from MSNBC Top Stories https://ift.tt/W8PDOhi
via IFTTT
Juan Piza (Valencia, 1979) pours all of his imagination and his passion for fantasy or gore into a series of hyperrealistic sculptural projects in which he is involved from the beginning to develop the entire process in a meticulous and detailed manner. Via Culturainquieta
Juan Piza (Valencia, 1979) vuelca todo su imaginario y su pasión por la fantasía o el gore en una serie de proyectos escultóricos hiperrealistas en los que se implica desde el principio para desarrollar todo el proceso de manera minuciosa y detallada.
El artista valenciano es uno de los pocos escultores hiperrealistas españoles que hay actualmente. La mayoría de estos creativos generan la idea y un estudio de efectos especiales crea la obra. En el caso de Piza, podríamos decir que sus obras son 100% suyas, ya que él sí hace la obra desde el inicio hasta el final.
How far in the future can a science fiction push? It turns out, science fiction can push so far it turns into fantasy. Here’s more from Approaching Pavonis Mons:
Before we touch on these newcomers, though, we need to say a word or two about the science fiction writer who did more than any other to shape science fiction’s shared fever dream of the deep future, especially as it stood in the final decades of the twentieth century. That writer, of course, is Gene Wolfe – arguably one of the most significant figures to enter the field in the nineteen seventies. Wolfe had planted a flag in the far future with The Fifth Head of Cerberus (1975), but it was the Urth sequence that truly cemented his reputation, beginning with the Shadow of the Torturer (1980), continuing across the four books of the The Book of the New Sun, and then developed further in other linked series.
Wolfe’s work is interesting in numerous respects, but few texts have achieved such a deeply felt evocation of immense futurity as the The Book of the New Sun. Exactly how far in the future we are is never made entirely clear (in Wolfe things seldom are), but some sense of that span of time is conveyed in the final volume, The Citadel of the Autarch (1983), when the narrator Severian is compelled to make a perilous descent down a great cliff, the revealed strata of which turn out to be the compressed remnants of numerous earlier human cultures, all of which postdate our own. Wolfe’s creation is full of such resonant images, none more beautiful than Urth’s green-faced Moon, blanketed with forests so long ago that no one remembers it otherwise.
25 scientists from institutions around the world have connected pandemic prevention to ecosystem protections. The American Museum of Natural History shares.
Virulent viruses such as SARS-CoV-2, SARS-CoV-1 (SARS), Nipah, Hendra, and possibly Ebola have all spilled over from bats to humans, sometimes through an intermediate host. Drawing on insights from ecology and diseases studies, the scientists, including researchers from universities and conservation groups based in the U.S., the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Uganda, India, Australia, South Africa, and Nigeria focused on what types of conditions can lead to spillover of pathogens from wildlife to people.
Check out Paul McCartney’s photographs paired alongside video clips and archival material at the Brooklyn Museum starting May 3rd.
As The Beatles captured the hearts of millions, founding member Paul McCartney captured it all on his Pentax camera. Traveling from the UK to New York—just as “the boys” did six decades ago—Eyes of the Storm takes us inside the frenzy of Beatlemania in 1963–64, when the band’s first U.S. tour skyrocketed them to superstardom. More than 250 of McCartney’s photos, recently rediscovered in his archives, reveal his singular vantage point at the center of this whirlwind of attention and adoration. Many of the prints buzz with the electricity of 1960s New York City, which has had a love affair with The Beatles ever since.
GEARNEWS shares how the Pi found its way into synths.
Digital synthesizers are essentially computers in specialized housings. Rather than a keyboard with letters and numbers, their keyboards trigger notes. Custom-designed DSP (digital signal processing) systems can be expensive so some manufacturers are turning to ready-made computing systems to run their synths. One that’s been gaining in popularity in recent years is Raspberry Pi. The low-cost mini computer is now in instruments by Korg, Erica Synths and many more.
