Lately I've been fiending for a new bacteria related bio medical miracle, so I'm happy that this popped up on my radar. "Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory and Northwestern University, Evanston, have discovered that common bacteria can turn microgears when suspended in a solution, providing insights for design of bio-inspired dynamically adaptive materials for energy."

via Science Daily

Well, I guess it's more like "The Google Timeline, Animated", but it's still quite impressive to see just how fast Google became the most powerful force on the internet. If I had to make a complaint I'd say that at times it moves faster than I can read, but considering the subject matter I'd say the speed is appropriate.

Happy (belated) 11th Google, thanks for everything.

Esquire's latest issue introduces the type of "Augmented Reality" technology which we have covered before, allowing the physical magazine to interact with a computer to unlock additional interactive content. I'm glad these magazines are trying new things to breath some life into their troubled format, I'm looking forward to checking this one out.

Here is a quick little run down of just how massive the and all encompassing this whole computer thing is going to get. In a nutshell, you can't even imagine, so just enjoy the nice motion graphics and know that one day you'll be able to do your taxes with your sneakers.

"This is a short film (a fast paced preview of a larger effort) by MAYA Design created to put some perspective on the invisible but fast approaching challenges and opportunities in the pervasive computing age. For more information please visit: maya.com/practices/research"

While taping my documentary in Tehran I was surprised to discover that thousands of mosques across Iran operate their own small-scale ‘savings and loans’.

The mosques offer interest-free micro-loans to members of their parish or to people from the larger community – so long as they can provide a personal reference from a parishioner.

The custom is based on various Islamic traditions such as giving away a percentage of one’s wealth to the poor and disdain for usury (interest on loans).

I was told there are some 5,000 such ‘mosque banks’ across Iran with close to 2,000 in the capitol, Tehran. The loans can range from the equivalent of $50 to $500. Many of the loans are taken out to help buy dowries or to make other arrangements for weddings. Sometimes the loans are to help pay off high-interest commercial loans that the applicant has taken out elsewhere.

I was amazed at how informal the application process can be. The loans are mostly done verbally and through personal contacts. The personal reference is in effect the guarantee or ‘collateral’ for the loan.

In this video, an elderly man makes a personal reference for a young man who needs the loan for his brother in the provinces. The bank doesn’t even know – and will probably never know – the actual recipient of the money it’s loaning in this case. It would be almost impossible to conduct such a financial transaction the traditional way through either a private or public commercial bank

But I was disappointed at the end of my taping to see the bank deny a loan request from a young and somewhat anxious-looking man – a traditional Persian musical instrument strapped across his shoulder. He leaves the mosque visibly distressed, saying into the camera that the Islam promoted by this mosque doesn’t care about his generation.

This hyper-speed tire ride reportedly forces 20 percent of its riders to throw up, sending a swirl of vomit into the crowd. That's why it's called the Regurgatron. It's the brainchild of Ryan Doyle and Nick Bindboutel. It spins people at as much as 5 Gs and runs for 30 to 45 seconds. After 45 seconds, your eyes may start to bleed. Like the carousel that PM took for its first ride, the regurgatron is powered by jets—and is incredibly loud.

Brooklyn-based arts collective The Madagascar Institute had tested their home-built jet-powered merry-go-round—they'd just never tested it with people on it. So PM's Seth Porges volunteered his life and limb (a nearby warning sign warned that it "Could Kill You") to be the first human ever to take a jet-powered ride on this steam punk-inspired machine. Here is his maiden voyage.

As you may remember, last year thousands of fake copies of the New York Times were scattered around the city with headlines that claimed (among other things) that the war in Iraq had ended. It was the work of The Yes Men, and they're up to their old tricks again, but this time with The Post. There is a slight twist this time though, all of the facts claimed in this "special edition" of the Post are 100% true.

From The Yes Men:

"WE'RE SCREWED": MEDIA HEIST BLANKETS CITY WITH "SPECIAL EDITION" NEW YORK POST

Tabloid Tells Truth About Climate Change and How It Will Affect City, World

Early this morning, nearly a million New Yorkers were stunned by the appearance of a "special edition" New York Post blaring headlines that their city could face deadly heat waves, extreme flooding, and other lethal effects of global warming within the next few decades. The most alarming thing about it: the news came from an official City report.

Distributed by over 2000 volunteers throughout New York City, the paper has been created by The Yes Men and a coalition of activists as a wake-up call to action on climate change. It appears one day before a UN summit where Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon will push 100 world leaders to make serious commitments to reduce carbon emissions in the lead-up to the Copenhagen climate conference in December. Ban has said that the world has "less than 10 years to halt (the) global rise in greenhouse gas emissions if we are to avoid catastrophic consequences for people and the planet," adding that Copenhagen is a "once-in-a-generation opportunity."

Although the 32-page New York Post is a fake, everything in it is 100% true, with all facts carefully checked by a team of editors and climate change experts.

"This could be, and should be, a real New York Post," said Andy Bichlbaum of the Yes Men. "Climate change is the biggest threat civilization has ever faced, and it should be in the headlines of every paper, every day until we solve the problem."

The fake Post's cover story ("We're Screwed") reports the frightening conclusions of a blue-ribbon panel of scientists commissioned by the mayor's office to determine the potential effects of climate change on the City. That report was released in February of this year, but received very little press at the time. Other lead articles describe the Pentagon's alarmed response to global warming ("Clear & Present Disaster"), the U.S. government's sadly minuscule response to the crisis ("Congress Cops Out on Climate"), China's alternative energy program ("ChinaÕs Green Leap Forward Overtakes U.S."), and how if the US doesn't quickly pass a strong climate bill, the crucial Copenhagen climate talks this December could be a "Flopenhagen."

Another ad promotes civil disobedience, encouraging readers to visit BeyondTalk.net and pledge to risk arrest in a planned global action November 30, just before the conference in Copenhagen.

"We need strong action on climate change," said David Solnit of Mobilization for Climate Justice West, one of the partners in BeyondTalk.net. "But history shows that leaders act only when people take to the streets to demand it. That's what needs to happen now."

This paper is one of 2500 initiatives taking place in more than 130 countries as a response to the "Global Wake-up Call" on climate change. For more information, visit tcktcktck.org/wakeup