Not much amazes me these days apart from...

[Rave]

CPU's take my breath away.

I dion't understandthem really... and we all ignore them, and use them all the time.

When I THINK about them.... it shocks me.. I have to force the wonderment back into it's box in my head

CPU's are pretty amazing, but it's flash memory that really stuns me. You can now get a 32GB MicroSD card for about 30 quid- that's 32 billion bytes of data on something that's literally smaller than my thumbnail.

But 32 billion bytes is 256 billion bits- so that's 256 billion individual 0s and 1s stored on something about 1 centimetre square.

But the thing is, I can't help but think we've got our progress a bit arse about face. It costs 30 quid to stick 256 billion flash cells in the palm of someone's hand, but it costs £165,000 to stick 10,000 bits of baked clay to some wood and glass to make the average 3-bed home in this country, or about 6 times the national average wage.

[Stoo]

I've got one of the big (biiiiig!) nebula shots printed and framed..



Excuse the mess...

[Rob_B]

I see tissues, an evil genius book, woollen mini cooper & some floats, paaaartay!

I also saw chewbacca in that pic when just glimpsing at it out the corner of my eye, top left corner, just me?

[MadduckUK]

CPU's are pretty amazing, but it's flash memory that really stuns me. You can now get a 32GB MicroSD card for about 30 quid- that's 32 billion bytes of data on something that's literally smaller than my thumbnail.

But 32 billion bytes is 256 billion bits- so that's 256 billion individual 0s and 1s stored on something about 1 centimetre square.

But the thing is, I can't help but think we've got our progress a bit arse about face. It costs 30 quid to stick 256 billion flash cells in the palm of someone's hand, but it costs £165,000 to stick 10,000 bits of baked clay to some wood and glass to make the average 3-bed home in this country, or about 6 times the national average wage.

i think you have cracked it Rave! 1cm squared houses!

[scaryjim]

... I also saw chewbacca in that pic ... just me?

Not just you, definitely something face-like. Not sure I'd go with Chewie, but I can see why you'd say that.

[MadduckUK]

Greys are real

[Rob_B]

I saw more this...although now I look it does look like a grey.

[Stoo]

I see tissues, an evil genius book, woollen mini cooper & some floats, paaaartay!

I also saw chewbacca in that pic when just glimpsing at it out the corner of my eye, top left corner, just me?

Floats?

Oddly enough it's only on that shrunken picture where you can see the face, the pic is so big in reality that you just see the nebula, lol (167cm * 88cm)

btw, this is the picture: http://hubblesite.org/gallery/album/nebula/pr2007016a/ (or here: http://hubblesite.org/gallery/album/...2007016a/warn/ if you want the really big pics)

I used the 479MB tiff

[Tumble]

Looks more like Frankenstein from the Death Race remake to me

[Jay]

I guess I'm too young - pictures of space fail to excite me that much I've grown up with them. Things about space do amaze me but pictures tend not to do it for me.

How old are you?

[Rob_B]

Floats?

bottom left, a quick glance told me it was floats, now it looks like its probably tools?

You've not offered an explanation for a woollen mini sitting on a cushion, so I'll ask.... wtf?

[MadduckUK]

Floats?

screwdrivers disguised as floats

You've not offered an explanation for a woollen mini sitting on a cushion, so I'll ask.... wtf?

if the mini itself is a cushion that will blow my mind

[Stoo]

screwdrivers disguised as floats

if the mini itself is a cushion that will blow my mind

Yup

[Rob_B]

hmmm, i could get my wife to make those which would be kinda cool

[Stoo]

Mini do actually sell them - but we got those free because we bought an actual car, lol (actually we have two)

Edit: Hmm, nothing on the mini site any more - might be a dealer only thing now, but you can get them on ebay: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-MINI-C...item2a131c6693

[Tumble]

I've just seen this....



Just WOW... a flash-over, more than a mile long, in damp air..... how many volts??? (bearing in mind it takes about 1kv to jump a 10mm gap in dry air....)