How a Quartz Watch Works

In the fist day of the year, nothing better than to share with you how the now common quartz watches work.
This type of watch has become so simple that we rarely stop to think what makes it tick, and it's truly amazing how we can have these pieces of time-keeping technology in our wrists for just a few bucks.

Manipulating Time with a Time Fountain

High-speed cameras are in. Lots of you have been playing around with digicams able to record video at 300fps (or even faster) which allow for super-smooth slow motion video playback.
But, what if you want to achieve the same effect in something occurring in real time, something you want to interact with?

That's why Nate True created its Time Fountain, a fountain where - thanks to the stroboscopic effect of LEDs - you can freeze water droplets in mid air, and even "go back" in time.

I know it sound weird... better see it for yourself.



Really impressive...

Unix Time Stamp 1234567890

Today is a very special - or at least curious - date for computer programmers around the world.

Back in the days, they way they figured out to better store and track time was to implement a simple counter, the unix time stamp, that keeps track of the seconds ellapsed since the beginning of the Unix Era on January 1st, 1970.

That allows computers to easily sort and do math on time data.

Since then, that counter has been steadily increasing, a second at a time, until...

Well, today, February 13th 2009, at 17:31, that timestamp will be: 1234567890

As you'll be able to verify at:
UNIX TIME STAMP: 1234567890
DATE: 02 / 13 / 09 @ 5:31pm


As I said, just a "geek" curiosity. :)

On the other hand, when we get to January 19, 2038, things will be a lot more complicated, as the 32bit counter used for the timestamp will overflow and be unable to track seconds from then on.
But, don't worry, by then we'll probably all be using 64 or 128bit computer systems... ;)

Time Perception - Brain Overclocking

Have you ever felt time slowing down?
Usually, when facing high-stress situations, you later recall it as it happening in slow motion.
I can certainly realte to that after facing a car accident a couple years ago, when I recall watching thing fly off just like it was played in slow-motion.

Well, researchers are now conducting experiments that prove it's real: our time perception can indeed change and make time slow down (or speed up.)

Check this video excerpt from a documentary on BBC.