New paper airplane world record set by former Cal quarterback.
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
T Rex Had Strongest Bite Ever
Study: "T. rex had the strongest bite, ever".
Past studies estimated the T. rex's biting force to be as powerful as 13,400 Newtons (3,012 lbs). However, the new British study, which tested a wider range of muscles, found the biting force was more likely between 35,000 (7,868 lbs) and 57,000 Newtons (12,814 lbs) in a single rear tooth.(Via Don S.)
"That's equivalent to a medium-sized elephant sitting on you." Dr Bates told the BBC.
The human biting force is typically less than 1,000 Newtons.
Financial Math and HIV Vaccine
Using financial mathematics for discovering HIV vaccine?
More info here and this WSJ article from last year.
More info here and this WSJ article from last year.
Thumb-Sized Linux Computer
"Linux computer the size of a thumb drive now available for preorder". (Via B.A.)
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Twitter Selling Old Tweets
Twitter is selling your 2-year old Tweets to market research firms.
Just remember, if you're receiving a service like Twitter or Facebook for free, you're probably the product not the customer.
Just remember, if you're receiving a service like Twitter or Facebook for free, you're probably the product not the customer.
Monday, February 27, 2012
Wine Tasting Fallacies
This recent Freakonomics podcast discusses how much our perception of a wine's quality is biased by our (correct or incorrect) belief about its price.
A tidbit from one of the blind taste tests:
A tidbit from one of the blind taste tests:
Levitt used four decanters. Into the first decanter, he poured one of the expensive bottles of wine. The other expensive wine went into decanter number two. In the third decanter, he poured the cheap wine, which cost around $8. In the fourth decanter, he repeated one of the expensive wines...(If you don't want to listen to the MP3 file, you can click on the button at the bottom of the page marked "Audio Transcript".)
LEVITT: The data could not have cooperated more completely with my hypothesis. So for starters the four wines received almost identical ratings on average. Although there were a wide spread among individuals, on average, tallied up, people did not prefer the expensive wines to the cheap wine.
On top of that, and this was the thing that I was hoping for and dreaming of but didn’t believe would actually come true: It turned out among individuals if you compared how differently they rated any two of the wines that they had, it turned out that by a small margin, people actually rated the same wine from the same bottle but presented in a different decanter as being the most different among the two wines.
So the two wines that were absolutely identical, when you looked at the gap between the ratings that an individual gave to those wines, the gap was bigger than they did between the other wines, which actually were different.
Classy Turtledove
Author Harry Turtledove tells terminally-ill fan how his book series will end and sends him advance copy of the latest volume in the series.
Nomadic Planets?
Is the galaxy teeming with nomadic planets (planets that don’t actually orbit any star)?
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Making Sudafed From Meth
Tweet of the day: "US crackdown on crystal meth means Sudafed is hard to buy. But meth is easy to buy; here's how to make Sudafed from it"
Direct link to article (PDF): "A Simple and Convenient Synthesis of Pseudoephedrine From N-Methylamphetamine"
Direct link to article (PDF): "A Simple and Convenient Synthesis of Pseudoephedrine From N-Methylamphetamine"
Teller Reveals His Secrets
Teller (of Penn & Teller) writes about how magicians manipulate the human mind.
Police Search Tips
"5 Reasons You Should Never Agree to a Police Search (Even if You Have Nothing to Hide)"
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Fifth Amendment Protects Suspects from Having to Decrypt Hard Drives
WSJ: "Fifth Amendment Protects Suspects from Having to Decrypt Hard Drives"
From the article:
From the article:
The Fifth Amendment privilege isn't triggered when the government merely compels some physical act, like unlocking a safe-deposit box, the court said. But the amendment protects testimony in which a person is forced to use "the contents of his own mind" to state a fact.On the other hand, we have this story from a similar Colorado case: "Ruling Stands: Defendant Must Decrypt Laptop"
"We conclude that the decryption and production would be tantamount to testimony by Doe of his knowledge of the existence and location of potentially incriminating files; of his possession, control, and access to the encrypted portions of the drives; and of his capability to decrypt the files," wrote Judge Gerald Bard Tjoflat...
The Myth of the Eight-Hour Sleep
Humans used to sleep in two separate 4-hour chunks separated by 1-2 hours of wakefulness rather than a single 8-hour block.
20 iPhone Tips and Tricks
"20 iPhone tips and tricks everyone should know".
I'll have to see if I like the British or Australian-accented Siri better than the standard American version.
I'll have to see if I like the British or Australian-accented Siri better than the standard American version.
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Is Colorblindness An Evolutionary Advantage?
"Is colorblindness an evolutionary advantage?" Short answer: Sometimes, yes.
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Successful Elements of Online Dating Profiles
"5 research based tips for creating an online dating profile that gets results"
Regional Names For Dust Bunnies
Ryan Sager notes there are "at least 174 names by which Americans call these bits of fluff, including bunny tails, frog hair, cussywop, woofinpoofs and -- perhaps most evocatively -- ghost manure."
