Science is the engine of prosperity

Dr. Michio Kaku explica de ce educatia este foarte importanta si cum stau lucrurile acum la nivel mondial. Concluzia socanata este ca 50% din masteranzii si doctoranzii din America sunt straini iar la nivelul stiintelor exacte acest procent se apropie de 100%.

Matt Damon si profesorii

How an LCD works

Global Village Construction Set

Global Village Construction Set in 2 Minutes from Marcin Jakubowski on Vimeo.

Robotic Xylophone - make it yourself

Tot tutorialul: http://www.nerdkits.com/videos/robotic_xylophone/

Fasten your seatbelts - cultural guide

China 3_Lower your glass as a sign of respect. from 43 Films on Vimeo.


China 4_Do bring the right kind of gift. from 43 Films on Vimeo.

This increased mobility exposes millions of travellers every day to new cultures, customs and languages. Without education, dialogue can be difficult and misunderstandings can arise.

You can get yourself into all sorts of trouble in other countries if you don't have an understanding of the cultural language. Much of our behaviour can mean other things in other countries, some of it amusing, some of it extremely offensive. One gesture, or movement, or expression, may have many different meanings, just as our verbal language has words which may have different meanings.

Some people, when travelling to new countries, may forget to consider the different behavioural norms they are likely to encounter and behave exactly as they do at home. In such circumstances, even minor cultural differences can become major barriers to communication and cooperation. This project aims to demystify these cultural differences and encourage visitors to embrace them.

The beauty of Europe lies in the fact that even though there is a firm movement towards standardisation for the sake of efficiency, there is a strong will to cultivate and to promote the diversity of languages and cultures of the different states. With our project we would like to contribute to this important philosophy and extend it to the ‘global village’ that is our world today.

More generally, and perhaps a little less pretentiously, we would simply like to put the idea in the minds of the passengers that it is useful and fun to learn about cultural differences.

The objectives of this project are:
raising travellers' curiosity towards new languages
breaking linguistic and cultural communication barriers
using innovative communication tools and learning methods :teaching through entertainment
offering free immediate access to educational information to travellers
and last but not least, helping to kill time intelligently

The first episode (Fasten Seat Belts 1: Europe) was funded by the European Commission's Socrates-Lingua department.The second one (Fasten Seat Belts 2: Europe - Asia) was supported by the European Commission’s Life Long Learning Programme.

Un proiect european fascinant care are ca scop evitarea gafelor culturale prin educatie.
E si Romania in lista tarilor cu o "cultura speciala"

http://www.fastenseatbelts.eu/

Making things hard to read 'can boost learning'

The 28 volunteers in the Princeton study were given 90 seconds to try to memorise a list of seven features for three different species of alien.
The idea was to re-create the kind of learning in a biology class. Aliens were chosen to be sure that none of the volunteers' prior knowledge interfered with the results.
One group was given the lists in 16-point Arial pure black font, which is generally regarded to be easy and clear to read. 
The other had the same information presented in either 12-point Comic Sans MS 75% greyscale font or 12-point Bodoni MT 75% greyscale.
The volunteers were distracted for 15 minutes, and then tested on how much they could remember.
Researchers found that, on average, those given the harder-to-read fonts actually recalled 14% more.
They believe that presenting information in a way that is hard to digest means a person has to concentrate more, and this leads to "deeper processing" and then "better retrieval" afterwards.

Tot articolul:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-11573666

The Inner Life of a Cell Explained

Si povestea din spatele animatiei:

Guatemala Pedal Powered Machines

Bicimáquinas are pedal-powered machines that assist with a variety of jobs in the home, on the farm, on the road and in small businesses. Each bicimáquina is handmade in our workshop using a combination of old bikes, concrete, wood, and metal. So far, we have developed several original designs that have proven to be both functional and economical.

Sunt multe zone izolate din Romania care ar beneficia de pe urma acestor tehnologii.

Planuri si modele 3D gratis:http://www.mayapedal.org/machines.html

Remember "What's in the box?" - se va face un film holywood dupa el

About one year ago a mysterious short film called “What’s In the Box?” by Tim Smit was posted on YouTube that impressed millions with it’s convincing (but unofficial) connection to LOST, Half Life, Portal, and Samsung, along with great VFX mystery and action. It lead to a complex fan-made viral and, with the creator getting contacted by 20th Century Fox, supposedly sparked a feature film adaption based on the short movie and assumptions that the viral connected to said film. After days, weeks, and even months, there was no more news on this feature film adaption, and it was for the most part forgotten, until now. Find out why after the jump.

Filmul original:


"Noul" film:


Interviu cu regizorul:


Si trailerul 2010:


Sursa: http://www.movieviral.com/2010/04/04/exclusive-whats-in-the-box-director-confirms-feature-film-still-happening/

5 emotions

(click pt mai mare)
250 men and women asked to draw how several emotions felt in their bodies. These are the combined results.


