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The structure — a layer of graphite flakes and an underlying carbon foam — is a porous, insulating material structure that floats on water. When sunlight hits the structure’s surface, it creates a hotspot in the graphite, drawing water up through the material’s pores, where it evaporates as steam. The brighter the light, the more steam is generated.

The new material is able to convert 85 percent of incoming solar energy into steam — a significant improvement over recent approaches to solar-powered steam generation. What’s more, the setup loses very little heat in the process, and can produce steam at relatively low solar intensity. This would mean that, if scaled up, the setup would likely not require complex, costly systems to highly concentrate sunlight.

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If Guillermo Cecchi wants to figure out if you’ve taken MDMA or meth, all he needs is a computer and a recording of your voice. Cecchi is a computer scientist at IBM, and part of a growing community of scientists who think our voices can reveal far more than our sex, age, or cultural origins. He thinks it can also unlock the mind — and the various psychological and neurological states our brains may be experiencing at any given time.

“This is exactly what psychiatrists do every day: they talk to the patients,” Cecchi says, “but we used machine learning and mathematics to replicate it.”

Pretty creepy.

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For those who’ve always thought that Siberia was the asshole of the world — here’s proof.

Giant Hamster Wheel for cats.

Camelbak Eddy Bottle.

Cloud Lamp. Just in case you have small children the require entertainment.

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An unusual article recently appeared in the magazine of the Royal Statistical Society and American Statistical Association.

It featured web-like diagrams of lines connecting nodes, a hallmark of research that analyzes networks. But each node, rather than being a plain dot, was the head of a burly, red-bearded Viking sporting a horned hat, his tresses blowing in the wind.

This whimsical-seeming piece of scholarship went on to describe the social network of more than 1,500 characters in the Icelandic Sagas, epic tales about the colonization of Iceland around a thousand years ago that were first written down a few hundred years after that. It was the work of a pair of statistical physicists, Ralph Kenna of University of Coventry in the UK and his graduate student Pádraig Mac Carron, now at Oxford, who are applying the tools of their trade to works of epic literature, legend, and myth.

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“The idea that microscopic textures can impart a material with water-repellent properties has its origins in nature,” explained Brookhaven physicist and lead author Antonio Checco. “For example, the leaves of lotus plants and some insects’ exoskeletons have tiny-scale texturing designed to repel water by trapping air. This property, called ‘superhydrophobicity’ (or super-water-hating), enables water droplets to easily roll off, carrying dirt particles along with them.”

Mimicking this self-cleaning mechanism of nature is relevant for a wide range of applications, such as non-fouling, anti-icing, and antibacterial coatings. However, engineered superhydrophobic surfaces often fail under conditions involving high temperature, pressure, and humidity-such as automotive and aircraft windshields and steam turbine power generators-when the air trapped in the texture can be prone to escape. So scientists have been looking for schemes to improve the robustness of these surfaces by delaying or preventing air escape.

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If you were searching for a Christmas gift for the President, look no further.

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ORBIS: The Stanford Geospatial Network Model of the Roman World reconstructs the time cost and financial expense associated with a wide range of different types of travel in antiquity. The model is based on a simplified version of the giant network of cities, roads, rivers and sea lanes that framed movement across the Roman Empire. It broadly reflects conditions around 200 CE but also covers a few sites and roads created in late antiquity.

The model consists of 632 sites, most of them urban settlements but also including important promontories and mountain passes, and covers close to 10 million square kilometers (~4 million square miles) of terrestrial and maritime space. 301 sites serve as sea ports. The baseline road network encompasses 84,631 kilometers (52,587 miles) of road or desert tracks, complemented by 28,272 kilometers (17,567 miles) of navigable rivers and canals.

Bed Bug Registry.

Victorinox SwissCard.

Electric Peel MicroCar.

MultiPurpose Kitchen Tool Kit.

Golden Mean calipers.

Tea buttons.

PyroPet Candle. Surprise!

Scott Adams’ time-saving tips.

Fonhandle handle for your iPhone.

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Global warming alarmists should be comforted that they have a lot more to be happy about and should not be fretting that global catastrophe is knocking at the door.

But, of course, they aren’t.

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Bell Labs has pumped more data than ever before down antiquated copper wiring. The boffins used a frequency modulation system that they claim will be perfect for hooking up aging telco cables to future broadband fiber networks.

