Standing waves of electrons. The Scanning Tunneling Microscope (STM) is capable of resolving atomic scale features (like the carbon atoms in a graphitic plane.) more inside

Unused back muscles switch themselves off. Monkeys with bad backs might consider yoga.

Doorway to the Past? In 1997, Rita Swift was sifting thru' some old junk when she unexpectedly found a roll of undeveloped black & white film that had been taken of her daughter in their California backyard in 1969, but forgotten. Surprisingly, most of the photos developed successfully. But what was on them could not possibly have been taken in 1969... they were of a Native American ritual cremation scene from over 200 years earlier.. more inside

MetaFilter's down again. more inside

Ted's Caver Page - Warning: Sanity Loss May Occur

Help Knoxvillians reclaim the Sunsphere! Who could forget the disappointment on the faces of Bart, Milhouse, and the gang after they drove all the way to Knoxville only to find out that their world-famous giant disco ball had been turned into a wig shop? Won't someone think of the children?!? C'mon Monkeys.... it is time to do our part to help resurrect and preserve this important piece of Americana!

Maps from the future. Remember that cool 3D map from the X-Men movie? Well the XenoVision Mark III is all that and a sheet of latex.

The Food Spray Diet Beginning in September, spray those calories away! (More inside)

This will certainly help Commonwealth relations : England now requires proof of English-speaking ability from all residency applicants. Including Australia, NZ, Canada, South Africa ... more inside

Do you think that bands today foist a lot of crap on the public? Well in the case of the Dave Matthews band, you would be right!

Ugly Dresses. The Pregnant Prom Dress has got to be the worst.

An image, a flash, then a slightly altered image. Repeat. How long till you see what's changed? Your surprising slowness is one aspect of Change Blindness. This one is really evil. (more inside) more inside

Elektro the robot was created by Westinghouse to impress visitors at the 1939 World's Fair. He lost his head for a while, but now he's back. (via robots.net ) more inside

Interactive Fiction. Some excellent recent examples of the genre include Shrapnel and Spider and Web, and you can find many of the classics from the 80's here and here. And there's plenty of tools around if you want to make your own. more inside

Do chavs like fat-pie?

Animated gifs of Doooooooom.

Blooger is 5 years-old

BBC to develop open-source streaming codec. Microsoft and Real Networks charge per viewer, per hour of encoded content. This price scheme can be very limiting for companies that want to offer more streaming media but can’t because of the cost limitations of not only bandwidth but also royalties. Known as Dirac its optimal performance is based off of a 3Ghz processor though they are hoping for better code optimization. They have been stuck using 20-year-old technology to avoid infringing on current patents.

Curious "Beekeepers"? All over North America today, hundreds, maybe even thousands of strangers gathered. They didn't just gather anywhere - they gathered around pay phones, lots of 'em. Guided only by a hijacked website, an expatriate's weblog, their own speculation, and a string of unexplained PDT times and GPS coordinates, they had learned enough to know that the phones were going to ring today, and that many of the unanswered ones will be ringing tomorrow, and the day after that as well. Why they're ringing - and why these people are picking up across the country - are questions that even they might have difficulty answering. For some, it's a game; for others, it's a way of life. What the hell is this all about? more inside

Super Mario Pac. more inside