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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Earth’s ‘missing’ heat may be hiding deep in oceans

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The world temperature should have risen more than it did but where was the heat going?

The mystery of Earth’s missing heat may have been solved: it could lurk deep in oceans, temporarily masking the climate-warming effects of greenhouse gas emissions, researchers reported on Sunday.

 

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Babies can learn to concentrate by playing brain-training games

brain training computer games

Improved focus helps children to learn skills and acquire language, and the brain is at its most adaptable early in life.

Scientists say they have found the first evidence that infants as young as 11 months can be taught to focus attention, making it easier for them to learn new skills.

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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Dean Kamen files patent application for an inflatable, illuminated wind turbine

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Another new invention from Dean Kamen.

Inflatable wind turbines may not be an entirely new idea, but prolific inventor Dean Kamen has detailed one of a slightly different sort in a recently published patent application. In addition to generating energy for general use, the turbine would also be able to power a set of LEDs adorning the turbine itself, which could be used to display advertising or other information using a persistence of vision effect…

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How 72 bags of cocaine fit in a drug smuggler’s belly

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Medical images showing bags with cocaine inside the gastrointestinal tract of a 20-year-old Irish national arrested by police at Congonhas airport in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

 A graphic reminder of just how far drug smugglers will go to elude law enforcement to get their product over the border is seen in these guesome images. The images, which show an arrested man’s digestive tract that is literally stuffed with dozens of thumb-sized bags of cocaine, are also testimony to how far the digestive tract can expand.

 

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World’s largest sperm bank turns down redheads

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“There are too many redheads in relation to demand”

The largest sperm bank in the world has started turning down redheaded donors because there is too little demand for their sperm. Cryos’s director, Ole Schou, said that there had been a surge in donations in recent years, allowing the facility to become much more picky about its donors.

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