Tracking glaciers with wireless pebbles.

"When the zombies take over, how long till the electricity fails?"

"The brain-gain revolution is already underway."

Learning to play a musical instrument can increase a child's IQ. (Note: this is different from the now-debunked "Mozart effect" in which some people claimed the merely listening to a lot of classical music as an infant or child would increase IQ.)

Using evolutionary algorithms to "breed" faster racecars.

Surf the net while surfing the waves with this internet-enabled solar-powered surfboard.

Star Trek: Voyager Plot Generator. (Via Gravity Lens.)

Invention of the day: Long distance non-lethal stun guns that can incapacitate large numbers of people at a time.

Literary site of the day: "Seven Haiku at Night in a Convenience Store" (Via David Solsberg.)

Scientists have used "quantum teleportation" to transfer information between atoms.

3-D displays without the dorky glasses.

What Should I Do If My Television Dies?

"Dating In Manhattan: An Exercise In Contract Law"

The Sarcos exoskeleton can give users superhuman strength. Lots of pictures.

Testosterone dampens pain sensations in males.

Quiz of the day: Dog Toy or Marital Aid? (Via Andy Trovinger.)

Invention of the day: "Look and shoot" helmets.

The Catholic Church is outsourcing American prayers to India. (Here's the original NY Times article.)

Am I GhettoFabulous Or Not? (Via Boing Boing.)

The newest prison contraband is the cellphone.

Invention of the day: The Invisible Wall, brought to you by the same person who created the Invisible Cloak.

Monty Python and the Fellowship of the Ring: Right here. Ni! (Via Linkfilter.)

How well is your popup blocking software working? Find out with this PopUp Test. (Via GMSV.)

Of the world's 100 largest economic entities, 51 are now corporations and 49 are countries.

How to skin your PC running WinXP so it has the look and feel of a Mac running OS X. (Via Boing Boing.)

"NASA engineers are working on a robotic sphere that would propel itself around the space station, check the quality of the air and relay handy information to astronauts. Think of it as a cross between a tricorder and a lightsaber training droid."

As more people turn to online dating, experts are noticing some patterns. One analyst noted that, "Men lie about their availability, whether they have a steady girlfriend or wife, and women tend to lie mostly about their looks..."

A Purdue mathematician claims to have proven the Riemann Hypothesis. He has made his work available here for review by other mathematicians. If true, this could be worth $1 million. (Via Cosmic Log.)

"Quidditch Sucks!": Detailed analysis of why the rules of this fictional game from Harry Potter don't make sense. (Via Volokh Conspiracy.)

Eric Drexler says "grey goo" most likely won't be a problem for nanotechnology.

Scientists have found a way to create a version of the Japanese pufferfish (a food delicacy also known as "fugu") without the deadly toxin.

Using shame against drunk drivers with "scarlet letter" license plates. (Via Technology Log.)

Computer models of traffic on the mean streets of Bogota, Colombia reportedly show that aggressive driving can reduce traffic congestion, albeit at the price of an increased death rate from motor vehicle collision. (This data doesn't explain why traffic is still so horrible in Boston, Massachusetts, where the drivers are extremely aggressive...)

The legal battle against spyware.

The human brain was not meant to multitask.

Update on nonlethal directed energy weapons. Set your phasers to stun! (Via Cosmic Log.)

Harry Houdini's classic "Metamorphosis" trick: How it was done. If you don't want to know the secret, then don't click through... (Via Metafilter.)

Future commercial applications of superconductors.

If you like to play the board game Go, then you need to know these Go Proverbs.

Brain teaser of the day: Petals around the Rose. Once you think you know the answer, you can test yourself with this applet. (I don't usually brag about these sorts of things, but I must confess that I was able to figure it out in 5 minutes. Diana also got it in about an hour...)

Do these satellite images show the lost city of Atlantis?

Automated supermarket checkout stations are exploding in popularity. Interestingly enough, the theft rate from the self-checkout lines is less than from the lines staffed by traditional human clerks.

How will the influx of money change Google's employee culture?

The Pop-vs.-Soda Map. (Via GMSV.)

An asteroid strike 1.8 billion years ago turned part of the Earth's crust inside-out.

How it feels to get shot.

Estimating the Airspeed Velocity of an Unladen Swallow. (Via BBspot.)

Invention of the day: New childproof medicine containers that rely on mental dexterity rather than physical strength. Given that a recent study showed that up to 90% of adults had trouble with current childproof packages, this could be step in the right direction.

Dedicated Simpsons fans have created this detailed map of Springfield. The big map is especially nice.

Good story about Pixar and how it became such a powerhouse.

Many corporate IT systems automatically add a lengthy e-mail disclaimer to the end of outgoing messages. Here's an interesting legal analysis of their validity. (Via Techdirt.) More information on stupid e-mail disclaimers can be found here, including these funny ones. (Via BBspot.)

The first privately funded spaceflight to carry a civilian in space is scheduled to take place on June 21, 2004.

Three ways to make money while blogging.

Everything you wanted to know about airfoils. Nice webpage on basic aerodynamics for the intelligent layperson. (Via Rand Simberg.)

It's way too easy to spot "undercover" air marshalls.

Management tip of the day: If you're the CEO of a major bank, and you decide to outsource your entire IT Department, make sure you remove all your porn from your workplace computer before your disgrunted employees rat you out to the press, thus forcing you to resign.

