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| The Sydney Harbour Bridge before/after (right) |
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| photos by TIM WIMBORNE/REUTERS |
Earth Hour Around the World
Los Angeles Free-ways
The Freeway Service Patrol, funded by a proposition that passed in 1990 (I know, long time ago, but maybe the service has been around for a while and we just never knew about it?), helps stranded motorists gratis. Just dial #399 or call from a freeway call box (and thanks to Francine for getting the word out): http://www.metro.net/projects/fsp/
What Some People Do
As a member of Amnesty International, I received an Urgent Action letter about one Jenni Williams, founder of Women and Men of Zimbabwe Arise. I didn't know anything about her, so I looked her up. A courageous and impressive woman indeed: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/may/10/jenni-williams-freedom-campaigner
Afternoon Delight
Now, these are happy cows! (video): http://www.ciwf.org.uk/farm_animals/cows/dairy_cows/dancing_cows.aspx
Street Sleeper
Designers in Detroit are creating solutions for the homeless population, like a bag that turns into a shoe and a water- and wind-resistant coat that turns into a sleeping bag: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/01/fashion/young-designers-focus-efforts-on-homeless-population-in-detroit.html?pagewanted=1&_r=2&sq=empowerment%20plan&st=cse&scp=1
15 Minutes
Hollywood auditions for a black cat, 1961: http://images.google.com/hosted/life/l?imgurl=140409a15b2d578
published in Life magazine; photos by Ralph Crane
Time To Sleep
Apparently, it is not the amount of sleep we get in middle age that has the greatest effect on our brain's ability to function, but whether that amount has changed substantially over the years: http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2011/may/02/sleep-changes-loss-brain-power?INTCMP=ILCNETTXT3487
On the Brain
An interview with Jonah Lehrer, author of Proust Was a Neuroscientist, reveals some interesting factoids (disclaimer: I have not fact-checked them). Did you know, for example, that when jazz musicians are improvising, scans show, they "turn off" the part of the brain that restrains us ~ the superego part, if you will (my words)?: http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-morrison-lehrer-20120401,0,1199318,full.column
Is Kevin Costner To Blame?
Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones ~ why is everyone speaking with a British accent?: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-17554816
Drive, Baby, Drive
Google's car uses radar and GPS to drive itself ~ and its blind passenger, in this case, to Taco Bell and the dry cleaner's (story and awesome video): http://www.wptv.com/dpp/news/science_tech/google-self-driving-car-takes-blind-man-steve-mahan-to-taco-bell-in-youtube-video
Earth Hour ~ Saturday, March 31
You Say πατάτα, and I Say Potato
The Greeks are responding to their personal financial crises with charity, barter, and innovation (story and video): http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/mar/27/greece-breadline-potato-movement-eurozone-crisis?INTCMP=SRCH
Americans Abroad
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness.” —Mark Twain
One of 10 Ideas: A Defense Strategy for the Global Generation from the Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute is to make it easier and more affordable for students to study abroad: http://www.newdeal20.org/2012/03/28/sponsoring-study-abroad-the-most-cost-effective-foreign-policy-tool-75207/
One of 10 Ideas: A Defense Strategy for the Global Generation from the Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute is to make it easier and more affordable for students to study abroad: http://www.newdeal20.org/2012/03/28/sponsoring-study-abroad-the-most-cost-effective-foreign-policy-tool-75207/
Red-Hot Cash
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| Volunteers distribute briquettes Laszlo Balogh, Reuters |
Move to the (Heart)Beat
Trust them Brits to come up with a memorable ad (aka "advert") that teaches the best way to perform CPR and save lives (video): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILxjxfB4zNk&feature=player_embedded#!
