Mars Landing

Posted on May 14, 2008 by topmen

Top Men like space. And Top Men like Mars. And Top Men think it’s good for the Teeming Masses to like space and Mars, too. So we’re giving you plenty of time to mark your calendars for the landing of the Mars Phoenix Lander on the evening of May 25th (only 10 days from now.) Mars landings are not simple – Mars is littered with slight miscalculations.

In honor of this rather amazing achievement we’ve provided two videos for your enjoyment.

The first is a NASA production demonstrating how the landing will take place. No airbags on this landing – it’s a good old-fashioned, rocket-blasting, nail-biting, potential-crater-making touch-down. Fun!

The second is a foward looking video – anticipating Mars in the spring of 2020. Very fun!

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Musical Magic

Posted on March 28, 2008 by topmen

Top Men are simply amazed at this video. Granted it’s not a finished product yet, and there are bound to be some limitations, but this is one of those tools that Top Men would not have believed possible.

It just further reinforces the strange fact that the most important musical instrument any band needs is a computer.

Web site is here.

(Via Tinselman!)

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M-Tranced

Posted on March 26, 2008 by topwomen

What happens when whiz kids who play with Legos and Tinker Toys grow up and become Top People? They invent M-Trans.

The ability of the individual blocks to connect, disconnect, and transform is entrancing to watch – like watching the first stages of an evolving robotic life form.

Suddenly Top Women feel a chill run up their spine.

Movies
Spec Sheet

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Huygens Again

Posted on March 26, 2008 by topmen

Top Men promise this is the last Huygens descent post. It’s been over three years since the thing landed on Titan, but we just stumbled across a large version of a movie we posted almost two years ago. This is an all the bells-and-whistles visualization (and auralization) of just about all the data fit to print. Geeks rejoice!

Here is the movie.
Here is a detailed explanation.

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Over the Line (Rider)

Posted on March 21, 2008 by topmen

Before you watch the videos below, you should go play with Line Rider for a few minutes – then you’ll appreciate the INSANE amount of INSANE work by some INSANE guy.

Monumental – 35,000 lines, 5 minutes in length
Transcendental – 126,000 lines, 4 months to make

If those give you trouble the YouTube versions are here.

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Physics Phun

Posted on March 20, 2008 by topmen

So many fun physics simulations – so little time! Here are two more…

- Phun – Downloadable physics sandbox. (Windows only for now.)

- Sketch – Simple stick physics.

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Easy Glider

Posted on March 13, 2008 by topmen

Kind of a Fred Flinstone meets George Jetson thing going here.

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Particle Man

Posted on March 12, 2008 by topmen

It’s been a couple years since we posted the World of Sand particle simulation. For any aficionados – take a look at this newer, crazy adaptation. Powder, magma, seeds, water, fire, fireworks, wind, superballs, explosives, and more.

For some quick fun – add plenty of water, a good helping of nitro, and finally a good swoosh of magma. Oh and set the BG to various settings for some amazing effects! Such power at our fingertips.

We’re not sure what it is about crazy 2D particle simulations that intrigue Top Men, but we think it has something to do with watching how the universe might work – on a very small, but still unpredictable scale.

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Very Cross Winds

Posted on March 11, 2008 by topwomen

Top Women expect that not everyone on this E Ticket ride had their hands raised in the air.

The Lufthansa Airbus A320 was landing a week and a half ago in Hamburg Germany in 50 mph crosswinds, and was being flown by a young co-pilot. After this aborted landing the pilot took over for a successful landing the second time around. The plane evidently escaped with only minor wing damage and was flying again in short order.

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Shuttle Jumper

Posted on March 10, 2008 by topmen

With Endeavour on the pad and ready to launch tomorrow, Top Men thought we would give the teeming masses a chance to set their alarms to watch the 2:28 am (EDT) launch live. It’s one of the rare launches in darkness – there’s only been one other night launch in the last five years.

And BTW, Top Men managed to scratch a line off of their bucket list last month

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Wohba

Be amazed, be very amazed!

Category Archives: Technology