Simpler Ikea

"IKEA is going to save your relationship with new furniture that simply snaps together".

No more fighting over who lost the hex wrench!

More TSA Gropings

"U.S. Airport Pat-Downs Are About to Get More Invasive".

Basically, the TSA has determined it doesn't do a very good job looking for contraband with the x-ray machines, so it needs to do more aggressive groping of travelers.

Also from the article, "TSA officials didn’t immediately address whether the new universal pat-down protocol will mandate touching of passenger genitals."

I feel much safer now.

Chocolate Replacement?

"This Little-Known Waste Product Could Provide A Chocolate Replacement".

They can have my chocolate when they pry it from my cold dead gooey-brown covered hands.

Bad Science Reporting

"Reports Of Medical Breakthroughs Often Don't Prove Out". Key quote:

Only about half of the medical findings reported in 199 English-language newspapers actually turn out to hold up when tested in further studies, the study found. And sorry, dear reader, you're not likely to hear about those refutations.

Gene Therapy Success

BBC: "Teenager's sickle cell reversed with world-first therapy".

More details in the NEJM article: "Gene Therapy in a Patient with Sickle Cell Disease".

Good Plane

"The plane so good it’s still in production after 60 years"

DNA Encoding Update

"To make better computers, researchers turn to molecular biology"

Cursed Emerald

Wired: "The Curse of the Bahia Emerald, a Giant Green Rock That Ruins Lives"

AI Medicine Update

"Detecting Cancer Metastases on Gigapixel Pathology Images". (Via Dave Jilk.)

Rocketry Lesson In One GIF

"This Crazy Gif Shows How Fast a Rocket Has to Launch From Each Planet in the Solar System". (Via H.R.)

Amazon Shipping To Moon?

"Amazon boss Jeff Bezos wants to start delivering packages to the Moon."

If I have Amazon Prime, will it be free and within 2 days?

Glass Battery Technology

"Will a New Glass Battery Accelerate the End of Oil?" (Via H.R.)

Plasma Rocket Engine

"NASA's longshot bet on a revolutionary rocket may be about to pay off". (Via H.R.)

Human Echolocation

"Humans' Hidden Ability to Navigate the World With Tongue Clicks"

Fake WW2 Radio Show

"The Fake British Radio Show That Helped Defeat the Nazis"

Flying Cars

Flying cars are now for sale. Only $400k from Dutch company PAL-V.

Measuring Pee

"Just How Much Pee Is In That Pool?"

But up until now, just how much urine has been difficult to measure, says chemist Xing-Fang Li of the University of Alberta. Li and her colleagues report they can now tell roughly how much pee is in a pool by measuring the artificial sweeteners carried in most people's urine. Certain sweeteners can be a good proxy for pee, she says, because they're designed to "go right through you" and don't break down readily in pool water.

The scientists calculated that one 220,000-gallon, commercial-size swimming pool contained almost 20 gallons of urine. In a residential pool (20-by-40-foot, five-feet deep), that would translate to about two gallons of pee. It's only about one-hundredth of a percent, but any urine in a swimming pool can be a health concern for some people, not to mention that smell that never quite goes away...

Artificial Blood

"The quest for one of science's holy grails: artificial blood"

Back To The Moon

NYT: "SpaceX Plans to Send 2 Tourists Around Moon in 2018"

Robot Overlord Update

WSJ: "Supersmart Robots Will Outnumber Humans Within 30 Years, Says SoftBank CEO "