Cups and Caboodle
How quickly can you stack 12 cups into a pyramid? How about 1.93 seconds? If so, you could have won the 2012 championship in Tokyo (story and video): http://www.reuters.com/video/2012/03/26/cup-stacking-a-lightning-speed-sport?videoId=232326877
Cloning Around
A graphic detailing the milestones of cloning, from the tadpole in the 1950s to the cow that makes quasi-human milk in 2011: http://static.bbc.co.uk/wwfuture/img/ic/original/images/live/p0/0p/kb/p00pkbsv.jpg
Nature's Child
More and more parents are choosing natural products for their babies and children: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/29/fashion/beauty-products-for-babies.html?_r=3&pagewanted=1&ref=cosmeticsandtoiletries
You Must Remember This
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| Winner Nelson Dellis ©Don Emmert/AFP/Getty Images |
Math Notes
A new study shows the benefits of teaching fractions by way of music: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/03/120322100209.htm
Kid Critic
Let's say you're a kid (or traveling with one) and you wanna know where to eat in New York City. Zagat won't really tell you, the Guide Michelin won't really tell you. No one will tell you quite like a kid tells you. And that's where David Pines steps in. Best buffalo wings, btw? Atomic Wings (there are three, on Broadway, 9th, and 2nd ~ you're welcome): http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/eats/david-pines-12-publishes-a-kid-guide-best-restaurants-york-article-1.1048125
The Thing About This Ring ...
... is that it was made entirely out of one 150-carat diamond ~ and it can be yours for about $68 million (story and video): http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/fashion/diamond-ring-made-bling-150-carat-bauble-fetch-68m-article-1.1049818?localLinksEnabled=false
Survivor
Juliane Koepcke tells the fascinating and heartrending story of her survival after a plane crash in the Peruvian rainforest 42 years ago: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-17476615
The Truffle Kerfuffle
Ah, the mighty truffle. Unattractive, reclusive, and yet somehow wildly popular. Fans may be thrilled to know they can be found all over the world: http://www.bbc.com/travel/blog/20120322-travelwise-hunting-for-the-worlds-most-expensive-fungus
Jim Yong Who?
We know he's the president of Dartmouth, but besides that, who, exactly, is Jim Yong Kim, President Obama's nominee to head the World Bank?: http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/americas/120323/jim-yong-kim-world-bank
Now THAT'S Entertainment!
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| Elvis would have loved it. |
Room To Move
For more pix and a video: http://www.doubleback.co.uk/
It's About Time
ChronoZoom, now out in beta version, is a zoomable, clickable history of time across the universe. It was dreamed up by a UC Berkeley student while in a class on Big History (video): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwQCM4uztZY&feature=player_embedded#!
Worldwide Weddings
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Jamal Nasrallah / AFP/Getty Images
There are many different ways to get married (slideshow): http://www.globalpost.com/photo-galleries/5675324/how-the-world-gets-married-photos
South African president Jacob Zuma and his bride, Tobeka Madiba, dance in a Zulu ceremony, January 2010, Nkandla, South Aftica
Rajesh Jantilal/AFP/Getty Images
YA Power
Harry Potter, The Hunger Games ~ Young Adult literature is having an incredible influence over its readers, and much of that influence is pointing fans in the direction of activism and community service: http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/03/21/from-young-adult-book-fans-to-wizards-of-change/?scp=2&sq=harry%20potter&st=cse
Prisoner to Paliamentarian?
A former political prisoner is running for parliament in Burma/Myanmar: http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/asia-pacific/120319/burma-myanmar-elections-ex-political-prisoner-sandar-min
A Scroll Through Space
A fantastic infographic showing the true vastness of space. Printed out, it would take up 27 pages ~ and that's only to the edge of our solar system!: http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20120321-how-big-is-space
Capturing Change in Cuba
Photographers Chip Cooper (from Alabama) and Néstor Martí (from Cuba) talk about the Cuba they saw and photographed ~ a Cuba in transition, a Cuba on the edge of great change ~ for their book Old Havana/La Habana Vieja (story and video): http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-17461904
ALL the Amenities
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| Backyard baseball diamond, Castle Rock, Colorado |
Curious Minds Want To Know
Paul Allen (yes, he of Microsoft fame) is fascinated by "what makes us human" ~ $500 million worth of fascinated: http://www.forbes.com/sites/matthewherper/2012/03/21/billionaire-paul-g-allen-donates-300-million-in-brain-research-to-understand-what-makes-us-human/
The Color of Creativity
Several new studies all point to the same conclusion ~ that the color green spurs creativity: http://www.miller-mccune.com/culture/a-flash-of-green-enhances-creativity-40483/
Greeks Bearing High-Tech Gifts
