Category: Historical Perspectives

Impact Lab > Historical Perspectives
Analysis, Education, Entertainment, Health & Fitness, Historical Perspectives, Human Behavior

Six tips from your future self

futurehippyselfffffffff

What good advice does your future self have to offer?

In an episode of the popular sitcom “30 Rock,” television CEO Jack has a hallucinatory encounter with his future self, from whom he receives life advice that helps him avoid major mistakes.

Most of us would also like to know which choices and decisions we make as young people will benefit us later on — or come back to haunt us. Although there’s no way to step into our own futures, we can get a very good sense of what mistakes younger folks should avoid. We can ask our “future selves”: our elders…

Continue reading… “Six tips from your future self”

Analysis, Breakthrough Thinking, Education, Health & Fitness, Historical Perspectives, Medical Breakthrough, New Discoveries

How bacteria build homes inside healthy cells

bacteria111220133940-large

Purdue associate professor of biological sciences Zhao-Qing Luo, at right, and graduate student Yunhao Tan look at the growth of Legionella pneumophila bacteria in a petri dish.

Bacteria are able to build camouflaged homes for themselves inside healthy cells — and cause disease — by manipulating a natural cellular process.

Purdue University biologists led a team that revealed how a pair of proteins from the bacteria Legionella pneumophila, which causes Legionnaires disease, alters a host protein in order to divert raw materials within the cell for use in building and disguising a large structure that houses the bacteria as it replicates…

Continue reading… “How bacteria build homes inside healthy cells”

Analysis, Crazy Stuff, Culture, Education, government, Historical Perspectives, Human Behavior, New Discoveries

Secrets of the Hexagon Spy Satellite

hex23456

Top Secret for years after the project was completed.

In the 1970s, during the heights of the Cold War, more than 1,000 engineers worked on a project so secret that they couldn’t tell their wives and children decades after it was over.

In September 2011, the project – a series of spy satellites so advanced that it could see objects about 2 feet wide from space (mind you, this was in the 1970s before the ubiquity of computers so the satellites were built with slide rules), was declassified and with it, the stories of the men who kept their secret for 45 years…

Continue reading… “Secrets of the Hexagon Spy Satellite”

Analysis, Big Problems, Breakthrough Thinking, Globalism, Green Friendly, Historical Perspectives, New Discoveries, New Viewpoints

Computerized air-traffic control could save CO2 equivalent of Denmark’s economy

air-traffic-control-photo-01.jpg.492x0_q85_crop-smart

Bringing Air-Traffic Control in the 21st Century could really save CO2.

If you are going somewhere in a vehicle that burns a lot of fossil fuels, it’s never a good idea to take unnecessary detours. Sadly, most airplanes can’t take the most elegant and efficient route to their destinations because of the limitations of the air-traffic control system that guides them. It’s not the fault of the traffic controllers – they do a good job – but rather of the technology with which they have to work; the foundations of the system are 50-60 years old and produce flight paths that are far from optimal when it comes to saving fuel (and thus reducing CO2 emissions), saving money, and saving time for passengers. So what can we do about it?

Continue reading… “Computerized air-traffic control could save CO2 equivalent of Denmark’s economy”

Breakthrough Thinking, Entertainment, Historical Perspectives, New Discoveries, New Viewpoints

Exploding holiday tree ornaments

xmas1-500x333

BANG! Color.

If you’ve had about enough holiday cheer for one year, you can take comfort in the fact that you’re not alone. Photographer Alan Sailer likes to shoot Christmas ornaments with a high-powered pellet gun and photograph them with a high-speed camera as they explode into a million shiny pieces. Bah-humbug, indeed!

(more explosions after the jump…)

Continue reading… “Exploding holiday tree ornaments”

Art, Crazy Stuff, Entertainment, Historical Perspectives, New Viewpoints, Recycling

Amazing 3D landscapes carved out of books

guy-laramee-2[3]

Books with a literal view.

