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BBC to launch app companion for Antiques Roadshow, asks you to price up British heritage
Perennial evening schedule-filler Antiques Roadshow will launch a new companion app in the UK, connecting PCs, smartphones, tablets and BBC's red button feature on TVs to the show, as it goes out live. It's shaping up to be very different to the existing PBS app, this time combining your incredulity over whether a painting is really worth that much with a quiz format. You'll be able to guess the value against the clock, with separate amateur and expert levels. (We're all experts when it comes to 18th century pottery, right?). It's the Beeb's first public launch of its companion feature, following closed trials with shows like Frozen Planet. When it eventually launches in September, you'll be able to poll the rest of the British Isles to see what they reckon before you make your decision. Until then, we're stuck vocalizing our disbelief at the TV.
Stradivarius violin recreated from CAT scan, 'sounds amazingly similar'
We've seen all kinds of crazy things being printed -- from bones to blood vessels -- and now you can add antique violins to that list. Music loving Radiologist Steven Sirr popped his into a CAT scanner to see what it was made of, then showed the results to a violin-making friend. Curiosity soon led them to scan everything from guitars to mandolins, so when the chance to take a peek inside a 307-year-old Stradivarius came up, how could they resist? 1000 scans later, the files were converted to 3D CAD format and another violin maker enlisted. Crucially, the images show the density of the wood all the way through, allowing a CNC machine to carve out copies of each section, with different woods used to match the differing densities. With all the parts in place and a lick of varnish, the replicas were complete. Sirr claims the copies sound "amazingly similar" to the original, but we are unsure if he plans to make it open-source.
