A bacterium on its own can’t reach very far. And when stacked on the sea floor in a large colony, it may have access to either oxygen (top of the pile) or food (bottom of the pile).

So for the entire colony to thrive, the bottom and top layers must be choreographed in chemical reactions occurring across great expanses, allowing electrons from food consumption in the basement to react to oxygen from the rooftop.

A new study just published in Nature set to isolate the way bacteria pull of this stunt. The first guess, molecular diffusion, was found to be too slow for as dynamically as these colonies reacted in various testing. Now? It’s believed the bacteria use interconnected nanowires, sharing electrons across expanses 20,000 times their individual size—though to be fair, there’s no direct evidence proving the existence of said wires.

The implications for you, gadget lover? The possibility of one day using a really gross battery. [Nature via PopSci][Nanowire Image]

In 2004 Apple patent app that was recently filed for continuation describes a touchscreen iMac that recognizes shapes, allowing you to interact with your computer as you might a toddler’s geometric puzzle.

So, you could unlock your computer by holding up an appropriately shaped key. Or, well, Apple can explain it it full:

The pattern 122 may be any shape whether simple or complex. Some examples of patterns include circles, squares, triangles, dots, dashes, coat of arms, logos, symbols, text and the like. Other examples include binary patterns and Braille symbols. The pattern may be related to the action to be performed. For example, the pattern may be in the form of a conventional key for actions associated with gaining access to restricted areas, or in the form of a light bulb for actions associated with turning a light on and off. In some cases, the signet pattern may include an alignment mark for helping determine the orientation of the signet pattern relative to the touch screen, i.e., helps the pattern recognizer to determine orientation. The alignment mark may for example be a cross that helps distinguish the pattern relative to an x and y coordinate system. As should be appreciated, simple shapes are more easily counterfeited and thus complex shape may be desired. For example, a large circle may be relatively easy to counterfeit, whereas a complex series of dots may harder to counterfeit.

While at first the idea certainly sounds clever, the simple fact that car keys are a lot easier to lose than computer passwords is enough to temper any excitement over such a possibility.

But holding up a light bulb to turn on my computer? I’m all over that. [US Patent Office via MacRumors]

From the looks of this video, while it’s technically possible to craft a snowboard out of two Apple PowerBooks, you’re probably better off buying the real thing (or investing a little more in newer unibody models). [ZweckEntfremder via Macenstein]

During the Winter Olympics, we’ve seen more than our share of athletic action sequences—complex motions broken into stills. For this week’s Shooting Challenge, you’ll be recreating the effect in the real world (or anywhere else you like).

The Challenge

Shoot an action sequence of any sort.

The Method

You’ll want to set your camera on a tripod and shoot in burst mode with a minimum of 3-5FPS. Then you’ll combine these images in photo editing software.

The Rules

1. Submissions need to be your own.
2. Photos need to be taken the week of the contest. (No portfolio linking or it spoils the “challenge” part.)
3. Explain, briefly, the equipment, settings and technique used to snag the shot.
4. Email submissions to [email protected].
5. Include 800px wide image AND 2560×1600 sized in email. (The 800px image is the one judged, so feel free to crop/alter the image for wallpaper-sized dimensions.)

Send your best entries by Sunday, February 28th at 11PM Eastern to [email protected] with “Action Sequence” in the subject line. Save your files as JPGs or GIFs, and use a FirstnameLastnameAction.jpg (800px) and FirstnameLastnameActionWALLPAPER.jpg (2560px) naming conventions. Include your shooting summary (camera, lens, ISO, etc) in the body of the email.

[Lead photo by Marcio Abe]

I’ve never had the pleasure of breaking a bone, but if I did, you can bet I’d be wearing a Casttoo to share my innermost threshold for pain with the world.

Casttoos are customizable cast decals. You email in the image of your choice—yes, X-rays work great, though a shattered Terminator endoskeleton might be a valid secondary option—and they’ll mail you out a decal that can be affixed via hairdryer. Prices range anywhere from $20-$40, but hopefully, if you’re on decent pain meds at the time, you’ll have no issues shrugging off the small purchase. [Castoos via bookofjoe via DVICE]

Based upon plant research by entities like NASA, Air Purifier Review has assembled the 15 houseplants that are best at cleaning your air (without electricity). The overall best? The Areca palm, also known as Chrysalidocarpus lutescens. [AirPurifierReview via Unplggd]

When the PS3 launched, 120MB of its 512MB of RAM were dedicated at all times to the OS. (To put that footrpint in perspective, the Xbox 360‘s OS only used 32MB.) Luckily, Sony has refined their system.

Over the course of several updates, the PS3’s OS has been weaned off RAM, its dependence cut to just 50MB—including the in-game XMB upgrade—meaning that an additional 70MB of RAM is available for game developers to use as they see fit.

No, that’s not enough extra oomph to revolutionize the PS3 as a brand new console, but it’s likely we’ll see a slightly nicer lighting effect (or an equivalent) some time because of it. [PlayStation University and Joystiq]

Ignore the fact that there’s no room for bread or utensils, and for a moment, appreciate the efficiency of this compact lithium ion-powered coffee maker, milk frother and toaster—no bigger than a large cereal box.

You done? OK, now we can speculate that building the frother into the coffee maker might save space—and the coffee maker’s heating element could double to toast the bread while saving energy.

And as long as we’re on the topic, who wants to hold a breakfast tray that’s 66% dedicated to beverages with—and this is the kicker—no juice involved?