The technique is based on the G.fast standard being considered by the International Telecommunications Union; it’s a DSL standard designed to sustain 500Mbps connections over legacy copper cable networks using a 106MHz frequency range.

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Researchers have uncovered the fossil of an extinct bird with a mouthful of tooth-like spikes and wings just smaller than a World War I fighter plane’s. At 20 to 24 feet from wingtip to wingtip, the new species had the biggest wingspan of any known bird, outstripping the next-biggest feathered flyer by 15% or more.

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LiveLeakPublished at LiveLeak by Buck O’Fama (just possibly a pseudonym) is this video demonstration of a 3D-printed pistol version of a Ruger 10/22—a popular semiautomatic .22 rifle. The receiver is 3D printed and glued together, with metal parts added, including what appears to be the bolt (and, I assume, a synthetic after-market stock*).

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Bison bonasus was driven to extinction in the wild across Europe in 1927 after decades of decline from hunting and habitat loss. But it has become that rare endangered species: a conservation success story.

There are now thousands in the wild, all descended from the 54 individuals in captivity when the last wild one was killed in Poland’s Bialowieza forest.

Despite the increase in numbers, the European bison is still rarer than other high profile species, such as the black rhino, even with the reintroductions. There are over 5,000 European bison, with about 3,200 in the wild.

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In the not-too-distant future, everyone could be an electric company, selling power into the grid just like the owners of giant generating plants.

The idea of powering the electric grid from a multitude of sources is called distributed generation. Homeowners can already buy solar generators and furnaces that simultaneously produce heat and electricity. On the horizon are home battery systems that could let homeowners store solar power generated during the day for use at night.

Distributed generation isn’t pie-in-the sky — the know-how exists to build these systems. But the technology is held back by cost and by regulations that don’t allow for tiny contributions to the power grid. Federal energy experts figure costs will drop and regulatory issues will be overcome, and that the amount of electricity homes and businesses produce through distributed generation could roughly double over the next 25 years. That’s not enough to replace big generating plants, but enough to have a big impact.

Matador Pocket Blanket

Waffles on a Stick

Portable Security Door Device. For when the SWAT team mistakes your door for that of the drug dealer down the street. (Maybe this time they won’t shoot your dog.)

Edible Cupcake Wrappers.

Distance-Calculating Binoculars. In case you run across some Tuskan raiders.

LED Grill Light Spatula. In case you’re grilling in the dark for some reason.

Bottle Opener Cuff Links. If James Bond had had ’em, he would have used ’em.

Leatherman Skeletool. What Optimus Prime carries in his back pocket.

Finger-Friendly Guitar Company Keyboard. In case you don’t want karate-master calluses on your left hand.

Personalized Earbuds. Stick it in yer ear.

Beer Slushie Maker. For those who like that sort of thing (you know who you are).

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After puppy-cams, you know it had to happen.

I’d be interested in a shark-cam, myself.

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Finally. People are beginning to catch on.

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A big problem with graphene, a super-strong, atom-thick material that could soon be used to build a new generation of thin and flexible electronics, is that it constantly conducts electricity. Electronics need to be able to turn the flow on and off, which is not currently possible with a pure sheet of graphene.

Stanford researchers wrote in Nature Communications Tuesday that they have come up with one of a growing number of alternatives. It might not be as strong or thin as graphene, but the three-atom-thick material they modeled has the unusual feature of being able to switch between two different atomic structures, allowing it to turn the flow of electricity on or off like a light switch.

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One of the biggest problems with printing human meat was the creation of blood vessels and ventricles. Making a solid mass of flesh was easy but adding a way to pump blood and other nutrients through the flesh was more difficult. Now researchers at the University of Sydney, Harvard, Stanford and MIT, have solved some of these problems by creating a skeleton of vessels and then growing human cells around them. Once the vessels are stable, they are able to dissolve the 3D printed material.

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If, of course, that’s what you  want to do.

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With help from Dr. Leore Grosman from the Institute of Archaeology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the design duo started out by collecting rocks of just the right size and shape from the Negev desert in southern Israel. Once the stones were sufficiently chipped and then scanned — a process described as “one of hastened evolution and bleeding” — a series of handles were designed that turn the teardrop-shaped rocks into everything from a spear to a more traditional two-handed axe. The idea is to show just how amazingly useful the seemingly basic hand-axe can be.

