This video is something I’ve been meaning to share since I found it over on warrenellis.com since last week. The explanation on the site can summarize it better than me:

This conceptual video is a corporate collaborative research project initiated by Bonnier R&D into the experience of reading magazines on handheld digital devices. It illustrates one possible vision for
digital magazines in the near future, presented by our design partners at BERG.

The concept aims to capture the essence of magazine reading, which people have been enjoying for decades: an engaging and unique reading experience in which high-quality writing and stunning imagery build up
immersive stories.

Being a hardcore geek and fan of gadgetry, this conceptualization of future electronic magazine tablets has me pretty excited. I’m a fan of magazines and newspapers, they keep me company on many a toilet visits or trips. And while I’ve come to accept they will probably shed their mortal coil sooner than later, I’ve always thought they offer something interesting and tactile. There’s something great about whipping out a magazine on the throne, or in a bus, but also because of how their layout is set-up, and their appearance. BERG and Bonnier’s idea of retaining graphical tables of contents, the ability to flip-through and drill-down, and having the sense of “completing something” as opposed to the endless sprawl of an RSS feed is something I can dig on. It’s a magazine on a tablet. I’m there. Wake me up when something like this exists. Check out the video below.

What’s the insect-equivalent of PETA? Some hippies somewhere are going to be seriously pissed about this:

Via New Scientist:

It’s tempting to call them lords of the flies. For the first time, researchers have controlled the movements of free-flying insects from afar, as if they were tiny remote-controlled aircraft.

By connecting electrodes and radio antennas to the nervous systems of beetles, the researchers were able to make them take off, dive and turn on command. The cyborg insects were created at the University of California, Berkeley, by engineers led by Hirotaka Sato and Michel Maharbiz as part of a programme funded by the Pentagon’s Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).

Double fucking awesome is the Metal Gear-referenced DARPA being involved. Someone call up Nietzsche, it appears we have finally killed God. Next time I see a beetle I’m going to have to stomp it, fearful it’s being controlled by foes to asphyxiate me in my sleep.