NEWT
Latest
Researchers can now desalinate seawater with the power of the Sun
One of the oldest means of extracting potable liquid from seawater involves distillation, basically boiling the water into steam and then cooling the purified vapor in condensation tubes. Problem is, this method is incredibly power intensive with nearly half of the input energy going towards just boiling the water. But, a team of researchers from Rice University have developed a new technique that not only drastically reduces the amount of energy needed but can decouple the process from the power grid altogether.
Severed head in the mail terrifies, teases Aliens: Colonial Marines
We get a lot of weird stuff in the mail, it's simply one of the hazards of this profession. Any given day, we have to be prepared to take delivery of a miniature diorama, a personalized strait jacket, a check for $200, or maybe a pile of meat, hair and teeth? Sometimes, it's a dirty doll head. Wait, what? Now, getting something like this in the mail might be a frightening experience for the casual games journalist but remember, your pals at Joystiq are pros. And by pros, we mean to say that we asked Twitter what it was. Some of you suggested it might be promoting Gearbox's announced-over-three-years-ago FPS Aliens: Colonial Marines. While that seemed like a crazy assumption, it turns out the name written on the back, Rebecca, is the actual name of that lovable scamp from Aliens, Newt. Furthermore, the return address on the package is from one Ms. Rebecca Jorden, Newt's full name. Here's what Wikia has to say about the doll: Casey was the favorite doll of Newt's. Casey was reduced to nothing but a head when she was discovered on LV-426. Casey was lost when Newt was abducted in the sub-basement reservoir in the Hadley's Hope settlement. And if that's not enough proof of an imminent E3 re-reveal, Kotaku says it has an appointment to see the game, so ... case closed, we guess. We're mostly looking forward to seeing why Colonial Marines was put on the backburner for so long ... ... mostly.
Apple Newton to be reborn as iPhone case
Isn't it nice when siblings get along? Here's an idea for using a dead, hollowed-out Newton Message Pad as an Phone case. Case hacker Charles Mangin has had success with other projects, like the Mac Plus G4, the Mac mini stuffed into an Apple Disk II floppy drive and the iNewt. So far he's only completed a "sketch" of the project, but given his past work, we're sure he can pull it off. This mod will obviously add a lot of bulk to the iPhone (and destroy a Newt), but who cares? The whole point is the fun and marriage of the old and the new. Plus, there's something oddly "right" about that image, no? Though it is funny to think Apple once released a stylus-based handheld, given Jobs' current feeling about that mechanic. We wish Charles good luck and hope he'll ping us when the project is complete. [Via RickMacMerc]