Monday, February 20, 2012
Turing On Tiger Stripes
"Scientists confirm Alan Turing’s 60-year-old theory for why tigers have stripes"
Asian Cinema's 20 Greatest Fight Scenes
"Asian Cinema's 20 Greatest Fight Scenes". (Via @debbywitt.)
Sunday, February 19, 2012
The Mathematical Equation That Caused the Banks to Crash
"The mathematical equation that caused the banks to crash".
I found the article informative, but the title a bit misleading. As the article notes, the problem was not the Black-Scholes equation per se, but rather how it was misused when inappropriate to circumstances. (Something true for many tools, such as guns or computers.)
Update: Reader B.E. pointed me towards this article arguing that, "Black-Scholes Didn't Cause the Financial Crash".
Update: Reader C.S. pointed me towards companion information about the Nova story, "Trillion Dollar Bet". One could reasonably infer a position somewhere between the two sources cited above.
I found the article informative, but the title a bit misleading. As the article notes, the problem was not the Black-Scholes equation per se, but rather how it was misused when inappropriate to circumstances. (Something true for many tools, such as guns or computers.)
Update: Reader B.E. pointed me towards this article arguing that, "Black-Scholes Didn't Cause the Financial Crash".
Update: Reader C.S. pointed me towards companion information about the Nova story, "Trillion Dollar Bet". One could reasonably infer a position somewhere between the two sources cited above.
Internet On, Inhibitions Off: Why We Tell All
Matt Ridley: "Internet On, Inhibitions Off: Why We Tell All". (Via Ryan Sager.)
Saturday, February 18, 2012
Customer Reviews of Relaxman Relaxation Capsule
The customer reviews of the "Relaxman Relaxation Capsule" are hysterical. (Via Rand Simberg.)
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Wow Signal and SETI
"The 'Wow!' Signal: One Man's Search for SETI's Most Tantalizing Trace of Alien Life"
The Math of DNA Matching
Mathematician Keith Devlin has a nice rant about the misuse of math in claims about DNA matching.
Here's his follow-up post, "Bad Math, Bad Thinking: the BMI and DNA Identification Revisited".
Here's his follow-up post, "Bad Math, Bad Thinking: the BMI and DNA Identification Revisited".
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
1989 Radio Shack Cell Phone Commercial
1989 Radio Shack cell phone commercial. OMG, that thing was enormous:
(H/T: Mark Perry, who notes, "In today's dollars, the $799 sale price would be about $1,450, and the full price of $1,139 would be more than $2,000.")
(H/T: Mark Perry, who notes, "In today's dollars, the $799 sale price would be about $1,450, and the full price of $1,139 would be more than $2,000.")
Chemist Uses Google Algorithm to Determine Molecular Structures
"A Chemist Uses Google's Algorithm to Determine the Structure of Molecules"
The Economist on Audio Compression
The Economist has a nice article on lossy vs. lossless audio compression algorithms.
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
'Invisibility' Cloak Could Protect Buildings from Earthquakes
"'Invisibility' Cloak Could Protect Buildings from Earthquakes".
This is adapting the technique to elastic waves in solid media, as opposed to light waves. (Via Z.B.)
This is adapting the technique to elastic waves in solid media, as opposed to light waves. (Via Z.B.)
Every Odd Integer Larger Than 1 is the Sum of At Most Five Primes
New number theory result from UCLA math professor Terence Tao: "Every odd integer larger than 1 is the sum of at most five primes".
Here's the ArXiv link. (Via @reidatcheson.)
Here's the ArXiv link. (Via @reidatcheson.)
Monday, February 13, 2012
Can You Do This with Your Bic Pen?
"Can You Do This with Your Bic Pen?"
Awesome drawings done with nothing but a classic Bic Pen. It's the artist, not the tool.
Awesome drawings done with nothing but a classic Bic Pen. It's the artist, not the tool.
Sunday, February 12, 2012
WSJ: A Car That Tweets
"Don't Look Now: A Car That Tweets" (Wall Street Journal, 2/10/2012).
I like progress as much as the next person, but I must confessed to a mixed reaction to cars that allow you to do hands-free Twitter and Facebook at 65 mph. From the article:
I like progress as much as the next person, but I must confessed to a mixed reaction to cars that allow you to do hands-free Twitter and Facebook at 65 mph. From the article:
Customers say they love the electronics. "I like the way it looks," said Jamie Kaye Walters, 38, a television production company executive who recently bought a 2012 Ford with the Sync system. "It's a little bit distracting, but it kind of allows me to do work while I am driving without having to look down at my phone. I can do the whole thing with voice activation."Um, if doing your work is "distracting", maybe you shouldn't be doing it while driving...
Nerdiest Sports Handshake
What happens when a Stanford grad and a Harvard grad become teammates in the NBA? The nerdiest handshake in pro sports:
(Via Buzzfeed.)
(Via Buzzfeed.)
Saturday, February 11, 2012
Burglar Unclear On the Concept
"Man breaks into South Bend home, vacuums and folds laundry".
Or as his fellow inmates will likely explain to him, "You're doing it wrong". (Via @mcgroarty.)
