Coolest Gadgets "Animal Weighing Scales- now you can proove you weigh as much as a small elephant

We’ve all done it. Got out of the shower, stood in front of the mirror and proclaimed to the world at large (or to your rubber duck anyway) ‘Oh my god- I’m easily as fat as an elephant!’. I know I have.  Especially the part about the rubber duck (I seem to have amassed a collection…).
Now, if you’ve a caring significant other, then they’ll immediately proclaim that you’re a svelte as a snake. If you’ve an honest significant other they may agree with you. Either way, now you can actually find out what animal you really do resemble in weight, and in future bemoan (or celebrate) with factual accuracy.

These Animal Weighing scales measure you to the nearest rabbit, or other animal, and I believe are more of a novelty product instead of my earlier ‘factual accurancy’ quip. The animals get bigger as the weight goes up obviously, but one of the images on there is clearly a frog, and I think I’d be dragged straight to the doctors if I actually weighed that little. But it’s an amusing gag gift to consider for Christmas, for that person who just won’t accept that they’re just a regular size, or perhaps for that person who really should not be having eighth helpings of turkey…
It would be even cooler (and even more ‘wtf’ worthy) if they were an accurate comparison. It could be beautiful- instead of desperately trying to keep under a certain number, you could compare your diet with your friends using the phrase ‘I was a bear last week, and now I’m down to being a horse’. Would be amusing to see what the clientele at Starbucks thought when they overheard you.

Coolest Gadgets "Printbrush – Portable Handheld Printer

Although it seems that print technology is going obsolete as more information goes online, there is still a need for printers. When you search for a good quality printer, some of the things you consider are speed, size and background noise level.
Printbrush is an interesting portable printer designed by PrintDreams. The handheld printer remembers its positional coordinates as it prints. When you run Printbrush over a piece of paper, it will deposit black and white printer ink on the page in 600 DPI (dots per inch). The device uses Bluetooth communication and includes rechargeable batteries for people on the go.
The device is not just limited to printing on plain paper. Rather, it can print on any flat surface including fabric material and letter envelopes. There’s no need to use the manual feed on an office printer if you have one of these.

Coolest Gadgets "Mug That Stirs Your Drink at the Press of a Button

It’s called the Self Stirring Lazy Mug and was created by Plain Lazy to hold your tea, coffee, hot chocolate or other mixed drink, and by pressing the special button on the handle it starts to stir your drink. This means you won’t need a spoon to stir drinks manually and I bet this would soon become your favorite mug.
These would make great promotional mugs for your business or event I would think!
Some recommend it for coffee, but I’d say it’s not a good idea if you make your coffee in a coffee pot, because it’s not pleasant to feel the coffee remains in your mouth. It could work though if you use a coffee filter.
The mug powers from batteries and keeps your drink warm for a long period of time. It measures 9 x 11 x 11 cm at 0.2Kg.

MySky Star And Planet Identifier

Shoot Your Way To Celestial Knowledge

If you’re as clueless as I am about the night sky and barely know your planets from your stars (much less their names), this gadget will help shoot us both to the top of the class. Called the Meade MySky star and planet identifier, it looks like some kind of futuristic ray gun, but instead of firing an energy pulse, shoots you a wealth of knowledge. Just pull the trigger to learn about your target star, planet, nebula or galaxy (though not satellites, starships or aliens, I’m afraid) from a database of over 30,000 celestial wonders.

Utilizing a 12 channel GPS receiver, magnetic North sensors and accelerometers, the MySky helps you to identify and learn about the stars and planets in the night sky and can even take you on a guided audio and visual tour – highlighting the best bits based on the current time and your location.
Featuring a full-color LCD that won’t obstruct your view of the night sky and illuminated sights to easily point at objects, the MySky can also be used in conjunction with a telescope – using its GPS receiver as an orientation aid.

Sources:
Barnes and Noble and I Want One Of Those

The LightSleeper- for a good, heavy sleep

So in the past I’ve mentioned my insomnia. So far I’ve fixed mine by getting a Sound Asleep Pillow and changing boyfriends (Ta-da! Sleeping like a brick!). But before hitting on these genius solutions people did mention light therapy to me. Calming colour changers, a red light bulb and even projected images were suggested to me. I’m not sure how good any of those are by the way, because I’ve always thought the idea of using light to get to sleep was completely illogical.
Apparently I was wrong.
Following her own suffering with insomnia, designer Kate Evans has created what is essentially a mini light projector which beams a soothing light onto your ceiling. The light then makes circles above you, the idea being that as your eyes follow the projection you gradually slip off to sleep. Whereas something like reading would stimulate the mind and thus keep you asleep, the LightSleeper relaxes you almost hypnotically.