Each Friday is PiDay here at Adafruit! Be sure to check out our posts, tutorials and new Raspberry Pi related products. Adafruit has the largest and best selection of Raspberry Pi accessories and all the code & tutorials to get you up and running in no time!
Fun bit of Pocket Calculator history about the Digitron db-800. Europe’s first pocket calculator, released on 1971.
The pocket calculator db 800 made history as the first European pocket calculator, and its successor model db 801 received awards and recognition wherever it appeared.
For a timeline of other notable pocket caclulator history checkout this article from EdTech: The History of Calculators: Evolution of the Calculator (Timeline)
The design aesthetic for Marvel’s Loki and the TVA does an incredible job of capturing a sci-fi future that could have been. Take a look at the immaculately rendered TVA Multifunctional Computer. Via Beautiful life:
At the heart of this design is a conscious effort to capture the essence of retro-futurism, a style that harks back to the technological dreams of the 1960s. The computer is distinguished by its spherical upper section, a nod to the classic design ethos of the past century. This element is seamlessly integrated with an array of retro components, creating a machine that feels both familiar and otherworldly. The TVA Multifunctional Computer is equipped with features reminiscent of traditional technology, such as a reel tape recorder and volume toggle buttons. It also includes modern functionalities like forward, rewind, play, pause, and record buttons, alongside a robust full-size QWERTY keyboard for mechanical input, representing a bridge between eras.
These beautiful and innovative masks are made by Kenyan artist Cyrus Kabiru. Made from found objects collected around his hometown of Nairobi, Kabiru creates work of all forms.
Ranging from mechanical parts and cooking utensils to plastic caps and beads, Kenyan artist Cyrus Kabiru fashions dazzling eyewear and helmets from salvaged and found objects. The futuristic forms often obscure the eyes like an ornamental veil, and motorbike helmets provide a fitting canvas for fins and frills.
Read more and check out their Instagram.
183 years ago, Edgar Allen Poe’s The Murders in the Rue Morgue was first published Graham’s Magazine.
Mental Floss shares six adaptations of what is considered the first detective story.
Its author may have been modest, but Poe’s revolutionary story inspired generations of copycat sleuths—some of whom bore a little too much resemblance to Dupin for fans’ comfort, as evidenced by a polemic against Sherlock Holmes sent to the New York Times Saturday Review in 1900. In 1944, the story was described as “[o]ne of the most important existing American literary manuscripts” by a New York Times article detailing the sale at auction of Poe’s original manuscript for $34,000—double what a Charles Dickens manuscript sold for at the same gallery just the day before.
Lots of microcontrollers these days have USB ports on them, to program or debug, act like a keyboard or disk drive, or simply send data between a computer and your firmware. But did you know that you can also add a USB Host port? That means that your microcontroller project can have a keyboard or mouse or disk drive plugged into it – which opens up a huge ecosystem of common off-the-shelf devices that you can now integrate. The Adafruit USB Host FeatherWing makes it easy to add USB Host support, especially now that TinyUSB supports it in the Arduino library as a ‘native’ interface for host support.
This Wing uses the MAX3421E – a tried and true USB Host chip. It uses SPI plus an IRQ pin to send data to just about any USB device. Note that because the chip is older, and you’re limited to the SPI port speed, you’re not going to get blazing 480Mbps high speed data transfer. But for basic HID interfacing, or even reading/writing to a Mass Storage device, it does work quite well. There’s a famous USB Host Library that can be used, and it’s specialty is AVR support, but also seems to support nRF52 and ESP32. We personally recommend using the TinyUSB Arduino library – however the trade-off is that the chip must have TinyUSB support already which means it’s great for RP2040, ESP32-S2 or S3, nRF52840, SAMD21/51 chips. Between the two libraries, just make sure your desired Feather mainboard is supported before purchasing!
Next to the MAX3421E we have a 5V 1A booster with 500mA fuse, which can provide a nice clean 5V from the USB or Battery power supply. An enable pin is available to power cycle when desired.