Tech entrepreneurs in Greece are hoping their field will lead the country out of its financial morass: http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20120321-greek-geeks-seek-hi-tech-recovery/1
Earhart 75 Years Later
New evidence may point the way to finally solving the mystery of aviator Amelia Earhart's disappearance: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57400586/amelia-earhart-mystery-attracts-hillary-clinton/
Einstein Online
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, which Albert Einstein helped found, has added to its online catalog of his papers. It now includes about 80,000 documents, not just about science, but personal papers, such as letters sent and received: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/world_now/2012/03/albert-einstein-online.html
Scene From Space
Scientists using a new computer program to pore over satellite photos have discovered around 9,000 possible new archaeological sites in northeastern Syria: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-17436400
Peace & Love
A Facebook campaign started by an Israeli family exemplifies the best of what social media can do: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/envoy/israel-hearts-iran-peace-campaign-takes-off-facebook-160645131.html
A Little Slice of Pyongyang
Touted as Europe's first North Korean restaurant, Pyongyang in Amsterdam is staffed by North Koreans chosen by the North Korean government and trained at the Pyongyang Restaurant in Beijing. "We want to help patrons discover the people and the country. It has nothing to do with politics," says owner Remco van Daal: http://news.yahoo.com/europes-first-n-korean-eatery-window-pyongyang-141258387.html
Witness to History
Photographer Lewis Hine (1874-1940) fought the inhumanity of child labor in the best way he knew how, with his camera: http://www.lewishinephotographs.com/
Of this photograph, Hine noted: Norma Lawrence is 10 years old and picks from 100 to 150 pounds of
cotton a day. Drags the sack which often hold 50 pounds or more before
emptied. Location: Comanche County,
Oklahoma. Date Created/Published: 1916 October 10.
Different From You and Me
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| Holland & Knight |
Copper heiress Huguette Clark died last year (at the age of 104), but her apartments and houses, long uninhabited but still maintained, are coming to life with stories of their reclusive owner: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/20/nyregion/a-glimpse-into-huguette-clarks-manhattan-apartments.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&hp
The World at Your Fingertips
Yes, there's an app for that, and it's from NASA. "Earth Now" lets you check up on our planet's vital signs. What's more, it's free: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2012-080&cid=release_2012-080&msource=12080
A Paler Shade of Green
The pendulum continues to swing. A recent study comparing the attitudes of three generations (Baby Boomers, Gen Xers, and Millennials) suggests that the real "Me Generation" is the one born in the 1980s and 1990s: http://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2012/03/fame-giving.aspx
Eat Like a Cave(wo)man ...
(... but walk like an Egyptian.) First it was Sauvage, in Berlin. Now Copenhagen is getting its very own restaurant serving food according to the diet of our ancestors. Appropriately enough, it is called Palæo: http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2012/mar/02/fast-food-restaurant-caveman-diet-copenhagen
Painting Time
Is it a series of pictures? Is it animation? Artist Jeff Scher creates paintings that move. "When frames collide," he says, "they create this other event": http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-17321199
Within You and Without You
Yes, we are all such a miniscule part of this universe, but as Dr. Neil Degrasse Tyson points out, we are also made of it and therefore intimately connected to everything in it (thank you, Pike) (story and video): http://www.cygy.com/tv/dr-neil-degrasse-tyson-phd-the-most-astounding-fact-about-the-universe/20/
A Slightly Different Perspective
"The Little Corner" by Gilbert Legrand
Any Way You Look at It
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| Broccoli House Brock Davis |
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| Purse With Teeth Nancy Fouts |
Stimulating an Appetite for 'Hunger'
The story of how Hunger Games, the movie, has beefed up anticipation is a lesson for would-be PR execs ~ and for the rest of us whose desires they're charged with manipulating: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/19/business/media/how-hunger-games-built-up-must-see-fever.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&hpw#
Water AND Light
Refusing to follow the conventional wisdom, an NGO used solar panels to power irrigation in Benin, West Africa ~ and gave villagers electricity to boot and themselves a new direction and vehicle for change: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/energy/2012/03/120314-solar-drip-irrigation-in-benin-africa/
And So On Down the Line
If U.S. companies go to China to get things manufactured inexpensively, where do the Chinese go? Well, if they follow the lead of Great Wall Motors, it's Bulgaria: http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/europe/120302/china-new-auto-plant-bulgaria-great-wall-motors
The Man in the ... Ouch!
