Category: Historical Perspectives

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Animals, Breakthrough Thinking, Crazy Stuff, Food, Globalism, government, Health & Fitness, Historical Perspectives, Latest News

China creates “Infinite Hero Bacon” by cloning Invincible Earthquake Pig

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‘Infinite Hero Bacon’ on the hoof.

Where does one secure the very best bacon? The supermarket? Shut up, rookie! You secure it from the heroic pig that survived for more than a month buried beneath the rubble of China’s horrific Sichuan earthquake.

His name is Zhu Jianqiang, or “Strong-Willed Pig,” but he might as well be known as “Infinite Hero Bacon” since it’s now obvious that his Chinese handlers plan on keeping his DNA alive forever…

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Analysis, Entertainment, Historical Perspectives, Latest News

Internet Archive adds its three millionth scanned book

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The Internet Archive’s Book Scanning project just added its three millionth text. Unlike Google Book Search, the Archive only scans public domain works, and, more significantly, places no restrictions on the scans’ usage. Another significant difference is the Archive’s privacy policy, which, unlike Google, promises not to release your personal information without a court order.

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Analysis, Breakthrough Thinking, Entertainment, Historical Perspectives

Study: Energy efficiency of computers doubling every 18 months

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Computers are getting more efficient every day.

Those of us fighting the battle with computer batteries will appreciate this. Batteries have come a long way since the 1990s. For instance, if a MacBook Air were as efficient today as a 1991 computer, the battery would last for 2.5 seconds. In other words, it would be dead by the time you got to the end of this sentence. The Atlantic has the story. And it’s bound to fan the flames of the PC v. Mac wars.

Flames also would refer to how quickly some PC batteries seem to burn out, compared to their Mac counterparts. I know, PCs are getting better. Don’t get me wrong. But Macs have lead the battery longevity pack for some time…

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Art, Breakthrough Thinking, Health & Fitness, Historical Perspectives, Latest News, Medical Breakthrough, New Discoveries, New Viewpoints

3D printers now pumping out artificial blood vessels

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Yet another 3D printer use.

If you’ve been following tech news then you know that 3D printers are capable of some pretty amazing things. At the entry level these printers are becoming drastically more affordable and more accessible, and at the professional level they are accomplishing feats that would have seemed impossible just a few years ago. The latest science fiction-like advance in 3D printing is one that could have a significant impact on our health and well-being, as opposed to our gadgets: scientists in Germany have printed artificial blood vessels…

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Analysis, Business, Education, Historical Perspectives, Latest Trend, Science & Technology News

Four Fundamental Myths Derailing Academic Change

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Futurist Thomas Frey:  When we think about Benjamin Franklin, we instantly think of the author, scientist, inventor, diplomat who signed the U.S. Declaration of Independence and has his face on the one-hundred dollar bill. Ben Franklin was a truly remarkable person, yet he had less than two years of formal education.

 

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Crazy Stuff, Historical Perspectives, Hot Issues, Latest News

Scientists take first step towards creating ‘Inorganic Life’

inorganic lifeSomething totally new.

Scientists at the University of Glasgow say they have taken their first tentative steps towards creating ‘life’ from inorganic chemicals potentially defining the new area of ‘inorganic biology’.

Professor Lee Cronin, Gardiner Chair of Chemistry in the College of Science and Engineering, and his team have demonstrated a new way of making inorganic-chemical-cells or iCHELLs…

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Big Problems, Business, Crazy Stuff, Culture, Current Events, Entertainment, Historical Perspectives, Latest News

Netflix’s price hike to cost the company one million customers

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How have you changed your Netflix account?

Apparently people weren’t messing around when they were complaining about Netflix’s recent price hikes: Netflix says the company expects to lose one million customers because of the pricing change. One million!

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Animals, Crazy Stuff, Historical Perspectives, Latest News, New Discoveries, New Viewpoints

Escaped pet birds are teaching wild birds to speak English

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Polly is gonna talk about the cracker.

Across parts of Australia, reports have been pouring in of strange voices chattering high in the treetops — mysterious, non-sensical conversations in English. But while this phenomenon is certainly quite odd, its explanation isn’t paranormal. It turns out that escaped pet birds, namely parrots and cockatoos, have begun teaching their wild bird counterparts a bit of the language they picked up from their time in captivity — and, according to witnesses, that includes more than a few explicatives…

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Analysis, Crazy Stuff, Historical Perspectives

For the cheapest airline tickets, start shopping on Tuesday afternoon

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To get the best deal on a domestic airline ticket, there’s a lot of timing to take into consideration. Travel site FareCompare has meticulously gathered all the data to suggest when exactly to start looking for your ticket and when to purchase.
FareCompare says that airfare sales typically are filed late Monday evening, so you should start looking and shopping for domestic tickets between Tuesday morning and 3pm EST…

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Analysis, Breakthrough Thinking, Food, Health & Fitness, Historical Perspectives, Plant Life

Farmigo: Tapping into the power of the web to bring you fresh veggies

It’s no secret that fresh produce straight from the farm can often beat the potato skins off of its supermarket counterpart — and why farmer’s markets are becoming increasingly popular. But unless you set aside that chunk of time every weekend to pick up your veggies from local growers, you’re probably stopping by your supermarket anyway.

The solution to this has been the emergence of Community Supported Agriculture programs, where members of the community agree with farmers to purchase a certain amount of produce, and then pick that food up at local dropoff points at regular intervals. But, while they’ve been around for decades, these programs aren’t necessarily easy to find or use. If only we could use technology to make things a bit more efficient…

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