Flamingo Escapes

"Why Flamingos Succeed at Escaping the Zoo While All Other Animals Fail"

Premium Chalk For Math

"Why Mathematicians Are Hoarding This Special Type of Japanese Chalk"

How To 3-D Print a Steel Bridge

"How To 3-D Print a Steel Bridge"

Not Dead Yet!

"What It's Like to Be Declared Dead by the Government". (Via VA Viper.)

Mysterious Weather Terms Explained

"What Determines 'Party Cloudy' vs. 'Mostly Sunny'? (And Other Weather Terms Explained)" (Via VA Viper.)

Bias In The Jury System

"Reasonable Doubts About the Jury System"

2 Kinds Of People

Truth: "2 Kinds Of People"

Reliable Hard Drives

"Who makes the most reliable hard drives?"

Welcome to Cleveland

"Guy Who Lives Near Airport Painted 'Welcome to Cleveland' on His Roof, He Lives in Milwaukee"

Spurious Correlation

"Louder vowels won't get you laid, and other tales of spurious correlation"

Falsely Attributed

"Famous quotes and the people who didn't say them"

Fermat and Wiles

"How Math’s Most Famous Proof Nearly Broke"

SpaceX Hyperloop Pod Competition

"The Official SpaceX Hyperloop Pod Competition".

Since we first unveiled the idea for a new high-speed ground transport system called the Hyperloop back in 2013, there has been a tremendous amount of interest in the concept. We are excited that a handful of private companies have chosen to pursue this effort.

Neither SpaceX nor Elon Musk is affiliated with any Hyperloop companies. While we are not developing a commercial Hyperloop ourselves, we are interested in helping to accelerate development of a functional Hyperloop prototype.

For this reason, SpaceX is announcing an open competition, geared towards university students and independent engineering teams, to design and build the best Hyperloop pod. To support this competition, SpaceX will construct a one-mile test track adjacent to our Hawthorne, California headquarters. Teams will be able to test their human-scale pods during a competition weekend at the track, currently targeted for June 2016. The knowledge gained here will continue to be open-sourced.

 Break a pod!

(Via W.G.)

No-Tipping Success

Fortune: "How a no-tipping policy helped this restaurant triple profits in 2 months". (Via J.Z.)

100 Iconic Movie Lines

"The 100 Best Movie Lines of All Time, in One Video"

Lots of Robotic Animals

You now have a choice of future robotic animal overlords: "Scientists have made enough animal robots to fill a terrifying zoo"

Flexible Circuit Injected Into Living Brains

"A Flexible Circuit Has Been Injected Into Living Brains":

Implanted via injection, a grid of wires only a few millimeters across can insinuate itself with living neurons and eavesdrop on their chatter, offering a way for electronics to interface with your brain activity.

“We’re trying to blur the distinction between electronic circuits and neural circuits,” says Charles Lieber, a nanotechnologist at Harvard University and co-author of a study describing the device this week in Nature Nanotechnology.

Porn In Space

"PornHub is crowdfunding $3.4M to explore the final frontier".

Bioengineered Animal Limb

"Bioengineering breakthrough: Scientists create a working animal limb in a lab". (Via Dave J.)

Why Return Trips Feel Shorter

"The science behind why the return-trip always feels shorter than the trip there"

RoboTruck Update

"Robo-Trucks Come to Canada's Oil Sands". (Via H.R.)

8 New Offerings From Dead Authors

"8 New Offerings From Dead Authors"

How Claw Machines Are Rigged

"Here's How Claw Machines Are Rigged to Make Sure You Lose":

Computer Translations

NYT: "Is Translation an Art or a Math Problem?"

Star Trek Lawn Gnomes

Perfect Father's Day gifts if your dad likes Star Trek and lawn gnomes!

Where Is The "Cloud"?

"These are the buildings that make up the 'cloud'"

48 Upcoming Comic Book Movies

"48 upcoming comic book movies, and when to expect them"

Virus Testing

"This blood test can tell you every virus you’ve ever had"

Google's AI Chief Not Worried About AI

"Google on Artificial-Intelligence Panic: Get a Grip"

Wi-Fi Powered Surveillance Camera

"University of Washington develops Wi-Fi powered surveillance camera":

Researchers invented a method to harvest energy from a Wi-Fi router to beam power to a camera. The need for batteries has been done away with entirely, with Wi-Fi being the only source of power. 

I'll leave it as an exercise to the reader to devise both good and bad applications of this technology.

What To Do If You Lose Your Phone

USA Today:: "Lost your phone? Here's how to find it"

Amazon Allowance

"Amazon Allowance ...lets people set up monthly or weekly payments to credit their kids' — or anyone else's — Amazon account with a cash balance, like a gift card. That saves parents from having to find cash, write a check or a make a bank transfer, and gives the recipient a way to shop on the website without a credit or debit card."

Trailer For "The Martian"

The trailer for the movie version of "The Martian" is now up, and it looks awesome!

Man Changes Name To Avoid Rebooking Fee

Man legally changes his last name, because it's cheaper than paying the airline rebooking fee for a wrong last name on reservation. (Via Marginal Revolution.)

Inside Clickhole

"ClickHole writers explain their craft: How the Onion's Internet parody spinoff became the best thing online"

Computer Invents Scientific Theory

"Computer invents new scientific theory without human help for the first time". (Via F.G.)

Early Forms of Birth Control

"Early forms of birth control were revolutionary but looked scary".

Tricorder Update

"The Race to Build a Real-Life Version of the Star Trek Tricorder"

Awesome Climbing

"Alex Honnold Climbing Compilation".

Holy crap.  (Via H.R.)

Massive Wartime Decoys

Massive Wartime Decoys and Camouflage Operations"

Reviews Of 100 Years of Best Sellers

Man reviews every novel to reach the number one spot on Publishers Weekly annual bestsellers list, starting from 1913 - 2013.

Because of some duplicate appearances, this is 94 books in 100 years.

(I was pleasantly surprised to see that JRR Tolkien's The Silmarillion was the 1977 best seller!)

Animals And Mirror

How wild animals in Africa respond to a giant mirror.

Self-Destructing Origami Robot

"Origami Robot Folds Itself Up, Does Cool Stuff, Dissolves Into Nothing":

[R]esearchers from MIT demonstrated an untethered miniature origami robot that self-folds, walks, swims, and degrades. That’s the title of their paper, in fact, and they delivered on all of those promises: from a flat sheet with a magnet on it, their robot folds itself up in just a few seconds, is immediately ready to zip around on land or water driven by magnetic fields, and then when you’ve run out of things to do with it, drive it into a tank of acetone and it’ll dissolve. This is the first time that a robot has been able to demonstrate a complete life cycle like this, and eventually, it’ll be doing it inside your body.

Here's the video:

Goodnight Dune

"Goodnight Dune"

Which Pill? (Short Story)

Excellent short story: "…And I Show You How Deep The Rabbit Hole Goes".  A fun read!

Based on this image (and associated discussion):

Making A "Ghost Gun"

Wired: "I Made an Untraceable AR-15 'Ghost Gun' in My Office — And It Was Easy"

Hamburger History

"This Is The Story Of The Hamburger"

Google Plus May Be Going The Way Of Google Glass

"'Google Plus Is Not Dead' Is the New 'Google Glass Is Not Dead'"

Sexual History Calculator

"Tell us how many people you’ve slept with. Our calculator will tell you if that's a lot."

Let's put it this way: I wasn't in the top 1%! Not even close.

How Much Do Skyscrapers Actually Move?

"How Much Do Skyscrapers Actually Move?" (Via H.R.)

Elonis Free Speech Decision Explained

Lawsplainer: "What the Supreme Court Didn't Decide About True Threats in Elonis"

Spacewalk History

"'Suit Up': NASA Documentary Hails 50 Years of Spacewalk History". (Via Ari Armstrong.)

Here's the video:

Why Do Airplane Windows Have Tiny Holes?

"Why Do Airplane Windows Have Tiny Holes?"

Robot Cheetah Update

"MIT's cheetah robot can now autonomously detect and jump over hurdles"

Why Swiss Cheese Has Holes

"Scientists Have Worked Out Why Swiss Cheese Has Holes".

Bottom line: Tiny pieces of hay.

Hsieh Forbes Column: Would You Trust A Computer To Knock You Out?

My latest in Forbes: "Would You Trust A Computer To Knock You Out?"

Changing Tech Dominance

The Economist has a nice interactive chart showing how tech dominance has shifted over the years.  (Via Maximizing Progress.)

One Person's Junk Is Another Person's Treasure

"Woman drops off old Apple computer worth $200,000 at Silicon Valley recycling centre"

Li-Ion Battery Tips

"8 Essential Tips To Keep Your Phone's Battery Healthy". (Via H.R.)

New Cool Stuff From Google

"All the Cool Stuff Google Just Announced, Ranked by Coolness"

The Unrealized Vision Of Google Glass

"Lost Explorers: The unrealized vision of Google Glass"

Expensive Wine Is For Suckers

"Expensive wine is for suckers. This video shows why."

Router Placement

"The best place to put your router, according to physics"

Deep Learning Update

"New 'deep learning' technique enables robot mastery of skills via trial and error"

Why The Oldest Person In The World Keeps Dying

"Why The Oldest Person In The World Keeps Dying". (Via Marginal Revolution.)

