Private Launches ~ SpaceX Falcon 9 Hearkens!

The private space launch and services era is finally properly upon us with the successful launch of the SpaceX rocket Falcon 9 and Dragon capsule! Brilliant lovely!

Double Eclipsed ~ Contemplating the Sun!

NASA spots lovely Contemplating the Sun photo by Steven Gilbert!

Olympicene ~ Synthesizing Novel Molecule!

BBC's Jason Palmer writes of new molecule Olympicene conceived by Professor Graham Richards and synthesized by Anish Mistry and David Fox!

Memorial Day ~ Reminder of Why and Who...

The Patriot Post reminds us Why and Who Memorial Day is about.

Batista's Brazil ~ Economist Maps Eike's EBX...

The latest Economist maps Batista's Brazil...

"Since 2004 he has set up and listed five companies: MPX (energy generation); MMX (mining); LLX (logistics); OGX (oil and gas) and OSX (shipbuilding). A sixth, one of his few non-Brazilian assets, a Colombian coal mine, will be spun off from MPX on May 25th. Together with four unlisted companies in entertainment, precious metals, information technology and property, these make up the EBX empire. (All those Xs are supposed to represent wealth multiplying.) Few have yet made profits. Some were listed before they were much more than an idea. But selling potential has made Mr Batista Brazil’s richest man and the world’s seventh-richest, with a fortune estimated at $30 billion. That’s more than Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook. Mr Batista says he will not be satisfied until he has taken the top spot from Carlos Slim, a Mexican telecoms tycoon."

Embodied Water ~ Import/Export in Goods...

Nice Scientific American infographic by Jen Christiansen based on data from Twente researchers Arjen Hoekstra and Mesfin Mekonen on Embodied Water...

"A vast amount of water is used to produce the food and products that nations consume. Large population is the greatest factor, but inefficient agriculture or dependence on water-intensive cuisine can exacerbate demand; meat consumption accounts for 30 percent of the U.S. water footprint. Certain countries, such as India and the U.S., also export significant quantities of water in the form of food and products, despite their own robust consumption. Populous nations that have little land or little water are huge net importers."

Not the Center? ~ Human Courage & Depth...

Nice video by The Thinking Atheist on Humankind’s Place in the Cosmos...

Modkit Micro ~ MIT MLco's DIY Programmables

Most excellent to see MIT Media Lab-related DIY programming venture Modk.it's Modit Micro on Kickstarter!  Join me in backing them!

"Modkit Micro is a graphical programming environment for microcontrollers. Microcontrollers allow programmers and engineers to add behaviors to everyday objects and electronic gadgets. We created Modkit Micro to bring the world of microcontroller programming to the masses. Modkit Micro helps almost anyone to make almost anything smarter through a simple, yet powerful visual programming interface. Modkit Micro is based on years of research at the MIT Media Lab including the popular Scratch project, so it will look familiar to the over 1 million kids and novice programmers who have already been introduced to Scratch."

Balanced US Map ~ Equal Population Redraw!

Mapporn spots Lower 48 US states redrawn as 50 states with equal population...

MaKey MaKey ~ MIT Invention Kit for Everyone!

Brilliant MIT Media Lab doctoral students Jay Silver and Eric Rosenbaum have launched MaKey MaKey on Kickstarter! It's...

"...an invention kit for the 21st century. Turn everyday objects into touchpads and combine them with the internet. It's a simple Invention Kit for Beginners and Experts doing art, engineering, and everything in between!"

Leap Motion ~ Gestural Interface Promo...

Check out well-funded newco Leap Motion's promo...

Waves of Innovation ~ Blank on Social Media...

In his latest piece on Why Facebook is Killing Silicon Valley, Steve Blank shows this simplified infographic on Waves of Innovation (which is drawn from his great must-see Secret History talk!-)

Epicenter ~ NSF-funded Stanford Edu Initiative

Cool, check out Stanford's NSF-funded Epicenter initiative!

Rebuilding Utrecht Centraal ~ NL ProRail Plans...

Rebuilding Utrecht Centraal train station in NL! It's in Dutch, but is visually pretty self-explanatory! And as extra bonus, here's more about Dutch rail infrastructure firm ProRail's contemporary upgrades and new developments...

Scratch Day ~ Kids Constructing and Coding!

The MIT Media Lab is hosting Scratch Day today! This is one of a global bunch of gatherings where people come together to meet, share projects, and learn more about Scratch!

Mighty Presidents ~ True! Reif & Gray Together!

Yes, here we see true MIT leaders together! New MIT President-Elect Rafael Reif who hails from Venezuela, Latin America, and our greatest living MIT President-Emeritus Paul Gray -- both faculty leaders of my own alma-mater department at MIT -- EECS;-)

Sun vs Supermoon ~ Comparing Apparent Sizes!

Visualizing apparent sizes twixt Sun and Supermoon! NASA APOD reveals...

European Millennium ~ Epic Timelapse Map!

Thanks to GeekPress for spotting this epic timelapse map of Europe!  (Update:  Sorry looks like a bunch of asshole media lawyers intervened)

Dance Dance ~ Von Kapri's Sensing Bodysuit

Check out Annette von Kapri's Dance Dance bodysuit made for her Sensor Systems for Interactive Environments class. She has...

"...created a body suit which can sense your movement and play music based on that. Fabric bend sensors are attached to the joints. As soon as a joint is bend this triggers a sound to play."

Virtual Vesta ~ NASA's Dawn Images of Asteroid

NASA Dawn spacecraft enables virtual flyover of asteroid Vesta!