In the follow up to the smash hit console game Arkham Asylum called (gasp!) Arkham City players will be able to play as Catwoman. Batman fans were happy to finally have a game worthy of the Dark Knight, and Arkham City promises to be a worthy successor, with the Catwoman gameplay having its own unique twist, complete with bullwhip action and stealth tactics befitting the sexy cat burglar. Check out the Catwoman gameplay trailer at Newsarama, and while you're there check out the clip for another new Batman inspired game-Gotham City Imposters, where you play as wanna-be Batmen or Jokers.
Jim Henson wasn't all puppets and special effects, sometimes his mind wandered into strange places, and this clip from the TV special The Cube illustrates that his genius knew no bounds. This surreal show aired 2 episodes on NBC during their Experimental Night Of Television in 1969.
Climatologists have found that the bomber planes used in World War II may have changed the temperature of the ground below with the contrails they left in their wake. Contrails are air vapor trails left by certain aircraft, and they affect climate by trapping heat below like a thermal barrier while reflecting incoming solar heat back up into the atmosphere. Research has shown that, by measuring the contrail information which was tracked by pilots, climatologists can measure the effect they had on global climate.
Naoshima is an island town which is home to some of Japan's finest museums and architecture, yet those who have shaped the face of the island have made it less touristy and more like the Japan of yesteryear, albeit with a modernist twist. Simplicity is key in the construction and aesthetic of the island's two biggest attractions: Chichu Museum, which incorporates installation pieces into the very structure of the building, and Benesse House, the hotel with no TV or internet access but loads of visual interest and a modern art style. Read more about it at the Guardian.
Space Invaders is such an iconic video game, not just because it's one of the first, and fan tributes have taken many forms over the years. From murals to t shirts to street artists putting tile mosaics on city walls in the shape of pixel aliens, Space Invaders has definitely had an impact on popular culture, but will it make a good movie? Producers di Bonaventura and Pritzker think so, and that's why they're adding Space Invaders to their list of 80s throwback/tribute films, which includes G.I. Joe and Transformers and an Asteroids movie also in the works. Read more about it at the Hollywood Reporter.
Ever wanted to tour the inside of Spain's Casa Batllo in Barcelona, but can't afford the hop overseas? Well, worry no more because Arounder has a virtual tour you can take of Gaudi's masterpiece without leaving your couch! And while you're there check out more of the virtual city tour of Barcelona, which includes Placa Reial, Museu Picasso and a panorama of Tibidabo, among other wondrous and beautiful sights, but be sure to view them in fullscreen to avoid distortion.
Heston Blumenthal is the mad genius behind the wild and experimental menu at the Fat Duck restaurant in Berkshire. People from all over are clamoring to try Heston's weird and wonderful delights, such as egg and bacon ice cream, salmon poached in licorice sauce and snail porridge, and the restaurant claims 30,000 calls come in a day to inquire about reservations, which must be made 2 months in advance. If you opt for the tasting menu, be prepared to sit for around four hours and shell out 160 Euros per person. But Heston's menu promises not to disappoint, and prospective diners see eating at the Fat Duck as a life experience, and not just another gourmet meal.
Swedish surgeons at Karolinska University Hospital have successfully grown a donor free trachea and transplanted it into a patient, who is now recovering and doing well. The organ was created using the patients own stem cells, which were harvested from his bone marrow, and was grown in just two days. Using stem cells in this manner means the body is less likely to reject the organ, and lab grown organs could be grown as needed, in a very short amount of time. Read more about the future of medicine over at PopSci.
A road crew in Dorset, England found a mass grave of Viking bodies that appear to have been slaughtered by Britons, as their heads, torsos and legs were buried in separate graves and no weapons, equipment or clothing were found. The bones showed signs of utter brutality being delivered upon the poor fellows, but more intriguing is the fact that the Vikings teeth had horizontal lines deliberately filed into them. Archaeologists feel that this was done in order to appear more fearsome in battle, and that the excruciating filing of the teeth must have been done by a master craftsman.
Researchers at Duke University have developed a cloak made of perforated plastic sheets that successfully dampen sound. The cloak is designed to prevent sound from traveling forward by guiding the sound waves through holes in the plastic sheets, thereby stopping the waves cold and registering the cloak as nothing more than a wall. Steven Cummer, the researcher who came up with the project proposal, concluded that electromagnetic waves function just like acoustic waves, so since they'd already made metamaterial capable of bending microwaves they should be able to use it to bend sound waves in a similar manner. Read more about it at Science News.
Mexican archaeologists have discovered a Prehispanic grave site they believe to be Mayan in the state of Tabasco. Estimated to be around 1200 years old and containing 116 bodies, this is the largest group of skeletons found in the region. The area was thought to have been used as a cemetery, with the elite buried in a separate area from their companions, and skeletons found with dental inlays, cranial deformation and other body modifications. Read more about it at ArtDaily.
Running out of ways to use your Kinect? Well don't worry, because Swiss engineers have created a software which allows you to control radio controlled quadrotors via body movements. Now you can convince your friends that you are controlling the 'copter via telepathy and blow their minds! Check out more, including a video, over at Popsci.
Scientists have discovered the reason why global warming trends seemed to be locked in stasis between 1998 and 2008: layers of pollutants, particularly sulfur, being spewed into the air by Asian factories in record breaking quantities. The layer of sulfur that formed in the atmosphere counteracted against warming greenhouse gases while reflecting light back into space, thereby staving off the global temperature hike. Read more about it over at Science News.
Imagine glasses that can read body language and offer suggestions about how you should respond, or goggles which can scan faces and call up criminal databases to find a real time match. These snazzy high tech specs aren't just science fiction props anymore, and researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are sure that their "social x-ray specs" are going to find a multitude of uses in society, from communicating more effectively with Autistic people to becoming human lie detectors and much more. Read all about it at NewScientist.
This funky new Ipad app allows you to set up blocks of type or artwork, mix your own colors, ink the blocks, then run your virtual paper through via virtual hand crank and create prints the old fashioned way. You can create all sorts of material for just about any kind of printing job, then share the files, import them into another program for authentic type effect, or get them printed for real and show off your new found skills on the printing press. Set, ink, roll, repeat!