AI Safety Update

Wired: "This Artificial Intelligence Pioneer Has a Few Concerns"

Absorbing PC Games

"These 20 deep, absorbing PC games will eat days of your life"

Thoughts Can Fuel Some Deadly Brain Cancers

NPR: "Thoughts Can Fuel Some Deadly Brain Cancers". ** shudder **

10 Ways Domestic Cats and Big Cats Are Similar

"10 Ways Domestic Cats and Big Cats Are Similar"

Computing Power Over Time

"The Trillion Fold Increase In Computing Power, Visualized". (Via H.R.)

Question Of The Day

Question of the day from Tyler Cowen and Alex Tabarrok:

"Should the Minimum Wage be called the 'Robot Employment Act'?"

Watson Update

Interesting update on what IBM's Watson has been doing.

From GMSV:

Now, IBM tells New York Magazine, Watson has been “applied in 75 industries in 17 countries, and tens of thousands of people are using its applications in their own work.” Watson has written a recipe book, is working as a Wall Street analyst, been trained in molecular biology, and dabbled in oil exploration. One company is reportedly using Watson to create a dinosaur toy that talks and responds to its owner.

Greaseless Bearings

"New Greaseless Bearings Spin With 10 Times Less Friction"

Salary Negotiation Tactics

"You are almost certainly starting salary negotiations wrong"

Light Posting

Admin note: Again, posting may be irregular for the rest of this week due to external obligations.

"Living" Concrete

CNN: "The 'living concrete' that can heal itself"

Hollywood Linguist

"How the Languages in Game of Thrones, Defiance, and Thor Were Created"

Moore's Law Turns 50

NYT has a nice interview with Gordon Moore: "Moore's Law Turns 50".

It's amazing the progress we've made in that time. Plus I liked this tidbit at the end:

“The importance of the Internet surprised me,” said Moore. “It looked like it was going to be just another minor communications network that solved certain problems. I didn’t realize it was going to open up a whole universe of new opportunities, and it certainly has. I wish I had predicted that.”

Wolfram Image ID

"Wolfram's New AI Will Try to Identify Any Image You Give It".

Eventually, something like this will make radiologists like me obsolete. (Via H.R.)

Future of Humanity Institute

"Meet the people out to stop humanity from destroying itself"

Immune Privilege

"How Viruses Hide Inside Your Eyeballs, Even When You're Not Sick". (Via H.R.)

Giant Hologram?

Is our universe a giant hologram?

1977 Article On Apple Computer

This 1977 article may be the first news article written about Apple Computer, at Kilobaud magazine.

Not Aliens, Just Someone Reheating Their Lunch

"Mystery radio signals that baffled astronomers for years came from the staff microwave"

More Health Benefits Of Coffee

NYT: "More Consensus on Coffee’s Benefits Than You Might Think"

Emotion Detecting Eyeglasses

WSJ: "Microsoft Awarded Patent for Emotion Detecting Eyeglasses"

[Off Topic] Hsieh Forbes Column: FDA Vs. Free Speech

[Off topic] My latest Forbes column appeared last Friday: "Drug Company Amarin Stands Up For Free Speech Against FDA".

Humans Still (Barely) Better Than Robots At Poker

"Poker Pros Win Man vs. Machine Showdown - But Not by Much".

Alex Tabarrok also notes:

The computer bluffed and bet against the best poker players the world has ever known and over 80,000 hands the humans were not able to discover an exploitable flaw in the computer’s strategy.  Thus, a significant win for the computer.  Moreover, the computers will get better at a faster pace than the humans.

Self-Driving Semi Truck

"The Very First Self-Driving Semi Truck Has Hit the Road"

1690s Advice Column Questions

"The Questions People Asked Advice Columnists in the 1690s"

Tim Urban Talks With Elon Musk

Fun interview with Elon Musk by Tim Urban of WaitButWhy.

Tech Support Tales

"'In The Shower Eating Cherries' and More Tales of Nightmare IT Calls"

Uber for Doctor Housecalls

NYT: "An Uber for Doctor Housecalls". (Via H.R.)

Words The English Language Needs

"Fantastic words with no easy translation in other languages".

My favorite:

Tretår (Swedish): On its own, “tår” means a cup of coffee and “patår”  is a refill, so “tretår” is a second refill, or a “threefill.

Cloaking Update

"We've Just Developed a Portable Cloaking Device"

Steerable Bullets

"Watch DARPA's magic bullets change course to hit moving targets"

Beautiful Antarctica

"This Stunning Drone Footage Will Convince You Antarctica’s the Most Gorgeous Place on Earth"

Antarctica from Kalle Ljung on Vimeo.

Cat Language

"Your Cat Is Trying to Talk to You"

How To Control Someone Else's Arm With Your Brain

Greg Gage: How to control someone else's arm with your brain". (Via H.R.)

Every Question In Every Q&A Session Ever

"Every Question In Every Q&A Session Ever"