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And ponder.

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As Olympians go for the gold in Vancouver, even the steeliest are likely to experience that familiar feeling of “butterflies” in the stomach. Underlying this sensation is an often-overlooked network of neurons lining our guts that is so extensive some scientists have nicknamed it our “second brain”.

A deeper understanding of this mass of neural tissue, filled with important neurotransmitters, is revealing that it does much more than merely handle digestion or inflict the occasional nervous pang. The little brain in our innards, in connection with the big one in our skulls, partly determines our mental state and plays key roles in certain diseases throughout the body.

CozyRoom.

Completely Reflective Safety Umbrella.

Dual Breakfast Sandwich Maker.

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Cars have long used GPS and mapping features to help drivers detect speed cameras, but Hyundai’s latest vehicle goes one step further to ensure you truly avoid them. The Hyundai Genesis combines GPS and braking technology to slow the car down if drivers are speeding when they approach a speed camera. “It knows there is a speed camera there, it knows where the speed camera is and it will adopt the correct speed,” explains Hyundai’s Guido Schenken in an interview with Australia’s drive.com.

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The Swiss company dreams of a machine that makes tailor-made food based on individual nutrition needs.

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Russian strategic air forces fired six new, precision-strike cruise missiles in test launches Friday amid new tensions between Moscow and the West over the crisis in Ukraine.

Russia’s Defense Ministry announced Friday that the missile firings took place during exercises involving eight Tu-95 Bear bombers—the same type of strategic bomber recently intercepted 50 miles off the California coast by U.S. jets.

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Arsuaga and his colleagues think the fossils show that the Neanderthal lineage did not get all its distinctive anatomical features as a complete set, but rather, these appeared individually in “a mosaic pattern of evolution, with different anatomical and functional modules evolving at different rates,” in the words of the Science paper.

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On June 18, Stephanie Klowlek–the inventer of Kevlar–died.

Klowlek invented Kevlar in 1965 and it has been used in bullet-proof vests, helmets, tires, “airplanes and armored military vehicles,” and more.

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When cholesterol accumulates inside blood vessels, they sometimes burst into clots that block the flow of blood to a person’s brain. This is what we call a stroke. But even though doctors have understood what goes on during these events for quite some time, researchers still don’t fully grasp what causes heart attacks and strokes to happen in the first place. Now, two new studies, published independently yesterday in The New England Journal of Medicine, may yield some clues, as researchers have found that patients who posses a broken version of a gene that normally transforms fat particles into triglycerides are 40% less likely to experience a stroke, or a heart attack.

Vessyl. More here.

Gerber Artifact.

Tool Trolley. (Yes, it really is $1781.)

Jim Beam Pancake Syrup. (If you can’t afford the Tool Trolley.)

Star Wars X-Wing Knife Block.

Nose Up Bridge Straightening Beauty Clip.

CaffeinAll.

Laptop Beverage Holder.

Shell Stools.

Anti-Cheating Ring.

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Scientists have successfully tested a “bionic pancreas” on 20 adults and 32 teenagers with Type 1 diabetes for five days, reports the Associated Press. The pancreas is a wearable device that continuously monitors a patient’s blood sugar levels and administers insulin automatically, when needed. And, unlike other wearables currently in the works, this one was able to correct low blood sugar levels, as well as high.

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And we see how effective that has been. (I didn’t know it was up to them.)

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They are as compact as classical gas heaters that only produce heat. Moreover, they can comfortably be mounted on the wall and easily be maintained. With an output of one kilowatt, they cover the average current consumption for a four-person household. The Federal Ministry of Transport and digital infrastructure BMVI is promoting Callux. Currently, in the European demonstration project ene.field (www.enefield.eu), about 150 further units are being installed in several European countries. In addition, Vaillant started the production of a small-scale series in early 2014. Parallel to the practical test, the two partners are already working on new models. „Now, it’s all about decreasing production costs and increasing the lifetime of the equipment,“ says Jahn.

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The new aluminum air battery would recharge by filling it up with water.

Dusk Activated Half Acre Mosquito Trap

SmartJars.

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The self-proclaimed leaders of the so-called people’s republic of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine are taking some tips from the U.S., but in a way that most people will not find palatable: They adopted a modified version of the Confederate Flag. It holds no meaning in Eastern Europe, so to whom are these Russian-backed fighters trying to appeal?

