I know what your first reaction is going to be, so let me get this out of the way. The toilet is not flushing mercury into the sewer system. This is a closed system. Now then, let’s get down to it. In this video from Youtube channel Cody’s Lab, they try to flush increasingly larger quantities of mercury down a toilet. I know, right. Sounds fun. Except for the part where handling all that mercury can kill you.
If you like shiny liquid stuff, here is your new favorite video. Cody starts with a few drops, and builds up to an entire toilet tank full. Fun fact: The mercury in the toilet tank is so heavy that the flush handle can’t lift the flapper. Eventually he just uses his hand to free it. If you’re interested in cutting right to the chase, you can skip to about 8:07.
Thank you Internet. Never thought I would see a toilet full of mercury. The best YouTube comment? “This is what happens when the Terminator goes to Taco Bell.”
[via Gizmodo via Geekologie]
Kevin Esvelt, an evolutionary biologist at MIT, has conjured up an interesting way to combat Lyme disease. Instead of dealing with ticks that carry the pathogen, his method involves genetically engineering mice (using CRISPR) to become immune to the...
We only just found out that Jeff Bezos & Co. are planning another round trip rocket flight for tomorrow, and now they've announced something extra. This time around the New Shepard vehicle will be carrying two microgravity experiments. Being able...
The first piece of the International Space Station (ISS) was launched into orbit in 1998 and two years later, its first occupants arrived. It's currently the largest artificial body orbiting the planet and much of it's devoted to testing aspects of...
A team of researchers at Singapore's Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) announced on Wednesday that they had taught a robot how to navigate on its own, in much the same way that humans and other animals do. They reportedly accompl...
A study that was recently conducted targeting the emotions of Facebook users has caused some backlash.
The study done by Facebook and researchers at UC San Deigo and Yale was conducted through Facebook back in Jan of 2012. The researchers changed the algorithms on over 700,000 users news feeds to see if positive and negative posts could actually changed the emotions of the readers.
What was done basically proved that when everyone in your news feed is happy, it makes you happy. And when everyone in your news feed is sad, it makes you sad. Shocker.
What is not cool about it is that they did it without the users knowledge. People are extremely upset about it, and rightly so. This is like basically having an appointment with a psychologist without your knowledge. But Facebook and the authors of the study are claiming it “was consistent with Facebook’s Data Use Policy, to which all users agree prior to creating an account on Facebook.”
via CBSNEWS
There’s a number of things you can put on your desk to brighten up a crappy afternoon at the office. The Desktop Tornado machine is one such option, and we frankly like it more than may of the other alternatives out there.
A built-in atomizer turns water into a cloud of mist while a fan in the base creates the updraft. Six circulation manifolds generate convergence and rotation, creating a rapidly spinning vertical column of air—the hallmark of any tornado. Users can change the direction of the air circulating manifolds, adjust the speed of the updraft fan, or adjust the intake fan on top to change the funnel speed of the tornado.
Using the device is simple and assembly takes around 10 minutes. Unfortunately, you’re going to have to pay a whole lot more than you would for a lava lamp: $300. That’s a lot of dollars just to watch air swirling around on your desk.
[ Product Page ] VIA [ TheAwesomer ]
The post Desktop Tornado Machine Sure Beats Lava Lamps appeared first on OhGizmo!.