The world according to Penn Jillette
Here is a short interview with Penn Jillette on what is needed for the prediction of future events to be taken seriously.
 

The Brazilian Diesel Tree
Australian farmers in North Queensland have recently invested in 20,000 Brazilian trees not just for the sake of the environment, but also for what the trees can give the farmers in about 15 to 20 years. Fuel!

Ecosmart school uniforms made from recycled soda bottles
The expression “that soda will go right to your rear end” has taken a literal twist with the new Ecosmart range of school uniforms from British supplier School Colors. Using yarn that’s created from clear soda bottles, the cloth can be dyed in any of the […]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2t52gkAwJq8

Here are some experiments at Kapor Enterprises using 3D cameras to control movement in Second Life.
Mitch Kapor and Philippe Bossut designed a prototypical interface that demonstrates the possibilities for operating Second Life “hands free” without a mouse or keyboard. To make this work, they modified the open source Second Life client to support the camera […]

The Cornell Ranger sets robot walking record
“The Cornell Ranger robot has set an unofficial world distance record by walking nonstop for 45 laps — a little over 9 kilometers — around the Barton Hall running track in an event to to show off the machine’s energy efficiency.

Underwater cell analyzer used to detect harmful marine algae
Through the use of an automated, underwater cell analyzer developed at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), researchers and coastal managers were recently able to detect a bloom of harmful marine algae in the Gulf of Mexico and prevent human consumption of tainted shellfish.

Padlock women’s pants turned out to be a dumb way to curb prostitution
A bid by a local government in Indonesia’s East Java province to curb prostitution by asking masseuses to wear a padlock on their pants was an insult, a newspaper quoted the minister for women’s empowerment as saying.

Student loans are about to get tougher
Parents will have to navigate unfamiliar and difficult terrain when it comes time to pay for college this year, with student loan companies in turmoil and banks tightening their standards and raising rates on other types of borrowing.

The coming era of “green” plastics
Chemists are investigating ways to use carbon dioxide removed from smokestack emissions to make a raw material for the production of DVDs, CD-ROMs, beverage bottles and other products made from polycarbonate plastics.

Apart from the benefits in terms of combating climate change, using CO2 normally released the atmosphere as a feedstock […]

A doctor exams mammograms, a special type of X-ray of the breasts
Trans-fats, which are being phased out of food because they clog arteries, may raise the risk of getting breast cancer, European researchers reported on Friday.
They found that women with the highest blood levels of trans-fats had about twice the risk of breast cancer compared […]

Outer space seems vast and empty, but the space directly above Earth
is quite crowded with satellites and … space junk!
Between the launch of Sputnik on 4 October 1957 and 1 January 2008, approximately 4600 launches have placed some 6000 satellites into orbit; about 400 are now traveling beyond Earth on interplanetary trajectories, but of the […]

Stickney Crater on Martian moon Phobos
Stickney Crater, the largest crater on the martian moon Phobos, is named for Chloe Angeline Stickney Hall, mathematician and wife of astronomer Asaph Hall. Asaph Hall discovered both the Red Planet’s moons in 1877. Click on photo to see hi-res image.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwBzhw6ukzU

Some of these are quite scary.  Live television is exciting because anything can happen. Most exciting of all is when ‘respectable’ television journalists succumb to the unexpected (they trip, get mauled by animals, lit aflame, etc.) right there on your TV.
 

 
Perhaps the aging process can’t be stopped. But it can be predicted - thanks to a new study,
which indicates that people may live longer and lead healthier lives as a result.
Researchers at Tel Aviv University have carried out the study and found that how fast one will age is written in one’s bones because the […]