You can now bank your own stem cells in anticipation of future medical advances. Here's the corporate website.

"The largest prime number yet found has been discovered by a mathematics enthusiast using his desktop computer. The monstrous number has over seven million digits."

Insecure password horror story of the day: During much of the 1970's, the US Minuteman nuclear ICBM missiles had their launch authorization codes set to "00000000" (without the knowledge of the President or Secretary of Defense) and that "everyone" at Strategic Air Command knew the "secret" password. According to the author, a former nuclear weapons officer:

The Strategic Air Command (SAC) in Omaha quietly decided to set the "locks" to all zeros in order to circumvent this safeguard. During the early to mid-1970s, during my stint as a Minuteman launch officer, they still had not been changed. Our launch checklist in fact instructed us, the firing crew, to double-check the locking panel in our underground launch bunker to ensure that no digits other than zero had been inadvertently dialed into the panel.

SAC remained far less concerned about unauthorized launches than about the potential of these safeguards to interfere with the implementation of wartime launch orders. And so the "secret unlock code" during the height of the nuclear crises of the Cold War remained constant at 00000000.

The locks were eventually activated in 1977. (Via Slashdot.)

A student who has been expelled from his degree program for internet plagiarism is suing the university for having caught him too late. He claims that the school "should have spotted what he was doing and stopped him sooner."

According to this article, his argument is as follows:

It's a technique I've used since I started the course and I never dreamt it was a problem. I can see there is evidence that I have gone against the rules, but they've taken my money for three years and pulled me up the day before I finished. If they had pulled me up with my first essay, and warned me of the problems, it would be fair enough. But all my essays were handed back with good marks and no one spotted it.

"Japanese and U.S. scientists have genetically engineered a bovine embryo that is resistant to the deadly mad cow disease..."

Space robots that will need to work in the frictionless conditions in outer space are being trained on Earth on air hockey tables.

Chemists have constructed a molecular version of the Borromean rings.

Take the Geek Test. Slightly dated, but still informative. Alas, I am merely a "Total Geek". (Via MetaFilter.)

MMTW: Massive Multiplayer Thumb Wrestling. (Via Boing Boing.)

Is "collective" intelligence superior to individual intelligence? Find out in the Wisdom of Crowds challenge. The author's primary thesis is clearly closely related to the so-called Efficient Market Hypothesis. (Via Tim Hsieh.)

Is the "ninja death touch" real?

What you need to know about electronic voting machines.

Invention of the day: A roll-up flexible piano keyboard. On Star Trek: Next Generation, there was an episode "Lessons" in which Nella Daren played a duet on a similar-looking (fictional) instrument with Captain Picard on the Ressikan flute. The real-life version costs only 15,540 Japanese yen or $140 US. (Via Gadgeteer.)

Watch this guy solve a 20x20x20 Rubik's cube. (Via Memepool.)

Falling dots illusion. (Via BBspot.)

The Infinite Cat Project

Weird sex is all around us in nature. (Via SciTech Daily.)

Invention of the day: A robot that is sufficiently dextrous to perform origami.

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Admin note: Due to problems with our ISP, we're having severe connectivity problems. Hence GeekPress may not return for a while until the ISP is up and running again. We apologize for the delay, and we'll be back as soon as possible.

"Are there negative calorie foods?"

Admin note: GeekPress will be going on a 2 week hiatus. We'll be back on Monday May 24!

Infinity in your browser. Ok, I'm dizzy now... (Via Quare.)

Invention of the day: The microprocessor-controlled self-adjusting running shoe from Adidas.

Dude, Where's My Robotic Mine-Sweeping Mini-Submarine Drone?

Robots with gender?

"Did Eskimos really put their elderly on ice floes to die?" Read the answer here.

When a couple is in love, their hormone levels converge.

"Create your own Thomas Friedman Op-Ed Column"

Nanotechnology researchers are getting closer to developing molecular self-assembly.

Instead of performing precise but energy-intensive calculations, a new generation of frugal "probabilistic chips" saves time and energy by guessing the right answer.

Domino clock. (Via BBspot.)

Congratulations to Hanah Metchis and Sasha Volokh who are now engaged!

"Ex-hacker Kevin Mitnick is a hero to the small town of River Rouge, Michigan, after using his tech skills to help officials nab the culprit behind a harrowing series of bomb threats."

90% of adults have trouble opening "childproof" medicine containers.

"Will RSS Readers Clog the Web?"

How to calculate the speed of light with a microwave oven and some marshmallows. (Via Linkfilter.)

Invention of the day: The self-chilling beer can. Here's the corporate website. (Via MBWHA.)

The Google Drinking Game! (Via Gravity Lens.)

Google's IPO could be a huge windfall for the company's early financial backers. Those initial investors could receive up to $150 - $400 for each $1 they put in.

If you're thinking of investing in Google, you first need to know how to calculate a company's value.

Even porn is being outsourced. Brazilian X-rated actresses reportedly charge only $175 per sex scene, compared to a much higher rate for Los Angeles porn actresses. (Via Transterrestrial Musings.)

The strangest looking moon in the solar system is Io, which has a bizarre yellow color due to its high sulfur content. Here's a true-color picture of Io.

Funny collection of signs. A couple of them might be photoshopped, but I think most of them are genuine. But my favorite one in the collection isn't a sign but this newspaper ad. (Via Tom McMahon.)