The makers claim that it takes under a minute to get it working, and it can be turned on with a tap (great if you wake up in the middle of the night with uber brain fuzz) and automatically switches off after half an hour which means its energy efficient too.

The LightSleeper has adjustable brightness and you can set it to pulse or stay constant so it really is adaptable to your own needs. People who tested it have reported anywhere between one and five hours extra sleep per night, and it sounds to have worked across age and gender spectrums. Plus it’s small enough to take away with you, so you can sleep just as well on that relaxing holiday as you do at home.
It’s available now from the LightSleeper website, and will soon be on sale at Boots. Plus, if you buy direct from the website, you get a 14 day trail promising your money back if it doesn’t work for you. It does cost £125, but can you really put a price on your health?

Bomb-Proof Wallpaper

Known as the world’s toughest wallpaper, X-Flex is a new type of wallpaper that is easily stronger then most building walls upon which it resides. Developed by Berry Plastics and the US Army Corps of Engineers, X-Flex can be used in any area prone to blast damage including national airports and chemical plants. In fact, the US military is seriously looking at redecorating military bases with this wallpaper to protect military personnel stationed at army bases overseas.
The strength of X-Flex comes from it’s building material which is Kevlar-tye sheets that are sandwiched between a layer of elastic polymer wrap. Application of the protective sheets couldn’t be easier and consists of removing the sticky backs and rolling it onto the wall while fastening the edges. An entire room can be done in under an hour.

Self Defense SunGlasses – Officially Endorsed By Japanese Military Read more: http://thecoolgadgets.com/self-defense-sunglasses-officially-endorsed-by-japanese-military/#ixzz16gsbvmRk

Some people are just too careless about their favorite sunglasses, that need to buy a new one to replace the broken one two or three times a year. Following Japan Self Defense Force SunGlasses is officially endorsed by the Japanese military due to their keen ability to withstand gratuitous amounts of force. The lenses will not shatter if struck with a 3″ object traveling at the speed of 106mph!


The Self Defense Sunglasses‘ frames are made from TPR/TR90 material, which should be strong enough to take a bit of a pressure themselves.
Price: USD317.- [ get it here ]


Read more: http://thecoolgadgets.com/self-defense-sunglasses-officially-endorsed-by-japanese-military/#ixzz16gsfcMgQ

Transparent toaster!

You may miss the bus or get splashed by white van men speeding through puddles on your way to work but one of the worst things to happen in the morning has to be over-doing your toast.
No matter how often you set that dial, someone’s always moved it by the time you use the toaster again and the result? Imperfect toast and wasted bread.
Well, worry no more. This see-thru toaster will ensure your bread is just how you like it, everytime.
Keep an eye on your bread so that you can pop it up when it looks exactly the way you like it. It currently needs a bit of tweaking but we’ll let you know when it’s available for toasting heaven!

Magic wand remote.

If you’re bored of the same old TV remote, why not ditch it for this magic wand remote. Use flicks of your wrist to change the channel and big sweeping moves to record your favourite TV show. The wand will learn up to 13 commands from your old remote and you can choose which moves control each command, making your remote un-hijackable! It will also work on your Sky box, stereo or any other infra-red device.

Antimatter has the ability to store incredible amounts of energy in a very small space. See how it will work.

Can people get poisoned by indirect exposure to polonium-210?

On Thursday, November 23, former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko died in a London hospital of radiation poisoning. Doctors determined that he'd been given a lethal dose of the radioactive isotope polonium-210, which they found in his urine before he died. Since then, authorities have found traces of radiation, in most cases openly attributed to polonium-210, in at least 10 places known to have been visited by the victim after he began feeling ill on November 1. The sites include Litvinenko's home, one restaurant, a hotel, the office suite of a security company and the office of one of Litvinenko's friends. In addition, scientists have found traces of radiation in two British Airways jets that had flown routes between London and Moscow in the weeks before Litvinenko's death. Ripples of concern have spread through Britain: Are the tens of thousands of people who were in those buildings or on those planes in the last month at risk of radiation poisoning?

