Interesting Information

Many vegetarians make their decision not to eat meat based solely on ethics rather than any disdain for the flavour. The growing of meat in laboratories would certainly alleviate these concerns, but the benefits extend beyond morals. The keeping of animals for meat is an enormous strain on the environment, and with the global population skyrocketing, the demand continues to grow. According to a report published by Stanford University, livestock production occupies more than one-fourth of Earth’s land, and contributes to 18 percent of greenhouse gas emissions attacking the atmosphere. Recent experiments using stem cells from pigs and cows, cultured in a nutrient-rich bath that allows them to grow, have shown much promise.

In 2005, neuroscientist Armand R. Tanguay Jr. wowed the world with his bionic eye that attached to the retina and received images from a digital camera mounted on a pair of sunglasses. But the future of bionic eyes looks even stranger - physicist Richard Taylor is developing an “implant” made of self-assembling fractal-shaped nanomaterial that can mimic eye neurons. The biggest problem with cameras is that they don’t provide information in the same structure that the eye is used to. Retinal neurons are branched, like a fractal pattern, and a camera sends signals in a straight line. When a camera is plugged into a blind person’s retina, most of the information is lost in the gap between machine and living tissue. That’s why nearly every retinal implant to this point results in a hazy, grainy, black-and-white image - far from the resolution achieved by the human eye.

Your smartphone is the one thing that never leaves your side because it can do it all. But the best smartphones do everything well. A great handset takes amazing photos, offers a bright and crisp HD screen and has enough speed to help you multitask with ease. There’s also plenty of variety out there when it comes to software and the overall user experience. That’s where we come in. Once you’ve decided on your platform of choice - Android, iOS, Windows Phone or BlackBerry - then it’s time to pick a device. At LAPTOP we test every major smartphone on the market and rate each one based on design, features, performance and battery life to help you make the right call. Here are our top 10 smartphones, ranging from the most sleek and compact handsets to the biggest phablets. Samsung Galaxy S4 The Samsung Galaxy S4 takes Android phones to the next level with an awesome camera, innovative gesture controls and best-in-class multitasking.

Medicine is one of the cornerstones of modern civilization - so much so that we take it for granted. It wasn’t always the case that you could just waltz into a doctor’s office to have them cure what ailed you. In medieval times, for example, things were a lot more dangerous, and a lot stranger. Boar Bile Enemas Enemas in medieval times were performed by devices called clysters. A clyster was a long metal tube with a cup on the end. The tube would be entered into the anus and a medicinal fluid poured into the cup. The fluid would then be introduced into the colon by a series of pumping actions. Although warm soapy water is used for enemas today, things were a little more earthy back then: one of the most common fluids finding its way into a clyster was a concoction of boar’s bile. Even kings were high up on the clyster. King Louis XIV of France is said to have had over 2,000 enemas during his reign - some even administered while he sat on his throne.

Not everyone wants an iPad. In fact, many Apple haters would argue no one needs an iDevice, when there are so many other great options. Happily, if you’re looking for an alternative there truly are plenty of compelling options - many that cost less than Apple’s slates. Google and Amazon offer full-featured slates for US$199. Newcomer Hisense even comes in at a very compelling US$149. Those willing to spend more will find a host of versatile tablets, from models with detachable keyboards to those that offer pen input. There are even kid-friendly specific options for parents who want to raise a tech-savvy child. And while all of those options are Android options, there are Windows 8 tablets hitting the shelves that might worth a second look. Here are our top 10 iPad alternatives. Hisense Sero 7 Pro Hisense Sero 7 Pro features a rear-facing 5-MP camera with a flash and a front-facing 2-MP camera, plus it comes with a microSD card slot for expandable storage up to 32GB. I...

Sunny day for a drive Imagine never having to fill your fuel tank again. With the cost of gas these days, that may sound like wishful thinking. But as solar technology becomes more advanced, that dream could soon become a reality. In fact, vehicles that run entirely on solar power are nothing new; the first solar vehicles were built in the 1950s. Those early models weren't very practical, but modern designs have made impressive progress. Solar milestones have been made for just about every form of transportation that you can imagine. There are solar cars, of course, but there are also solar buses, trains, boats, and even a solar helicopter. Here's our rundown of seven modern solar-powered vehicles.

Les Apaches were a French street gang that operated in turn-of-the-century Paris before the advent of World War I. They were called Apaches because they were so ferocious during attacks that a policeman, upon hearing of their crimes, exclaimed that they were as vicious as Apache warriors. They were stylishly dressed, looking like old-timey French hipsters with fancy, striped shirts and berets, creating their own distinct style that would catch on and end up becoming popular in Bohemian circles. But they weren’t just fashion victims - they could actually fight. They practiced their own

It's not often that some event comes along to really show humanity its true place in the universe, but two NASA spacecraft have just managed just that. I'm talking, of course, about the spectacular NASA photos of Earth as it appeared from Saturn —nearly 900 million miles away (1.4 billion kilometers) —as well as a photo of our planet as it appeared from Mercury, nearly 61 million miles (98 million km) distant. NASA took the photos Friday (July 19) using the Cassini spacecraft around Saturn and the Messenger spacecraft around Mercury as part of a global campaign to show the world how the solar system views our planet Earth. The space agency even worked to coordinate campaigns to involve space fans by having them wave at Saturn. The images, by far, are amazing. Earth and its moon stand out as bright pinpricks of light in Messenger's view from Mercury, while our planet is a pale, fuzzy dot nestled between Saturn's rings in the Cassini view. From my perspectiv...