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| NASA/Photodisc/Getty Images |
Nature Vs. Nurture
The debate continues, but this time you can take part, by signifying your belief, reading the argument on both sides, then clicking on whether your opinion has changed. In this particular version, the focus is on genius: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/13/geniuses-born-or-made_n_1342487.html?ref=science
Apple co-founder Steve Jobs (shown here in 1984) was raised by his adoptive parents. His sister, who was raised by their shared biological parents, is a successful, award-winning author and a professor of English at UCLA.
The Wonders of Why
The awesome, inimitable late Richard Feynman, scientist par excellence, explains why he can't explain how magnets work (intro and video): http://www.npr.org/blogs/krulwich/2012/03/17/148672545/weekend-special-great-teacher-short-question-wild-answer?ps=cprs
Not So Black-and-White
There are many theories about why zebras have stripes, including one suggested about 25 years ago that the pattern repels flies. A new study shows that indeed it does: http://www.economist.com/node/21547216
Breaching the Great Wall
Westerners are discovering a new Tweeterverse ~ China's Sina Weibo, where the Golden Rule is "don’t post anything offensive religiously, politically, culturally": http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2012/02/weibo-china-twitter-chinese-microblogging-tom-cruise-201202
Calling Credits
In some countries where students don't have easy access to computers, taking a class via cell phone is the way to go: http://www.innovationnewsdaily.com/896-rural-african-kids-university-classes-cell-phones.html
Touch Typing Indeed
An app that's now being developed for smartphones and tablets uses the Braille system to allow users to type without having to look at the keyboard (story and video): http://www.innovationnewsdaily.com/894-app-development-lets-text.html
Leonardo Lost, Leonardo Found?
It's still a mystery, but it won't be for very much longer. Is there a Leonardo da Vinci mural ~ and alleged lost masterpiece ~ behind Giorgio Vasari's "Battle of Marciano" in the Hall of the 500 in the Palazzo Vecchio?: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/03/120312-leonardo-da-vinci-mural-lost-painting-florence-science-world/
The Wearin' o' the Green
A few facts, myths, and legends about St. Patrick and his day: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/03/120316-saint-patricks-day-2012-march-17-facts-ireland-irish-nation/
Man of the House
What's new at the International Home and Housewares Show? A focus on the male customer: http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2012/03/15/garden/20120315_HOUSEWARES.html
An electrical smoker, from Masterbuilt, can use wood chips ~ and the newer versions come with a remote control!
How Safe Is "Safe"?
Too bad U.S. parents can't rely on our government to protect our children ~ or ourselves. Fortunately, we now have the Internet and can do it ourselves (if we have the time and energy): http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/15/garden/going-to-extreme-lengths-to-purge-household-toxins.html?_r=1&hpw
Ooops.
The theory of relativity is relatively safe. A new experiment seems to prove that neutrinos cannot travel faster than light, as an earlier experiment had suggested: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-17364682
Where Is Everyone?
Two Stories a Day
In an allegorical reflection of the country's building boom, a city in China erects a 30-story prefab hotel in 15 days (story and video): http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-china-instant-building-20120308,0,5608518.story
Wild Footage
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| BBC |
The Rise of the Bug
Drug-resistant microbes are on the rise worldwide, according to the head of the World Health Organization (WHO), and we are close to entering a post-antibiotic age: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/health/news/article.cfm?c_id=204&objectid=10792657
More or Less Food
The average American throws away 33 pounds of food every month. Worldwide, it is estimated, 30 to 50 percent of all food produced is not consumed. What are the repercussions of such waste? They go beyond the obvious. Thinking ahead, what can be done about it?: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/03/15/us-food-summit-foodwaste-idUSBRE82D1E520120315
Not His Father's Iditarod
The Iditarod saw its youngest winner ever this year. Dallas Seavey, 25, and his dogs made the almost 1,000-mile run in 9 days, 4 hours and 29 minutes, beating his father and grandfather (and their dogs): http://www.npr.org/2012/03/13/148560429/dallas-seavey-25-becomes-youngest-iditarod-winner
Tabula Rasa All Over Again
Engineers in Britain have invented a process that removes all toner ink from a page without harming the paper. Once perfected, it could allow companies to effectively and efficiently reuse paper, which would be more environment-friendly than recycling: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-17381600
WISE Observations
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| NASA/JPL-Caltech/WISE Team |
Wow! A catalog of images and movies, with accompanying information, from the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer mission, launched in 2009: http://wise.ssl.berkeley.edu/gallery_images.html
←This is what's left of Cassiopeia A, a super-bright, massive star that exploded 11,000 years ago. The light from the event first reached Earth around 1667 C.E.
