The future is finally here! Inspired by a 2008 exhibition called “Back to the Future” French artist Nils Guadagnin set about recreating the floating skateboard featured in the movie Back to the Future II. Guadagnin calls it “a reflexion on the multiple possibilities of how to give a sculpture full spatial autonomy.” That’s my kinda sculpture! The hoverboard can only support 2kg (4.4 lbs.) and it requires magnets beneath it,

Scientists have discovered 123 new species of animals, insects and plants in the Heart of Borneo, a protected region since 2007. Among them is the green and yellow colored Ibycus rachelae, dubbed the “Ninja Slug.” The name isn’t derived from its stealthiness but rather from its martial arts style of love making. The Ninja Slug shoots its mate with “love darts” made of calcium carbonate and spiked with hormones that

In the classic 80s movie War Games, all that stood between us and global thermonuclear war was a computer’s calculation that tic-tac-toe is unwinnable. Well “XXX” your ass goodbye! The iCub, an open source robot being developed across 11 European universities and institutions, just demonstrated its computer skills at the Humanoid Robotics Symposium at the Institution of Engineering and Technology (video below). The toddler-like robot is capable of 53 distinct

“The Great Sperm Race” (link) is a new flash game in which players assume the role of a sperm and must navigate their way through the acid filled hellhole known as the “Vagina” while steering clear of Leukocytes, white blood cells, which eat sperm. Fortunately, unbeknownst to your 8th grade Health Teacher, the Cervix is filled with power pellets that make you invulnerable to these cock gobblers. The game is

Youtube user & self-described black man, Desi Cryer, recently uploaded a video titled “Hewlett Packard computers are racist” which demonstrates how his webcam has no problem tracking white faces, but as soon as his “blackness enters the frame, it stopped.” HP is certainly looking at Desi now. The video has reach over 1.2 million views. HP says that they are looking into the problem and that “The technology we use

Some men take your breath away, literally. Seminal plasma hypersensitivity is a condition where “The body recognizes the sperm as a foreign protein, like it would recognize a peanut allergen or a pollen so you have swelling, you have itching, you have inflammation of the nerve endings,” explains Dr. Andrew Goldstein, director of the Centers for Vulvovaginal Disorders in Annapolis, Maryland. Dr. Goldstein believes as many as 40,000 women in

The next time you heat up that TV dinner, be careful not to fry your meatballs. A study of 148 Chinese men found that microwave ovens and other common household appliances generate electromagnetic fields, which can double the odds of male infertility. Dr. De-Kun Li advises men “to reduce their exposure to electromagnetic fields as much as possible” (i.e., avoid housework). And you thought the 50s were sexist, but really

Women are getting shorter and fatter (and not just American women). Contrary to popular opinion, humans are still evolving says Professor Stephen Stearns, an evolutionary biologist at Yale University. Stearns headed a 60-year study of more than 2,000 women and found that shorter, fatter women who reproduce younger and enter menopause later have more children and pass on those traits. He predicts that by 2409 the average woman will be

We may never see a full moon again. NASA plans to crash a rocket into the Moon’s south pole. The rocket will hit the force of 2 metric tons of TNT and launch an estimated 350 tons of debris into space, some of which NASA hopes is water. At a transportation cost of $10,000 per pound, water is a precious commodity in space. Dr. Anthony Colaprete, the mission’s lead scientist,

Chris Packham, host of BBC’s Springwatch, has caused pandemonium among conservationists with his suggestion that we “pull the plug” on the panda. He calls it a “T-shirt animal” that consumes more than just bamboo. “Unfortunately, it’s big and cute and a symbol of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and we pour millions of pounds into panda conservation,” said Packham in an interview with the Radio Times. Money that

You know Google is getting pervasive when it starts ranking plant & animal life. Ecologist Dr. Stefano Allesina realized he could determine the keystones in coextinction, or the loss of one species upon the extinction of another, by reversing Google’s algorithm. “In PageRank, a web page is important if important pages point to it. In our approach a species is important if it points to important species,” said Allesina. “If

No one can hear you in space but they sure can smell you! The cramp quarters and lack of laundry facilities make for some otherworldly funk at the International Space Station. Recently Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata test drove some high tech odor free underwear called J-wear. “I haven’t talked about this underwear to my crew members,” warned Wakata. “But I wore them for about a month, and my station crew

Never go thirsty in the shower again with a Phyto-Purification Bathroom. This eco-friendly shower uses various aquatic plants and the bacteria, which grow on them, to naturally filter wastewater. The recycled water can then be safely re-used and even consumed. Gives new meaning to the saying: don’t pee on my leg and tell me it’s raining. It’s only a concept for now but designer Jun Yasumoto has posted the blueprints

Interorbital Systems (IOS) is now selling personal satellites called TubeSats, and at just $8,000 they flying off shelves. The TubeSat is a bare bones satellite that you assemble yourself, but don’t worry they launch it into outer space for you. Unfortunately, they’re put into a self-decaying orbit so you’re literally burning through your money. On the upside, you can do whatever you want with 0.2 kg (0.4 lbs.) of free

Scientists have known for years that injecting oxidized ATP into the spinal cord immediately after an injury prevents ATP, chemicals that fuel our cells, from flooding and killing surrounding healthy cells. But doctors are reluctant to put a needle into a spinal cord that has just been severely injured and oxidized ATP can’t be injected into the bloodstream because of its dangerous side effects. However, a new study from the