In the U.S. there is one vehicle for every 1.3 people.
Worldwide, the number of vehicles in operation surpassed the 1 billion-unit mark in 2010 for the first time ever.
Continue reading… “World vehicle population surpasses 1 billion mark”
Paris airport gets virtual boarding agents
Virtual boarding agent
Virtual boarding agents could be the next “upgrade” at airports wherever you go. If you are at Orly airport in Paris, France, then do keep a lookout for these virtual boarding agents that have a perpetual smile on them, and best of all is, they won’t head off for unusually long toilet breaks or head a strike.
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Having a stressed-out partner may affect your life expectancy
How cool is your partner?
Having a stressed-out partner may affect your life expectancy, according to a new study. Researchers at the University of Glasgow found that birds who were paired off with anxious partners were at a high risk of dying young.
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Darpa seeks plan to send humans to the stars
Alpha Centauri or bust.
Darpa, the government agency that helped invent the Internet, now wants to do the same for travel to the stars.
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Alligator fat could be a new source of biodiesel
Alligator fat meets nearly all of the official standards for high-quality biodiesel.
Alligators, in addition to being a novelty food, could also provide a feedstock for biodiesel. The alligator meat industry disposes of about 15 million pounds of alligator fat in landfills every year. Scientists discover the that oil can be extracted from the fat and used to make a high-quality biodiesel.
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Free artificial intelligence class
Learn more about artificial intelligence.
If you’ve ever been drawn to the idea of artificial intelligence, Stanford University School of Engineering is giving out the opportunity to learn how to build software that “reasons about the world around it.” The free class is as challenging as courses given to Stanford students and starts on October 10. So far over 100,000 students have signed up…
Hulu and MSN caught using supercookies to track user data
Supercookies are not a good thing for the user.
The WSJ says that Hulu and MSN, among others, have been found using supercookies to monitor the info of those who visit their sites. Extremely difficult to detect and erase, supercookies can provide significantly more information than standard cookies.
Supercookies can be used to steal a users entire browser history, which can provide highly valuable information on their financial and health status. Microsoft claims they don’t know why supercookies were being used…
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25 Amazing Award-Winning Photos
Every once in a while we come across some amazing photos. So we decided to create a series of what we believe are some of the best we’ve come across. The photos are from different photographers and include photos of animals, birds, news photos, funny photos, landscapes, events, and more. Just kick back and enjoy …
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Amazon Instant Video reaches 100,000 on-demand titles
Amazon grows again.
Amazon is constantly growing and expanding its catalog of videos available for on-demand streaming. The service just reached the 100k mark with 9,000 of those available under the Prime streaming plan. The bulk of the library is set aside for à la carte renting and buying with TV titles starting at $.99 cent and movies for $3.99. With deep living room penetration, all Amazon needs to do is flip the switch, offer a reasonably-priced subscription plan open to all titles, and effectively shut down Netflix…
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Scientists reverse evolution to create chickens that grow alligator-like snouts
Altering the DNA of chicken embryos can give them qualities they lost millions of years ago.
Chickens and other birds are thought to have descended from dinosaurs through a series of genetic changes. Scientists have rewound 65 million years of evolutionary history by tweaking chicken DNA to create embryos that grow alligator-like snouts rather than beaks.
Candle flames contain millions of tiny diamonds
As if a candlelit dinner wasn’t romantic enough.
Scientists have shown that each flickering candle flame contains ‘millions of tiny diamonds that are created and disappear in the blink of an eye’.
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USPTO’s major milestones from one to eight million patents
USPTO issues 8,000,000th patent on August 17, 2011.
The first patent granted by the USPTO was in 1836 and 175 years later, the government body now has a database that is eight million strong.
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