The Final Season Of "Breaking Bad"

An obvious gift to mankind, Vince Gilligan's seminal series closed its final chapter with an eight-episode arc that had our adrenaline racing and our tear ducts lingering on the brink of eruption. Where "Breaking Bad" ranks among the greatest drama series of all time will be debated for years to come, but thanks to masterful writing and stellar performances from Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul, the meth drama ended on a high note in every way we hoped. (See what we did there?) Walter White's blend of villainy and deeply entrenched humanity came to light in layers upon layers, from his final moments with Skyler and Jesse to his desert showdown with Hank to his devious reunion with Gretchen and Elliot. Not only did "Breaking Bad" solidify itself as the finest character study in television, but it helped to reimagine what it means to craft novelistic programming that has us obsessing over its every step. To Vince Gilligan and the entire "Breaking Bad" team, we are indebted for a series that rattled our minds, stirred our hearts and crafted the best chemistry we've seen on TV in, well, perhaps forever

Dumbest cops in America video themselves laughing at and tasing mentally-ill, handcuffed man

Rob Beschizza at 12:55 pm Tue, Nov 26, 2013 • 33 •

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Police and paramedics in Millvale, Pa., were recorded on video laughing as they repeatedly stunned a handcuffed and mentally-ill man as he pounded his head against the side of a desk. The video--predictably--ended up on YouTube, and the police officers involved became targets of an FBI investigation and a federal lawsuit

When mushrooms go to war

Maggie Koerth-Baker at 6:41 am Wed, Nov 27, 2013 • 0 •

Fungus can fight. Using poisons and flesh-dissolving enzymes (think: mycological "meat" tenderizers), they can defend their turf from incursions by other fungi. Here, a sulfur tuft mushroom (top right) and Phanerochaete velutina (bottom left) hash it out

Blade Runner animated as 12,000 hand-painted watercolor paintings

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Soviet particle accelerator control panel, 1968

Cory Doctorow at 12:14 pm Thu, Nov 14, 2013 • 18 •

Back in 2009, Dark Roasted Blend rounded up a truly wonderful gallery of ancient, hulking computers, called The Cutting Edge of Retro Tech . Given that retro-tech only gets finer with age, it's fitting to link to it now, especially given this magnificent beast, identified as the 1968 Control Center of the JINR's (Joint Institute of Nuclear Research) synchrophasotron in Dubna, Russia. Hotcha, that is some sweet-ass control panel design

Jean-Claude Van Damme does the splits. Between reversing trucks.

Rob Beschizza at 12:18 pm Thu, Nov 14, 2013 • 48 •

It's a TV ad for Volvo trucks; a clever way to demonstrate the vehicles' precise computer-aided steering.

inFORM, 3D Display Can Form Moving Shapes and Interact with Physical Objects

By EDW Lynch on November 13, 2013

inFORM is a dynamic shape display that allows users to interact with digital information by rendering it in three dimensions. The display is equipped with a grid of “pins,” long square-topped rods, that can be rapidly moved up and down to form 3D shapes. A remote user’s hands can be rendered by the display, allowing the user to manipulate an physical object from a distance. The display can also be used to create 3D data visualizations and models. inFORM is a research project by the Tangible Media Group of the MIT Media Lab. We previously posted about the display earlier in November.



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Homeless U.S. Army Veteran Gets a Makeover in a Heartwarming Time-Lapse Video

By Kimber Streams on November 7, 2013

Homeless United States Army veteran Jim Wolf gets a makeover from Dégagé Ministries and Design 1 Salon & Spa in this heartwarming time-lapse video made

A Rock-Paper-Scissors Robot That Wins Every Time

By Kimber Streams on November 7, 2013

Researchers at the University of Tokyo have created a new robot that plays Rock-paper-scissors and wins every time. Of course, the robot’s cheating. It uses a high-speed camera to recognize the human’s play, and then chooses a counter and forms that shape almost instantaneously using a high-speed motor. While humans take about 60ms to form the shape of rock, paper, or scissors, version two of the robot can do it in just 20ms. Previously, we wrote about the first version of the unbeatable Rock-paper-scissors robot.
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Beautiful Space Images From NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory

By Kimber Streams on November 7, 2013

To celebrate American Archive Month in October, NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory has released beautiful photos and descriptions of eight celestial objects stored in the Chandra Data Archive. To see more of the breathtaking images and learn about them, head over to NASA and the Chandra X-Ray Observatory.

