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3D-printed DNA 'bunnies' could deliver drugs into your body
"DNA origami" is nothing new -- in fact, IBM once considered it as a way to make microchips. However, Scientists at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden have become ridiculously good at folding the building blocks of life, and built a bunny to prove it. The point was not to do a party trick, of course, though rabbit-shaped DNA is delightful. Rather, the team wanted to develop a fully-automated, 3D-printing-like method for folding DNA. Researchers could one day use the technique to create structures that don't break down in the human body in order to precisely deliver drugs.
Disney Research has a 3D printer that can sew bunnies for you
3D printing has resulted in solid solutions like cartilages, organ replicas and even tortoise shells. But Disney Research now has a printer that can create soft, bendable objects - think 3D printing stuffed toys. The mechanics of the printer are similar to conventional machines that use plastics or metals, except this one works with fabric to create flexible and functional objects. Most additive 3D printers are designed to deposit materials in a specific spot, but fabric requires an alternative technique that imitates sewing or layering.
Caturday... or is it Bunday?
What's neither a cat for Caturday or a dog for the Dog Days of Summer? If you're John-Paul and Nicole Clough of Oxford, England, it's a rabbit for "Bunday"! John-Paul says: Just sending this on the off-chance, as you seem to have been a bit short of cats lately... :) We are rather hoping you might feature our rabbit Thelma, AKA Thelma T Rabbit, AKA Big T, as an alternative in your thoroughly entertaining Dog Days of Summer / Caturday series (perhaps Rabbitday, Bunday, or Ears Looking at You?) We realise this is somewhat unorthodox but Thelma is totally in love with our MacBook and we just wanted to share. The pic is of their first encounter; since then she regularly and wantonly sprawls across it and tries to groom it by licking the screen. Whilst she's no doubt attracted to its impeccable style and performance, we think its warmth and the gentle hum comfort her most at the end of a hard day's grazing. As if that's not enough, even over strawberries, blueberries, blackberries and bananas, apples are absolutely her all-time favourite fruit. Here she is... Thelma appears to be all ears, listening to whatever sweet, sweet messages the MacBook is whispering. We'd love to see photos of your favorite feline (or bunny!) soaking up the warmth of an Apple product, chasing a Magic Mouse, or just being a general nuisance while you're attempting to work on your Mac, iPad, or iPhone. Please let us know via our feedback page and please remember that your cat photo has to have some sort of connection to Apple or its products. For security reasons we can't accept inbound attachments, so you should host the photo (Dropbox, Flickr, iPhoto Journals, etc.) and send us the link. Many thanks to John-Paul and Nicole Clough, and of course Thelma
Daily iPhone App: Super Bunny Breakout updates Atari's classic with a cute shine
Atari has several great titles on the horizon, and it recently released Super Bunny Breakout (US$0,99, universal), a fun game that's a take on the company's classic Breakout. As usual, you can see what the game is like in our video below. The idea is that you bounce a bunny around, breaking various objects and cages with an old-fashioned Breakout platform. The game's relatively simple and fun. There's a certain amount of complexity as you go along, especially when you unlock various other animal heroes to play with, each with their own power-ups and techniques for breaking the items above you apart. There's also a nice touch of physics-based gameplay. When you break certain objects, others will fall, and so your choices about where to bounce your bunny can be pretty important. Finally, there's also a freemium game included, with a tree house where you can feed and dress up the animal champions that you've unlocked so far. This doesn't add a ton to the core game, but it is a fun distraction that adds a little bit of extra cuteness. Super Bunny Breakout is well worth the launch price of 99 cents in the store right now, though if you aren't yet sure, there's a free version to try as well.
Karotz hits the US, has a lot of catching up to do on Twitter, Facebook
After a rather graphic trip to the FCC, we suspected that Nabaztag's more pronounceable, if largely aesthetically identical successor Karotz was slated for arrival here in the US any day now. The time has finally come. The WiFi-enabled lagomorph is now available on our shores, bringing with it boatload of friendly connectivity, including Facebook and Twitter integration and the ability to send messages, audio files and pokes directly to the rabbit. And if you really want to get your friends' attention from afar, you can move its ears and change its colors remotely. You can pick up one now for $130 from Karotz's site and a number of online retailers. Video of the rainbow-eared white rabbit in action after the jump.