Sursa: http://www.emotionallyvague.com/results_06.php

How differential gears work

Avand in vedere ca se investesc sute de mii de euro in proiectoare si sali de "clasa digitale" ar trebui sa fie regandite orele sa include asemenea materiale. Spun "sa includa" pentru ca tendinta este de a inlocui orele cu prezentari video de acest gen pe sistemul "planteaza copilul in fata TVului si hai la o cafea".
Ahem am promis ca nu pun comentarii multe pe Gilotopia asa ca ma opresc aici.

Pavilionul Norvegiei de la Shanghai

Oh nu se poate! Arhitectura traditionala si moderna contopita!


Mai multe: http://www.designboom.com/weblog/cat/9/view/10173/norway-pavilion-at-shanghai-world-expo-2010.html

Colors and Sex

Here are the color names most disproportionately popular among men:
1.Penis
2.Gay
3.WTF
4.Dunno
5.Baige

I … that’s not my typo in #5—the only actual color in the list really is a misspelling of “beige”. This isn’t just the effect of a couple spammers. In fact, this is after the spamfilter.

Sursa: http://blog.xkcd.com/2010/05/03/color-survey-results/

“Change the numbers, but don’t change the conclusion.” - data faking la nivelul miliardelor de dolari

What I could not get my head around was having to force-fit analysis to a conclusion. In one case, the question I was tasked with solving had a clear and unambiguous answer: By my estimate, the client’s plan of action had a net present discounted value of negative one billion dollars. Even after accounting for some degree of error in my reckoning, I could still be sure that theirs was a losing proposition. But the client did not want analysis that contradicted their own, and my manager told me plainly that it was not our place to question what the client wanted.

In theory, it was their money to lose. If they wanted a consulting report that parroted back their pre-determined conclusion, who was I to complain? I did not have any right to dictate that their money be spent differently.

Povestea unui analist/consultant de la BCG care descrie cum se iau deciziile prin ghicire la nivelul cel mai inalt al economiei. Totul este "din burta".


Tot articolul: http://tech.mit.edu/V130/N18/dubai.html(The Story BCG offerd me $16000 not to tell)

Global warming is still true

(jump to 2m 19s pentru a sari peste clipurile de sport)

"Global warming" inseamana vreme mai extrema (de exemplu cum e acum afara).

Memorize now

Universal edibility test

Universal Edibility Test: Separate, Contact, Cook and Taste
The universal edibility test requires breaking down the parts of a plant and testing them individually over a period of 24 hours. In a survival situation, you don't want to go through this trouble if there isn't a lot of the plant you're testing. If there are only a few sprigs of what you think might be the colorful and edible borage, it won't help you much even if you find that it is the cucumber-like herb. Find something near you that's growing in abundance. To prepare for the test, don't eat or drink anything but water for at least eight hours beforehand. If you're lost or stranded in the wild without any food, this should be pretty easy to accomplish. Now it's test time:

Separate - Because only some parts of the plant may be edible, separate it into its five basic parts. These are the leaves, roots, stems, buds and flowers. There may not be buds or flowers. Check out the parts for worms or insects -- you want a clean and fresh plant. Evidence of parasites or worms is a good sign that it's rotting. If you find them, discard the plant and get another of the same variety or choose a different one.

Contact - First you need to perform a contact test. If it's not good for your skin, it's not good for your belly. Crush only one of the plant parts and rub it on the inside of your wrist or elbow for 15 minutes. Now wait for eight hours. If you have a reaction at the point of contact, then you don't want to continue with this part of the plant. A burning sensation, redness, welts and bumps are all bad signs. While you wait, you can drink water, but don't eat anything. If there is no topical reaction after eight hours, move along to the next step.

Cook - Some toxic plants become edible after they're boiled, so get out your apron and start cooking. Your goal is to test it how you would eat it, so if you don't have any means to boil the plant part, test it raw. Once you've boiled it, or if you're going raw, take the plant part and hold it to your lip for three minutes. If you feel any kind of burning or tingling sensation, remove the piece from your lip and start over with a new part. If there's no reaction, press on.

Taste - Pop the same part in your mouth and hold it on your tongue for another 15 minutes. If you experience anything unpleasant, spit it out and wash your mouth with water. You're looking for a similar burning or tingling as you did on your lip. It may not taste great, but that doesn't mean it's toxic.

If there's no adverse reaction in step four, keep on truckin' to the following page for the next steps.

Tot articolul: http://adventure.howstuffworks.com/universal-edibility-test1.htm

Training video horror

(daca nu va place sangele gratuit nu va uitati)

Deepest can in the world