I’ll be honest, I was hoping for a lot more back-and-forth banter between the iPhone 4S’s Siri and the Furby here, but the video made me laugh anyway. Turns out, Furbys are inherently hilarious. Or maybe it’s just me. Between this, the mechanical falcon in Your Highness, and the “Wafflebot” in the new Harold and Kumar movie, it turns out my funny bone has a real weakness for sentient animatronics.
Here’s a superconductor that has been frozen in liquid nitrogen, allowing it to float above a magnetic field in three-dimensional space. Yes, it’s levitation, like David Blaine without the camera tricks. It floats upright, then remains in the position when turned upside down. It can even travel around a magnetic track floating at different heights. The scientists accomplished this by harnessing the power of- OH MY GOD BUILD ME A HOVERBOARD RIGHT NOW!
Quantum trapping uses a stable magnetic field to “clamp” this super-frozen, super-thin disc in three-dimensional space. With the stability of quantum trapping, the disc will hang in space even when the whole apparatus is inverted. Quantum mechanics deals with the motion and interaction of matter on the subatomic level, which means physics concerning particles smaller than the individual atoms that make up matter.
In the video is a single crystal layer of crystal sapphire, paired with a ceramic layer. The super thin layers are then cooled to -301 Fahrenheit (-185 Celcius). At these frigid temperatures, the ceramic becomes a superconductor and conducts electricity with no resistance at all.
In addition to electricity, the disc also experiences the Meissner effect. Hang on, it’s not that difficult. This Meissner effect explains the magnetic properties of superconductors. Normally, a magnetic field would pass through a disc, attracting or repelling all parts at the same time. But when the disc is a superconductor, the magnetic field travels around the disc and only forces itself through the weakest points. It’s at these points where quantum mechanics takes over. The disc becomes trapped in space, a concept aptly named quantum trapping. [DiscoveryNews]
I’m not sure what happens after the video, but I assume it involved the inventor gently stroking a hairless cat while cackling maniacally.
Not to be outdone, the other day I invented a new type of sandwich that allows me to eat it three times faster than a normal sandwich. The way I accomplished this was by holding a handful of bread in one hand, and a handful of turkey in the other, which I would then dunk into the twin receptacles of mayonnaise and mustard, respectively, that I had placed before me, then combine them all in my mouth, which tasted almost like a regular sandwich. The time I saved allowed me to get 35% bloggier.
I now present to you one of my favorite videos in a long while (or at least for as long as I can remember, which is about 30 minutes). It’s called “Tom Cruise Gets a Letter From His Australian Cousin,” and FilmDrunkard Jon sent it to the Frotcast today, saying, “Hopefully this will become the next ‘Hitler reacts to stuff’ video meme.”
I guess I could see that, but the original scene is from Cocktail, and what really makes the video is the letter, which had me laughing right from the salutation, “gday yer big poof!” (The cheerleader handwriting makes it that much better). And then right through the first line, “So how ya goin, ya kweah! Me, Pongo, Dilwash, and Japseye ah coming ta visit again!”
God, it’s perfect. When I lived in Australia, I played rugby with a guy everyone called “Bedpan.” One weekend his parents were in town to watch him play, and while we were warming up, someone yelled “Bedpan!” At that point, another guy piped up and said, “Oi, don’t be c*nts, don’t call him Bedpan in front of his mum.” So then everyone just called him “Pan,” because no one could remember his real name. True story.
Look, I get it. It’s Friday afternoon. You want to be entertained, but nothing too mentally taxing. Well, I’ve got just the video. It’s a 30-second animation about a British gentleman with a tiny chainsaw. Actually, 30 seconds is a bit misleading. I mean, that’s how long the video is, but I was laughing for way longer. If you don’t like this, we probably can’t be friends.
Sadly, I haven’t had time for normal Friday Free For All posts these past few weeks, but I couldn’t forget about it today, because ever since I posted that V-Nasty clip the other day, I’ve been bombarded with emails linking me to countless other how-can-this-be-real raps. “Rap”, that’s what the kids call it, right? Its rambunctious jungle rhythm frightens me. In any case, the best of the bunch was this video from the self-proclaimed “number one female Chicano rapper,” “Miss Lady Pink,” whom I assume is married to “Mr. Gentleman Dong.” Thanks to Fernando for sending this one in.
The song’s called “Gangsta Freak,” and it begins with the lines “Get over here, G, and let me grab your c*ck, is it hard enough for me to just jump on top? I love me gangsta d*ck, all night long, I got the bomb-ass p*ssy and my (??) is strong,” all delivered while she smokes cigarette in a hot tub artfully covering her belly. I wonder where she went to finishing school.
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