Nabaztag robotic rabbits rise from the ashes at midnight
Twas a sad day when Mindscape was forced to shutter the online service used by its collection of Nabaztag robotic rabbits -- as the tale goes, the domain's demise left the tiny, Linux-running hares inanimate, mute and nearly useless. But just five short months later, things are starting to look up. Via email, the company has confirmed that nabaztag.com will come (back) alive on midnight of December 24th (a timezone was not specified), allowing Nabaztag users to communicate with their coney comrades. "At midnight you can turn your rabbits on without changing anything," writes the bunny builder. That's not all. The company is promising to "enrich" the devic's modules with "community contributions." If you're a Nabaztag owner, step away from that eggnog and put on a pot of coffee... Christmas is coming a full 24-hours early.
Nabaztag successor Karotz cracked open by the FCC
We haven't seen anything this heart-wrenching since Pleo last made its way through the FCC. There's just something depressing about watching an adorable little animal robot get torn down in the commission's sterile government labs. Karotz, the successor to Nabaztag's friendly WiFi-enabled throne has followed Pleo down the FCC rabbit hole, getting poked, prodded, and pulled apart, to assure that it won't be shooting any harmful bunny death rays at you, the consumer. Also of note: the strangely ominous "Your New Life With Karotz" user manual cover.%Gallery-130021%
Mindscape pulls the server plug on Nabaztag, hands source code to developers
Mindscape's ambient hare progenitors are officially headed off to that matrix briar patch in the sky. Turns out a battle with the server's host has left the company in a sticky financial situation, effectively shutting down support for the WiFi-enabled bunnies. In a recent YouTube announcement, CEO Thierry Bensoussan addressed the community's concerns, offering up source code that ensures a homebrew future for the Little Linux-Bunny Foo Foo forebears. Hobbyists hoping to snag that Nabaztag.com domain for themselves will instead have to accept a url redirect, as the site remains firmly under the software publisher's lock and key. But don't mourn your news reading, weather-forecasting buddy just yet, you can always replace it with the discounted love of lil' bro, Karotz.
It came from the Blog: Join us for the Hop to Hard Boiled
Join us this Saturday for the Hop to Hard Boiled! As the title implies, we'll be hopping to Un'Goro Crater together for the achievement. When: Saturday, April 30, at 5:30 p.m. EDT (2:30 p.m. PDT, 3:30 server time) for the pre-event mixer and 6 p.m. EDT for the Hop Where: Meet at Razor Hill on Zangarmarsh (US-PvE-H) Who: This is an all-level event, but you'll be hoppier happier if you are higher level. How: Ask any It came from the Blog member for an invite, if you are not already in one of our guilds. We will be meeting in Razor Hill to mingle and fight over eggs, and then setting off cross continent, braving dangers and probably getting pretty soggy. Anyone from the Alliance is welcome to join us on the hop. You can meet us at Honor Stand, where unfortunately, we'll have to kill your soldiers to protect our lowbies -- but hopefully, you'll forgive us. Otherwise, there is no reason why we can't forget our factions for the day and travel together to lay eggs side by side to celebrate this extremely silly holiday. I'll be streaming this as usual, and all instructions will be given in our event chat as well as over the stream. Please join us one way or another. Please join us on Zangarmarsh (US-PvE-H) in It came from the Blog. All guild members can invite, so /whisper Roblinator or any online member. You are all welcome as long as you play by our simple rules -- basically, don't be a funsucker! Visit the guild FAQ for more details.
Karotz to start shipping, Nabaztag to return from dead for Easter
Cadbury aside, nothing says Easter quite like a good resurrection tale, and this story's got it -- starring a rabbit, no less. Owners of Nabaztag, the email-reading / weather-forecasting / and generally adorable WiFi-enable desktop buddy, have been reporting a massive die-off of their beloved ambient bunnies, a tragic end due to a recent server move. The rabbits' manufacturer tells us that the network issues should be resolved by next week -- something of a belated Easter celebration. The rebirth is also perfectly timed to welcome Nabataztag's second coming as Karotz -- those who pre-ordered should start seeing the glowing woodland creature in their mailboxes next week.