AP Photo/Alistair Fuller Former KGB spy Alexander Litvinenko at his home in London in 2002

Polonium-210 is an isotope of the element polonium, and it's highly radioactive. In trace amounts, it seems to be fairly harmless: It occurs naturally in the environment in uranium ore, as well as in our bodies and in certain foods in minute amounts. You'll also find polonium-210 incigarettes and other tobacco products, although it's unclear how much of the isotope is in there. In the 1980s, U.S. surgeon general C. Everett Koop attributed 90 percent of smoking-related deaths to radiation as opposed to tar.

Still, the type of poisoning experienced by Alexander Litvinenko requires a much higher dose than you'd find in any of these places: at least a few micrograms, according to scientist Nick Priest, who once worked with the UK Atomic Energy Authority. That a few micrograms is a large and lethal dose of polonium-210 is a testament to its extreme radioactivity. It spreads through the body very quickly, attacking cells and destroying organs. It also has a very short half-life, making it difficult to detect after poisoning occurs.

While several thousand Britons, mostly hospital personnel who treated Litvinenko, British Airways crew members and those people who were in close contact with him right before he got sick, have been referred for testing, most experts say the risk of contamination from indirect exposure to polonium-210 is very, very low. Polonium-210 emits alpha radiation, which has a very short range. Alpha rays can be stopped by a sheet of paper. They can't even penetrate a layer of skin, so those people who were simply in the same room as Litvinenko or brushed up against him aren't at risk of radiation poisoning. According to doctors, the only case of simple contact that would result in the transfer of polonium-210 from one person to another would be if the poisoned person were covered in his own sweat, vomit, feces or urine and bumped into another person's open wound. Short of that, inhalation and ingestion of the actual substance, whether in pure form or in a poisoned person's body fluids, are the only ways to get radiation poisoning from polonium-210. According to UK home secretary John Reid, everyone tested for radiation as of November 30 has tested negative.

It appears to be very unlikely that anyone else would have been poisoned by being in close proximity to Litvinenko or in one of the enclosed spaces found to be contaminated with trace radiation. Not only are polonium-210's alpha ray's very easy to block, but it takes more than trace amounts of polonium-210 to harm someone.

In lethal doses, however, polonium-210 is powerful. According to sources at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, it's 250 billion times more deadly than hydrogen cyanide. Litvinenko died within weeks of feeling ill, and doctors could do nothing to save him.

The Litvinenko murder mystery has reached all the way to the Kremlin: Before he died, Litvinenko accused Russian president Vladmir Putin of having him poisoned. The former intelligence agent was a harsh critic of a Russian government and is said to have been looking into the murder of Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya, also an outspoken government critic. The Russian government adamantly denies any involvement in the poisoning. But many experts say that lethal amounts of polonium-210 are not easy to get your hands on unless you have access to a nuclear reactor, making government and military personnel more likely suspects than your average citizen. This rarity, however, may be belied by the advertisements of certain companies that claim to sell radioactive isotopes like polonium-210 for about $70 online. It's not immediately clear how much polonium-210 is included these types of packages or if the isotopes are genuine.

Plane landed in San Francisco at the same time there was a big earthquake

An earthquake is one of the most terrifying phenomena that nature can dish up. We generally think of the ground we stand on as "rock-solid" and completely stable. An earthquake can shatter that perception instantly, and often with extreme violence. Let's take a look at how earthquakes work in order to understand what could be happening as the plane touches down.

Earthquake Image Gallery

Photo courtesy USGS
Earthquakes shake our world every 11 seconds. They can cause major destruction and even death. See more earthquake images.

An earthquake is a vibration that travels through the earth's crust. Technically, a large truck that rumbles down the street is causing a mini-earthquake, if you feel your house shaking as it goes by. But we tend to think of earthquakes as events that affect a fairly large area, such as an entire city. Although all kinds of things can cause earthquakes -- such as volcanic eruptions or underground explosions -- the majority of naturally occurring earthquakes are caused by movements of the earth's plates. The study of this type of plate movement is called plate tectonics.

Scientists proposed the idea of plate tectonics to explain a number of peculiar phenomenon on Earth, such as the apparent movement of continents over time, the clustering of volcanic activity in certain areas and the presence of huge ridges at the bottom of the ocean. The basic theory is that the surface layer of the earth -- the lithosphere -- is comprised of many plates that slide over the lubricating athenosphere layer. Where these plates meet, you'll find faults -- breaks in the earth's crust where the blocks of rock on each side are moving in different directions.

