Philosophical CAPTCHAs

Philosophical CAPTCHAs.

Suspicious Airbnb Host

"Airbnb Host Cancels Vacation Rental After Guest Asks About Camera Surveillance"

Which Glass For Which Drink?

"65 Bar Glasses and What They're Meant For".

(Click on image to see full-size version.)

Nuclear Powered Game Boy

"Nuclear Powered Game Boy"

New Dune Trailer

New Dune trailer!

Warp Drive Update

"<i>Star Trek's Warp Drive Leads to New Physics"

Spotting Fake IDs

"How to spot a good fake ID"

How Math Research Works

Interesting Twitter thread on how math research now works, especially in fields like number theory. (Via Tyler Cowen.)

Vacuum Is Bad For Your Health

"PSA: Sticking your arm into the vacuum of space would really suck". Click through to see video demonstration.

Spaceflight Altitudes

"Comparing altitudes between Virgin Galactic, Blue Origin, and SpaceX"

Overthinking

"Why I'm glad that I'm an 'overthinker'"

(Semi)-Autonomous Vehicle Update

Self-driving truck beats human drivers on multistate trip by 10 hours"

Light Posting Notice

Admin note: Posting may be light or non-existent this week due to external obligations.

More Infinities

"How Many Numbers Exist? Infinity Proof Moves Math Closer to an Answer." (Via D.L.)

Tree DNA Evidence

"For the First Time, Tree DNA Was Used to Convict Lumber Thieves in Federal Investigation"

Cast Iron Pans

"The Myth of the Cast-Iron Pan:"

Having sprung from the core of the earth, it will die a tragic death if exposed to the tiniest soap bubble. The mortal gently cleanses the cast-iron with water, like a doting river nymph.

Related: "The Truth About Cast Iron Pans: 7 Myths That Need To Go Away"

Apple 69 Temperature

"Apple's weather app won't say it's 69 degrees":

If you’re an iPhone user, the weather is always a particularly nice 70 degrees. Or 68 degrees. Any temperature but 69 degrees, actually, because it turns out that the built-in weather app on some versions of iOS — including the current version, iOS 14.6 — will refuse to display the internet’s favorite number, even if the actual temperature in a given location is, in fact, 69 degrees...

Early Universe

Ethan Siegel: "Did The Universe Have A Beginning?"

Very Valuable Mario

"Mint condition Super Mario 64 game sells for record $1.5m"

EV Design

"Why Do Electric Cars Look The Way They Do? Because They Can"

Doug Mataconis, RIP

Doug Mataconis, RIP.

I never met Doug in person, but I had many a lively and enjoyable exchange with him online. I loved his keen insight and delightfully sharp sense of humor.  

You had a lot of friends on the internet. We'll miss you, Doug.

Bendy Ice

"Scientists Have Created a New Bendy And Flexible Form of Ice".

Kahneman On AI

"Daniel Kahneman: 'Clearly AI is going to win. How people are going to adjust is a fascinating problem'"

Nanosheet Transistors

"The Nanosheet Transistor Is the Next (and Maybe Last) Step in Moore's Law"

Stossel On Roundabouts

John Stossel: "Travel would be faster if America’s slow politicians adopted 'roundabouts'"

Travel would be faster if America’s slow politicians adopted “roundabouts”: pic.twitter.com/ReSQzGfn5U

— John Stossel (@JohnStossel) July 5, 2021

New Form Of Carbon

"Not graphene: Researchers in Germany and Finland discover new type of atomically thin carbon material"

Ransomware Update

"'Apex predators': Why the Kaseya ransomware attack has experts worried"

Fax Fans

"Japanese fax fans rally to defence of much-maligned machine"

Sheep Herding From Above

"Sheep Herding Patterns from Above".  These are really hypnotic to watch!

Aerial Sheep Herding in Yokneam from Colossal on Vimeo.

Disinfecting Water

"Instant water disinfectant 'millions of times more effective' than commercial purification". (Via H.R.)

Flying Car Update

"Watch BMW's awesome flying car as it makes its first flight between cities". (Via H.R.)

Stoll Vs. Amazon

"Amazon won't help Klein bottle seller after another company hijacks his product listing with a blackhead remover"

Short Hiatus

Admin note: Taking a brief hiatus until after the US July 4 holiday weekend. We'll be back on July 6. Happy Independence Day!