Final Fantasy XI hopping along for 2011
The new year brings all sorts of things -- hopes for improvement, resolutions of behavior, and of course in-game events for nearly every game that's active. Final Fantasy XI is no exception, with this year's event focused around the wide-eyed rarabs that range across Vana'diel. And as with previous years, players can ring in the new year with some lovely new prizes, including the option to turn oneself into a rabbit of unusual size for a while. Running until January 17th, the event follows the format laid out by previous years, with players chasing a bounding rabbit across various zones to obtain various prizes. The team at FFXIclopedia has already begun putting together a guide for players looking to get the most out of the holiday; the biggest challenge for players will be hunting down the Celebratory Coney darting across the landscape. Take a look at the official announcement for the usual piece of in-game fiction, and enjoy the start of another year in Final Fantasy XI.
The Road to Mordor: A conspiracy of hats
The hat, as they say, makes the man. Or the woman. Or the Dwarf. Unfortunately, in Lord of the Rings Online, the hat often makes the man completely silly. I'm not quite sure how it happened, but the hats in LotRO have garnered the reputation as being goofy as all get out. Sure, this is hardly a fresh observation, but I've wanted to address it in this column for a while now, so it might as well be today! Rumor has it that Turbine's artists drew upon actual medieval outfits to lend an authentic, renaissance faire vibe to the game. This is perhaps why there is such a distinct fashion style in LotRO that you don't see in other MMOs. Our modern sensibilities, with such fashion achievements as tank tops and crocs, make hauberks and codpieces seem quaint and ridiculous. Truly, we are seeing the height of human civilization in 2010. So while it's laudable that Turbine tried to give us the real deal, that doesn't quite excuse the fact that many of the hats -- especially the light armor versions -- are unbearably weird. It's as if, as The Pix'led Life speculated, there's a conspiracy of hats afoot: "Let's see what we can make them swallow!" one artist cackles. "Ooh, I know -- how about 16 varieties of dunce hats?" laughs another. I kid, I kid. There are 17. Hit the jump and let's take a terrifying journey through headgear that seeks to conquer Sauron by making the Enemy laugh himself to death.
MindScape's Karotz continues the proud Nabaztag lineage
It's been a while since we've heard anything on the Nabaztag front. Violet, the company that built the original "ambient" bunnies, went bankrupt but was snapped up by MindScape a year ago. Now MindScape is ready to show off the latest addition to the Nabaztag family, dubbed "Karotz." The WiFi rabbit runs on Linux, with a 400MHz ARM CPU, 64MB of RAM and 256MB of storage, so it should have plenty of headroom for that vibrant hacker community that sprung up around the first two Nabaztags. Karotz can also run off batteries or be plugged in via USB, and has the same RFID reader functionality of the Nabaztag/tag. The biggest new feature is a webcam, which will purportedly have face recognition (to be paired with Nabaztag's existing voice recognition), along with allowing you to check up on your home from a smartphone app. Karotz will retail in France starting in November for €150 (about $210 US), followed by the UK in December and February in the US. Hopefully Karotz can find a bit more market success than its ill-fated predecessors. %Gallery-105157%
Reminder: Noblegarden ends tonight
Noblegarden ends just before midnight server time tonight. So if you don't have your Noble title yet, you still have time to fight over egg spawns with your fellow procrastinators. See our guide to Noblegarden for help with the holiday achievements, how to get them and egg-collecting strategies. Warning: don't wait until the last minute. Holidays have been known to close up shop a little earlier than the time on the calendar. Have fun and good egg hunting!
