Brain-Computer Interface Update

"A new way to plug a human brain into a computer: Via veins". (Via H.R.)

Bigger Baggie

"Try This 2-Second Trick to Double the Storage Size of Your Baggie"

AI Boo Boo

"AI Camera Mistakenly Tracks Referee's Bald Head Instead of Soccer Ball"

Pulsating Earth

"Earth Keeps Pulsating Every 26 Seconds. No One Knows Why." (Via T.K.)

Boaty McBoatface Sets Sail

"Britain's 'Boaty McBoatface heads for open seas"

Atlas Of Cosmos

"An Atlas of the Cosmos"

Saving Oreos From Disaster

"Oreo built a doomsday vault to protect cookies from an asteroid. No, we're not kidding." (Via H.R.)

Shape-Shifting Robotic Bird

"This robotic hawk can shape-shift as it flies"

Pandemic Migrations

NPR: "Now That More Americans Can Work From Anywhere, Many Are Planning To Move Away"

Another study conducted by United Van Lines, a major household moving company, found that people wanted to relocate out of New York state at a higher rate than the national average. And, by the beginning of September, the requests to leave San Francisco had grown to more than double the U.S. average. The survey was conducted between March and August. 

Hidden Whiskey

"Couple finds century-old bottles of bootleg whiskey hidden in walls of NY home". (Via H.R.)

Late Delivery

"Package with 1979 postmark delivered to Maryland suburb: 'It only took the post office 41 years'"

The U.S. Postal Service says deliveries that take decades to complete are rare.

Shoe Sizing X-rays

"When X-Rays Were All the Rage, a Trip to the Shoe Store Was Dangerously Illuminating"

Glowing Platypus

"As If the Platypus Couldn't Get Any Weirder". (Via H.R.)

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"

Unexpected Booms

"Ashley Madison: Extramarital affairs soar in pandemic with technology's help"

Big Star

"The mind-boggling size of the largest known star, Stephenson 2-18"

Hsieh Forbes Column: Is It Safe To Crack Your Knuckles?

My latest Forbes piece is now out: "Is It Safe To Crack Your Knees And Knuckles?"

And click through to learn why Dr. Donald Unger is the deserving recipient of an Ig Nobel Prize for research in this area! 

Time Travel Physics

"Time travel is deterministic and locally free, a new paper says --resolving an age-old paradox."

Before TP

"What did people use before toilet paper was invented?"

IOT Ransomware

"When coffee makers are demanding a ransom, you know IoT is screwed"

Early Steel

"1,000-Year-Old Precursor to Stainless Steel Found in Iran, Surprising Archaeologists". (Via H.R.)

Tesla Battery Technology

"Here's what Tesla will put in its new batteries".

 Related: "How Tesla plans to make batteries cheap enough for a $25,000 car"

Pricy Chips

"The World's Most Expensive Potato Chips Will Run You $15 Per Chip" 

 

Markets In Everything: Evictions

"Gig Economy Company Launches Uber, But for Evicting People"

Android 11

"Android 11 -- The Ars Technica Review"

Tiny Medical Devices

"New 3-D printing method could jump-start creation of tiny medical devices for the body"

Apple Oximeter Accuracy

"Should You Trust Apple's New Blood Oxygen Sensor?"

Poker Scandal

"The Cheating Scandal That Ripped the Poker World Apart"

Young Adults Back Home

For the first time since the Great Depression, the majority of 18-to-29 year-olds are living in their parents' houses.

Hypnotic Sculptures

"Hypnotic wooden kinetic sculptures". Click through to see videos.

Indirect Ransomware Death?

"Patient dies after ransomware attack reroutes her to remote hospital"

New Apple

"The new Apple Watch SE and iPad Air are better 'better' options"

Encryption And National Security

"Weakened Encryption: The Threat to America's National Security"

In-Flight Software Updates?

"Updating software in flight? The Air Force may be close".