Robots Center Stage
It's Rebound Rumble time as student-designed robots strut their stuff at the 21st Los Angeles regional FIRST Robotics Competition March 15-16. It all takes place at the Long Beach Arena, it's open to the public, and admission is free. What more could you ask for?: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2012-074
Ni Hao, Xiao Hai
A BBC show for toddlers and young children has added Mandarin to the list of languages it's teaching: http://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/lingo-show/watch/1
P-R-E-C-O-C-I-O-U-S
At age 6, Lori Anne Madison will be by two years the youngest competitor in the Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee. Not that it worries her. In an interview after she won the Prince William County spelling competition, she said, "I was confident because I have been in spelling bees with older kids before, and I judge them by who they are, not about age." Oh, and that's not all: She's A-D-O-R-A-B-L-E! (story and video): http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/03/12/6-year-old-virginia-spelling-bee-champ-poised-to-compete-in-national-contest/
End (n.): Last Part
RIP
print version of Encyclopaedia Britannica
1768-2010
“Some people will feel sad about it and nostalgic about it," said Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc., president Jorge Cauz. "But we have a
better tool now. The Web site is continuously updated, it’s much more
expansive and it has multimedia.”: http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/03/13/after-244-years-encyclopaedia-britannica-stops-the-presses/?hpLike most great transitions, this one has its supporters and its detractors: http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2012/03/14/britannica-define-outdated/i-read-the-encyclopaedia-britannica-and-ill-miss-it
A New Old Human
The bones of at least five individuals found in a cave in southern China point to their being a newly discovered species of human that lived sometime between 11,500 and 14,500 years ago. Scientists are calling them the Red Deer Cave people (story and video): http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-17378498
The Dark Side of Space
A NASA study of astronauts has found that prolonged time in space can lead to eye and brain deformation: http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/business-tech/science/120313/long-space-missions-damage-astronauts-eyes-brains-study
A (Huge) Slice of Pi
In honor of Pi Day (March 14!), the story of the man who memorized pi to 67,890 decimal places ~ all hail Chao Lu!: http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/339136/title/Pi_master%E2%80%99s_storied_recall
Across Sudan
Photographer Tim McKulka traveled throughout Sudan for five years. He saw it when it was the largest country in Africa and after the referendum that split it in two (audio with slideshow): http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-17339798
And the Winners Are ...
Nithin Tumma, 17, who figured out how a protein helps cancer hide from the body's immune system ... Andrey Sushko, also 17, who invented a motor that is powered by water's surface tension ... and all the teens whose exceptional work won them top prizes in the 2012 Intel Talent Science Search: http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/339145/title/Teens_win_big_at_science_competition
Deep in Nomads' Land
Recent finds of jewelry and other artifacts from as early as the 8th Century B.C.E. may show that ancient nomadic tribes were no less sophisticated than their more rooted brethren: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/13/science/from-their-graves-ancient-nomads-speak.html?hp
Kids Have Until April 1
That's the deadline to register for the Google Science Fair: http://www.google.com/events/sciencefair/
Going Down
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| Brook Rushton, DEEPSEA CHALLENGE |
Der Bunker in Der Forest
FWIW, Hitler had a bunker deep in the forests of central Ukraine, too: http://www.bbc.com/travel/blog/20120308-hitlers-ukrainian-bunker-revealed
Adventures in Art
"I slapped the morning paper down on my desk as the sirens wailed outside." An awesome interactive site in which you help detective A. Pintura solve "The Case of Grandpa's Painting" ~ and learn a little something about art history while you're at it: http://www.eduweb.com/pintura/
Wave of Inventions
In answer to the destruction, misery, and loss of life caused by last year's tsunami, Japanese inventors are coming up with novel ways to survive, including Noah, a pod designed to allow four people to ride out a giant wave: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44854100/ns/technology_and_science-innovation/t/noah-may-mean-difference-between-life-death/#.T14LqiOLAmw
And Speaking of Languages ...