Bunny hop through our Easter holiday roundup
As Massively readers everywhere recover from the second-greatest candy holiday of the year, many MMOs have also enticed players with virtual sweetness. Easter may not be the most popular of in-game holidays, but there's something very MMO-ish with "collecting" eggs and hunting down giant, man-eating rabbits wherever they trod. Even future MMOs like TERA are eager to get their own virtual bunny event up and running. Take a gander through our Easter holiday roundup, and let us know what your favorite in-game event is! Final Fantasy XI: An Egg-hunter Is Hatched "Initial eggs" are eggs of avian persuasion that have been inscribed with a single letter of the alphabet. During the Egg Hunt, adventurers can receive a random initial egg from the festival moogles once every Vana'dielian day. Collecting and forming certain combinations of initial eggs will garner you event egg-sclusive prizes. World of Warcraft: Noblegarden 2010 Noblegarden will run this year from Sunday, April 4 (this Sunday) through Sunday, April 11. If you've never done Noblegarden before or only done its fairly low-key, pre-2009 version, it helps to know that Noble Gardener (the holiday's meta) is part of the year-long What A Long, Strange Trip It's Been achievement that rewards the 310% speed Violet Proto-Drake.
Noblegarden: Sexy or Sexist?
We are nearing the end of Noblegarden, but haven't discussed here at WoW Insider the most controversial part of the event: Shake your Bunny-Maker. For this achievement, you have to put bunny ears on one female of each race that is over Level 18.Before we go any farther in this discussion, I would like to state that I am female. Not that I am speaking for all females (no one can), but I think that it is important that you know where I am coming from. I also have a young daughter and would like the world to be a better place for her, as all parents do. It is also worth noting that the title for this post was inspired by one of my favorite movies: This is Spinal Tap. The band wants to release an album called Smell the Glove with a cover of a naked woman who is leashed and is forced to smell a glove. The lead singer mistakes the word "sexist" for "sexy". Hilarity ensues.
Giant bunny formed from GPS path
First things first: considering the huge amount of press garnered by a recent position art scam, this here could indeed be just another spoof to get your hopes up. That being said, we're pretty sure no one with any level of decency would do such a vile thing on Easter Sunday, which is precisely when the above bunny was purportedly created from waltzing about with a Magellan GPS and a digital camera. The artist himself admits that what you see above is a slightly cleaned-up version of the actual path, but we're told that any edits that occurred had no huge bearing on the outcome of the piece. You be the judge.
Beware: Tomorrow is April Fools' Day
Just a friendly reminder, folks, tomorrow is April Fool's Day, so be very careful about "breaking news" you might stumble upon. Whether it's Blue Hobbits or Wii.TV, just take what you read with a grain of salt until the clock strikes midnight. Here's some helpful advice: If it seems too good to be true, it probably is: We'd all love for Nintendo to suddenly give everyone who clicks a link a free Wii, but face it, it doesn't seem too likely. Sourcing is important: If a blockbuster April 1 story comes from unnamed sources or a mysteriously dead web site, remain skeptical. The least they could do is forge some documentation for their joke; make them work for it. Pimps at Sea is never coming out: It's a Bungie inside joke, and someone always manages to fall for it. Also, whatever Blizzard announces tomorrow is a lie, so just have a laugh. Duke Nukem Forever is never coming out: That 100% confirmed release date you'll read about tomorrow? Total baloney. Any questions? Here's a bunny with a pancake on its head.
Weekly Webcomic Wrapup celebrates Easter
Because we can't get away with it for any other holiday, here's a picture of a clay Link feeding a carrot to a bunny. (Image credit: mishmellow). Apologies for the delay: here's our picks for the week's best web-related webcomics. Be sure to vote for your favorite! The root of the problem (Tip of the Sword) Without the Super, He's Just a Man (Dueling Analogs) There's Trouble Brewing (Extra Life) The Trap is Set (MNC) Massively Ineffective (Slackerz) Flush (GamerPALs) Dance Off (Unshelved) Another Portal Comic (Anonymous) Voting after the break.
There's no safer place than a rabbit's mouth
Craftster forum member N0A made this adorable fluffy bunny case to hold her DS Lite. Amazingly, according to her, it only took "a couple of hours." That's a higher cuteness-to-time ratio than we've seen since the prairie dog video. It looks useful, too-- that fluffy-soft material should keep the DS well-protected within the bunny's-- well, not mouth, actually, more like PEZ-style neck opening. Also found on Craftster today: this irresistible case from endlessly_intricate, featuring an embroidered image of Invader Zim's GIR. Not only does the images look great on the front of the case, but endlessly_intricate made one more crucial design innovation-- a taco! Is there anything tacos can't do?