Or as his fellow inmates will likely explain to him, "You're doing it wrong". (Via @mcgroarty.)
Thursday, February 09, 2012
A Black Hole Brings New Stars To Life
"Astrophysicists have identified a black hole that's causing new stars to form".
Shameless plug: I enjoy reading Alex Knapp's science/technology blog at Forbes.
Shameless plug: I enjoy reading Alex Knapp's science/technology blog at Forbes.
Gene Therapy Restores Vision in Both Eyes
"Two doses of gene therapy restore vision to three women who were born nearly blind"
Siri and the Scottish Accent
The LA Times reports: "The iPhone's Siri doesn't seem so smart in Scotland".
Here's a related (parody) video:
Here's a related (parody) video:
Wednesday, February 08, 2012
CCTV Police Officer 'Chased Himself' After Being Mistaken For Burglar
"CCTV police officer 'chased himself' after being mistaken for burglar". (Via SDW.)
When Did the Middle Finger Become Offensive?
"When did the middle finger become offensive?" (Via MeFi.)
Dickens Stories in 140 Character Tweets
"What if Charles Dickens and his characters had written for Twitter?" (Via VAViper.)
Tuesday, February 07, 2012
"Rise in student plagiarism cases attributed to blurred lines of digital world".
I think some of the plagiarism can be explained by students not understanding principles of proper attribution. But a lot also seems due to willful misconduct, such as:
I think some of the plagiarism can be explained by students not understanding principles of proper attribution. But a lot also seems due to willful misconduct, such as:
It was a beautiful piece. But with a stunning lack of originality, the student titled it "Imagine."
"It was the song by John Lennon," [English teacher Steve] Schriener recalls. "I said, 'Honestly, I was born in 1957; do you think I don't know the Beatles?'
"He just said, 'I was hoping you didn't.'"
If you're an evil Middle Eastern dictator, don't use "12345" as your e-mail password.
Unless, of course, you want to emulate "Spaceballs".
Unless, of course, you want to emulate "Spaceballs".
When is it Okay to Use GPS Trackers?
When is it legally okay to use GPS trackers? A quick summary:
Tracking a vehicle you own yourself is usually but not always legalRead the full piece for more details. (Via @internetcases.)
Phone tracking for public employees is fair game
New technology means law is still unsettled as to what constitutes normal expectations of privacy
Monday, February 06, 2012
Straight Dope Discusses Light Bulb Ban
"Why are eco-fascists trying to ban incandescent bulbs?"
I'm pleasantly surprised that Cecil Adams made the point that the ban was a "pointless intrusion" of his individual rights (in addition to having negligible "green" benefit for those who value such things).
I'm pleasantly surprised that Cecil Adams made the point that the ban was a "pointless intrusion" of his individual rights (in addition to having negligible "green" benefit for those who value such things).
Army’s New Standard Issue Individual First Aid Kit
"Army's New Standard Issue Individual First Aid Kit"
How One Man Played 'Moneyball' With 'Jeopardy!'
"How One Man Played 'Moneyball' With 'Jeopardy!'". (Via Eric Barker.)
Rapid Nerve Repair
"New procedure repairs severed nerves in minutes, restoring limb use in days or weeks"
Sunday, February 05, 2012
How Does Fire Burn Differently In Space?
"Experiment Investigates How to Fight Fire in Space". (Via @TheAlexKnapp.)
What Happens to the Losing Team’s Championship Shirts?
"What Happens to the Losing Team's Championship Shirts?"
Short answer: They are donated to a charity that sends them overseas to various Third World countries. (I must admit, it would be cool to own 4 consecutive years worth of "Buffalo Bills Super Bowl Champions" t-shirts.)
Short answer: They are donated to a charity that sends them overseas to various Third World countries. (I must admit, it would be cool to own 4 consecutive years worth of "Buffalo Bills Super Bowl Champions" t-shirts.)
Saturday, February 04, 2012
Thursday, February 02, 2012
Sex On First Date More Likely For Android Users
"Sex on first date more likely for Android users".
Sure, but you're also more likely to get some sort of "malware" as well... (Via @debbywitt.)
Sure, but you're also more likely to get some sort of "malware" as well... (Via @debbywitt.)
Marco Arment on the App Economy
NPR's "Planet Money" podcast had a good interview with Instapaper founder Marco Arment on the App Economy.
Arment has a very simple and effective business model -- he sells stuff to people for more than it costs him. And he does "very well" with this approach!
Arment has a very simple and effective business model -- he sells stuff to people for more than it costs him. And he does "very well" with this approach!
Wednesday, February 01, 2012
Chinese Workers Line Up To Be "Exploited" By Apple
"Thousands Of Hopefuls Line Up For Foxconn Jobs In China As Factory Ramps Up iPhone 5 Production"
New Membrane Blocks Helium, Yet Allow Water To Flow Freely
"New membrane can block helium, yet allow water to flow freely"
Do I Really Need to Eject USB Drives Before Removing Them?
"Do I Really Need to Eject USB Drives Before Removing Them?"