Things and stuff and things.
Tatiora's Articles In Life, the Universe and Everything
December 7, 2022 by Tatiora
The Orb X is a multi-purpose computing pod that will let you shut out pesky distractions to focus more deeply on gaming or work. It looks like something out of a futuristic Jetsons-era catalogue, but it's a lot more real than you'd think: Cooler Master is already taking pre-orders for their creation. Climbing inside the Orb X will wrap you in speakers, screens, and overall comfort as you immerse yourself completely in the experience. Although the device isn't completely enclosed, a dome w...
November 30, 2022 by Tatiora
Today, in people are wildly creative: someone is constructing the Kaneda bike from the anime  Akira , which may be the most iconic bike in all of anime (or popular culture, for that matter). YouTuber Ayato has undergone quite the massive undertaking with this project and is documenting his progress on his channel for everyone to see.  In the video above, Ayato discusses some of the modifications he's intending to make from the original design. These are mostly things to account...
November 23, 2022 by Tatiora
Here in the states, Thanksgiving is upon us! On Thursday, many of us will stuff our faces with turkey and then fall asleep on the couch in front of the football game. Or, if you're me, you'll fall asleep in front of a video game - I've never been much for football. Some years ago, Black Friday used to be a big event for certain members of my family. My parents, sister, and I weren't so much into it, but we'd usually go visit our aunt and uncle and cousins in their tent camped outside the...
October 26, 2022 by Tatiora
Why is science out to get me? I mean, okay - if I'm being frank, it's really kind of out to get  all  of us, but I felt especially attacked when I happened upon some really cool research out of Harvard earlier this week. Specifically, this nightmare fuel robot: I feel like tentacles and terrifying go hand in...uh. "Hand in hand" probably isn't the right phrase here. I'm too disturbed to make a pun, which is saying something! Literally the tentacles could be  any  o...
October 19, 2022 by Tatiora
So... yikes.  Scientists in Korea recently announced that they've found a better way to grow an insect-destroying mushroom in a lab. As creepy as it sounds, these particular fungi and the chemicals they produce may actually have medicinal uses for humans, which makes being able to study them more easily a definite positive. The fungi - known as  Cordyceps  - is parasitic, usually feeding on insects and other arthropods. They invade and kill their hosts as they slowly turn t...
October 5, 2022 by Tatiora
Elon Musk unveiled a prototype of his "humanoid" robot over the weekend, and it's - in my opinion, at any rate - equal parts fascinating and horrifying.  Last year during Tesla's annual "AI Day" presentation, Musk teased this new robot by having someone come out in a suit resembling the machine and dancing/demonstrating. I've linked the relevant time stamp below. You have to give them credit for a creative proof of concept...right? Compared to last year's presentation, this year ...
September 28, 2022 by Tatiora
Hasbro has teamed up with the 3D-printing company Formlabs back around the time of San Diego Comic Con to offer attendees a limited availability experience: to have their likeness turned into a custom action figure. Today, Hasbro announced that anyone can order their own "Selfie Series" figure starting on September 30th. Marketing action shots aside, I think these are pretty darned cool. A little self-indulgent, maybe, but it's definitely like a childhood dream come true. Although the p...
August 31, 2022 by Tatiora
In the age of streaming, I admit I'm rather spoiled. I subscribe to Disney+ and Netflix and don't think twice about commercials anymore. I dropped traditional cable ages ago and have never looked back. Recently, since Netflix discontinued a show I was watching and it moved to Hulu, I signed up for a free trial so that I could blitz my way through it. The free trial, unfortunately, is the subscription tier that includes ads. I figured, sure, it's annoying, but I can live with my episo...
August 17, 2022 by Tatiora
Want a chance to meet (or meat, I guess, depends on how terrified you are of the concept of  Jaws ) a Great White Shark? The shark-tracking organization OCEARCH is here to give one lucky person and a guest that opportunity. They're launching a sweepstakes that closes on September 30th where the grand prize is a 5-day ocean research voyage that will let you get up close and personal with a Great White Shark. One of the primary methods of researching sharks is to tag them, and OCEARCH'...
August 10, 2022 by Tatiora
One of the first things I do most mornings as I'm settling into my routine is sip my coffee and take a look at recent gaming and tech news. Sometimes I find some really interesting articles that send me down rabbit holes of curiosity or simply leave me thinking, "dang, really?"  Today happened to be one of those days. Since I found a few things of interest to me, I figured I'd share all of them and let you all run down your own rabbit holes of curiosity via the article links. Let's st...
July 20, 2022 by Tatiora
On July 12th, NASA shared the debut images from its fully operational James Webb Space Telescope . The most powerful space observatory ever built, the JWST provided impossibly detailed images of shimmering stars, warped light trails, and thousands upon thousands of gem-like galaxies twinkling against the vast black of space.  Now, I could go into why this is an incredible leap for science and how the JWST is far and away better than telescopes that are its predecessors, but...why would ...
June 22, 2022 by Tatiora
It's a widely known fact that we love an array of animals here at Stardock, and frogs are certainly among them. Our CEO Brad in particular is especially fond of the amphibians, even going so far as to sport the name Frogboy on our forums and in other places.  So, when I saw this video of a tiny, barely dime-sized frog called the Pumpkin Toadlet, trying to land a jump and  failing spectacularly , I felt compelled to share it so that everyone might also have the same opportunity for a ...
June 15, 2022 by Tatiora
Who doesn't love dinosaurs? ...If you've got your hand up, put it down and run away - this isn't the article for you. I love dinosaurs and all things adjacent to them, so when I came across an article yesterday that detailed the life and death of a male mastodon from about 13,200 years ago I had to pause to give it a read. Researchers studied the chemical composition of its tusks and were able to determine that the mastodon grew up in the Great Lakes area and made annual trips to a mating ...
June 8, 2022 by Tatiora
More than 20 types of amino acids were detected in samples of an asteroid brought to Earth in December of 2020, according to Japan's education ministry. The Japan Times reported that this detection is the first evidence that amino acids exist on asteroids in space and could hold the key to understanding how such vital organic molecules arrived on Earth. The Hayabusa2 spacecraft collected the samples from an asteroid called Ryugu. JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) landed a probe on ...
May 4, 2022 by Tatiora
Two torsos, nicknamed Helga and Zohar, are bound for the Moon aboard the Orion capsule in order to measure radiation risks for female astronauts for the first time. The mannequins are modeled after the body of an adult woman and one of them is outfitted with a newly developed radiation vest. For the Artemis 1 mission, the un-crewed Orion capsule will travel to the Moon and back in order to test radiation safety and collect data about flight accelerations and vibrations. Artemis 1 is schedul...