Historical Perspectives – Page 93

Art, Breakthrough Thinking, Current Events, Historical Perspectives, Latest News, New Discoveries, People Making a Difference

A Statistician Solves a Scratch Lottery Code

February 4, 2011

A Lucky Scratch Card?

A Canadian geological statistician came to the realization that the numbers on some scratch lottery cards could not be random. “It wasn’t that hard,” Mohan Srivastava says. “I do the same kind of math all day long.”

“… I start looking at the tic-tac-toe game, and I begin to wonder how they make these things,” Srivastava says. “The tickets are clearly mass-produced, which means there must be some computer program that lays down the numbers. Of course, it would be really nice if the computer could just spit out random digits. But that’s not possible, since the lottery corporation needs to control the number of winning tickets. The game can’t be truly random. Instead, it has to generate the illusion of randomness while actually being carefully determined.”

Continue reading… “A Statistician Solves a Scratch Lottery Code”

Crazy Stuff, Culture, Food, government, Health & Fitness, Historical Perspectives, Hot Issues

The Amish Raw Milk Black Market

February 4, 2011

Raw Milk Is A Hot Commodity

Two people have died in the last 10 years from drinking unpasteurized milk. Twelve states have banned it. (By comparison, between two and twelve children die every year playing high school football. When will high school football be banned?)

In today’s edition of The Daily, Jordan Heller writes about the Amish and Mennonite dairy farmers who smuggle unpasteurized milk into New York to serve a market of raw milk devotees…

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Analysis, Breakthrough Thinking, Business, Entertainment, facebook, Historical Perspectives, Internet, Latest News

The Evolution of the Social Media Manager: Social Monetization Manager?

February 3, 2011

A Social Monetization Manager may be the next big thing to be!

The next evolution of the social media manager position may very well focus on a puzzle piece that is largely missing in the social media strategy of news companies: monetization.

Cox Media Group digital posted an opening Wednesday for a “Social Monetization Manager (SMM)” — someone who will focus on a strategy and implementation that will drive revenue to the company’s 100+ TV, radio and newspaper properties.

Although Cox is one of the first news media companies to hire for a position of its kind, this may signal a larger shift for news companies experimenting with ways to monetize social media…

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Breakthrough Thinking, Current Events, Green Friendly, Historical Perspectives, Latest News, Latest Trend, New Discoveries, New Viewpoints, Science & Technology News

In the Future, Your Car May Be Made of Mushrooms

February 3, 2011

Video Games have long been using mushrooms as a source for power, energy and advancement.

In the future, mushrooms may be as common in cars as they are on pizza.

Believe it or not, scientists who are trying to find more sustainable ways to build car parts believe the answers may be found in things such as mushroom roots.

The newest episode of the PBS series “Nova,” which aired on Wednesday 2/2, focuses on the new discoveries that scientists such as Deborah Mielewski, the technical leader of plastics research at Ford Motor Co., are working on to reduce the carbon tire track that autos leave on the environment…

Continue reading… “In the Future, Your Car May Be Made of Mushrooms”

Analysis, Crazy Stuff, Culture, Current Events, Health & Fitness, Historical Perspectives, Human Behavior, Latest News, Latest Trend, New Discoveries, New Viewpoints

25% of British Children Don’t Play Outside

February 3, 2011

British children enjoying the great indoors.

What happens when you survey 1,000 British parents and 500 children on their leisure activities? You might find out that a quarter of the kids don’t play outside. Or that 12% of adults admit to having ‘no interest’ in the outdoors and 5% thought that trees which don’t lose their leaves during winter are called Carnivores. But wait, it doesn’t stop there. 6% of British adults thought strawberries grew on trees, so it should come as no surprise that 25% of British kids did not know what a mouse looked like.

Yet, oddly, the same surveyed parents do recognise the benefits of outdoor play. The report revealed that 71% of parents think their children are happier when they play outdoors and 92% believe outdoor play is good for their children’s health. So why are they spending twice as much time glued to a computer or TV screen, than being outdoors?

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Breakthrough Thinking, Crazy Stuff, Culture, Current Events, government, Health & Fitness, Historical Perspectives, Hot Issues, Human Behavior

Guns, Guns For Everyone: Bill Would Require All Citizens to Buy a Gun

February 3, 2011

Guns are good, unless you don’t have one, right?

