Marine Microbes Found Feasting On Plastic

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Marine Microbes doing their thing.

Plastics have officially entered the food chain, as seen in the deadly effect things like Styrofoam and bottle caps have on sea turtles and albatross, and even whales. However, how far into the food chain is plastic going? It seems even microbes are eating their fill, though whether or not they’re actually digesting the plastic or just passing it up the chain to larger life forms is still a big question. Regardless, researchers including Tracy Mincer of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts and colleagues have found bacteria that is feasting on plastics found in the ocean.

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How Great Entrepreneurs Think

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Deep thinker hard at work?

In the world of business, there are great corporate executives, then there are great entrepreneurs. What sets them apart from each other?

University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business professor Saras Sarasvathy tested some of America’s best minds in business and found that entrepreneurs think differently than corporate execs…

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Trees Cocooned in Spiders Webs Reducing Risk of Malaria in Pakistan

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Wow. Now that’s a lot of spiders!

Millions of spiders have crawled into trees in Pakistan to escape flood waters, shrouding them with their silky webs. The eye-catching phenomenon is an unexpected side-effect of last year’s flooding which claimed the lives of almost 2,000 people.

However, since the monsoon weather devastated the nation last July, much of the water has still not yet receded. The tiny insects have sought refuge amongst the trees weaving beautifully intricate webs between the leaves. The branches are now so cocooned in spiders webs it gives the appearance of them being shrouded in a large net…

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Montana RadioShack Offers Free Gun With Dish Network Subscription

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Get some BANG with your dish.

For some reason, a RadioShack in Hamilton, Montana thought it would make sense to offer a free gun with every Dish Network subscription, using the humorous and somewhat clever slogan pictured above. Even weirder than the pairing of the Dish Network and guns, is that the store’s owner claims business has tripled since the promotion began in October. In order to qualify for the deal, customers sign up for the Dish Network, pay for installation and buy a specific amount of related equipment from the RadioShack, at which point, they receive a gift certificate for a local gun store and can choose between a Hi Point 380 pistol or a 20-gauge shotgun…

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Unusual Uses for Baby Oil

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Oh baby oil. What you do for me!

Instructables has a very informative and interesting post on more uses for baby oil.

Have you heard that joke about baby oil? The one that goes something like:

If corn oil is made with corn and peanut oil is made with peanuts, then what is baby oil made with?

The answer: Baby oil is made with mineral oil and fragrance by industrial professionals; babies don’t have the fine motor skills or chemistry knowledge to create baby oil, duh.

Baby oil is useful for a lot of things beyond baby bottoms. It’ll smooth, soften, lubricate, refinish, clean, and so much more. It also has some usual uses for which it really oughtn’t be used. Read on for some tips and tricks that’ll help you step your baby oil game up.

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Ever Wondered How NASA Photoshops Their Images?

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NASA generally releases some fairly pretty pictures of things that we humans who don’t have NASA-style funding wouldn’t ever be able to see. Well, it turns out NASA doesn’t necessarily see the things they’re releasing pictures of either, at least, not how they look in said released pictures…

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Drug Resistant Superbugs Hit U.S. Hospitals and Nursing Homes

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Overuse of antibiotics is starting to take its toll.

A deadly drug-resistant bacteria is spreading to elderly patients in nursing and long-term care facilities in Los Angeles County, according to CBS Local Los Angeles. Today 350 cases have been counted, most found in the elderly population. It’s called the CRKP bacteria and currently, it has no cure…

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Auto Ink Tattoo Machine

Artist Chris Eckert uses the tattoo medium as a personal reaction against people being born into a religion rather than choosing one after research and reflection. This machine picks a religion at random and brands the willing subject with its symbol.

Auto Ink is a three axis numerically controlled sculpture. Once the main switch is triggered, the operator is assigned a religion and its corresponding symbol is tattooed onto the persons arm…

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Google Map of the World’s Nuclear Power Plants

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Where are all the nuclear power plants?

At Nature blogs, Declan Butler has put together a really info-dense mapping of the world’s nuclear power plants, using Google Earth. Nifty stuff for anybody whose interest in nuclear power has gone up significantly in recent weeks…

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Microsoft Switches Off Privacy for Hotmail Users in War-Torn and Repressive States

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Say goodbye to privacy on Hotmail if your country is in a state of chaos.

For reasons unknown, Microsoft has changed the settings on Hotmail to disable HTTPS for users in several countries including Bahrain, Morocco, Algeria, Syria, Sudan, Iran, Lebanon, Jordan, Congo, Myanmar, Nigeria, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan. Hotmail users in those countries can now be readily spied upon by ISPs and their governments. The Electronic Frontier Foundation has some good perspective…

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Discover the Hidden Patterns of Tomorrow with Futurist Thomas Frey
Unlock Your Potential, Ignite Your Success.

By delving into the futuring techniques of Futurist Thomas Frey, you’ll embark on an enlightening journey.

Learn More about this exciting program.