Perhaps they’re trying to qualify for the Southern Poverty Law Center to designate them as a hate group.

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And you can sometimes make a good guess at her race, as well.

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When you buy groceries from Instacart, the company summons a green-shirted “personal shopper” through the firm’s smartphone app. The shopper receives your list, scurries through a grocery store to pick up your items and then heads across town in his own car to deliver your stuff.

…

Despite its low-cost business model, Instacart isn’t cheap. The service charges a delivery fee of $3.99 for most orders, and it also makes money by marking up store prices. The amounts vary depending on the item, but I noticed Instacart’s prices coming in at about 20 percent more than I could find at my local store.

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A California judge ruled Tuesday that teacher tenure laws deprive students of their right to an education under the state Constitution. The decision hands teachers’ unions a major defeat in a landmark case, one that could radically alter how California teachers are hired and fired and prompt challenges to tenure laws in other states.

“Substantial evidence presented makes it clear to this court that the challenged statutes disproportionately affect poor and/or minority students,” Judge Rolf M. Treu of Los Angeles Superior Court wrote in the ruling. “The evidence is compelling. Indeed, it shocks the conscience.”

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Hint: No. (Of course, This Is CNN, so I’d check another source if I were you.)

For the past four decades, we’ve been told to stay away from red meat, dairy and cheese — foods high in saturated fats — because saturated fat is bad for the heart.

But investigative reporter Nina Teicholz says that isn’t the case.

“When the dietary recommendations came out in 1961 saying that saturated fat causes heart disease, that was based on total cholesterol,” Teicholz said. “But our understanding of heart disease has evolved enormously.”

She said the science condemning saturated fats just isn’t there. In her new book, “The Big Fat Surprise,” Teicholz writes that the low-fat, fruit- and vegetable-filled diet that you thought was healthy doesn’t have all the benefits it claims.

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Just in case you were wondering. I know I was.

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In the first evidence of a natural intervention triggering stem cell-based regeneration of an organ or system, a study in the June 5 issue of the Cell Stem Cell shows that cycles of prolonged fasting not only protect against immune system damage — a major side effect of chemotherapy — but also induce immune system regeneration, shifting stem cells from a dormant state to a state of self-renewal.

In both mice and a Phase 1 human clinical trial, long periods of not eating significantly lowered white blood cell counts. In mice, fasting cycles then “flipped a regenerative switch,” changing the signaling pathways for hematopoietic stem cells, which are responsible for the generation of blood and immune systems, the research showed.

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As incredible as it sounds, that’s what the evidence is showing. For psychologist Traci Mann, who has spent 20 years running an eating lab at the University of Minnesota, the evidence is clear. “It couldn’t be easier to see,” she says. “Long-term weight loss happens to only the smallest minority of people.”

We all think we know someone in that rare group. They become the legends — the friend of a friend, the brother-in-law, the neighbour — the ones who really did it.

But if we check back after five or 10 years, there’s a good chance they will have put the weight back on. Only about five per cent of people who try to lose weight ultimately succeed, according to the research. Those people are the outliers, but we cling to their stories as proof that losing weight is possible.

Trinity Portable Wind Turbine Power Station.

BT1-11 Foldable Lonely Tent.

KLAX.

Laser-Guided Tactical Necktie. I am not making this up.

Smart Garden Tools.

Check it out.

Pretty cool.

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In the past decade a growing number of studies have questioned the anti-fat orthodoxy. Ms Teicholz’s book follows the work of Gary Taubes, a science journalist who has cast doubts on the link between saturated fat and health for well over a decade—and been much disparaged for his pains. There is increasing evidence that a bigger culprit is most likely insulin, a hormone; insulin levels rise when one eats carbohydrates. Yet even now, with more attention devoted to the dangers posed by sugar, saturated fat remains maligned. “It seems now that what sustains it,” argues Ms Teicholz, “is not so much science as generations of bias and habit.”

Think about that, then, next time some Occupy Wall Street slacker gets in your face about Global Warming.

Travel Alarm Clock with Dual LED Flashlight.

eCool Geothermal Beer Cooler.

Pepper-Spray-Plus-Camera.

This Glass Toaster Costs $1,000—But It Can Cook Steak.