Enjoy this sampling of the stories from around the internet that captured our interest this week:
- Kids at heart, rejoice! Makeblock — essentially, Lego for adults — have officially launched. CNN takes a look at these open-source toys. Want to find more Lego fans? Watch Hillel Cooperman’s TED Talk about the outlandish reaches of Lego culture.
. - Here, a fun collection of 27 Science Fictions That Become Science Facts in 2012.
. - TED Fellow Jon Lowenstein‘s beautiful-but-painful images are being featured on The New York Times’ photography blog, Lens.
. - President Obama was named “Person of the Year” by TIME magazine. Just as exciting is the photo released with this issue of the Head of State caught in a mini-Spiderman’s web.
. - The TED Book Living Architecture has been nominated for Best Non-Fiction Book of 2012 by the British Science Fiction Association.
. - A team of astronomers from around the world has discovered that, just 12 light-years away, there may be a habitable planet. According to Discovery, it might support life because it is in the same system as the sun Tau Ceti.
. - But how to get there? A nonprofit in Denmark called Copenhagen Suborbital is building an inexpensive spacecraft funded by donations, using IndieGogo. This talk of crowd-sourced space travel reminded us of Burt Rutan’s talk from TED2006 about the future of spacecraft.
. - There really is a Tumblr for everything. One we have our eye on is “Things Organized Neatly,” for those who see beauty in neatness.
. - In its annual “Reasons to Love New York” edition, New York magazine named Bre Prettis’ MakerBot reason number 25 to adore the Big Apple. MakerBot, which makes a desktop 3-D printer, has its headquarters in Brooklyn. The magazine declares, “Because if they make it here, you’ll be able to make anything anywhere.”
. - Eoghan Maguire and Ines Torre made a neat infographic for CNN that delineates just how much food is wasted. For more information on the subject, check out Tristram Stuart’s TEDxTalk, “The global food waste scandal.”
. - TED-Ed gives you a lesson on the history of tap dancing, complete with a stunning performance.