The report found that the use of Twitter is highly concentrated among its most prolific users. This is in contrast to usage patterns on other social networks, such as Facebook, where the top 10 per cent of users account for only 30 per cent of all content, three times less than the amount [of content] created by the top tweeters.
There was a time when people were calling home virtual reality the wave of the future. Now most people just call it goofy and expensive. Here are 7 virtual reality technologies that didn’t work, and never will. (Pics)
Millions of dieters have been offered hope after scientists discovered a way to modify everyday foods such as cakes and pastries to make diners feel full for twice as long.
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A shoe-maker and a technology company are teaming up to develop footwear with a built-in GPS device that could help track down “wandering” seniors suffering from Alzheimer’s Disease.
Corey McKenna created this unique stop-motion video as an invitation to his wedding to Rachel. The music is M79 by Vampire Weekend. More detailed directions are in another video. Do you think anyone will show up?
Bees vs Elephant
A simple fence made from wood, wire and beehives can deter elephants from raiding farmers’ crops. A pilot study in Kenya has shown that such fences reduce the number of raids by elephants by almost half.
The work is the culmination of previous research which showed elephants are naturally scared of African honey bees.
A much larger trial is now underway in the hope the fences will provide an elegant solution to years of conflict between elephants and farmers.
Fewer Americans are dying on our nation’s roads, not only because they are driving less, but also because the type of driving has changed, says a researcher at the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute.
Contrary to Hollywood notions, the 40-year-old virgin is not an awkward yet funny and endearing electronics salesman played by Steve Carell.
He is a church-going teetotaller who has neither been to jail nor served in the military, according to a new survey of more than 7000 people. He also represents an estimated 1.1 million American men and 800,000 women aged 25 to 45 who have never had sex.
Since 2002, Belgian designer Sebastien Wierinck has been creating his installations of sculptural furniture made of flexible polyethylene tubes. From public benches to cafe seating to temporary installations, his pieces always challenge the way people view and interact with environmental space. (Pics)
The Food and Drug Administration approved today the nation’s first drug developed specifically for the treatment of canine cancer.
Manufactured by Pfizer Animal Health Inc., based in New York City, the drug marketed as Palladia, or chemically known as toceranib phosphate, will hit the markets in early 2010.
Making long space journeys, like those envisaged in the future, will not be good for your looks or figure, claim scientists who believe they will leave astronauts looking short, fat and bald.
You are currently under surveillance. Really.
Bad news for freedom as noted in this snip from WIRED Threat Level piece by David Kravets:
A federal judge on Wednesday dismissed lawsuits targeting the nation’s telecommunication companies for their participation in President George W. Bush’s once-secret electronic eavesdropping program. In his ruling, U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker upheld summer legislation protecting the companies from the lawsuits. The legislation, which then-Sen. Barack Obama voted for, also granted the government the authority to monitor American’s telecommunications without warrants if the subject was communicating with somebody overseas suspected of terrorism.
UPDATE: EFF and ACLU plan to appeal the ruling…
Power Up Your Java Slot
I think that all vehicles should have a AC outlet built right into them. However, until that time comes we have the Coffee Cup Power Inverter. According to the site, “The Coffee Cup Power Inverter is a conveniently shaped power source that coverts your car’s DC power into two 120-volt AC outlets. Perfect for powering or charging TV’s, DVD players, game consoles, cell phones, and other portable electronics. This coffee cup also has a USB charging port providing 500mA of power. The unique coffee cup shape fits nicely in today’s auto/boat/truck cup holders, preventing it from moving around inside your vehicle… Continue Reading »
We don’t pretend to understand the Japanese, we usually just nod graciously and smile when they dazzle us with their consumer electronics and robots. But Sony’s MotionPortrait is different, SolidAlliance different. The technology creates 3D graphics from 2D stills of human faces. (Video after the break)
What if you could take a regular incandescent lightbulb, zap it with a powerful laser for a small fraction of a second, and make it about twice as efficient as a regular lightbulb? That seems to be what researchers at the University of Rochester did. What does the laser do? It creates an “array of nano- and micro-scale structures on the surface of [the] regular tungsten filament-the tiny wire inside a light bulb-and these structures make the tungsten become far more effective at radiating light.”
The clever canines board the Tube each morning. After a hard day scavenging and begging on the streets, they hop back on the train and return to the suburbs where they spend the night. (Pics)
Instead of pouncing on the mouse, the 12-year-old African leopard, called Sheena, simply watched as it fed on scraps of meat thrown into its enclosure.
They have been blamed for damaging hearing and exposing users to harmful radiation. Now those who just can’t stop chatting into their handsets are facing a new menace – mobile phone elbow.
Wired has a recipe for an exploding drink called the Manhattan Project. You can try to make it taste like a Manhattan, but it’s not really necessary. The point is that there will be a delayed-reaction explosion to surprise your guest. Oh the memories it will create…
Holy Crap! That looks peaceful.
The South Pacific nation of four million people and 40 million sheep has knocked Iceland off its perch after violent demonstrations followed the collapse of Reykjavik’s banking system.
The Global Peace Index, a report prepared for the Australia-based Institute for Economics and Peace in conjunction with the Economist Intelligence Unit, ranks 144 countries in a league table of peacefulness.
The index defines peace as “the absence of violence”.
Twenty-three criteria on which the league table is compiled include political stability, risk of terrorism, murder rate, likelihood of violent demonstrations, respect for human rights, internal conflicts, arms imports and involvement in foreign wars.
Here’s a list of the 10 most peaceful nations on the planet…
In nature, trees pull vast amounts of water from their roots up to their leaves hundreds of feet above the ground through capillary action, but now scientists at the University of Rochester have created a simple slab of metal that lifts liquid using the same principle—but does so at a speed that would make nature envious.
It’s hard to miss the huge eye of a squid. But now it appears that certain squids can detect light through an organ other than their eyes as well.
Scientists have managed to induce cells from pigs to transform into pluripotent stem cells – cells that, like embryonic stem cells, are capable of developing into any type of cell in the body.
As the closest planet to the sun, Mercury is scorching hot, with daytime temperatures of more than 800 degrees Fahrenheit (approximately 450 degrees Celsius). It is also the smallest rocky planet, so its gravity is weak, only about 38 percent of Earth’s.
June’s Night with a Futurist saw Todd Siler discussing the future of innovation. Siler believes that the key constraints to innovation lie in the limitations individuals place around their thinking and creativity added to the subsequent inability to communicate ideas effectively to other people. Siler noted that people “live in a highly compartmentalized world” where different knowledge is siloed. Yet in order to innovate, people must “stand back and reintegrate.” This process can be frightening given the chaos that exists within the human mind but is necessary because inspiration results from the “chaotic moment of piecing elements together.” Siler urged people to “take time to reflect” which allows this integration of ideas to happen.