Earthquakes are much more common along fault lines than they are anywhere else on the planet. One of the best-known faults is the San Andreas Fault in California. The fault, which marks the plate boundary between the Pacific oceanic plate and the North American continental plate, extends across 650 miles (1,050 km) of land. San Francisco, along with its new international airport, is very close to this fault.

When a sudden break or shift occurs in the earth's crust, the energy radiates out as seismic waves, just as the energy from a disturbance in a body of water radiates out in wave form. Surface waves, which are one form of seismic waves, act something like the waves in a body of water -- they move the surface of the earth up and down and cause a great deal of damage.

How Sinkholes Work

Sinkholes typically develop slowly as bedrock is whittled away by water turned acidic from absorbing carbon dioxide and interacting with plants. Rainwater obviously plays a role, but unseen water also matters. As the acidic water dissolves rock, it carves out conduits, or underground passages, for water. These conduits in turn help to develop underground basins known as recharge areas. Recharge areas contribute to the formation of sinkholes as water flowing to and from them and into the subsurface (the earth overhead) erodes bedrock. When water floods a developing sinkhole, some of the topsoil and other material can be caught in the conduits, further trapping water and limiting its ability to flow outward.

A lack of water can contribute to sinkholes, too. In some underground cavities, water may actually be holding up a thin overhang of earth. If that water level falls, the overhang has no support and collapses.

Sinkholes appear all over the United States. Florida, with its frequent rains and marshy terrain, is usually id entified with sinkholes, but they're also prominent in Alabama, Kentucky, Missouri, Pennsylvania,Tennessee and Texas [source: USGS]. They generally develop in karst regions, a type of terrain known for soft bedrock [source: Southwest Florida Water Management District]. The U.S. Geological Service describes karsts as having many water elements, such as springs, underground streams, caves and, of course, sinkholes [source: USGS].

Earthquake

Whether you live in an earthquake-prone region like California or Japanor in calmer lands, the idea of everything around you shaking uncontrollably -- and potentially catastrophically -- can be terrifying.

There's a particular sense of helplessness that can accompanyearthquakes, especially because there is no established scientific method of predicting them. With that in mind, preparation is the best defense.

If you reside in a place like California's Bay Area, where there are eight or more faults that could produce a serious earthquake with a magnitude of 6.7 or worse, knowing how best to weather an earthquake is as essential as a Floridian's knowing what to do when a hurricane approaches [source: USGS].

With that in mind, we'll take a look at what to do before, during and after an earthquake in this article. From supplies to retrofitting to emergency communication, we'll cover it all. We'll also see whether duck and cover is indeed the best method and why Doug Copp's "Triangle of Life" technique has attracted so much 

What if a wildfire came near my house?

In just seconds, a spark or even the sun's heat alone can set off an inferno. Wildfires spread quickly, consuming thick, dried-out vegetation and almost everything else in their path. What was once a forest becomes a virtual powder keg of untapped fuel. In a seemingly instantaneous burst, a wildfire overtakes thousands of acres of surrounding land, threatening the homes and lives of many in the vicinity.

An average of 5 million acres burn every year in the United States, causing millions of dollars in damage. Once a fire begins, it can spread at a rate of up to 14.29 miles per hour (23 kph), consuming everything in its path. As a fire spreads over brush and trees, it may take on a life of its own -- finding ways to keep itself alive, even spawning smaller fires by throwing embers miles away.

After combustion occurs and a fire begins to burn, three factors control how the fire spreads. Depending on these factors, a fire can quickly fizzle or turn into a raging blaze that scorches thousands of acres. These three factors are:

• Fuel
• Weather
• Topography

Wildfires spread based on the type and quantity of fuel that surrounds them. Fuel can include everything from trees, underbrush and dry grass to homes. The amount of flammable material that surrounds a fire is referred to as the fuel load. Fuel load is measured by the amount of available fuel per unit area, usually tons per acre. A small fuel load will cause a fire to burn and spread slowly, with a low intensity. If there is a lot of fuel, the fire will burn more intensely, causing it to spread faster. The faster it heats up the material around it, the faster those materials can ignite.

Because vegetation is the primary fuel for wildfires, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)recommends a minimum 30-foot safety zone around your home. You should:

• Limit the number and size of plants within this zone.
• Replace highly flammable species with less flammable vegetation.
• Limb trees from their base up to about 15 feet up the tree.
• Remove any climbing vines or espalier attached to your home.
• Cut grass and prune trees and shrubs in this area regularly.
• Remove plant debris such as broken limbs and fallen leaves.

