Incredible photos from Shuttle mission

Just one of a number of beautiful photographs from the Shuttle Atlantis mission. Click the title bar to see more.

7-Year-Old Ping Pong Prodigy From China Xin-Xue Feng

I can't tell you how many players like this I faced during my tournament days. I used to have nightmares. :-)

Belgian says he was alert but mute for 23 years

"By RAF CASERT
BRUSSELS (AP) - For 23 torturous years, Rom Houben says he lay trapped in his paralyzed body, aware of what was going on around him but unable to tell anyone or even cry out.
The car-crash victim had been diagnosed as being in a vegetative state but appears to have been conscious the whole time. An expert using a specialized type of brain scan that was not available in the 1980s finally realized it, and unlocked Houben's mind again.
The 46-year-old Houben is now communicating with one finger and a special touchscreen on his wheelchair.

"Powerlessness. Utter powerlessness. At first I was angry, then I learned to live with it," he said, punching the message into the screen during an interview with the Belgian RTBF network, aired Monday. He has called his rescue his "renaissance.""

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Duel of German founain pens...in Japan!

Must be Santa

I'm still not sure about this Christmas album. :-)

Man vs. Electricity: Meet Dr. Megavolt

'Significant' water found on Moon

"Nasa's experiment last month to find water on the Moon was a major success, US scientists have announced.

The space agency smashed a rocket and a probe into a large crater at the lunar south pole, hoping to kick up ice.

Scientists who have studied the data now say instruments trained on the impact plume saw copious quantities of water-ice and water vapour.

One researcher described this as the equivalent of "a dozen two-gallon buckets" of water.

"We didn't just find a little bit; we found a significant amount," said Anthony Colaprete, chief scientist for the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) mission."

Weave mirror

The Weave Mirror uses 768 individual strips which are woven together into a grid. As passersby walk in front of the work, motors adjust the woven strips to change the greyscale intensity of that particular X/Y coordinate on the grid. When you step back, it forms the illusion of a real-time mirror. Design by the artist Daniel Rozin's.

Islands seen from space

Just one of many photos....


Hawaiian Islands

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American Anthem

In honor of Veterans Day:

American Anthem

The Joy of Flight 2

"Have you ever seen 300,000 birds move at once? Buzzfeed posted this video of a massive flock of starlings swarming together over an unspecified area in Denmark, forming a dark, shape-shifting cloud. For all the Harry Potter fans out there, it bears a frightening resemblance to a Dementor."

The Joy of Flight

Pigs Prove to Be Smart, if Not Vain

Recent discoveries from the nascent study of pig cognition offered evidence that pigs were quick learners, slow to forget and similar to humans in many ways.

"We’ve all heard the story of the third Little Pig, who foiled the hyperventilating wolf by building his house out of bricks, rather than with straw or sticks as his brothers had done. Less commonly known is that the pig later improved his home’s safety profile by installing convex security mirrors at key points along the driveway."

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