Scientists have identified a reason why some are underweight.
Scientists have discovered a genetic cause of extreme thinness for the first time, in a study published August 30 in the journal Nature. The research shows that people with extra copies of certain genes are much more likely to be very skinny. In one in 2000 people, part of chromosome 16 is duplicated, making men 23 times and women five times more likely to be underweight…
Confusion arises in the city for songbirds.
Noise pollution from humans is guilty of many things — causing whales to lose their way, killing giant squid, leading baby fish away from good habitat, and generally stressing out animals. But while we know noise pollution in the oceans is causing whales to yell their songs, scientists have only just discovered that it is also causing birds to change their tune — and it seems to lead to a problem with fidelity and mate selection.
Researchers have discovered that noise from roads and highways has caused some birds, including the Great Tit to change their songs to a higher pitch so that they can be heard over the din. However, the change makes them less attractive to mates…
Continue reading… “Noise pollution causing songbirds to cheat on each other”
All clicked up.
The Japanese design firm nendo and the electronics company Elecom came up with this innovative mouse design. The Kandenchi has three buttons and a scroll wheel. It connects to a computer through a wireless hookup…
About 35 percent of time is spent doing unpaid but nonetheless important work, like child-care and housework.
At a time of record-level long-term unemployment the question everyone asks, even the jobless themselves, is what do the unemployed do all day?
Continue reading… “For the unemployed, more sleep and tv but also more unpaid work”
Men aged 20 to 39 consumed 252 calories a day from beverages containing added sugar.
Almost half of the population drinks a sugar-sweetened beverage on any given day. But teenagers and young men consuming way more than recommended limits for staying healthy.
Continue reading… “Teens, young men consume way more sugary drinks than recommended limits”
An advanced heart scan at work.
Revolutionary “electronic nose” technology which can “smell” heart failure has been developed by scientists in Germany.
Continue reading… “‘Electronic nose’ that smells heart failure”
PodPonics
PodPonics is new hope for urban agriculture. The startup, based in Atlanta, is pursuing a new kind of recycling. They are transforming old shipping containers into miniature hydroponic farms that can be used to grow food anywhere. Matt Liotta started PodPonics in 2010 and it is already supplying about 200 pounds of leafy greens a week using six converted containers. About one acre’s worth of produce can be produced in each “pod” which is in only 320 square feet. PodPonics crops use 90% less water than traditional farms, no pesticides, less fertilizer, and go from harvest to your plate in just a matter of hours! (Pics)
Continue reading… “PodPonics – shipping containers transformed into miniature hydroponic farms”
What’s the Big Idea? What if the world’s greatest thinkers and leading practitioners all taught at the same school? What if anyone, anywhere could enroll in this school? This fall, Big Think is proud to announce the launch of The Floating University, a new educational media venture that creates and distributes online multimedia curricula featuring the best experts, scholars and professionals that the world has to offer.
Continue reading… “Big Think launches the Floating University e-learning platform”
Scott Beale says: “Cornell Creative Machines Lab wanted to see what would happend if two Cleverbot AI ChatBots had a conversation with each other.”
I think I’ve just seen the beginning of the end…
Continue reading… “Two AI chatBots attempt to have a conversation with each other”
Cute but not sweaty.
Pigs don’t sweat much, so they wallow in the mud to cool off their bodies. So how did the English language expression “sweating like a pig” develop? It’s actually a reference to pig iron, which is form of iron smelting…
Continue reading… “The expression “Sweating Like a Pig” has nothing to do with pigs”
Marketing can make you or break you.
We’ve all heard a marketing campaign at some point and thought, “that is just stupid,” but most bad advertising strategies just result in a few less sales than a successful campaign would have brought in. Sometimes though, a company will run a campaign that’s so idiotic that the company ends up losing thousands, if not millions of dollars. Take, for example, the Silo marketing campaign that said customers could get a new stereo for only “299 bananas.” When customers started actually showing up with bundles of bananas, the store had no choice but to give them stereos in exchange for fruit…
Wreckage of a Turkish Airlines aircraft.
“Automation addiction” has eroded their flying skills of pilots to the point that they sometimes don’t know how to recover from stalls and other mid-flight problems, say pilots and safety officials. The weakened skills have contributed to hundreds of deaths in airline crashes in the last five years.
Continue reading… “‘Automation addiction’ – Have pilots forgotten how to fly?”
By delving into the futuring techniques of Futurist Thomas Frey, you’ll embark on an enlightening journey.
Learn More about this exciting program.