Sixteen-year-old Tim Doner started with Hebrew, then went on to Arabic, Russian, Italian, Persian, Swahili, Indonesian, Hindi, Ojibwe, Pashto,
Turkish, Hausa, Kurdish, Yiddish, Dutch, Croatian and German before finally finding an online family of like-minded language lovers (story and video): http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/11/nyregion/a-teenage-master-of-languages-finds-online-fellowship.html?_r=1&hp
That Was Then, This Is Now
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| Sendai both photos Toru Yamanaka/Agence France-Presse—Getty Images |
Shuttle on a String
In tribute to the Space Shuttle, Romanian Raul Oaida launched a Lego replica attached to a helium balloon. Together, they ascended to 35,000 meters (about 21 miles) above Earth, with a camera recording the flight (video): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bluQ4eOeBwo
Learn the Language
A new app is said to translate while helping you learn a new language ~ for free. At this point, the only languages available are English, German, and Spanish (with French, Italian, and Chinese to come), and users are being added from a waiting list: http://duolingo.com/
Suspended on a Sunbeam
"There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world." ~ Carl Sagan, reading from his book Pale Blue Dot
(video): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p86BPM1GV8M&feature=related
(video): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p86BPM1GV8M&feature=related
Travel Tips
How much should you tip a server in China? Nothing! How about in Italy? Not over 10%. What you should know about tipping around the world: http://www.mint.com/blog/goals/tipping-abroad-03022011/?display=wide
Making Change
From the flush toilet to penicillin, ten of the world's top life-changing innovations, at least according to Innovation News Daily (did you know that 5,000 years ago the people of Pakistan and the Orkney Islands had toilets linked to public drainage systems?): http://www.innovationnewsdaily.com/92-ten-life-changing-inventions-.html
One After Another
Photographer Elliott Erwitt talks about how he got the idea of using several pictures shot in sequence to tell a story and how he does it (story, video): http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-17295728
Here Comes the Sun (Storm)
A huge solar flare is traveling our way and may disrupt cell phones and other electronics, like GPSs ~ but it will also lead to auroras (story, video): http://www.weather.com/outlook/weather-news/news/articles/sunspot-1429-solar-flare_2012-03-07
I'm Looking Through You
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| © 2009 Satre Stuelke LLC |
As a student, Satre Stuelke mixed medical science with art and X-rayed common objects to show their hidden side. He is now a radiology intern and presumably doesn't have time for such frivolity anymore!: http://radiologyart.com/
Redrum? Red Door!
A study of 2,000 individuals concluded that those who have red front doors are the happiest: http://newslite.tv/2012/03/06/people-who-live-behind-a-red-d.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+newslite+%28Newslite%3A+Weird+News%29
Burning Curiosity
Together with Stony Brook University in New York, actor Alan Alda has created a contest in which 11-year-olds judge which is the best definition of certain phenomena among those suggested by scientists and others. There are two parts to the contest. The first is for those who want to answer the current question, which is, What is a flame? The second is for the 11-year-old judges, who will vote on the best answer: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/06/science/alan-aldas-challenge-to-make-science-easier-to-understand.html?_r=1
Artificial Appendages
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| Prosthetic toe, Egypt Science Museum |
Higgs Can Run, But ...
The search for the God particle continues, but data from the now-closed Tevatron accelarator suggest that U.S. scientists might have caught a glimpse of it: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-17269647
Car Care
He bought a $9,000 car kit, and several more thousand dollars and six years (including the year he didn't touch it because he was so frustrated) later, he had it: a three-wheel, two-seat, 900-pound roadster: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/04/automobiles/collectibles/Auto-Ego-Kit-With-Few-Instructions-Inspires-an-Improv-Act.html?_r=1&hp=&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1331103755-qTOVK9PmlcGY/kh+2So2vg
Travel Much?
A list of all the best places you probably never thought about visiting: http://www.bbc.com/travel/feature/20120306-unsung-places-of-the-world
Shadow Floor Show
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| Dancers: Mahogany, Stainless Steel, Acrylic |
John V. Muntean carves sculptures whose shadows change depending on their angle under the light (slideshow, video): http://jvmuntean.com/index.html
Who Let the Dogs Out?
Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid
"The U.S. legal system, which still applies to you and me, really no longer applies to the national-security state." An interview with Tom Engelhardt, author of The United States of Fear: http://www.harpers.org/archive/2012/03/hbc-90008462
The Sound of Spiders Spinning
A researcher in Japan has spun a set of violin strings from the silk strands of more than 300 golden orb-weaver spiders (story and audio): http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-17232058
Hacking Through the Years
"Hacking" wasn't always a bad word. The first hackers were college students playing pranks, and their hacks were, for the most part, clever and witty. Flash forward a few decades, and hacking has evolved ~ or devolved ~ into something much more sinister and with much more at stake: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-13686141
A Week in the Life of a Joke
What makes a good joke? Lots of work, editing, opinion-taking, and practice, practice, practice: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/06/arts/television/myq-kaplan-gives-birth-to-a-stand-up-joke.html?_r=1&src=dayp
Listen to Your Nucleus Accumbens
Research is showing that 19 nerve cells deep in your brain are making financial decisions an amazing 2.8 seconds before the rest of your brain realizes it: http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/338780/title/Brain_cells_know_which_way_youll_bet
Double Vision
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| photo by Jodi Cobb |
What is it about twins, especially identical twins, that attracts us so much? Whatever it is, this slideshow will only build upon the fascination: http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2012/01/twins/cobb-schoeller-photography#/01-truckers-don-dave-wolf-670.jpg
Typed Verse
Poet Kathleen Rooney expounds upon her (and Dave Landsberger and Eric Plattner's) project, Poems While You Wait: http://www.poetryfoundation.org/article/243492#article
Sustainable Kitchen
A design for a "natural kitchen" in which the various steps of the food-preparation process feed each other: http://studiogorm.com/cms/flow-kitchen/
Next Gen: China
China is getting ready for new leaders. Who are the people to watch?: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-17217513
Loving Pets ~ A LOT!
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| Stella & Shoshin (not pictured: Eddy & Neville) |
Know Poe
Here's a great interactive website all about Edgar Allan Poe and his works, including an annotated Raven and the story of the mysterious Poe Toaster: http://knowingpoe.thinkport.org/default_flash.asp
Tiny Is the New Big
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| Green House, Wisconsin TinyHouseListings.com |
Readers Are Leaders
From The Age of Innocence to Wuthering Heights, A Doll's House to A Winter's Tale, The Aeneid to Words for Music, and The 1,000,000 Pound Bank-Note to Zinotchka, books, plays, poems, and short stories at your fingertips ~ for free: http://www.bibliomania.com/
Psychedelic, Man!
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| Screen Shot |
FYI
Three tidbits of basically irrelevant yet somehow still interesting information about dessert, comedians, and feet: http://www.miller-mccune.com/culture/great-dessert-depends-on-the-plate-39929/
Light Up My Life
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| Screengrab. East Martin Michigan. Oct. 24, 2011 |
SHUT UP!!!!
Japanese researchers have built what is being described as a speech-jamming device ~ it's quite simple, based on a basic psychological principle, and it works!: http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/arxiv/27620/?ref=rss
See it in action ~ sort of ... (video): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USDI3wnTZZg&feature=player_embedded
See it in action ~ sort of ... (video): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USDI3wnTZZg&feature=player_embedded
All in the Family
Irish author Colm Tóibín talks about the influences, positive and negative, that family relationships have on writers, including W.B. Yeats, Thomas Mann, and Barack Obama (audio): http://www.economist.com/blogs/prospero/2012/02/writers-and-their-families
When You Gotta Go ...
"You almost cannot have too many bathrooms." So says real estate agent Boyd Smith, whose territory includes Pasadena and La Cañada Flintridge. And what bathrooms they are: one for each room, his and hers in the master, steam showers, chandeliers and floor lamps, and bubble massages in the oversize tub: http://www.latimes.com/business/realestate/la-fi-many-bathrooms-20120303,0,1145278.story?page=1
BIL Occupies TED
And now, a TED for the 99%! It's the BIL Conference (http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-et-guidefeature-20120303,0,540491.story), streaming live March 3-4 from the Queen Mary in Long Beach: http://www.bilconference.com/
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