Robotic BEAR, badgers, American Zoetrope, French Open
Saturday, June 9, 2007
Today is the birthday of two of my friends. Happy Birthday to everyone born today!
As usual, I have a number of random things to share. Let’s do this newspaper-style, using three sections:
Science & Technology
Ever imagined dying in the arms of a robotic teddy bear? Soon this may become a reality for wounded U.S. soldiers. Why? Because the “US military is developing a robot with a teddy bear-style head to help carry injured soldiers away from the battlefield.” See the BEAR (Battlefield Extraction Assist Robot).
How many cells are in the human body? Somewhere between 10 trillion and 100 trillion . . . you know, plus or minus the size of the universe. Counting cells and microbes is clearly not an exact science. And apparently up to 90% of our cells are actually bacteria that live in or on us. Some sources say humans are just microbe hotels, with bacteria outnumbering our own cells 20 to 1. Whatever the exact ratio, it’s a little creepy, no?
Entertainment
The lads at Weebl’s Stuff posted a parody of the Transformers trailer a couple of days ago, called “Big Ass Badgers.” Fans of the dancing badgers (mushroom, snake) will love it!
I recently borrowed a friend’s copy of George Lucas’s THX 1138 (1971), the remastered (and “THX enhanced”) director’s cut DVD from 2004. And I watched all of the documentary films on the bonus disc. Very cool stuff about American filmmaking in the 1960s and 1970s, the founding of American Zoetrope, and the early careers of Francis Ford Coppola, George Lucas, Martin Scorsese, and others.
What is a zoetrope? Also, have you visited Filmometer, my movie reviews/ratings site?
There’s a whole genre of recut movie trailers at YouTube. Basically, the goal is to make an existing movie look like a completely different genre through clever editing and updated sound. So far my favorite is the Scary ‘Mary Poppins’ Recut Trailer.
OK, here’s an odd site I accidentally found this week. While doing a Google Image Search for sea monkeys (don’t ask), I found cepophan, which is a collection of strange Flash animation and sketches, including this “fold-it” sea monkey.
You know what sea monkeys are, right? Yep, they’re super-cute brine shrimp.
“I am god of the sea people!!!” screamed Eric Cartman. Download the South Park episode.
Sports
Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal are in the French Open finals, which should be a great rematch on Sunday. 
Like Pete Sampras before him, the French Open is the only major tournament Federer hasn’t won. Both Nadal and Federer are currently rewriting the record books of professional tennis. Tomorrow either Federer is going to complete the career Grand Slam or Nadal will win his third straight French Open title. Very exciting stuff for tennis fans.
A filly (girl horse) won the Belmont Stakes this year, for the first time since 1905. I don’t really care much about horse racing, 
but my interest was piqued a bit after a friend went to the Kentucky Derby this year. Plus there was the whole Barbaro saga that stimulated national interest last year.
LeBron’s performance in the first game of the NBA Finals was not particularly impressive, but maybe he’ll come around. While fairly impartial, I’m still rooting for the Cavaliers over the Spurs. Not likely to happen, but I like underdogs.
The Mighty Ducks won the Stanley Cup again. WTF?
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