A second zone, extending to 100 feet from the house, is also suggested. In this zone, you should lower the volume of vegetation and replace highly flammable trees and shrubbery with less flammable varieties.

How Stem Cells Work

Photo courtesy University of Wisconsin-Madison
Microscopic view of a colony of undifferentiated human embryonic stem cells being studied in developmental biologist James Thomson's research lab at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. 

Many diseases kill cells within organs, claiming lives or impairing a person's ability to live a normal life. For example, about 5.8 million Americans have heartfailure and 670,000 people are diagnosed with it each year [source: Centers for Disease Control]. In heart failure, much of the heart muscle itself dies, so the heart cannot sufficiently pump blood.

Similarly, about 23.6 million Americans have diabetes [source: NIDDK, NIH]. Five to 10 percent of these people have Type Idiabetes in which the insulin-producingcells of the pancreas are dead. Finally, about 1 million Americans live with Parkinson's disease [source: Parkinson's Disease Foundation]. In this disease, cells that make the neurotransmitter dopamine, which helps control movement, die. Patients with Parkinson's disease have tremors and uncontrollable movements. But what if these dead cells could be replaced with fresh cells? Could the patients be treated and live normal lives? That's the goal of stem cell research.

Stem Cell Basics

There are several types of stem cells, including:A stem cell is essentially the building block of the human body. Stem cells are capable of dividing for long periods of time, are unspecialized, but can develop into specialized cells. The earliest stem cells in the human body are those found in the human embryo. The stem cells inside an embryo will eventually give rise to every cell, tissue and organ in the fetus's body. Unlike a regular cell, which can only replicate to create more of its own kind of cell, a stem cell ispluripotent. When it divides, it can make any one of the 220 different cells in the human body. Stem cells also have the capability to self-renew -- they can reproduce themselves many times over.

• Embryonic stem cells - Embryonic stem cells include those found within the embryo, the fetus or the umbilical cord blood. Depending upon when they are harvested, embryonic stem cells can give rise to just about any cell in the human body.
• Adult stem cells - Adult stem cells can be found in infants, children and adults. They reside in already developed tissues such as those of the heart, brain and kidney. They usually give rise to cells within their resident organs.
• Induced pluripotent stem cells (IPSC)- These stem cells are adult, differentiated cells that have been experimentally "reprogrammed" into a stem cell-like state

Amazing pictures of Earth from Space

Beautiful photos of Earth as seen from space

Russian Super Car

Russian super car marussa

What came first, the dinosaur or the bird?

A duck walks into a convenience store, and the cashier says, "Hey buddy, I hear you birds are descended from thedinosaurs." The duck jumps up on the counter and regards the cashier irritably. "Nonsense," he quacks, "Dinosaurs descended from us." Then the duck attempts to purchase lip balm on credit.

Yeah, it's not much of a joke, but this little encounter underlines the current scientific divide on the link between modern birds and prehistoric dinosaurs. For decades, one theory dominated the world of paleontology: Modern birds evolved from a wide-ranging group of dinosaurs calledtheropods, of which the Tyrannosaurus rex was one. Recent research, however, jumbles up the time line a bit, in some cases fingering dinos like the velociraptor as former birds.

The reptile and bird worlds are closely linked. Comparative anatomists as far back as the 16th century noted the similarities, and several key fossil finds have backed up those observations. Specimens such as the Archaeopteryx lithographica display both dinosaur and avian characteristics. As such, paleontologists championed the Archaeopteryx as the ancestor of all living birds.

The counter theory tells a different story. Researchers from Oregon State University have uncovered various physical inconsistencies between birds and dinosaurs and argue that birds appear in the fossil record before the dinosaurs from which they would have descended [source: Science Daily].

Paleontologists also point to moving thigh bones in theropod dinosaurs as major flaw in the dinosaurs-to-birds theory. Birds require 20 times more oxygen than reptiles and boast fixed thigh bones to enable the proper lung function (that fixed positioning can help to stop birds' lungs from collapsing). These paleontologists and their discoveries ultimately paint a picture of the past in which birds and dinosaurs evolved separately from a common ancestor. Then, much later, some birds returned to the ground and evolved into our favorite flightless lizards like the tyrannosaur and velociraptor.

So is there a definite link between birds and dinosaurs? Certainly, but paleontologists disagree -- sometimes quite heatedly -- on exactly when and where the link exists: in the form of a common ancestor or in an evolutionary shift from dinosaur to bird or bird to dinosaur.