Quantum levitation: How cool is that?

I'm linking to this video for one simple reason: It is absolutely the coolest thing I've ever seen — pun fully intended. For an explanation of this phenomenon, known as the Meisner effect, check out the article on Scientific American.

Be sure to view the whole video; the more you see, the more your jaw will drop.

Smart energy design; not-so-smart newsfeed algorithm

You gotta love automated newsfeeds. Case in point: Yesterday, QNX Software Systems unveiled a new reference design for smart-home energy management systems, and the news was picked up by renew grid (makes sense), ITSforhome (makes sense), and Pharmacy Choice News (what the... ?):


Click to enlarge.

Either the newsfeed algorithm needs tuning, or someone got into the Hydromorphone. Either way, you can get the full story here.

In fact, you can go one better and download the software for the QNX smart energy reference here.

And while you're waiting for the download to, well, download, here's an image of the reference design's main screen:


Click to enlarge.

Critter of the week: pelecinid wasp

Sometimes, Mother Nature can be downright icky. Case in point: the pelecinid wasp.



As you can see, the pelecinid is a nasty-looking bugger, but before you panic, that isn't a stinger looming menacingly at the end of its tail. It's an ovipositor. You know, for laying eggs.

Which brings us to the icky part. The female pelecinid jabs its ovipositor into soil to detect beetle grubs. When it finds one, it lays an egg. When the pelecinid larva subsequently emerges from the egg, it burrows into the beetle grub, kills it, and proceeds to feast on the remains.

Moral: When you see one of these wasps, don't kill it. Because it controls the beetle grubs that devastate lawns.

Just think of all the grass seed you won't have to buy.

That's not a lens, this is a lens

Every action or nature photographer lusts for a piece of long, fast glass. You're getting pretty serious when you buy your first 300mm f4 lens. You're getting really serious when you trade it up for a 300 f2.8. And you're getting major serious when you mortgage the house and blow your nest egg on a 600mm f4.

If you're serious and crazy, you contract a lens manufacturer to build you a 1200mm f5.6. But a 5200mm f14? Then you're just plain crazy. But hey, wouldn't it be cool to have one anyway? To get an idea of how cool, fast forward to the 0:50 mark:



Hm, I wonder if Canon could make me an image-stabilized version...

Honestly, I'm not making this up, Part III

When you issue a press release announcing support for ARM-based industrial processors, you just never know who will cover the news. Case in point:



BTW, if you're interested in QNX support for these processors — whether out of concern for humanity or for your next industrial project — you can download a QNX board support package here or here.

For the full text of the press release, click here.

Moon bombed; little green men ticked

“They’re going to do WHAT?!,” I bellowed.

So okay, maybe I didn’t exactly bellow. And maybe I didn't even raise my voice all that much. But trust me, I uttered the question with heartfelt incredulity.

It all started when I got home this evening. I was tired, I was hungry, and I was looking forward to a nice warm welcome from my family. That’s not too much to ask, right?

Instead, the first thing I hear when I get in the door is, “Hey dad, did you hear about NASA?”

“Of course,” I say, “The dudes that do the space shuttle, the space station, and all that other space stuff.” (I'm annoying like that.)

“No, no,” my son says, “I’m not asking if you heard of them, I’m asking if you heard what they’re going to do tomorrow.”

“I give up. What are they going to do?”

“They’re going to bomb the moon.”

“They’re going to do WHAT?!” I bellow… oh, hold on, I think we already went over that part.

I must confess, I made most of this up. Except for the bit about bombing the moon. That part is real.

Tomorrow morning, at approximately 4:30 am Pacific time, the Centaur upper stage of an Atlas V rocket will plow into the moon. The impact will create a debris plume that rises above the lunar surface. Four minutes later, a spacecraft that previously separated from the Centaur will fly through the debris plume, collecting and relaying data back to Earth. That spacecraft will then plow into the lunar surface and create a second plume.

So why is NASA spending precious tax dollars to create all this mayhem? Because of water. Or, more precisely, the suspicion that water exists below the moon's surface.

You see, if any water, hydrocarbons, or organics exist in the debris, they will become exposed to sunlight. The sunlight will then vaporize these items and break them down into their basic components. Spectrometers can then determine the amount and distribution of water in the debris plume -- if, indeed, any such water exists.

If you think I'm pulling your leg, check out the LCROSS page on the NASA website. You'll see that I'm telling the truth.

Unless, of course, you're one of those folks that refuse to believe the Apollo moon landings were real.

Um... they were, weren't they?

Honestly, I'm not making this up, Part II

Back in February, I blogged on a fish with a transparent head. Well, if you thought that was weird, check this out: Russian surgeons have discovered a five-centimetre tree growing inside a — wait for it — man's lung.

Scientists are baffled, and, as you might suspect, in disagreement as to what is really going on:

Honestly, I'm not making this up...

The Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI), which uses QNX-controlled autonomous underwater vehicles to perform ocean research, has just posted a video of a fish with a — wait for it — transparent head.

Words fail me. So let's just watch the video:



The thing to remember is that the fish's eyes aren't those front-mounted things that look like eyes, but the bright green things inside the transparent dome. Scientists theorize that the dome serves a purpose: to shield the fish's eyes from the stinging cells of jellyfish. For the full story, check out this article.

Postscript: For a somewhat larger image of the fish, click here.