Lasers for saving the Navy some money

If there is a task which would be better suited for sharks with frikkin’ laser beams on their heads than this, I don’t know what it is. Using a grant from the National Science Foundation, Professor Daniel Bubb and his team have come up with a new method for coating polymers. With this new approach, the Navy should be able to reduce barnacle attachments, which will result in less drag on ships at sea, which will reduce fuel costs. It’s pretty much a win/win all around. Except, maybe for the barnacles. And keelhauling will be less effective, I suppose.

As gas prices continue to soar, the Navy will be eager to learn of research underway at Rutgers University–Camden. “Barnacles that attach to naval ships are a huge cost to the Navy. Imagine if you drove a car with a parachute attached; this extra drag force requires more gas,” says Daniel Bubb, an assistant professor of physics at Rutgers-Camden, who has developed a new method for coating polymers.

Just put those sharks beneath the water line and let them start coating all the ships we already have. And they can even use the lasers to zap the barnacles already attached to the ships.

[tags]Lasers, Frikkin’ sharks with frikkin’ lasers, New polymer coating process using lasers (sharks optional)[/tags]

SimCity DS coming

(via Joystiq)
Word from IGN is that SimCity will soon be available for the Nintendo DS.  At least, it will be available soon in Japan.  This news comes from the Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu.

sc3k1b.jpgElectronic Arts may not be known for making major game announcements over in Japan, but here’s one for you: Sim City DS! That’s right! The original Sim is set for DS release through Electronic Arts, and the latest issue of Famitsu is home to first details.

There is no word on yet on a release date for Europe or the US.

I must admit, seeing this game and thinking about SimCity controlled via Stylus made me think about another game of yesteryear that I think might be good on the DS – Tempest 2000.  Maybe someday we’ll get that.  Also, the above screenshot is from the original PC version, and is not necessarily representative of what will be in SimCity DS.
[tags]Famitsu, SimCity DS, Nintendo DS, NDS[/tags]

Chuck Norris vs. Zombie Bruce Lee

I wish I had done this.  But I lack skill and imagination necessary to pull it off.  It’s a “The Movies” generated machinima of Chuck Norris fighting a zombified Bruce Lee.  As we all know, such a meeting must never come to pass, lest the very world on which we live be destroyed from that much awesomeness being in such close quarters.  But in machinima, anything can happen.

[tags]Chuck Norris, Bruce Lee zombie, Chuck Norris vs. Zombie Bruce Lee[/tags]