Halloween Costume

Yes.

 

Ars Technica Likes iPhone 12

Ars Technica: "iPhone 12 and 12 Pro double review: 5G aside, this is a huge step up"

Hsieh Forbes Column: Three Covid-19 Success Stories

My latest Forbes piece is now out: "Three Covid-19 Success Stories".

We can learn from places and organizations that have been able to limit the spread of the virus. 

Green Puppy

BBC: "Rare green puppy 'Pistachio' born in Italy"

 

Space War

"This is what 'war in space' probably would look like in the near future"

Programmers And Time

"Falsehoods programmers believe about time"

Super-White Paint

"You've Heard of Vantablack. Scientists Just Created 'Super White', And It's Very Cool". (Via H.R.)

Calming Colors

"The Surprising Power of Color to Ease Quarantine Anxiety"

Bartering From Thread To House

"Osaka bartering project turns thread into house through series of trades"

Facebook PreparesPossible Election Unrest

WSJ: "Facebook Prepares Measures for Possible Election Unrest"

The potential moves include an across-the-board slowing of the spread of posts as they start to go viral and tweaking the news feed to change what types of content users see, the people said. The company could also lower the threshold for detecting the types of content its software views as dangerous...

Deployed together, the tools could alter what tens of millions of Americans see when they log onto the platform, diminishing their exposure to sensationalism, incitements to violence and misinformation, said the people familiar with the measures. But slowing down the spread of popular content could suppress some good-faith political discussion, a prospect that makes some Facebook employees uneasy, some of the people said.

Technology Works Both Ways

"Protesters are using facial recognition technology to ID police".

Related from New York Times: "Activists Turn Facial Recognition Tools Against the Police"

Uncrushable Beetle

"How This Uncrushable Beetle Can Survive Being Run Over by a Car". (Via H.R.)

Zeptoseconds

"Scientists clock the fastest interval of time in 'zeptoseconds'"

Scientists have measured the shortest interval of time ever recorded, clocking how long it takes a particle of light to cross a single molecule of hydrogen.

The ultra-quick journey took 247 zeptoseconds, according to a team of German researchers, with a zeptosecond representing a trillionth of a billionth of a second. This is equivalent to the number 1 written behind a decimal point and 20 zeroes.

New Organ

NYT: "Doctors May Have Found Secretive New Organs in the Center of Your Head"

Related: "The tubarial salivary glands: A potential new organ at risk for radiotherapy"

Chess Cheating Crisis

"Chess's cheating crisis: 'paranoia has become the culture'"

Tunguska Explained?

"Tunguska explosion in 1908 caused by asteroid grazing Earth"

Pangea With Modern-Day Borders

"A Map of Pangea With Modern-Day Borders" (Click on image to see full size.)

 

Apple Lidar

"Lidar used to cost $75,000 -- here's how Apple brought it to the iPhone". (Via H.R.)

Old Twinkie

"A Disturbing Twinkie That Has, So Far, Defied Science"

 

Big Cat

"Large 2,000-year-old cat discovered in Peru's Nazca lines"

 

Useless Superpower

"What is your useless superpower?"

Expanding Stupidity

"Is stupidity expanding, or just becoming more visible?"

Excel Warriors

"Meet the Excel warriors saving the world from spreadsheet disaster"

Room Temperature Superconductivity

"First room-temperature superconductor reported". 

(Via H.R., who notes that is room temperature but not room pressure.)

Traveling Salesperson Progress

"Computer Scientists Break Traveling Salesperson Record"

Influential Animation

"The 100 Sequences That Shaped Animation From Bugs Bunny to Spike Spiegel to Miles Morales"

Special Relativity Test

"NIST Pair of Aluminum Atomic Clocks Reveal Einstein's Relativity at a Personal Scale"

Ultra-Black Fish

"Scientists find 16 'ultra-black' fish species that absorb 99.9% of light "

Jet Suit Paramedic

"Jet Suit Paramedic Reaches Stricken Hikers in Seconds"

 

Dating During COVID

"10 ways dating in NYC is different now than it was a year ago"

Enhanced Internet Privacy

"DuckDuckGo, EFF, and others just launched privacy settings for the whole internet"

Cyberwar Update

"Cyber Command has sought to disrupt the world's largest botnet, hoping to reduce its potential impact on the election"

White House Physician

"Some interesting tidbits about the White House Physician".  In particular, #5 (no need to be truthful to American public) and #12 (triage priority):

5. White house physicians have no duty to be truthful with the American public. Historically, they have often deceived the public about the state of the President's health. This goes back to George Washington - when he had a massive boil on his ass, the doctor who lanced it reported that it had been on his leg. Woodrow Wilson's doctor helped cover up a massive stroke, then conspired with the first lady to secretly run the government themselves while denying everyone else access to the bedridden President.

12. Triage is by importance, not severity. The president comes first. If a bystander is bleeding out from a bullet wound and the president is barely grazed, all attention goes first to the President. So don't have a heart attack in the White House at the same time as the VP gets a sunburn!

IBM Breakup

"IBM to break up 109-year old company to focus on cloud growth"

Vending Machine Economics

"The economics of vending machines"

Japanese Train Wrestling

"Pro-wrestlers battle on Japan scenic train in bid to help region rebound off the ropes"

Designer iPhone Icons

"Designer makes £77,000 from [$100,000 US] iPhone icons in a week"

Conscious Lab Brains?

"Can lab-grown brains become conscious?"

Graphene Power

"Physicists build circuit that generates clean, limitless power from graphene". (Via H.R.)

Rare Fern

"Europe's rarest fern has been discovered in Killarney, Ireland, leaving botanists baffled over how it remained undetected for so long."

Otter Dating

"A lonely otter at a sanctuary finds love online through a dating site built just for him"

Fake Recycling

"Apple sues recycling partner for reselling more than 100,000 iPhones, iPads and Watches it was hired to dismantle"

Space Toilets For Women

"NASA's new $23 million space toilet now accommodates women". (Via H.R.)

Geometry Problem Solved

"CMU Scientists Solve 90-Year-Old Geometry Problem"