The following is a series of "genetic portraits" by artist, Ulric Collette, who captured members of his family and spliced their images together via Photoshop. The result is a stark look at how they share similar facial features and traits. Strange, but pretty awesome if you ask us!
One of the most dangerous aspects about trail skiing or snowboarding is the possibility of avalanches. Enter the Backcountry Access Float 30, an airbag-equipped backpack designed to minimize excavation time during avalanche burial. It works much like an automobile airbag, bursting open upon an incident. At $599 USD it's a small price to pay for life-saving equipment. Ride on, ride safe!
Prepare to have your mind's eye blown by the following time-lapse short courtesy of BBC Planet Earth. Watch as super sharp cameras capture the unseen world of Cordyceps Fungi, one of the most complex and involved species in the animal kingdom. You'll be surprised to see just how vital (albiet sometimes violent) they are to maintaining Nature's balance.
Iowa State University gerontology researcher, Peter Martin, was recently published in the Journal Of Aging Research for his 6 behavioral factors of longevity. They are: Environmental Support, Individual Characteristics, Behavioral Skills, Good Nutrition And Health Behaviors, Staying Healthy and Good Mental Health. You can check out the full explanation of each here.
Introducing the Nike FuelBand, the sportswear company's latest jump into the consumer tech gadget universe. The sleek LCD wristband works like a personal monitor by recording the user's activity via an accelerometer. That activity is then translated into "Nike Fuel" a point system that quantifies and visualizes it all. Athletes can set point goals and start moving! Oh, and did we mention that you can track your progress with an app? Cool.
Thanks to OkayAfrica, sister site to the music-loving OkayPlayer, Hip-Hop icon Q-Tip (A Tribe Called Quest) was recently able to trace back his African ancestry. On the latest episode of the blog's "The Roots Of..." video series, Q takes an actual q-tip (the irony) to his cheek and gives the research team a sample of his DNA. Tests later reveal that his lineage traces back to the West African territory of Guinea Bissau, a place that is rich in music influence. Amazing how it all connects!
Is music at the root of our human consciousness? This is the question that filmmakers, Elisa da Prato and James Fideler, attempts to tackle in her upcoming documentary, Music Of The Hemispheres (MOTH). The project focuses on the Music Of Thought Hypothesis theory by philosopher/professor, Dan Lloyd, who studies brain activity and its connection to music. This is accomplished through fMRI brain imaging, which then gets converted into sound via brain-data sonification. The result is a striking "symphony" of a person's thought patterns.
Readers interested in making the completion of this project and film a reality can connect to the MOTH Kickstarter page here and pledge. Only 14 days to go for it to reach its $16K USD goal!
Apple has recently filed for the patenting of some very intriguing hydrogen fuel cell technology. According to sources there are two specific patents in the works: "Fuel Cell System to Power a Portable Computing Device" and “Fuel Cell System Coupled to a Portable Computing Device.” If there's one thing you need to know about the technology, it's that it's what NASA uses to power its satellites! Now imagine that kind of long-lasting energy powering up the next wave of Apple products...
In this second installment of our Nike Invites series, we take a look at the Nike Sports Research Laboratory, a state-of-the-art facility where both gear and athletes get put to the test.
Equipped with everything from an environmental chamber for weather-resistant testing, to a scanning room that records all of the intricacies of an athlete's body, the Research Lab looked and felt like the epicenter of Nike's performance universe. We were even let in on a few insider details, like that scanner data usually shows similarities in the bodies of different athletes of the same sport--information that is vital when making products that are specifically geared to players and their physical needs.
The motion testing area puts garments and footwear through non-stop action. That action and its effects on the gear is then studied closely. It's the only way that pieces like the Pro Combat Shield Mock really get inspired. Researchers note which areas require most durability, ventilation, dryness, etc.
Research Lab director, Matthew Nurse, was kind enough to give us a rundown of the facility's departments and what they actually do. Check him out as he tells us exactly how science makes its way into the products:
Next week we'll be taking a look at the pristine training facility and stomping grounds of the Oregon Ducks, an elite football squad with direct access to Nike's sports science universe.
Synthetic biologist, Sheref Mansy, and Amsterdam-based artist, Lucy McRae, are giving pheromones a run for their money--literally! The two entrepreneurs are behind Swallowable Parfum--an ambitious cosmetic project that aims to produce capsules that can be metabolized into fragrance in accordance to the body's temperature, level of stress, and sexual arousal.
