
Micro Tetris 31
Jeroen writes "Students from the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam used a so-called 'optical trap' to construct a version of Tetris that measures 25 x 20 micrometers. Blocks are constructed from tiny glass beads and all the action takes place in a waterdrop under a microscope. Considering the equipment needed, this must not only be the smallest, but also the most expensive Tetris clone around. A short description and a movie can be found here."
Uh-huh (Score:5, Interesting)
--trb
Re:Uh-huh (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Uh-huh (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Uh-huh (Score:1)
If women have more... (Score:1)
Not a bad troll. (Score:5, Funny)
Nice opening, sounds pretty reasonable.
But I'm a little concerned about the "expensive" part. For those who aren't familiar with the Dutch language, I can tell you that "vrije" (as in "Amsterdam Vrije Universiteit") means "free." That is, it's a university without tuition, funded by socialist tax policies (this is very common in Europe).
Believable, possibly true. If it's actually false, you've made a fairly safe assumption that most people aren't going to look that up and verify it themselves.
My concern, then, is that taxpayer money (albeit that of Dutchmen) is being squandled on playing video games through binoculars.
Not bad at all. Leave it to the people who reply to your post to point out your failure to understand that the tetris game was just a proof of concept of some incredible miniaturization technology, as opposed to just a video game.
You might want to ignore this, thinking that it couldn't possible affect any of us, here in the USA. But remember that none of those countries have any kind of military power or weapons, so they have to rely on us to protect them.
Very good. By implying that American taxpayers are indirectly funding their highly expensive video games, you're smoothly transitioning into a ridiculous assertion, while maintaining the appearence of reason.
While we spend billions a year developing weapons that protect their easy lives of cheese and pornography, they waste their euros playing with the world's tiniest joystick.
Here's where you falter. The "cheese and pornography" bit is a rude stereotype, which tears down most of the work you've done toward building the belief that you're a thoughtful individual with an opinion worthy of consideration.
It's disgraceful to Science, and we should not tolerate it.
Not too bad, but a bit too strong in comparison to your intro.
Overall grade: B
You were doing pretty well up to the cheese and porno bit. The real trick is to be inflammatory while maintaining the appearance of courtesy, which you didn't quite pull off here. Keep at it!
Re:Not a bad troll. (Score:2)
Re:Not a bad troll. (Score:1)
Very impressive.
I stopped reading right around where it was implied that the rest of the world is powerless to defend themselves, but Kudos to you for going all the way.
Are you planing to do this to every troll on Slashdot, or is this more of a hobby?
Re:another victory for Science? (Score:2)
That's completely wrong (Score:1)
You couldn't be further from the truth: the "vrije" in "Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam" (that's what it's called) in fact reflects its historical beginnings as a break-away Protestant university, unfettered by curricular demands imposed by the government.
Okay... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Okay... (Score:4, Funny)
Bless you! (Score:2, Funny)
Watch the movie until the end. What happened? Did the player sneeze?
Re:Bless you! (Score:2, Informative)
Sneezing is not enough to accomplish this effect; however, if you bang against the microscope that will be very visible.
(This is a note from one of the makers.)
Yes, but, (Score:1)
Also: What if you sneeze?
Those Euro's sure are crafty. (Score:3, Funny)
It's almost a natural progression. Develop technology. Make game. Make porn.
Factor in the European influence and you have a bonafide gurantee of porn right?
Re:Those Euro's sure are crafty. (Score:1)
1) Develop new technology
2) Make weapon with new technology
3) ???
4) Blood and dead bodies everywhere!
If you want the videos (Score:3, Informative)
If you have Shareaza, simply click here [magnet].
Or just copy and paste:
magnet:?xt=urn:bitprint:J3WTV5XMF2RG2F4V46WPXBY
Get rid of the TM and you're A-OK (Score:1)
Or is that blatant theft of intellectual property?
Unless the Netherlands recognizes a patent on falling tetramino games that the United States doesn't, the only government-granted monopoly that encumbers a falling tetramino game developed based on observation of the behavior of Tetris products is the trademark on "TETRIS" [everything2.com]. Once the students remove any association with the Tetris brand, they are in the clear.
Re:Get rid of the TM and you're A-OK (Score:1)
glass microspheres (Score:3, Interesting)
An example If you pour some on a glass of water (they float), they form a skin on top of the water.. you can then stick your finger down into the water, and withdraw it without your finger getting wet.
Mirror (Score:3, Informative)
Tetris (rm) [mrhostbot.com]
Mirror provided by Mr HOSTBOT [mrhostbot.com]
Slashdot indicator (Score:2, Interesting)
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Wow (Score:1)