Comes as an assembled Wing with some header. Solder on the header and plug into a Feather Mainboard to expand it’s capabilities! Don’t forget, you need driver support for the MAX3421E (see above for chips that are known working) and unless you’re using a generic mouse, keyboard, CDC serial or USB mass storage device you will also need a USB driver that knows how to talk to the device – and writing a driver is non-trivial.
This fully assembled and ready-to-rock robot smart car is the nicest we’ve seen and is incredibly easy to use with a micro:bit and MakeCode. It comes all ready to go, no soldering or screw-driver required. Simply plug in your :bit into the top slot and add a (not included) 18650 Lithium Ion battery to get moving.
The newly upgraded Cutebot Pro no longer needs a lithium battery expansion pack. It carries a lithium battery box and supports any 18650-sized battery.
The Cutebot Pro is a rear-drive smart car driven by dual high-speed motors, which can zip around your floor. It has an ultrasonic distance sensor to avoid colliding with walls, two RGB LED headlights and two underlights, two line-tracking light sensors, an active buzzer to make beeps and tones, and various headers for attaching additional servos and sensors.
Note: Does not include micro:bit or 18650 Battery. This is just the Cutebot kit by itself!
Features:
Browse through all that’s new here!
ELECFREAKS Smart Cutebot Pro Programming Robot Car for micro:bit: This fully assembled and ready-to-rock robot smart car is the nicest we’ve seen and is incredibly easy to use with a micro:bit and MakeCode. It comes all ready to go, no soldering or screw-driver required. Simply plug in your :bit into the top slot and add a (not included) 18650 Lithium Ion battery to get moving.
The newly upgraded Cutebot Pro no longer needs a lithium battery expansion pack. It carries a lithium battery box and supports any 18650-sized battery.
The Cutebot Pro is a rear-drive smart car driven by dual high-speed motors, which can zip around your floor. It has an ultrasonic distance sensor to avoid colliding with walls, two RGB LED headlights and two underlights, two line-tracking light sensors, an active buzzer to make beeps and tones, and various headers for attaching additional servos and sensors.
Note: Does not include micro:bit or 18650 Battery. This is just the Cutebot kit by itself!
Fine Tip ESD Plastic Point Tweezers: You’ll need a good pair of tweezers when soldering delicate surface-mount (SMD/SMT) components. These are a great pair of everyday tweezers. They’re anti-static and anti-magnetic, with a sturdy stainless steel body and ESD plastic tips. The tips are fine and pointy to pick up components without risk of scratching, but because they are plastic, they’re not good for holding parts during hot air rework, or if you’re going to get close with your soldering iron.
Adafruit BNO055 + BMP280 BFF Add-On for QT Py: Our QT Py boards are a great way to make very small microcontroller projects that pack a ton of power – and now we have a way for you to turn many QT Py boards into powerful 9 degree-of-freedom (9DoF) motion plus pressure/altitude sensing projects that are super small!
We call this the Adafruit BNO055 + BMP280 BFF—a “Best Friend Forever.” When you were a kid, you may have learned about the “buddy” system; well, this product is kind of like that! It’s a board that will watch your QT Py’s back and give it more capabilities.
This PCB is designed to fit onto the back of any QT Py or Xiao board. It can be soldered into place or made removable using pin and socket headers.
Adafruit TSSP77038 38KHz Infrared IR Demodulator Breakout – STEMMA JST PH 2mm: While designing our IR decoding breakout we noticed the TSSP series of chips from Vishay, these are simpler than more ‘remote control’ receivers in that they don’t do any filtering on the codes received: you really just get the demodulated-from-38KHz-signal output.
According to Vishay, they’re designed for “Reflective Sensing, Light Barriers, and Fast Proximity Applications”. These sensors could be interesting for use when you want a less-‘intelligent’ IR decoder, or for proximity projects where you don’t want to go all-out for a VCNL I2C sensor. These are good for creating break-beams where the IR light is modulated rather than just solid on, because you won’t be affected by other IR signals or ambient light changes.