 Um, is this really a good idea?

Snake Mask

Man wears live snake as "face covering" on bus: 

One passenger... said she initially thought the man was wearing a 'funky mask' before she spotted it slithering over the hand rails.

I don't know how well it stops aerosol spread, but it undoubtedly helps motivate people to stay more than 6 feet away!

 

Mandalorian S2 Trailer

Official trailer for The Mandalorian, Season 2.

Singapore Flights To Nowhere

"Singapore Airlines is considering launching 'no destination' flights next month in a unique way to offer travel-starved locals a way to experience flying again."

Overzealous Feds

"Feds seize OnePlus Buds, mistaking them for 'counterfeit' AirPods"

Mind Bending Short Film "Circulatory Systems"

"Koyaanisqatsi meets fractals in mind-bending short film Circulatory Systems"

Circulatory Systems from Visual Suspect on Vimeo.

Google Searches For GI Symptoms May Predict COVID Spike

Google searches as leading indicator for COVID-19 spike: 

"We found that Google search interest in ageusia, loss of appetite, and diarrhea increased 4 weeks prior to the rise in COVID-19 cases for most states, with maximum correlation estimates of 0.998, 0.871, and 0.748, respectively..."

Becoming A Senior Software Engineer

"Things I Learned to Become a Senior Software Engineer"

German Flying Train

"Ride Through a German Village on ‘The Flying Train’ in Incredibly Clear Footage from 1902". (Via H.R.)

Dune Trailer

Trailer for upcoming version of Dune.  I'm cautiously optimistic!

Neuroscience Of Stuttering

"The new neuroscience of stuttering"

Dodecahedron Discovery

"Mathematicians Report New Discovery About the Dodecahedron"

Phillips Dominance

"How the Phillips Screwdriver Took Over America"

Vanishing Japanese

BBC: "The companies that help [Japanese] people vanish"

Digital Pregnancy Test

Inside the digital pregnancy test.

AI Grading Hack

"These students figured out their tests were graded by AI -- and the easy way to cheat"

Robot Harvests Coconuts

"Tree-Climbing Robot Can Safely Harvest Coconuts". (Via H.R.)

Holiday Hiatus

Admin note: GeekPress is taking a short hiatus for the US Labor Day. Posting will resume tomorrow, but may be lighter than usual the rest of this week.

Covid Hypothesis

"A Supercomputer Analyzed Covid-19 -- and an Interesting New Theory Has Emerged"

Big Bomb

NYT: "New Video Shows Largest Hydrogen Bomb Ever Exploded"

Last week, the Russian nuclear energy agency, Rosatom, released a 30-minute, formerly secret documentary video about the world’s largest hydrogen bomb detonation. The explosive force of the device — nicknamed Tsar Bomba, or the Tsar’s bomb, and set off on Oct. 30, 1961 — was 50 megatons, or the equivalent of 50 million tons of conventional explosive. That made it 3,333 times as destructive as the weapon used on Hiroshima, Japan, and also far more powerful than the 15 megaton weapon set off by the United States in 1954 in its largest hydrogen bomb blast.

Zoom Hacking

"Video editor used prerecorded clips in Zoom meetings for a week and no one noticed"

Unprecedented CDC Order

"CDC issues unprecedented order halting evictions to prevent COVID-19 spread".

The article includes details of the claimed legal basis for this action.

High Flyer (Child Ok)

"Taiwan kite festival accident sees 3-year-old girl lifted high into the air as crowd watches on"

The child was filmed being lifted dozens of metres into the air after she was caught in the strings of a kite as it was released on a gusty day...

The video ends with the tail of the kite relatively slowly dropping to the ground as those people nearby rush to help the girl.

News reports said the girl was frightened but suffered no physical injuries in the incident

(Click through to see video.)

.

 

COVID And Divorce

"US Divorce Rates Soar During COVID-19 Crisis"