtaining radar imaging of 2005 YU55 down to the 5-meter resolution level.

Doing so, he said, would mean obtaining higher spatial resolution of the object than that attained by recent spacecraft flyby missions. “So we like to think of this opportunity as a close flyby mission with Earth as the spacecraft,” Yeomans told SPACE.com.

“When combined with ground-based optical and near-infrared observations, the radar data should provide a fairly complete picture of one of the larger potentially hazardous asteroids,” he said. YU55 Asteroid 2005 YU55 is a slow rotator. Because of its size and proximity to Earth, the Minor Planet Center in Cambridge, Mass., has designated the space rock as a “potentially hazardous asteroid.”

Dishing it out “We’re already preparing for the 2005 YU55 flyby,” said Lance Benner, a research scientist at JPL and a specialist on radar imaging of near-Earth objects. He said part of the plan is to observe the asteroid with radar using both the huge Arecibo dish in Puerto Rico and equipment at Goldstone. Read the rest of this entry »

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David Copperfield’s Magical Island

In Food & Drink, Prosperity, Travel on October 16, 2011 at 4:19 am

What if you could hire 150 acres of unspoiled tropical environment, white sandy beaches and turquoise crystal clear waters and magnificently seductive quarters for a weekend?

Well, you can, with Musha Cay, one of the world’s most expensive private islands available for rent, providing extreme relaxation and therapeutic rejuvenation in total isolation from the rest of the world.

Owned by illusionist David Copperfield, Musha Cay in the Bahamas, presents itself as a super regal, uber exclusive luxury private island that allows you to invite your guests to make the most of the island’s lush green surroundings, a state-of-the-art giant outdoor movie theatre and exquisitely designed customized accommodations in addition to the private beaches.

The price? $37,500 per day for upto 12 persons for a 4-night minimum. Steep? Maybe, but most definitely worth the “lap-up-the-luxury” experience we say!

The Stay at Musha Cay

With a staff of thirty-plus to attend to your every need, guests at Musha Cay have the option to stay in the commanding 10,000 square foot manor house on the cliff, the thatched roof beach house away from sight, or one of the two guest villas that hosts two bedroom suites in each, all of which have access to their own private beaches.

Musha Cay: Private luxury island in Bahamas
Musha Cay: Private luxury island in Bahamas

Designed to cater to their guests every need, Musha Cay offers a variety of dining and socializing venues such as the open-air oceanfront dining at the breathtaking Balinese Beach Pavillion, a cozy beachfront gazebo, bar and heated pool, the legendary 2-mile sandbar called “Heaven on Earth”, and 40 sugar-sand beaches for the ultimate in private picnics, always ensuring the highest levels of privacy and comfort. Read the rest of this entry »

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Blonde Saves Boy From Grizzly Bear Attack

In Amazing Stories, Local Heroes, Wild Stuff on September 23, 2011 at 1:00 am

A lingering winter and late berry crop kept bears in proximity to humans longer than normal, perhaps contributing to a stream of headlines about grizzlies killing people and people killing grizzlies.

On July 30, Erin Bolster of Swan Mountain Outfitters was guiding eight clients on a horse ride on the Flathead National Forest between West Glacier and Hungry Horse, Mont.

“It’s the shortest ride we offer,” she said Wednesday, recalling the incident. “We’d already led two trips that morning. It’s always been a very routine hour-long loop, until that day.”

The group included a family of six plus a vacationing Illinois man, who’d booked the trip for his 8-year-old son’s first horse-riding experience.

The young boy was riding Scout, a steady obedient mount, following directly behind Bolster, who was leading the group on Tonk, a burly 10-year-old white horse of questionable lineage.

Tonk isn’t the typical trail mount. Best anyone knows, he’s the result of cross-breeding a quarter horse with a Percheron – a draft horse. Bolster is 5-foot-10, yet she relies on her athleticism to climb into the saddle aboard Tonk.

“He was one of the horses we lease from Wyoming and bring in every year,” Bolster said, noting that she’d picked him from the stable in May to be hers for the season.

“He’s a very large horse – 18 hands high. That intimidates a lot of riders. But I’ve always loved big horses. He’s kind of high-strung and spooky, the largest of our wrangling horses. I like a horse with a lot of spirit, and I was really glad to be on him that day.” Read the rest of this entry »

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Amazing Video Shows What Our Brain Sees

In Dreams, Mind-Body, Sleep Therapy on September 22, 2011 at 7:30 pm

This is about as awesome as neuroscience gets. This video shows us some everyday clips, and – thanks to some super-advanced brain imaging and computer simulations – how those clips are seen inside our brains.

Researchers at UC Berkeley used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and some seriously complex computational models to figure out what images our minds create when presented with movie and TV clips. So far, the process is only able to reconstruct the neural equivalents of things people have already seen, but eventually it might be possible to construct the images people see in dreams and memories.

This could also open up new ways to communicate with those whose speech is severely impaired, such as stroke victims, patients with neurological diseases, and even people in comas. It’s probably worth stressing that we’re decades away from using this tech to read people’s thoughts and intentions, just in case that’s something you’re worried about.

The researchers developed this technique by showing study participants a series of black-and-white photographs while imaging their minds. By comparing the photographs with the scans, they were able to engineer a way to recognize any image from how the brain responded. With that basic principle in place, it was then only a question of building up a sufficiently complex computer model to decode moving, color images like those in the video above.

Here’s more explanation as to how they did it: Read the rest of this entry »

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The Daring Adventures Of JetMan!

In Flight, Fun Technology, Travel on August 18, 2011 at 5:14 am

jetman historic flight

With a pair of rockets strapped to his back, Swiss  adventurer “JetMan” Yves Rossy soared over the Grand Canyon over the weekend, marking the flying man’s first U.S. flight.

Steering only with movements of his body, JetMan launched from a helicopter at 8,000 feet over the canyon and skimmed the walls of one of the America’s grandest natural formations on a sunny weekend morning, before deploying his parachute and descending to the Canyon floor. Just don’t ask when it happened.

While a spokeswoman for the adventurer said that the flight was a success, and issued a picture of Rossy over the Grand Canyon, she could not specify what time Rossy flew, or even whether the flight was on Saturday or Sunday.

“My first flight in the U.S. is sure to be one of the most memorable experiences in my life,” Rossy said in a press release issued Tuesday. “Not only for the sheer beauty of the Grand Canyon but the honor to fly in sacred Native American lands.”

“Thank you Mother Nature and the Hualapai Tribe for making my lifelong dreams come true.” Read the rest of this entry »

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Microsoft’s Virtual Boy Astounds Us

In Culture, Fun Technology, Wild Stuff on July 10, 2011 at 5:00 am

project natal virtual human

He will answer your questions and if you make fun of him he blushes and walks away.

In fact Milo is just like any other boy his age only with one important difference – he is a computer programme.

The four-year-old has been unveiled by Microsoft as the world’s first real virtual character who is convincing enough to be considered‘human’.

The player’s voice commands and physical movements are picked up by an infra-red sensor which works with artificial intelligence to interpret the player’s intonation and meaning, and respond accordingly.

On demonstrations his conversation is utterly believable and he replies to questions just like a real four-year-old.

At one point he throws the player a pair of goggles, and so enthralled is she that she bends down to pick them up, even though there is nothing to grab.

When asked if he has finished his school project, Milo sulks off with his head down, not looking at the camera to show that he has been chastised.

Microsoft claims the game marks a major shift away from joystick-based entertainment and brings Science Fiction into life.

And whilst the demonstrations are astonishing, one problem the company has to get over is just how creepy it is. Read the rest of this entry »

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