Hexup
We’re back! I’ve been travelling and dying of dental pain, and Dan’s been painting up a storm, but we’re committing to recommitting, and these things are a lot of fun. This week we’ve got space, 3d printing, quantum computing, and a lot of the usual suspects.
World’s Oldest Gaming Tokens
The world’s oldest gaming tokens are nearly five thousand years old according to archaeologists, and were recently unearthed from an early Bronze Age grave. The game is based on the number 4, and the pig pieces are probably totally imbalanced. This also means that people have been arguing about rules interpretations since the dawn of human history.
Startups Shooting for the Stars
There are a lot of startups trying to send things to space. From tiny cube sats to giant orbital laser arrays meant to propel solar sails, companies around the world are trying to find new and practical ways of reaching beyond the earth. The New Scientist has featured a number of them, and it’s a great read.
Helpful Drones
India isn’t a place where the hum of robot aircraft is exactly comforting, but an Indian startup has been using quadcopter drones to survey disaster areas and drop light items like first aid kits to mountaineers. Social Drones provides real time footage to the military and volunteers to help find people in need during a disaster.
Reverse 3d Printing
I love 3d printing, but don’t know how to model objects so my printer can make them. The Makerbot digitizer does this. According to the Verge, “3D scanning isn’t a difficult concept, and something as ubiquitous as a Kinect can produce a printable model with the right software. But MakerBot is betting that the convenience of the Digitizer will make it worth the $1,400 price tag.” I’m not sure what I’d scan first, but it’d be a great way to keep an archive of all the buttons I lose.
Get Your Tweets on Ticker-tape
Looking for 21st century tech with a 19th century flair? Developer Adam Vaughan has just the thing, a ticker-tape machine that pulls from a Twitter feed. Now if only I could get my tweets formatted like a telegraph.
How to Tell if Your Quantum Computer is Real
If you’re worried that the quantum computer you bought off the back of that truck last week isn’t working properly, there’s finally a way to tell. Researchers at Berkeley and USC have developed a method of determining whether a quantum computer is working properly without smashing it open with a hammer and ruining it. It’s complex, but the Wired article has all the details.
That’s all for this week. If you haven’t watched our first video, you should check it out over at Woot Suit Riot! We’ll be putting one out every two weeks expanding on Hexup topics and generally talking about things.
