Placebo Update

Placebos can still work even when you know you're getting a placebo.

Remote Drone Takedown

"There’s a new way to take down drones, and it doesn’t involve shotguns"

Brain Training

"Want to 'train your brain'? Forget apps, learn a musical instrument". (Via C.B.)

Fast Internet

"This Guy Has the Fastest Home Internet in the United States".

Halloween Candy Mythbusting

"Has Anyone Ever Actually Poisoned Or Put Razor Blades or Needles in Halloween Candy?" (Via H.R.)

Destroying Tumors

"Two-Pronged Immune Response Destroys Tumors"

Google Insecurity

"Adding a phone number to your Google account can make it LESS secure".

Or if you do so, at least employ 2-factor security. (Via Gus Van Horn.)

Entertainment Pills?

"A Matrix-like hallucinogenic pill may be the future of entertainment, says Netflix’s CEO"

Rotisserie Chicken Economics

"Are Rotisserie Chickens a Bargain?"

Mercedes Self-Driving Car Ethics

"Mercedes says its self-driving cars will kill pedestrians instead of drivers":

When they crash, self-driving Mercedes will be programmed to save the driver, and not the person or people they hit. That's the design decision behind the Mercedes Benz's future Level 4 and Level 5 autonomous cars, according to the company's manager of driverless car safety, Christoph von Hugo. Instead of worrying about troublesome details like ethics, Mercedes will just program its cars to save the driver and the car's occupants, in every situation.

One of the biggest debates about driverless cars concerns the moral choices made when programming a car's algorithms. Say the car is spinning out of control, and on course to hit a crowd queuing at a bus stop. It can correct its course, but in doing so, it'll kill a cyclist for sure. What does it do? Mercedes's answer to this take on the classic Trolley Problem is to hit whichever one is least likely to hurt the people inside its cars. If that means taking out a crowd of kids waiting for the bus, then so be it...

Modern Cars Are Freaking Out In Car Washes

"Modern Cars Are Freaking Out In Car Washes". (Via H.R.)

The issue is that the sensory safety systems that help to prevent crashes on the road also often prevent cars from thinking the enclosure full of spraying water and spinning brushes is a good place to be, causing the systems to overload and essentially disable the vehicle. 

The Science Of Holding Your Breath

"What’s the Longest You Can Hold Your Breath?"

Facial Expressions Not Universal?

"Facial expressions -- including fear -- may not be as universal as we thought"

[Off Topic] Hsieh Forbes Column: How Your Doctor's Politics Affects Your Health Care

[Off topic] My latest Forbes piece is now out, "How Your Doctor's Politics Affects Your Health Care -- And What You Can Do About It".

I discuss the latest research indicating the doctors' own personal political biases can affect the advice they give patients in three areas -- abortion, gun ownership, and marijuana use. And strategies that patients and doctors can adopt to minimize inappropriate physician bias in the exam room.

New Internet Attacks

"The Mirai botnet’s internet takedown opens up a new market for attackers and defenders"

Sensor Threads

"The next frontier in medical sensing: Threads coated in nanomaterials". (Via H.R.)

Driverless Beer Truck

"'Driverless' beer run; Bud makes shipment with self-driving truck":

Anheuser-Busch hauled a trailer loaded with beer 120 miles in an autonomous-drive truck, completing what's believed to be the first commercial shipment by a self-driving vehicle.

The trip happened last week in Colorado as Anheuser-Busch, collaborated with Otto, a subsidiary of Uber that is developing self-driving truck technology. The semi drove autonomously on the highway between Fort Collins, Colorado and Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Plus: Self-driving beer truck! In Colorado!
Minus: Bud ?!?

Boaty McBoatface Update

"Boaty McBoatface Is Training for an Historic Arctic Journey"

Political Handshakes

"The Strange World of Political Handshakes"

Human Google

"The Public Librarians Who Serve as Human Google"