Man sues former hostages, says they broke promise.

Fire kills 15 eunuchs at eunuchs convention.

Who owns the aurora borealis? Norwegians claim Finns are trying to “steal” the celestial phenomenon from them.

World’s longest Christmas cake created in China.

Paris cleans lipstick off Oscar Wilde grave.

Teenage sex ‘leads to bad moods’ in later life.’ More: The researchers had a group of 40-day-old male hamsters (the equivalent of human teens) mate with adult females in heat.

Study debunks stereotype that men think about sex all day long.

Evidence has emerged that the brain’s capacity to absorb information is limiting the amount of data humanity can produce.

Creative people are more likely to cheat than less creative people, possibly because this talent increases their ability to rationalize their actions.

Would you kill one person to save five?

Are you too old to learn a second language?

Why can’t a blindfolded person tell white wine from red? A top neuroscientist explains how the brain creates flavor.

Another genetic puzzle: why is mitochondrial DNA only inherited through the mother’s side?

Boys with autism have a bigger brain.

When I was in fifth grade, my brother Alex started correcting my homework. This would not have been weird, except that he was in kindergarten—and autistic. Many researchers are starting to rethink how much we really know about autistic people and their abilities. These researchers are coming to the conclusion that we might be underestimating what they are capable of contributing to society.

A surprising drug has brought a kind of consciousness to patients once considered vegetative — and changed the debate over pulling the plug. [NY Times]

Turtle embryos can communicate across eggs. River Murray Turtle embryos can adjust their developmental rate so that all the eggs in a clutch can hatch around the same time, a new study has found.

Because of where the baby dolphin sits (near the mama’s tail) during development, the mothers couldn’t flip their tails up and down as far as they could after giving birth.

A new strain of H3N2 swine flu that circulates in pigs has been jumping occasionally into people.

A national biosecurity board that monitors “dual use” research is apparently worried about an as-yet-published study in which a mutant form of H5N1 avian influenza virus was found to be easily transmissible in ferrets, which are considered good models for flu in humans.

Quantum computers, some researchers argue, will help us think differently about what we can and can’t know, and forge a new understanding of how the world of logic and information connects to the material one.

Technology experts can detect if images are photoshopped or not.

Several universities are registering .xxx addresses to protect their reputation.

They blamed the problem on Yelp, its supplier of local business data, which could well be correct, but Apple never said “and we’ll fix it right away.”

Facebook Targets Huge IPO.

I’m One Of The 20% Of U.S. Women On Antidepressants: And My Life Is Better For It.

This is the essence of what I call structured procrastination, an amazing strategy I have discovered that converts procrastinators into effective human beings. Related: Philosophy of a prize-winning procrastinator.

I want to focus on something absolutely central to the interpretation of the world in which we live in terms of mathematics: the notion of a point – in particular, a point in space.

Philosophy in Review, an open access, specialist book review journal in philosophy, published six times a year.

Thirty-six scheduled executions would translate into 72 kidneys and corneas divided among the regional hospitals. Every van contained surgeons who could work fast: 15-30 minutes to extract. Drive back to the hospital. Transplant within six hours. Chinese medical authorities admit that the lion’s share of transplant organs originate with executions.

Eichmann went to Jerusalem, and Mengele remained in South America. It was during the Mengele investigation that the procedures and techniques of forensic identification of human remains were methodologically developed.

Mr. Hagendorf began his project with the aim of trying every pizza in New York City’s five boroughs. But with more than 1,600 pizzerias in town, he narrowed his focus to Manhattan and set simple rules: only order plain cheese pizza; only eat at places selling individual slices…

Taking revenge, Cartrain took the box of pencils that were part of Hirst’s sculpture, Pharmacy, which was being shown as part of its Classified exhibition.

The first automatic elevator was installed by Otis Elevator Co. in 1924; the things became common in the 1950s. When Will We Have Unmanned Commercial Airliners?

China’s demand for oil will equal US demand by 2040.

Recessions and unemployment rates, 1929-2011.

Declawing Cats, Tipping, Going Vegan… 6 Innocent-Sounding Topics That Are Guaranteed Flame Wars.

How much chalk dust enters the air when a teacher uses a blackboard?

Why Do We Love to Eat Hot Peppers?

The best public restroom in America?

10 Longest Lasting Hollywood Marriages.

Your World of Text is an infinite grid of text editable by any visitor.

Free Bernie Madoff.

Hammer.

Meet the “Melonator.”

every day the same again | December 2nd, 2011