You almost had me, studioMEM. My sledgehammer was this close to walloping my breakfast bar and murdering any hope for a satisfying start to my day…the ramifications of which I’m only starting to grasp, even weeks later. [studioMEM via YankoDesign]

To whom it may concern: The all day caffeine rush for your credit card, known as a woot-off in some circles, is going on now. [woot!]

Godspeed, friend. And on another note, the use of dated clipart in what’s essentially a gadget obit seems particularly fitting. [ScaryIdeas]

The 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group (AMARG), also known as the Boneyard, is a four square mile site in Arizona housing 4,000 retired aircraft—or at least one of almost every US armed forces plane since WWII.

Google Earth has recently released this gorgeous (in a maudlin sort of way), 1.5MB satellite view of the facility. You can see the entire shot over on the BBC, and if you’re annoyed by their tiny frame, just right click the magnified version to “view image” to see the entire thing. You can also just check it out through Google.

For those of you thinking the Boneyard is a rotting pile of our tax dollars, well, it sort of is. But the base claims that for every $1 invested here, $11 are returned through salvaged parts (and it’s easier than dropping off a rusting B52 at the local recycling facility). [BBC]

The upcoming MSI Air Keyboard is an HTPC keyboard/mouse combo that fits right in your hands much like a game controller.

Because aside from the typical QWERTY layout, the back is ergonomic for dual-handed use, and it even includes LB and RB shoulder triggers. And much like the Wiimote, the Air doubles as a mouse through the use of an internal accelerometer, allowing you to aim the device to control an onscreen cursor—effectively eliminating that whole where-does-the-mouse-go-on-the-couch problem.

Through a USB dongle, the MSI Air (which is technically a rebranding of an existing product by Cideko), can connect to PCs and Macs up to an impressive 160 feet away. It’s available overseas now for the equivalent of $110. [ElectricPig via EverythingUSB]

The entrants to this week’s Shooting Challenge: Blow Out are now available in wallpaper form. They’re spectacular, but you might want to set your icon text to black before proceeding. [Giz Flickr]

Maybe you have a super awesome 240Hz LCD. Technically, its refresh rate should probably support new FHD3D (full 3D HD) Blu-ray signals. But it can’t because of this diagram (by HDGuru3D)—how the information is sent to your television.

It’s called over/under, and rather than a single 1920×1080 frame beaming from your Blu-ray player to your TV, it’s a double stack, a 1920×2205 image (representing left eye and right eye frames along with some active blanking for audio and extra info). The signal fires at a bitrate of 6.75Gbps.

Bottom line, the fancy TV in your house now was never designed to accommodate a 1920×2205 image.

That FHD3D bitrate is an important point, however, because while many of us have claimed HDMI 1.4 is needed for FHD3D, that’s not completely true. HDMI 1.3 and 1.4 both have throughputs of 10.2Gbps. And because of this basic rule of bandwidth, the smartest HDMI 1.3 devices, those using software instead of systems on a chip (like the PS3) will be able to make the FHD3D transition.

As Gary Merson from HDGuru put it to us, “There is nothing inherent in HDMI 1.3 that would prohibit FHD3D signals from passing through.”

I’m not going to rewrite his entire article here. But if you’re a home theater enthusiast, I’d strongly recommend his walkthrough of 3D tech, the new HDMI 1.4 standard and what it will mean to differing devices (and even the cords!) in your system. Because being a couch potato just got a lot more complicated. [HDGuru]

“It’s like, you know man, you know. People like us were meant for something important, something different than this whole fucked up society. Oh, that? That’s the rocket facade left over from our last house party.” [flickr/sfist via io9]

Ever since our hands-on, we’ve been shamelessly excited about Project Natal…except for one key piece: The slight but undeniable lag. And now, MTV has actually put the difference between your movement and onscreen response to a stopwatch.

Over the course of several demos, MTV found that the lag ranged from .08 seconds to .12 seconds, and .10 proved to be a pretty consistent average. (You can time .10 seconds here.)

During our demo, I likened the delay in a driving game to steering an old Cadillac. Indeed, as an input device alone, such a delay will mean certain gameplay situations just aren’t possible (Natal might not make the best jet simulator).

However, I still see the delay as a non-issue for the aspect of Natal that’s still gone without mention by most publications—that of head tracking. You’ll see what I mean in this demo by Johnny Chung Lee who, it just so happens, works on the Natal team now. The same can be said for vocal commands, facial recognition, and heck, even just spotting your exact position in a room. [MTV via Kotaku]

Nanotech wonder Buckypaper is 10 times lighter and 500 times stronger than steel. And while academic research labs have successfully synthesized the stuff for years, the first architectural firm has just made Buckypaper on their own.

NY’s Decker Yeardon just revealed their first thin sheet of the stuff—a “paper” made up of carbon nanotubes that, aside from being absurdly strong and light, can serve functions like filtering and heat dispersion. Their first piece measures just 90mm in diameter, but that’s not stopping Decker Yeardon from imagining the possibilities:

We’re hopeful that this new Buckypaper can be used as a thin, flexible electrode surface in an artificial muscle that we’re developing for architecture.

But as much as the prospect of a flexing Burj Khalifa excites us all, it’s probably not a bad time to remember, we haven’t exactly don’t a ton of research as to the effects of of these materials on our own bodies. Further study is necessary before we dare fill our cities with it. [Decker Yeardon via Nanoarchitecture via Inhabitat]