This board will work nicely for a variety of IR detecting projects, and with mounting holes and a cable, a lot easier to mount in enclosures and on devices. Using a 2mm pitch STEMMA JST PH cable with headers or alligator clips on the end, you can easily wire this board without any soldering.
Adafruit Infrared IR Remote Receiver – STEMMA JST PH 2mm: A year ago we designed a high-current-output Infrared Transmitter STEMMA which makes it easy to create high-powered IR LED blasters. Now we’ve sat down to design the other side, the super sensitive wide-range Adafruit Infrared IR Remote Receiver with two selectable IR receiver chips.
We found plenty of 38KHz receiver sensors that would work nicely on this breakout board – but when it came to choosing one that was vertical or horizontal we just couldn’t make up our mind…so why not both? We’ve placed one on the end and one in the middle, and a slide switch to select which one you want to read signal from. We can’t just tie the outputs together because they’d ‘fight’ each other and give incoherent output – but if you’re willing to solder two wires, it’s possible to read each one independently thanks to labelled breakout pads.
Usage is simple: Power the board by connecting V+ and ground to 3~5VDC, point a 38KHz remote control at the sensors and press some buttons. The demodulated IR envelope is piped out the Signal pin into your microcontroller which will then need to decode it. To make usage really easy, we have a green ‘power good’ LED and a red ‘signal’ LED. When IR remote signals are read by the onboard sensors, the red LED will blink to let you know.
This board will work nicely for a variety of IR remote receiving projects, and with mounting holes and a cable, a lot easier to mount in enclosures and on devices. Using a 2mm pitch STEMMA JST PH cable with headers or alligator clips on the end, you can easily wire this board without any soldering.
New Products 4/10/2024
Stay in the loop at Adafruit.com/New!
Want to get this info beamed straight into your inbox?
New nEw NEWs From Adafruit is an email newsletter sent once a week to subscribers only.
It features new products, special offers, exciting original content, and more.
Sign-up for the Adafruit weekly Newsletter here: https://www.adafruit.com/newsletter
New nEw NEWs From Adafruit is an email newsletter sent out once a week to subscribers only. It features new products, special offers, exciting original content, and more. Sign-up NOW for the Adafruit weekly Newsletter here: https://www.adafruit.com/newsletter
If you need to add a panel-mount connection for telephone-interfacing projects but don’t have the time or ability to cut a custom oval or square hole, this RJ-12 or RJ-11 Telephone Round Panel Mount Extension Cable is the easiest and fastest way to panel-ify your existing phone kit. It’s about 30mm in diameter, so you can drill a hole in your wood, plastic or metal with a common hole-saw or bit, no special shapes or filing required. Unscrew the plastic nut, insert the plug, and re-attach. Ta-da: Now you have an RJ-12 jack with an RJ-12 plug. The plug has the exact same wire order as the jack, so it’s a full pass-through connection.
Note that RJ-11 and RJ-12 use the same connector! The difference is that RJ-11 has only 4 wires inserted, while RJ-12 has all 6. So you can use this adapter for either. Note that this is not compatible with RJ-45 Ethernet Jacks or plugs; those are bigger and have more contacts.
It’s designed to easily attach to a panel up to 16mm thick (or 0.625″) or as thin as a few mm. Perfect for adding an Ethernet port to your project enclosure! We particularly like this adapter for its solid body and ‘forgiving’ plastic lip that hides the drill hole.
The New York Public Library is celebrating National Poetry Month throughout the month of April with free events, poetry recommendations, and even digital poetry postcards. Check out everything they’ll be doing this month!
JP’s livestreaming setup is experiencing technical difficulties. He’s very tempted to ask Lars to point a flamethrower at it. Computers, amirite
1. Fifty things you can do with a Software Defined Radio
2. Unconventional uses of FPGAs
3. Hacking Ham Radio for texting
4. ggwave-arduino: a tiny data-over-sound library for microcontrollers
7. Women’s History Month: Celebrating Women Astronauts 2024
9. The LEDLabs electronics kit
10. PikaPython – a cross platform ultra lightweight embedded Python engine