Alt-week 11.23.13: Woman videotapes the news for 35 years non-stop

Alt-week takes a look at the best science and alternative tech stories from the last seven days.

Alt-week 11.23.13: Woman videotapes the news for 35 years non-stop

Missing the end of the game, thanks to your VCR was part of the accepted technology norm during the format's hey day in the 80s. Not for Marion Stokes, though, who managed to keep the VCR wheels turning for over three decades straight, amassing quite the archive of news coverage as she did so. Also, we've got one new island, and an Ice Age DNA puzzle. Where else but alt-week?

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Alt-week 16.11.13: Need another Earth-like planet? Study says there could be plenty

Alt-week takes a look at the best science and alternative tech stories from the last seven days.

Alt-week 16.11.13

Suddenly things just got real. A new study claims one in five sun-like stars could have a planet capable of supporting life. Hugging your loved ones while thousands of miles away is closer reality, and smog? Apparently we can vacuum that stuff up now. Yeah? This is Alt-week.

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Alt-week 09.15.13: Record-breaking glass, nature’s gears, and Hubble’s huge find

Alt-week takes a look at the best science and alternative tech stories from the last seven days.

Altweek 091513 Recordbreaking glass, nature's gears, and Hubble's huge find

This week's alternative roundup focuses on exploration, experimentation and discovery -- both on land and in space. Here on Earth, Cornell's stumbled upon a new glass that breaks records and researchers in Europe have discovered an insect with cob wheel-styled gear joints for movement. Meanwhile, above our atmosphere, NASA's Hubble telescope made a large discovery of its own. This is alt-week.

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Alt-week 09.07.13: 3D printed cars, invisibility cloaks, and LADEE launches

Alt-week takes a look at the best science and alternative tech stories from the last seven days.

Altweek 090713 3D printed cars, invisibility cloaks, and LADEE launches

We're all about the launches this week, at both ends of the spectrum. At the small-scale, we see what happens when a pinewood derby gets the 3D printing treatment. At the other end, NASA's LADEE begins its voyage to the moon. This is alt-week.

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Alt-week 08.31.13: We’re all Martians, Mega Drive music and reinventing the ruler

Alt-week takes a look at the best science and alternative tech stories from the last seven days.

Alt-week 08.31.13: We're all Martians, Mega Drive music and reinventing the ruler

Some things become obsolete, some things rise to live again. Two of our stories over the fold demonstrate new tricks from old dogs. The third? Just, y'know, suggests that we're all actually from Mars. No biggie. This is alt-week.

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Alt-week 8.17.13: Fukushima’s permafrost plan, the rodent afterlife and quantum teleportation

Alt-week takes a look at the best science and alternative tech stories from the last seven days.

Altweek 81713 Fukushima's permafrost plan, the rodent afterlife and quantum teleportation

Two years on, the Fukushima nuclear meltdown is still causing problems, and the Japanese government is looking at a particularly cool way (literally) to address them. Similarly chilling is the prospect that 'dead' rats aren't quite as lifeless as you might think. Do rodents go to heaven? That, we can't answer, but what we can tell you is that new research shows we're edging ever closer to a quantum-computing future. This is alt-week.

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Via: The Verge, Gizmodo, Forbes

Alt-week 8.10.13: The Mini Lisa, going ape and how Google Glass will turn you into an ant

Alt-week takes a look at the best science and alternative tech stories from the last seven days.

Altweek 81013 The Mini Lisa, going ape and how Google Glass will turn you into an ant

Science and art truly meet with the smallest Mona Lisa you'll ever see. Meanwhile, other scientists are taking primatology to the pool. Possibly of more concern, however, is how a game for Google Glass could finally confirm our destiny as mere worker ants in our technological future. This is alt-week.

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Alt-week 8.3.13: giant robot ‘crabsters,’ walking planes and a year on Mars

Alt-week takes a look at the best science and alternative tech stories from the last seven days.

Altweek 8313 giant robot 'crabsters,' walking planes and a year on Mars

We didn't intend for there to be a theme this week, but there is. It's been all about unusual craft this last seven days. Whether it's nature-inspired sea drones, interplanetary exploration, or walking planes, ground control isn't calling Major Tom, it's gone way weirder that. This is alt-week.

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Alt-week 7.27.13: The blind pixel-painter, redirecting the sun and Saturn’s view of Earth

Alt-week takes a look at the best science and alternative tech stories from the last seven days.

Altweek 72713 the blind Pixelpainter, redirecting the sun and Saturn's view of Earth

This week is all about being humbled. New images from NASA remind us how truly small we are, while a blind computer artist reminds us we could try harder. Perhaps the "easiest" feat this week is a village that is redirecting the sun for five months of the year. No biggie. This is alt-week.

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Alt-week 7.20.13: 5D super-memory cards, space snow and the tar drops!

Alt-week takes a look at the best science and alternative tech stories from the last seven days.

Altweek 72013 5D supermemory cards, stellar snow lines and the tar finally drops!

You know, we're done with the whole three dimension thing. It's waaaay to restrictive. That's why we're adding not one, but two more to the list this week. Now we've got a little more breathing space, we can consider some of science's bigger questions, like how comets might form, and how long until the results of an 85-year old experiment might finally be caught on film. This is alt-week.

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