“So I carve landscapes out of books and I paint Romantic landscapes”, says interdisciplinary artist Guy Laramee who, in the course of his 30 years of practice, found his way through such varied and numerous disciplines as : stage writing, stage directing, contemporary music writing, musical instrument design and building, singing, video, scenography, sculpture, installation, painting and literature. Laramee uses books that are slowly falling apart, such as old encyclopedias and dictionaries to create dramatic landscapes… (more pics after jump)

Continue reading… “Amazing 3D landscapes carved out of books”

Historical Perspectives, Photo Perspectives

Satellite image of North Korea at night

Korea_at_night,_satellite_image

Satellite image of North and South Korea at night.

The world’s most secretive country is also one of its darkest. This satellite image shows night in North Korea. The capital Pyongyang, near the western coast, is one of the only places in the country with electricity. At the top of the picture, the illuminations show cities in China. At the bottom right, Kyushu and the southern islands of Japan.

Continue reading… “Satellite image of North Korea at night”

Analysis, Big Problems, Brain, Education, Globalism, Historical Perspectives, Human Behavior, Internet, Latest News

Sexy video clips affect girls more than boys

sexy mystrandstv_on_tv

Sexy videos provide numerous negative influences for girls.

Sexy video clips have a more negative influence on girls than on boys, says Dutch pop professor Tom ter Bogt. Ter Bogt investigated the influence of sexy video clips on the thoughts, behaviour and self-image of 13 to 16 year old children. After viewing the clips, girls felt that outward appearance was more important, they were less satisfied with their own appearance, and they became less resolute in denying permissive sex…

Continue reading… “Sexy video clips affect girls more than boys”

Award Winner, Breakthrough Thinking, Current Events, Food, Global Warming, Globalism, Historical Perspectives, People Making a Difference

Veggie-Fueled Pickup Truck sets new land speed record at 155 MPH

greenspeed-vegetable-oil-truck-speed-record.jpg.492x0_q85_crop-smart

A happy award winning Greenspeed crew.

In mid-November, the members of Greenspeed club headed to the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah to put their Chevy pickup truck to the test. Stripped of all aesthetics, running on a ’93 Dodge engine and burning an unorthodox fuel, it was there to challenge the land speed record for vegetable oil-powered vehicles: 109 mph. On its first run, it flew past that benchmark at 139 mph. On its second, it set the new bar even higher: 155 mph.

The journey to success was not a quick one. Dave Schenker founded the club at Boise State University with a group of undergraduates, with the intention of building the first super high-performance vehicle to successfully run on vegetable oil. He spent months raising the $125,000 from local sponsors to rebuild the old truck with the parts it would need to set a new record. He and the students spent much of the summer putting it together. They hoped to race in September, but couldn’t get everything together in time…

Continue reading… “Veggie-Fueled Pickup Truck sets new land speed record at 155 MPH”

Analysis, Education, Historical Perspectives, Human Behavior, Medical Breakthrough, New Discoveries

Why genetic determinism is bad for humans

DNA AAAAAAAAAAAAAaa

Genes determine a lot of things about your life.

Do you prefer to run in packs or operate as a loner? Your answer is determined by your genes, a new study claims. It’s a big shift in social behavior theory, since scientists previously thought the environment determined social behavior.

For example, scientists thought that where food was sparsely spread around, primates would live in large groups to more efficiently forage. But according to the new findings, which were published in the journal Nature, primates will behave the way their genes tell them to, regardless of food availability.

It’s evidence for genetic determinism—the idea that our genes dictate our behavior. But it seems wrong, right? I know I tend to go with the behavior that helps me to avoid hunger most effectively. But Nicholas Wade in The New York Times sums it up thusly…

Continue reading… “Why genetic determinism is bad for humans”

Breakthrough Thinking, Education, Entertainment, facebook, Historical Perspectives, Hot Issues, Human Behavior

fPrivacy lets you control Facebook app permissions

fprivacyeeee

Change your permissions and change your Facebook life.

fPrivacy is a Chrome plugin that lets you granularly opt out of stalker-esque Facebook app permissions like “Post to my wall” or “Access profile info” whenever the app authorization dialog appears. Woohoo!

Creator Chad Selph made the extension because Facebook apps have been too grabby for far too long — taking an all or nothing approach to permissions…

Continue reading… “fPrivacy lets you control Facebook app permissions”