z_Ideas

A bee's-eye view

From the BBC website:

An artificial insect eye that could be used in ultra-thin cameras has been developed by scientists in the US. The dimpled eye contains over 8,500 hexagonal lenses packed into an area the size of a pinhead. The dome-shaped structure, described in the journal Science, is similar to a bee's eye.

Blog hero of the week: The Saatchi & Saatchi Folger's coffee campaign in New York

SAATCHI & SAATCHI

This photo of a brilliant and offbeat Saatchi & Saatchi campaign was passed around from blog to blog this week like a bottle of cheap sherry under a bridge, but some were sceptical about it, wondering whether it was a photoshop job.

It's not, says a Saatchi & Saatchi spokesperson. According to Rebecca Cole Marshall, "It was installed in downtown Manhattan in March, and ran for a limited time.  Marnie Kain Cacossa, Global Equity Director on Folgers at Saatchi & Saatchi, said it was developed as one more way to let coffee drinkers know that Folgers is 'the best part of Wakin' Up.'"

That last part is up for debate, but there's no question this is a wonderful idea. The fake cup is made from vinyl and has tiny holes in it to allow steam from the manhole to esape through.

Coffee to go, literally

Audi has released a concept car that comes with an espresso machine. It pops out of the armrest between the front seats. The Roadjet also has built-in microphones and speakers to make it easier to carry on conversations between passengers in the front and back. Because who wants to shout when you have coffee breath.

[via Raw Feed]

Science finds way to take the magic out of the magical fruit

From Reuters:

Two strains of bacteria are the key to making beans flatulence-free, Venezuelan researchers reported on Tuesday.

They identified two bacteria, Lactobacillus casei and Lactobacillus plantarum, which can be added to beans so they cause minimal distress to those who eat them, and to those around the bean-lovers, Marisela Granito of Simon Bolivar University in Caracas, Venezuela and colleagues reported.

Flatulence is gas released by bacteria that live in the large intestine when they break down food. Fermenting makes food more digestible earlier on.

Writing in the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, Granito and colleagues found that adding these two gut bacteria to beans before cooking them made them even less likely to cause flatulence.

You think Ben & Jerry's would have learned its lesson after the "Stasi Crunch" debacle in Germany

From Reuters:

Ice cream makers Ben & Jerry's have apologized for causing offence by calling a new flavor "Black & Tan" -- the nickname of a notoriously violent British militia that operated during Ireland's war of independence.

The ice cream, available only in the United States, is based on an ale and stout drink of the same name.

Actually, and in the ice-cream maker's defence, "Black and Tan" is different from "the Black and Tans."

Hot tip of the day: Start a camel farm

Camel's milk is the next big thing, the BBC reports.

The United Nations is calling for the milk, which is rich in vitamins B and C and has 10 times more iron than cow's milk, to be sold to the West.

Camels' milk, which is slightly saltier than traditional milk, is drunk widely across the Arab world and is well suited to cheese production.

One UN expert says there are 200 million potential camel's milk customers worldwide.

One problem is that existing camel-milk producers are, for the most part, nomads. And they really love their camels.

Here is a closeup of a camel being milked.

What's next? Camel's milk chocolate or something crazy like that?

The hottie effect

Catching sight of a pretty woman really is enough to throw a man's decision-making skills into disarray, a study suggests. [BBC]

The more testosterone he has, the stronger the effect, according to work by Belgian researchers.

Men about to play a financial game were shown images of sexy women or lingerie. The Proceedings of the Royal Society B study found they were more likely to accept unfair offers than men not been exposed to the alluring images.

Fly away home

A wealthy California woman is building a home out of scrap 747 jumbo jet parts, the BBC reports.

Francie Rehwald wanted her house to look "feminine", have curves and be eco-friendly. Her architect's answer was: "Let's use a 747!"

The wing of the Boeing jet will be used for the roof, its nose as a meditation temple while its trademark "bulge" will serve as a loft.

The plane's parts were obtained from an aeroplane scrap yard in California. They cost around $100,000 (£56,000) to purchase, while the construction of the project, which is expected to start in June, is thought likely to cost several million dollars by the time it is completed.

There has been one unexpected demand on the homebuilders: Civil aviation authorities says any parts visible from the air have to be marked to show they are not part of a crashed plane.

A marathon swim for science

JOHN MACNEILL / POPULAR SCIENCE

A new unmanned sub called SPRAY is going to "glide" on ocean currents 2,484 nautical miles across the Atlantic Ocean from Greenland to Spain. It will measure temperature and salinity as it follows currents and dives to depths of 1,000 metres, sending its information to its home base via satellite.

The project is a joint effort by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts and the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in California. If successful, the hope is that one day hundreds of SPRAYS will be patrolling the world's oceans, sending back constant streams of information invaluable to mariners, oceanographers and climate experts.

Popular Science has a video of the device on its website.

Magical chairs

D'ANDREA GROUP

Would you like to watch a short video of a robotic chair falling apart and then putting itself back together again?

If so, click here, and then click on the link to the chair.

[via MAKE blog]