Five South Dakota lawmakers have introduced legislation that would require any adult 21 or older to buy a firearm “sufficient to provide for their ordinary self-defence.”

The bill, which would take effect Jan. 1, 2012, would give people six months to acquire a firearm after turning 21. The provision does not apply to people who are barred from owning a firearm. Nor does the measure specify what type of firearm. Instead, residents would pick one “suitable to their temperament, physical capacity, and preference.”

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Breakthrough Thinking, Crazy Stuff, Current Events, Historical Perspectives, Human Behavior, Humor, People Making a Difference

Woman Grows Out Her Fingernails for 22 Years in the Hopes of Meeting Oprah

February 2, 2011

Atlanta mother and grandmother, Jazz Ison Sinkfield, has been growing out her fingernails for the last 22 years in the hopes of meeting Oprah and “a lot of more celebrities.”

So far her quest has only landed her on the local news, but her nails, the longest of which is 24 inches, are actually pretty impressive. Their length keeps her from doing everyday tasks like tying her shoes and putting on jewelry, and she pays $250 a month at the nail salon to maintain them, but Jazz is committed nonetheless.

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

Early Bowel Cancer Detected by Dogs in Japan

February 2, 2011

Continue reading the main story

Dogs sniffed out bowel cancer in more than nine out of 10 cases.

A Labrador retriever has sniffed out bowel cancer in breath and stool samples during a study in Japan.

The research, in the journal Gut, showed the dog was able to identify early stages of the disease.

It has already been suggested that dogs can use their noses to detect skin, bladder, lung, ovarian and breast cancers.

Cancer Research UK said it would be extremely difficult to use dogs for routine cancer testing.

The biology of a tumour is thought to include a distinct smell and a series of studies have used dogs to try to detect it.

Continue reading… “Early Bowel Cancer Detected by Dogs in Japan”

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WikiLeaks Nominated for Nobel Peace Prize

February 2, 2011

Another boost for the controversial WikiLeaks

A member of the Parliament of Norway says he has nominatedWikiLeaks for the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize.

Snorre Valen, a member of the Socialist Left party, announced his decision to nominate the whistle-blowing organization on his blog.

“WikiLeaks have contributed to the struggle for [human rights, democracy and freedom of speech] globally, by exposing (among many other things) corruption, war crimes and torture — some times even conducted by allies of Norway,” he wrote…

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Culture, Historical Perspectives, New Discoveries, Photo Perspectives

Unknown and Uncontacted Tribe Photographed in Amazon Jungle

February 2, 2011

About 100 uncontacted tribes are believed to exist worldwide.

A previously uncontacted tribe has been found in Amazon jungle, with aerial photographs giving a glimpse of people who’ve had no known contact with anyone except their tribal neighbors. (Pics)

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Breakthrough Thinking, Crazy Stuff, Culture, Current Events, Health & Fitness, Historical Perspectives, Human Behavior, Latest News

Maine to Legalize Switchblades for One-Armed People

February 2, 2011

May be legalized in Maine if you have only one arm.

A Maine legislator has introduced a bill to make it legal for people with one arm to own and carry a switchblade (because you need two hands to operate a regular clasp knife). I actually quite like this idea, but think it’s too narrow, I’d have worded it more like “lawful for people who, due to infirmity, disability or amputation find it difficult to operate a clasp-knife…” so people with arthritis, one-side paralysis, etc, could have and use that most useful of tools: a knife…

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bicycle, Breakthrough Thinking, Globalism, Health & Fitness, Historical Perspectives, Latest Trend

Are Cargo Bikes Going Mainstream?

February 2, 2011

Mainstreet Pedicab Cargo Bike
Will Cargo Bikes Become an International Craze?

As a student, I spent a year living in Copenhagen. And I was amazed by how many people used cargo bikes as their primary source of transportation. From carting kids to school, to hauling groceries, to giving drunk friends a ride from the bar—heavy-duty load-carrying bikes were just another form of transportation for the people of this beautiful city. Could it be that the rest of the world is finally catching on to the potential of cargo bikes too? (Pics)

Continue reading… “Are Cargo Bikes Going Mainstream?”