Friday Geek Fun Video: "A Boy And His Atom"

Via the Presurfer: From playful nanophysicists at IBM Research comes the world's tiniest stop-motion film, starring thousands of carbon monoxide molecules magnified 100 million times!  (Don't miss the "making of" video.)

Idiots 1, Science 0

*facepalm.*

Awesome LOL: A Biologist on St. Patrick's

Full lyrics are here.  Besides, some people like this clinical professor of psychiatry think beer gave us civilization. Enjoy your festive (green-tinted?) beverages responsibly, my darlings, and enjoy this video too!

Canadians In Spaaaaaaaaaaaaace!

And here is what they're eating. (Yes, maple syrup and Tim Hortons are on the list.)

Space Invaders

Asteroids and meteors and crazy astronomy, oh my!  (Here's a bit of fun with that.)

Oh, and don't forget to check out this insane dash-cam footage from Russia:

 

Valentine Geek Fun: the Nano-Cupid

Amazingly tiny and cute, but watch out! Cupid is a dangerous little reprobate!

Hello Kitty of the Day: The 7th-Grade Science Project

The World Is Not Enough.

Happy New Year From Mars

The Science Behind the Disgusting Durian

In case you ever wondered just how and why the durian reeks the way it does. Ewwwww!

Wow: Making (Personalized!) Stem Cells From Blood

Some exciting news from the University of Cambridge:

A patient's own blood has been used to make personalised stem cells, which doctors hope will eventually be used to treat a range of diseases.

The team at the University of Cambridge says this could be one of the easiest and safest sources of stem cells.

In a study, published in the journal Stem Cells: Translational Medicine, the cells were used to build blood vessels.

However, experts cautioned that the safety of using such stem cells was still unclear.

Nerd News: Sandy Destroys Years of NYU Cancer Research

Oh, no!

Awesome: The Oatmeal and the Tesla Museum

Fans of the Oatmeal already know this (and likely participated), but in case you missed the geeky glory of it all, NPR just interviewed Matthew Inman, the mad genius behind the wildly popular webcomic.

Monday Therapy: Felix Baumgartner in LEGO!

Yesterday's amazing free fall from the edge of space has already(!) been turned into a LEGO video:

For the jump from Baumgartner's perspective, see the astounding footage after the fold:

Felix Baumgartner Jumps Into History

Austrian Felix Baumgartner wows the world with the Red Bull Stratos Mission to the Edge of Space.  I watched the jump live, and it was amazing.  Kudos, sir!  UPDATE: BOTW reminds us that Air Force Col. Joe Kittinger did a massive jump too in the 1960s.  Kittinger was on hand for Baumgartner's leap today.

Navy Names Research Vessel After Neil Armstrong

A fitting tribute to an American pioneer.  Oh, and people tend to forget that Armstrong was a naval aviator who flew almost 80 missions during the Korean War.

Nerd News: The Geeky Glory of MIT

A British paper attempts to understand MIT.  I personally love how there is a code of etiquette for pranks and practical jokes.  Seriously, nobody does practical jokes like MIT students.  Oh, as for the nerdy geeky glory, you can get some of that online free.

The 2012 Turing Award

The "Nobel Prize of Computer Science," this year's Turing Award goes to UCLA professor Judea Pearl with the citation "For fundamental contributions to artificial intelligence through the development of a calculus for probabilistic and causal reasoning." 

Kudos, sir!  Aside from his outstanding academic work, Professor Pearl is also the father of Daniel Pearl, and he intends to donate a part of the Turing Prize money to the Daniel Pearl Foundation.

Friday Fun Video: "We're NASA and We Know It"

This delightfully goofy video parody of the LMFAO song and shoutout to NASA's Mars Curiosity mission has been making the rounds on the Internet this week, so here it is for your viewing/listening pleasure. Bonus: includes a tribute to Bobak.

Awesome: the Mars Curiosity Rover Lands!

Hooray for Curiosity!  Here is the first hi-res image that it sent back!  So, so exciting. UPDATE:  Delightful GEEK JOY!

Awesome: Fire Rainbows

All together now: "Oooooooooooooooo!"