H20 water-powered radio
Scientists claim to have created the world’s first water-powered radio. It’s inventor, Vivian Black, who helped turn the Wind-Up Radio into a global success in the 1990s, says his water-proof radio is powered by the motion of water flowing into a shower.
The deadly virus is a genetically tweaked version of the H5N1 bird flu strain.
A group of scientists is pushing to publish research about how they created a man-made flu virus that could potentially wipe out civilization.
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A job fair in Hefei in east China’s Anhui province.
Song Hao, a bearded video editor in his late 20s,earlier this year began to feel that the job he’d been doing for nearly four years was boring, leading nowhere, and certainly not worth the overtime he was made to do every evening.
Continue reading… “For China’s young people quality of life as important as work”
House built on a Southern Calif. volcano.
Not every day you come across a unique home that looks like a UFO. And you certainly wouldn’t come across one that is built on top of a volcano. But there is a curious dwelling located between Las Vegas and Los Angeles that is sitting atop a volcano. To be precise, the home is located in Newberry Springs, CA on top of a volcanic cinder cone. (Pics)
A virtual school delivers lessons online to a child who progresses at her own pace.
K12 Inc.. a Virginia company leading a national movement to replace classrooms with computers — in which children as young as 5 can learn at home at taxpayer expense — is facing a backlash from critics who are questioning its funding, quality and oversight.
Continue reading… “Virtual schools growing, critics question effectiveness to educate children”
Six famous thought experiments explained humorously in a minute each, by David Mitchell of the BBC’s That Mitchell and Webb Look.
Short people have shortage of genes.
Height is mostly passed down through families but scientists have so far only identified specific gene characteristics to explain about 10 per cent of the difference between people’s heights.
People who had two copies of the gene ABCC9 slept significantly less than people with two copies of another version.
Scientists discover a gene that controls how long we sleep has been explaining why some people have their own internal alarm clock.
Moscow View
In a bid to bolster tourism in Moscow, plans are underway to build what could become the tallest observation wheel in the world. (Pics)
Continue reading… “Moscow View – world’s tallest observation wheel”
Brain scans of psychopaths shows differences in structure and function of brain.
Brain images of prisoners show important differences between who are diagnosed as psychopaths and those who aren’t, according to a new study from University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers.
Survey found three quareters of elderly heart failure patients wouldn’t trade a longer life with symptoms for a shorter life without them.
Many doctors might assume tha when an elderly patient’s chronic disease is impossible to cure they would prefer to improve the quality of their remaining life rather than extend it as it is. Most of the time those doctors would be mistaken, according to a new study.
Continue reading… “Elderly heart patients prefer longevity over quality of life”
Inflatable robots provide a whole new avenue of exploration.
The 15-foot-long Ant-Roach (pictured above) really demonstrates the carrying capacity and high strength-to-weight ratios of these inflatable structures. It weighs in just under 70 lbs but it can carry up to 1000 lbs, making the payload of a few people no problem at all. The initial concept was more elephant-like but the final product came out like this anteater-cockroach hybrid, hence its name.
This huggable robot was developed by Otherlab’s Pneubotics program; a collaborative effort between the San-Francisco-based research firm, Meka Robotics, Stanford University, and DARPA…
Continue reading… “Inflatable Robots: The cheap, lightweight robotic alternative?”