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Science Etcetera Venusday, 20080307

March 7th, 2008

Tesla Coil Sparks 4KVA with Corona on Wire

Tesla Coil Sparks 4KVA with Corona on Wire
Photo by Arne Groh

This article gives me science-envy: 12 Things You Need to be a Mad Scientist, lot’s of cool stuff for the science home-decor and cabinet of curiosities (HT Douglas).

Thanks to the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Prob (WMAP), we now know, the universe is Flat (within a 2% margin of error) and 13.73 Billion Years old (+/-120 million years). How can something be “flat” within a two-percent margin of error?

The Spirit rover has reached homeplate, meaning it might be positioned to survive another winter on Mars.

Yeah, I totally LOLed at a few of these Funny Tech Support Calls, and I know the uncomfortable feeling the support people had to deal with trying to find a tactful way to set the caller straight without letting them know they’re an idiot.

It’s never too soon to quit, but it’s also never too late. Quiting smoking when you retire increases your chances of succeeding.

The prehistoric animals in the film 10,000 BC, opening this weekend, were either long extinct or only alive in the New World, not in the Old World, where the film takes place.

If you want to feed the birds, feed the bugs.

The Earth’s deserts are growing, not just on land, but in the oceans as well.

Coffee contributed to the highly-intellectual and scientific discourse of the first one, now will new drugs kick off a Second Enlightenment?

This can only end in tragedy, boomerangs to be tested on the space station.

Humans are ‘hard-wired to spot snakes.’

Nothing says Moment of Science better than explody things, so here’s CO₂ Dry-Ice Explosions: