Drunk Birds

"What Happens When Birds Get Drunk?"

New Math Identity

"Neutrinos Lead to Unexpected Discovery in Basic Math"

Machine Smelling

"Learning to Smell: Using Deep Learning to Predict the Olfactory Properties of Molecules"

Why Astrology "Works"

"I was an astrologer -- here's how it really works, and why I had to stop"

I also learned that intelligence and education do not protect against superstition. Many customers were stockbrokers, advertising executives or politicians, dealing with issues whose outcomes couldn't be controlled. It's uncertainty that drives people into woo, not stupidity, so I'm not surprised millennials are into astrology. They grew up with Harry Potter and graduated into a precarious economy, making them the ideal customers.

What broke the spell for me was, oddly, people swearing by my gift. Some repeat customers claimed I'd made very specific predictions, of a kind I never made. It dawned on me that my readings were a co-creation -- I would weave a story and, later, the customer's memory would add new elements. I got to test this theory after a friend raved about a reading she'd had, full of astonishingly accurate predictions. She had a tape of the session, so I asked her to play it.

The clairvoyant had said none of the things my friend claimed. Not a single one. My friend's imagination had done all the work.

Quantum Biomolecule

"A natural biomolecule has been measured acting like a quantum wave for the first time":

Physicists have watched a chain of 15 amino acids interfere with itself, in an experiment that paves the way for a new era of quantum biology.

Addictive Game

"Tiny Islands, an addictive card-based island-drawing game".

Direct link to the game.

Ancient Twinkie

"43-Year-Old Twinkie Still Intact At Maine School"

Rocky Mountain High

Philadelphia sportscaster says Denver sports franchises should not have any home games, because the elevated altitude gives teams an unfair advantage. 

Perhaps the Green Bay Packers should not have any December home games against teams from, say, Miama or Atlanta, because they are more accustomed to cold weather.  #BooHooHoo

Remember when watching tonight's game that the home court advantage in Denver is unfair and unreasonable considering the physical disadvantage that the visiting team has. Denver should not have any home games if we insist on giving them pro teams.

— Spike Eskin (@SpikeEskin) November 8, 2019

Apple Watch And Afib

NEJM: "Large-Scale Assessment of a Smartwatch to Identify Atrial Fibrillation".

Bottom line:

The probability of receiving an irregular pulse notification was low. Among participants who received notification of an irregular pulse, 34% had atrial fibrillation on subsequent ECG patch readings and 84% of notifications were concordant with atrial fibrillation. 

Apple AR

"Apple Eyes 2022 Release for AR Headset, 2023 for Glasses"

Criminal Picks Wrong House

That awkward moment when a criminal decides to break into the house of an experienced medieval combat re-enactor. Who keeps a carbon-steal double headed battle axe that he calls, "my baby".

After the suspect fled, "Police K-9s followed the trail of blood to apprehend the suspect."

Bonus: Jayne Cobb hat!

Ultra-Black

"Ultra-Black Is the New Black"

Quantum Computing Update

"Quantum Computer Made from Photons Achieves a New Record"

MIT Cheetah Robots

"These dog-like robots do backflips and play soccer. Yes, they're adorable"

Microchipping Update

"The rise of microchipping: Are we ready for technology to get under the skin?"

Boring Video Game

"Honestly, a Video Game That Strands You On a Boring Six-Hour Flight Is Just What I Need Right Now"

Bitcoin Heist

"Iceland's Big Bitcoin Heist"

California Housing

"How California Became America's Housing Market Nightmare".

The author blames bad government policies.

No Smartphone

"This Is What It's Like To Not Own A Smartphone".

I would never give up my smartphone -- I find it too useful for so many life-enhancing tasks.

Space Is Big

Fun interactive site: "The Size Of Space"

Zero-Gravity Oven

"With a 'Zero G' Oven, Astronauts Can Have Their Cookies, but They Can't Eat Them Too"

Upside-Down Art

"The Gallery of Art Hung Upside-Down"

Cat-Ception

"Watch 2 cats watch a cat run across football field mid-game"

Brass Roman Dodecahedrons

"The mystery of brass Roman dodecahedrons"

Most Important Websites

"The 50 Most Important Websites of All Time"

Scroll Bar History

"A critical analysis of scroll bars throughout history"

Eliminating Driving Blind Spot

"14-Year-Old Genius Solves Blind Spots". (Via H.R.)

Insecure DNA Data

"The DNA database used to find the Golden State Killer is a national security leak waiting to happen"

Mathematical Cranks

"Beware of Cranks: Misguided attempts to solve impossible mathematical problems"

Brain Bacteria

"Are There Bacteria in Your Brain?" (Via T.K.)

American Whiskey Fingerprint

"American whiskeys leave behind a web-like 'fingerprint' as they evaporate". (Via H.R.)

New Walkie-Talkie

"Motorola is building a new kind of walkie-talkie for first responders". (Via H.R.)

MIT's Legendary Milk

NPR: "MIT's Very Old Milk".

Related story: "MIT's legendary milk carton turns 25"

Self-Hiding AI?

"Would a Real AI Purposefully Hide Its Super Intelligence in Fear of Being Destroyed?"

 (From a few years ago, but I just recently saw it.)

Important Code

"The Lines of Code That Changed Everything"

Guide To Good Asian Restaurants

David Chen: "Ali Wong’s guide to evaluating the quality of Asian restaurants is a must read and I refuse to eat with my non-Asian friends until they have read this and incorporated it into the very core of their being".  (Click on each image to see full-size.)

Color Categories

"Why Red Means Red in Almost Every Language"

Mind Uploading?

"What happens if your mind lives for ever on the internet?"

Galactic Collision

"Behold Our Dazzling Night Sky When the Milky Way Collides with Andromeda in 4 Billion Years"

Mind Control Of Prosthetic Arms

"World First: Man Controls Two Powered Prosthetic Arms with His Mind"

[Off Topic] Hsieh Forbes Column On Unintended Consequences And Government Metrics

[Off Topic] My latest Forbes piece is now out: "How Patients Pay The Price For Unintended Consequences Of Government Health Care".

I discuss how various government "quality" metrics intended to improve patient care can have the exact opposite effect.

This is an example of Goodhart's Law in action, sometimes phrased as, "When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure."

Why 3 Prongs?

AC Power: "Why is one wire called 'neutral?' What's all this stuff about 'grounding?' Why are three prongs needed?"

An oldie-but-goodie. Bonus: Old-school ASCII art!

Mathematicians Love Blackboards

"Why mathematicians just can't quit their blackboards"

Light Posting Notice

Admin note: Posting may be lighter than usual this week, due to external obligations.

Neanderthal Glue

"Neanderthal glue was a bigger deal than we thought". (Via H.R.)

iPod Retrospective

"The iPod at 18: The gadget that changed music and tech for ever"

AI Lie Detection

"Face-Reading AI Will Tell Police When Suspects Are Hiding Truth"

Invisibility Update

Real invisibility cloak. (Via H.R.)

Retro Games

"Internet Archive releases 2,500 MS-DOS games so you can relive the '90s"

Aaronson On Quantum Supremacy

Scott Aaronson discusses the competing claims by Google and IBM on "quantum supremacy".

Versatile iPhone GarageBand

Video: "Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit on iPhone (GarageBand)"



More songs here.

I especially liked this rendition of "Sweet Child of Mine".

License Plate Surveillance

"Google And Facebook Are Reading Your License Plates"

Feeding Mars

"What Will Humans Eat on Mars?"

Drone Delivery Update

"Google affiliate begins drone deliveries in Virginia town"

Privacy Tech

"Privacy-focused gifts for the paranoid tech lover"

Terminator Score?

"What Is the Time Signature of the Ominous Electronic Score of The Terminator?"

tl;dr: "It's in 13/16. Three plus three plus three plus two plus two".

Helping Dogs Communicate

"The Tech Helping Dogs Learn to 'Talk' With Humans"

Data Fallacies

"Data Fallacies To Avoid"

Air Force Floppies Retired

"Air Force finally retires 8-inch floppies from missile launch control system"

AirPods Pro?

"Report: 'AirPods Pro' to Launch End of October with New Design, New Noise-Canceling Feature and $260 Price Tag"

Games And Moral Panics

"Games blamed for moral decline and addiction throughout history"

Perfect Circles

Time sink of the day: "Can You Draw a Perfect Circle?"

Direct link to the website challenge.

Chinese Cybersecurity

"China’s New Cybersecurity Program: NO Place to Hide"

One noteworthy excerpt:

This system will apply to foreign owned companies in China on the same basis as to all Chinese persons, entities or individuals. No information contained on any server located within China will be exempted from this full coverage program. No communication from or to China will be exempted. There will be no secrets. No VPNs. No private or encrypted messages. No anonymous online accounts. No trade secrets. No confidential data. Any and all data will be available and open to the Chinese government.

Galactic Boom

"Not long ago, the center of the Milky Way exploded"

Law Enforcement Tracking Bitcoins

"US Law Enforcement Traces Bitcoin Transfers to Nab 'Largest' Child Porn Site"

Hiding Billions

"How to hide a billion dollars"

Awesome Wildlife Photographs

"The Winners of the 2019 Wildlife Photographer of the Year"

I really liked this one:

Audun carefully positioned this tree branch, hoping it would make a perfect lookout for a golden eagle. He set up a camera trap and occasionally left road-kill carrion nearby. Very gradually, over the next three years, this eagle started to use the branch to survey its coastal realm. Audun captured its power as it came in to land, talons outstretched.

