Experiments

Science

Virtual Monkeys Have Almost Written Shakespeare

11:46PM September 26, 2011 | Casey Chan

Jesse Anderson developed a program that simulated a few million virtual monkeys randomly mashing keys on virtual typewriters in an attempt to re-create Shakespeare. Amazingly, the monkeys (monkeys!) have managed to write 99.99 per cent of Shakespeare’s poem, A Lover’s Complaint. More »

News

Starbucks Experiment Takes A Turn For The Weird

11:45AM August 14, 2011 | Brent Rose

What happens when a social experiment gets socially experimented on? Jonathan Stark (no relation to Ironman) started a social experiment (which is not a PR stunt) wherein he put his Starbucks Coffee card up for grabs. More »

Geek Out

Watch 3500 Strangers Silently Follow Instructions From One MP3

3:20AM July 26, 2011 | Brian Barrett

Over 3500 people marched along Manhattan’s Hudson River recently, converging from two separate starting points on Nelson Rockefeller Park. And then? Then they had a massive glowstick dance party. That’s right: it’s another Improv Everywhere MP3 Experiment. More »

Science

Magnetic Silly Putty ‘Hack’ Creates Magnet-Devouring Blob

9:00AM June 13, 2011 | Jack Loftus

This automagically morphing blob of Silly Putty is based in science, silly, not witchcraft. More »

Geek Out

Diet Coke + Mentos + Stupid = Perfection

6:20AM May 18, 2011 | Brian Barrett

Tossing Mentos into Diet Coke is one of the oldest tricks in the MEGA CARBONATION EXPLOSION book, one you’ve seen around here once or twice. But those were major-scale productions. This? This is one man, one hilariously inept projectile. More »

Science

To Kick Ass At Video Games Just Zap Your Brain With A 9V Battery

5:00AM April 18, 2011 | Jack Loftus

Scientists, already adept at using magnets to screw with the brain’s ability to generate speech, are now sending direct current into people’s brain matter to help them master video games. More »

Science

The Science Of Bicycle Motion Gets A Re-Do

3:00AM April 18, 2011 | Jack Loftus

Bicycles, huh? When I was younger I found them to be mystical, two-wheeled things that remained upright seemingly by magic. Training wheels were my crutch until one day dad ripped them off and gave me a shove down the street. More »

Gaming

Watch How 3D On Nintendo’s 3DS Can Make You A Better Gamer

4:31AM March 24, 2011 | StephenTotilo

It has been hard to believe the claims that 3D video game graphics do anything other than make video games look better. And maybe give you a headache. More »

Science

Northwestern Scientists Massage Qubits Into Working Better With The Internet

7:00AM March 14, 2011 | Jack Loftus

How about the qubit, huh? All quantum and two-faced and potentially paradigm-shifting the way we approach computing. It’s amazing! Also amazing: What Northwestern University researchers claimed to have done with it in a fiber-optic cable. More »

Science

Second Super Secret X-37B Space Plane Blasts Into Orbit

10:00AM March 7, 2011 | Jack Loftus

Another day, another super secret robotic Air Force space plane. More »