The first powered airship took to the skies on September 24, 1852, and the golden age of this type of aircraft ended with the tragic Hindenburg disaster on May 6, 1937. These days, we mostly see airships in the form of floating billboards. However, some have refused to let go of the notion that airships may have an important role to play in the future of air travel. Science fiction authors and filmmakers often feature reinvented takes on airships. And as it turns out, they could be onto something. Manufactured by Montebello, California-based American aircraft company the Worldwide Aeros Corporation, the Aeroscraft is a far cry from the blimps of the past. From its rigid structure to its control of static heaviness (COSH) system, it’s a modern aircraft that incorporates many cutting edge and ground-breaking technologies. The first functioning prototype, a more basic model known as The Pelican, was successfully floated on January 3, 2013 in Tustin, California. The Pelican w...

Most Amazing The Pavilion Protects Your Car and and VOLVO Developers The 'NO DEATH' CAR Although solar power is a resource that most of us agree we should be taking far more advantage of, the truth is that solar panels are often just as visually uncool as they are inefficient relative to other sources of energy. However, as manufacturing processes evolve to allow for more adventurous designs, the shift to aesthetically pleasing solar harvesters is gathering momentum, as exemplified by this new device created as an add-on to Volvo's V60 electric vehicle. Designed by Los Angles-based architecture studio Synthesis, the idea is the winner of the international "Switch to Pure Volvo" competition that called for an innovative solution to showcase the automaker's latest electric vehicle. The collapsible pavilion uses integrated photovoltaic panels tensioned over carbon fibre rods to create an attractively futuristic butterfly wing-like covering that bot...

In today's computer processors, much of the power put into running the processor is being wasted. A research team at Case Western Reserve University came up with a novel idea called fine-grained power gating, which saves power and money in a couple of ways: less energy would be used, and less heat produced. "Using less power produces less heat. Less heat means less cooling is needed," said Swarup Bhunia, professor of electrical engineering and computer science and an author of the research. "That can avoid the need for a big fan to cool off the processor, which saves a lot of money." Processors are used in a variety of products, from computers to cell phones. Operational costs could be cut by more than one-third, the researchers say. Bhunia, PhD student Lei Wang and PhD alumni Somnath Paul, whose work was funded by the Intel Corporation; presented their idea at the 25th International Conference on VLSI (Very-Large-Scale Integration) D...

Interesting Roll Up and Washable Bluetooth Keyboard is the Flexible Bluetooth Mini Keyboard is designed for durability and portability. It is a Bluetooth-enabled keyboard for the iPad, all Android tablets including the Galaxy Tab, and other tablets. The keyboard comes with a USB charging cable which can be used when it is low on power. 

The computer mouse as we know it today was invented and developed by Douglas Englebart during the 60's and was patented on November 17, 1970. While creating the mouse, Douglas was working at the Stanford Research Institute, a think tank sponsored by Stanford University, and originally referred to the mouse as a "X-Y Position Indicator for a Display System." This mouse was first used with the Xerox Alto computer system in 1973. However, because of its lack of success the first widely used mouse is credited to being the mouse found on the Apple Lisa computer. Today, the mouse is now found and used on every computer. The picture to the right was taken by Maracin Wichary at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science, and is an example of what the first computer mouse looked like. As can be seen by the picture, the mouse was much larger than today's mouse, square, and had a small button in the top right corner.

In this mod, Jake von Slatt researched Victorian era stages and discovered they were approximately 4:3 aspect ratio – the 16:9 wide-screen ratio from the cinema. He coated the 24? wide screen monitor base with black spray lacquer and topped the supports off with some pieces of a brass chandelier. Then he fashioned

Micro cameras are getting smaller every day. The top right is the world’s smallest cam, a pinhole size CMOS camera which you can see size-wise sitting upon a dime. For another dimension of creepy spying,

Curious about your neighbor’s land, or just want to snap some aerial photographs for more innocuous reasons? The Spy Kite by Eolo mounts a cheap digital camera to a kite with about 82 feet of string, taking photos via wireless remote. Low-tech and low-cost, the kite is not exactly CIA-worthy, but might make you think twice about any wayward kites you see hanging over your home.

Need to scan a document on the sly, as quickly as possible? The Docupen by Planon is hardly bigger than a regular writing instrument, but pass it over a sheet of paper or a photograph and it will capture and store the documents, ready to be uploaded via USB or Bluetooth to any computer.

It’s all too easy to listen to someone’s conversation using little more than a laser beam. Laser microphones use a laser beam to measure the vibration of sounds on a surface, usually glass windows, transmitting those sounds back to the listener’s receiver. DIY instructions abound on the internet, including this tutorial by Lucid Science.

While some inventors enjoy fame and fortune thanks to their inventions, for a handful of inventors, their devices proved their own worst enemies. Here are 12 unlucky (and in some cases, foolhardy) inventors who perished thanks to their own creations. Franz Reichelt or François Reichelt, the Flying Tailor (1879-1912) This Austrian-born French tailor is remembered for his accidental death by jumping from the Eiffel Tower while testing his own invention, a wearable parachute suit for pilots who would escape from a damaged plane. The first tests were quite successful with using dummies, so he wanted to jump himself. The 187-foot (57 m) fall to the icy ground killed him instantly. William Bullock (1813-1867) The father of the web rotary printing press and modern printing was killed by his own invention in a bizarre

Yeah you could in theory use any pen as a weapon, but is your lonely Bic pen going to withstand the rigors of real hand to hand combat? Doubt it. That’s why you need the Benchmark 1100 pen. Built by a company known for knives, not shavers, you can be reassured that your writing device is always combat ready. The