Best SF/F Series

"The 21 Best Science Fiction and Fantasy Book Series Ever"

Poker Cheating Scandal

"The Cheating Scandal Rocking the Poker World"

Invisible Essay

"Japan ninja student gets top marks for writing essay in invisible ink":

Ms Haga, 19, soaked soybeans overnight, then crushed them before squeezing them in a cloth.

She then mixed the soybean extract with water - spending two hours to get the concentration right - before writing her essay with a fine brush on "washi" (thin Japanese paper).

Once her words had dried, they became invisible. But, to ensure her professor didn't put the essay in the bin, she left a note in normal ink saying "heat the paper".

Ars Technica On iPad OS

"iPadOS review: The iPad is dead, long live the iPad". (Via H.R.)

Apple And Hong Kong

"Apple's Loudest Supporters Turn Against the Company Over Hong Kong"

Beware Cheap Smartphones

"Cheap smartphones have a disturbing secret". (Via Rand Simberg.)

Vintage Passwords

"Forum cracks the vintage passwords of Ken Thompson and other Unix pioneers"

Apple Safe Browsing

"How safe is Apple's Safe Browsing?"

Catalina Prep

"Don't update to macOS Catalina without checking this first"

Quantum-Proof Encryption

"New Encryption System Protects Data from Quantum Computers"

Cyclist Pool Noodles

"Why every cyclist needs a pool noodle"

AI, Doctors, And Lawyers

You know medical AI is becoming the real deal, when lawyers start writing articles in major medical journals on malpractice issues: "Potential Liability for Physicians Using Artificial Intelligence".

(JAMA. Published online October 4, 2019)

Quantum Investments

"Quantum gold rush: The private funding pouring into quantum start-ups"

Fire Prevention Update

"New gel lets us spread flame retardant before wildfires start". (Via H.R.)

Star Wars Cookware

I probably won't buy one, but this Han Solo™ Carbonite Signature Roaster looks pretty damned cool. Click through to see more from the Le Creuset Collection.

Visualizing Card Shuffles

Video: "Visualizing Card Shuffles"



Some explanatory notes from the video:

Starting Distance is how far each card has moved, on average, from its starting spot. So, if the deck was originally 1234 and then shuffled to 4123, the 123 moved 1 space and 4 moved 3, so that’s an average move distance of 1.5.

Neighbor distance is looking the unshuffled deck and how far each card ends from the next card in order. So, if we have 12345 shuffled to 15243.

Card 1 is 1 space from the 2.
Card 2 is 1 space from the 3.
Cards 3 & 4 are considered 0 spaces away from each other since they’re still adjacent, even if their orders are reversed.
5 isn’t taken into consideration because it has no neighbor to start.

So that means the neighbor average is 0.5.

Catalina Review

"MacOS 10.15 Catalina: The Ars Technica review". (Via H.R.)

Colorado Beer

"The Thirty Most Important Beers in Colorado History"

Parking Lot Revenues

"How Much Money Do Parking Lots Actually Make?"

Plate Tectonics Update

"Plate tectonics runs deeper than we thought". (Via H.R.)

Phishing Tricks

"How phishing attacks trick our brains"

Implanting False Memories

"Scientists Implant False Memories in Birds to Teach Them Songs They've Never Heard"

This is both super-cool and super-creepy at the same time. #21stCenturyOrwellianHeadlines

Big Locomotive

"Meet the Man at the Controls of the World's Largest Steam Locomotive"

Dark Side Of The Moon

"The First Photograph of the Far Side of the Moon from 1959"

Tower Of Terror Secrets

Video: "How Disney's Tower of Terror Works"

Silicon-Interconnect Fabric

"Goodbye, Motherboard. Hello, Silicon-Interconnect Fabric". (Via H.R.)

Illness On A Cruise Ship

"How Cruise Ship Passengers Should Prepare For Sickness Or Injury At Sea"

Baby-Seat Map For Air Passengers

"Airline introduces baby-seat map so passengers can avoid infants on planes".

I like kids. I also like the idea of air passengers being better able to choose to sit closer to (or further away from) babies.

Surviving Lightning

"How to Survive a Lightning Strike"

Contra Caps Lock

"It's time for Caps Lock to die".

Which also gives me a chance to post one of my favorite Homer Simpson quotes. (Click on image to see larger version.)

Anti-Surveillance Fashion

"Face masks to decoy t-shirts: The rise of anti-surveillance fashion"

Parking Math

"To find the best parking spot, do the math"

Critical Word Choices

BBC: "The Simple Words That Save Lives".