The Art of Prosthetic Eyeball-Making

Like blacksmithing or shoemaking, the age-old craft of creating prosthetic eyeballs requires skill, technique and a good amount of artistry. The craft dates back to 2900 BC, when the very first false eye was discovered in the skull of an ancient priestess. In recent years, advances in technology have allowed modern ocularists to replicate eyeballs to such a degree that doctors sometimes have difficulty recognizing …

Teams of College Engineers are Competing to Design Hyperloop Pods

The latest phase of the visionary Hyperloop project—which would transport passengers from Los Angeles to San Francisco in just 30 minutes—has 124 teams of college student engineers competing to create pod designs. Each team has been selected by SpaceX—the aerospace company of Elon Musk (who initially proposed the Hyperloop)—and will present their concepts at the end of January. If they’re chosen to advance, the teams …

Data Simulation Depicting the Average American Day

Using data from the American Time Use survey of 2014, statistician Nathan Yau developed a fascinating data visualization depicting the average day for Americans. Resembling a Hungry Hungry Hippos game, the simulation uses tiny dots to represent citizens as they move from sleep to work to nighttime leisure, with about 96% of people fast asleep at 3AM and roughly 40% working at 3PM. Watch the …