20 to 25 thousand people die each year in the United States because of admission on a weekend.
Ten percent of people admitted to the hospital on the weekend are more likely to die than those who checked in during the week, according to a new analysis of nearly 30 million people.
Continue reading… “Patients Admitted to the Hospital on the Weekend Are 10% More Likely to Die”
Libraries in the future will come in many different forms
NOTE: The following is a reprint of an interview that recently appeared in American Libraries Magazine
Without consulting a crystal ball, Thomas Frey, executive director and senior futurist at the DaVinci Institute, writes and speaks about a promising future for those libraries strongly connected to their communities and quickly adaptable to the changing world around them. Tom Sloan, executive director of the DuPage Library System in Geneva, Illinois, asked Frey to discuss the future of libraries.
Continue reading… “The Future of Libraries: Interview with Thomas Frey”
Some lifeguards’ salaries, benefits and overtime pay topped $200,000.
When Aurora Toussaint takes her disabled son to the sun-kissed beaches of Newport Beach, California she knows that the lifeguards who watch from their towers will be there in seconds should anything go wrong.
Continue reading… “Anger Swells Over Lifeguards’ High Pay in California Beach City”
32.4% of American adults participated in recreational boating in 2010
They didn’t have enough cash for a cruise to the Caribbean. They didn’t have the available credit on their credit card to charge a flight to Disney World.
But 75 millions of Americans during tough economic times the perfect little getaway in 2010: a weekend of boating.
Continue reading… “Record Number of Americans Participated in Recreational Boating in 2010”
Fasting can be good for your heart.
Fasting has long been associated with religious rituals, diets, and political protests. Now new evidence from cardiac researchers at the Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute demonstrates that routine periodic fasting is also good for your health, and your heart.
Research cardiologists at the Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute are reporting that fasting not only lowers one’s risk of coronary artery disease and diabetes, but also causes significant changes in a person’s blood cholesterol levels. Both diabetes and elevated cholesterol are known risk factors for coronary heart disease…
Continue reading… “Routine Periodic Fasting Is Good for Your Health, and Your Heart, Study Suggests”
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQlCaroTcIw&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]
Here’s a delightful HOWTO for making a urinal out of SNES cartridges (please only use broken ones and crappy sports games, as the authors of this suggest!):
Anti-Piracy measures in New Zealand could change its libraries forever.
Governments around the world are trying to figure out ways of cutting down on piracy. Some governments have already implemented controversial monitoring and three-strike rules. Such rules may look like they solve the issue in theory, but its a very different outcome in practice.
France was one of the first places to attempt to implement the three-strike rule, which sees an Internet connection represented by an IP address monitored through an ISP. If an infringement is identified a strike is given, get three strikes and the connection is terminated and/or you face prosecution or fines. However, it never made it past the French National Assembly…
But that same system has made it into law for New Zealand, and will be turned on come September…
Continue reading… “Anti-Piracy Measures Could See NZ Libraries Switch Off Internet Access”
Crossing your arms confuses the brain and reduces pain.
According to new research published on Friday, crossing your arms across the middle of your body confuses the brain and helps reduce the intensity of pain.
Continue reading… “Crossing Your Arms May Help Reduce the Intensity of Pain”
Eurocopter X3
How could you make a helicopter go faster? You could probably add another engine. The answer is so simple and dead right. The engineers at Eurocopter also seem to have that same mentality and it worked.
Continue reading… “Eurocopter X3 is the World’s Fastest Helicopter”
Futurist Thomas Frey: In March of 2007 I posted my original paper on the Future of Education where I talked about a system based on an iTunes-like approach where experts around the world could use a “rapid courseware-builder” to produce bite-sized courses, send them to a global distribution center, and students from around world could plug-in and learn whatever class matched their interests.
Metropol Parasol – Seville, Spain
The Metropol Parasol is the world’s largest wooden sculpture. It was built by Jurgen Mayer H. Architects and it is located at Plaza de la Encarnacion in Seville, Spain. (Photos)
Continue reading… “Metropol Parasol – World’s Largest Wooden Sculpture”
Kindle e-books outselling printed books.
Amazon.com announced this week that it’s now selling more electronic books through its Kindle e-readers than it is selling printed books.
Continue reading… “Amazon Selling More Electronic Books Than Printed Books”