nswd



Every day, the same, again

448.jpgFlaming dessert injures four at Florida restaurant; waiter poured too much booze on bananas foster.

Man used shotgun to blast off painful wart, ‘didn’t expect’ to lose finger.

Woman tries to hire hit man on Facebook.

Japanese watermelon fetched nearly $4,000 at an auction.

According to the U.S.-based Environmental Working Group (EWG), apples rank as the most contaminated fruit and vegetable produce.

Children as young as ten are making themselves vomit in order to lose weight and the problem is more common in boys than girls, according to a study of nearly 16,000 school pupils.

Abstract artists are only 4 per cent better than child artists, according to a controversial new way of evaluating paintings.

Teens look to parents more than friends for sexual role models.

Neuroscientists have found evidence suggesting a link between math and language, “but this is the first time we’ve shown it in a behavioral setup.”

Study shows that a nightly sleep duration of six to nine hours is associated with higher ratings for quality of life and lower ratings for depression.

How the human brain performs echolocation.

What Bats, Bombs and Sharks Taught Us about Hearing.

A new study uncovers a brain mechanism that could be targeted for new medications designed to help people quit smoking without gaining weight.

Wrinkles could predict women’s bone fracture risk.

5 Leading Theories for Why We Laugh—and the Jokes That Prove Them Wrong.

How is one to know which aspect of a person counts as that person’s true self?

The Circle of Life (and how Jellyfish screw it up).

Human and jellyfish combined to make the first living laser. [Thanks Tim]

Human evolution is slower than thought.

Is homophobia associated with homosexual arousal?

Study explores how dogs think and learn about human behavior.

A mathematical analysis of golf ball trajectories along a flat gradient reveals a new and simple strategy for judging the perfect putt.

A team of neurosurgeons has completed an exhaustive study of the causes of traumatic brain injury in the Asterix comics.

When we talk about time and lives saved by using chimpanzees, can we provide actual time span data or numbers? As pressure from activists builds, the United States is considering whether it should end invasive experiments in chimpanzees.

771.jpgInside the Weird World of Medical Studies.

Why researchers spend so much time proving the obvious.

Scientists show the evolution of the Amphitheatre.

Does driving a Porsche make a man more desirable to women? Study shows that flashy spending may work for the short term but not for marriage.

Apple and Google will compete like crazy for our data because once they have it we’ll be their customers forever. iCloud’s real purpose: kill Windows.

Why Apple Isn’t in the Dow. Only ExxonMobil is bigger in the U.S. than Apple. While it might add 1,000 points to the Dow if it were on board, its high stock price would distort the index.

Netflix can be the core of Microsoft’s answer to Apple’s iCloud. Why Microsoft needs to buy Netflix. Related: Sony movies pulled from Netflix streaming service as Netflix subscriber growth triggers clause.

Wave of Superfluous New Startups Is Surest Sign We’re in a Bubble.

Google is dropping an automatic-translation tool, because overuse by spam-bloggers is flooding the internet with sloppily translated text, which in turn is making computerized translation even sloppier. The standalone Google Translate site, which allows you to enter text or URLs for translation, will remain.

Google pays 23% more than industry average, and then there’s the perks.

Why Did Facebook Partner With a Social Browser Maker?

In late 2007, according to company insiders, U.S. military officials ordered Boeing to destroy an earlier version of the Phantom Ray, the X-45C. Exactly why the feds wanted the robotic aircraft dismantled has never been fully explained.

Will drones soon take civilian passengers on pilotless flights?

Unbreakable: Eight codes we can’t crack. Previously: The Voynich Manuscript.

A new approach to tesselations allows any artist to create Escher-like images.

Meet modern Mongolia—a mishmash of PlayStations, yurts, heavy metal, teenage shamans, Genghis Khan toilet paper, fried meat, and ancient glory.

Part philosopher, part activist, part mystic, Simone Weil is almost impossible to classify.

How much of what we read, even the good stuff, drops from memory soon after we close the book?

When James Brown died on Christmas Day 2006, he left behind a fortune worth tens, maybe hundreds, of millions of dollars. The problem is, he also left behind fourteen children, sixteen grandchildren, eight mothers of his children, several mistresses, thirty lawyers, a former manager, an aging dancer, a longtime valet, and a sister who’s really not a sister but calls herself the Godsister of Soul anyway. All of whom want a piece of his legacy.

I’m going to be straight with you: I used to not wash my hands after peeing.

Tasteless, indestructible and picked by literal slaves, tomato has become a national shame.

A Brief History of the Corporation: 1600 to 2100.

The Origins of the First Arcade Video Game: Atari’s Pong.

Can you tan through glass?

447.jpgClose encounters.

Collection of hotel door hangers.

Evolution of Search Engines.

A small maze and a computer-generated maze with two solutions.

Memory Tapes, “Yes I Know” [video]

Chocolate, 2010. [Thanks SG]

Romance comics from the 1940s and ’50s.

Finger Mounted Stealth Fly Swatter Patent.

Cardboard Bike Helmet Better than Plastic.

Möbius Ship.

Bullet.

Subtle product placement there.

Miracle of birth.





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