NGC 6946 is a medium-sized, face-on spiral galaxy about 22 million light years away from Earth. In the past century, eight supernovas have been observed to explode in the arms of this galaxy. Chandra observations (purple) have, in fact, revealed three of the oldest supernovas ever detected in X-rays, giving more credence to its nickname of the “Fireworks Galaxy.” This composite image also includes optical data from the Gemini Observatory in red, yellow, and cyan.

This image provides a view into the central region of a galaxy that is similar in overall appearance to our own Milky Way, but contains a much more active supermassive black hole within the white area near the top. This galaxy, known as NGC 4945, is only about 13 million light years from Earth and is seen edge-on. X-rays from Chandra (blue), which have been overlaid on an optical image from the European Space Observatory, reveal the presence of the supermassive black hole at the center of this galaxy.

When radiation and winds from massive young stars impact clouds of cool gas, they can trigger new generations of stars to form. This is what may be happening in this object known as the Elephant Trunk Nebula (or its official name of IC 1396A). X-rays from Chandra (purple) have been combined with optical (red, green, and blue) and infrared (orange and cyan) to give a more complete picture of this source.

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An Eight-Minute Supercut of Buddy Cops in Movies

By Justin Page on November 6, 2013

Brutzelpretzel and Clara Darko have created an eight-minute supercut video of buddy cops in movies for Slacktory. A full list of films and music used in this video is available at Slacktory.

A celebration of the American buddy cop subgenre in movies.

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Russian Boy Does Multiple 360-Degree Spins Around & Around on an Old Swing Set

By Justin Page on November 7, 2013

 

Hilarious Early Training Footage of ‘Walking Dead’ Star Norman Reedus (Daryl Dixon) Struggling With a Crossbow

By Justin Page on November 5, 2013

On a recent episode of Conan, late-night host Conan O’Brien showed the audience hilarious early training footage of Walking Dead star Norman Reedus (Daryl Dixon) struggling with a crossbow. Why shoot a zombie in the head with an arrow, when you can just throw the entire crossbow at it instead

How to Build a Hovercraft, New Book by Fritz Grobe and Stephen Voltz of EepyBird

By EDW Lynch on November 5, 2013

How to Build a Hovercraft is a book of DIY science projects by Fritz Grobe and Stephen Voltz (aka EepyBird), the duo responsible for the Diet Coke and Mentos geyser meme. The book includes instructions on how to build more than 25 showy science projects including a leaf blower hovercraft, and a giant air vortex cannon. The book is available on Amazon.

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You Might See Tattoos In A New Light After You See Them On This Woman

As the owner of a tattoo, I know the value of a little ink. They can be used to commemorate moments in your life that are really difficult and serve as a reminder that you're a strong person. Just like they did for Molly Ortwein.

Share this (if you think Molly's impressive strength shouldn't go unnoticed) by clicking the Facebook and Twitter buttons below


          

Taiwanese special forces

Cory Doctorow at 4:27 pm Thu, Oct 31, 2013 • 57 •

Here's the new Taiwanese Special Forces uniform -- what all the smart hypermilitarized coppers are wearing this year

An Educational TED-Ed Animation About the Truth and Myth Behind Vampires

By Justin Page on October 31, 2013

TED-Ed commissioned educator Michael Molina to “dig up the science and the superstitions” about vampires in their animated Halloween short “Vampires: Folklore, fantasy and fact.” The animation was created by Nadav Arbel with artwork by Morgan Barak.

The Geography of Horror, An Interactive Map of Famous Horror Movie Locations

By Kimber Streams on October 31, 2013

Mapping software company Esri has created “The Geography of Horror,” an interactive world map that plots the geographical locations of over 200 top-rated horror movies. The map can also be sorted by decade, filtering out locations from films in the 60s, 80s, and more. Head over to “The Geography of Horror” to explore the map for yourself.
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