This is Tech

Photo by: Mr. Jaded

• Anyone who has seen a baby startled by the sight of its own hand will not be surprised to learn that pigeons are smarter than our toddlers. Specifically, pigeons were trained to recognize themselves in video and to discriminate between different painters’ works. (Via Roland Piquepaille’s Technology Trends)
• Los Alamos and IBM build first petaflop supercomputer (Via Practical Technology)
• Astrophysicists again demonstrate that Einstein was smart:
  

  … because the Universe is such a complex system, many scientists believe that Einstein’s theory [general theory of relativity] might not be able to explain things fully and comprehensively in all situations.

  … some theories have predicted that stellar pairs with different degrees of compactness would behave in a different way. The Swinburne team decided to conduct their intensive study using this type of stellar system …

  “Einstein’s theory predicts that the pair’s orbit should shrink at a rate of approximately two millimetres per day. Using extremely precise measurements we were able to track this rate of shrinkage. We found it to be exactly the same rate that was predicted by the theory,” said Verbiest. “This confirms that Einstein’s theory on its own is very comprehensive.”

Image via Wikipedia

Last week I picked up a 3Dconnexion SpaceNavigator for a steal on Buy.com. I have been tempted a few times to buy one just to try it out, but didn’t have any real need for the hardware. On sale for around $37 with shipping, it seemed like it was time to give it a try. (more…)