Joe Engressia Jr.
Joe Engressia Jr. was the father of phone phreaking. In the 1950s, the blind 7-year-old realized that his high-pitched whistle could control the phone system. Over the years, he learned the electronic language of clicks and tones and tapped into a network of phone freaks around the country, most of whom had previously phreaked in solitude…
Another new discovery in China.
Your family tree just got wider. Scientists have analyzed fossils found in China, and deemed them to be from a new human species unlike any ever identified before; say hello to your long-lost cousin.
The skull, originally unearthed in 1979 in the Guangxi Province of China, has only now been fully analyzed (talk about procrastination, right?). It turns out that it has thick bones, extremely prominent brow ridges, a very short, flat face, and also lacks our typically human chin. “In short, it is anatomically unique among all members of the human evolutionary tree,” explains researcher Darren Curnoe to New Scientist…
Continue reading… “Scientists have identified a completely new human species from China”
Are you working for the fastest shrinking industry in the United States? You are, if you’re working for a newspaper according to this study by LinkedIn and the Council of Economic Advisors.
The fastest-growing industries include renewables (+49.2%), internet (+24.6%), online publishing (+24.3%), and e-learning (+15.9%). Fastest-shrinking industries were newspapers (-28.4%), retail (-15.5%), building materials (-14.2%), and automotive (-12.8%)…
Continue reading… “Newspaper: America’s Fastest Shrinking Industry”
A British scientist has become the first human to be infected with a computer virus.
Dr Mark Gasson, a cybernetics expert at the University of Reading, has had a computer chip implanted in his hand.
The chip is programmed to open security doors to his lab – and ensure only he is able to switch on and use his mobile phone…
Continue reading… “Scientist implanted with RFID Chip gets computer virus”
Willow and her tenants, in front of the house Willow bought with her mother.
NPR’s Planet Money profiles Willow Tufano, a 14-year-old Florida girl who saved thousands of dollars by harvesting furniture from foreclosed houses and selling it on eBay. She’s just bought half interest in a house that went for $100,000 at the peak of the bubble. Her mom owns the other half, and the house went for $12,000. They rent it out for $700 a month now. Chana Joffe-Walt writes:
Astronaut/scientist Don Petit conducts experiments in the microgravity environment of the International Space Station to demonstrate physics on video…
A nomadic family outside their ‘ger’ (yurt) in the Gobi desert near Choir, Mongolia.
It’s not quite the proverbial butterfly flapping its wings creating a hurricane across the world, but desertification in Mongolia is generating dangerous dust storms thousands of miles away.
Former South Korean Ambassador to China Kwon Byong Hyon made the connection more than a decade ago, and has helped spearhead an effort since then to plant trees in Mongolia, hoping to improve both the lives of nomadic desert herders there and the air quality his own children are exposed to back home in Seoul…
Continue reading… “Planting trees in the Mongolian Desert to fight dangerous dust storms in Seoul”
Pedro Alonzo Lopez, The ‘Monster of the Andes’
Serial killers gain their notoriety in several ways. They can gain notoriety by the bizarre or brutal methods they use to single out and kill their victims, or by the sheer number of killings they carry out.
Continue reading… “Top 10 worst serial killers in the world”
New Mars photos show amazing activity.
For such a dead planet, Mars sure has got a lot of things going on. LIke this mini tornado, as captured by camera aboard NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter:..
Some honey bees, too, are more likely than others to seek adventure.
A new study in Science suggests that thrill-seeking is not limited to humans and other vertebrates. Some honey bees, too, are more likely than others to seek adventure. The brains of these novelty-seeking bees exhibit distinct patterns of gene activity in molecular pathways known to be associated with thrill-seeking in humans, researchers report…
The lines represent the price in a given year, as a percent of the price in 1985.
This graph from the New York Times shows how much tuition has gone up, way more than other costs. College tuition and fees today are 559 percent of their cost in 1985. In other words, they have nearly sextupled (while consumer prices have roughly doubled)…
Ideas happen at the darnedest times.
We all have our favorite times to power through work; some of us are up at the crack of dawn toiling away, while others feel more productive when the sun’s setting. But a new study suggests that out best ideas actually come to us when we’re not at our best.
Researchers have been studying how innovation and creativity varies with circadian rhythms—the natural patterns that make you a morning person or an evening type—and the findings are suprising…
Continue reading… “Why you have your best ideas when you’re least productive”