Interesting Reading…
September 11, 2008
Add Comment
Build Linux lab equipment from a Sony PLAYSTATION 3 – ” In this series of articles I will be using a Cell/B.E. processor resident within an off-the-shelf PLAYSTATION 3 (PS3) to build a Linux-hosted piece of laboratory equipment, namely a simple audio-bandwidth spectrum analyzer and function generator…”
ET could ‘tickle’ stars to create galactic internet – “Advanced extraterrestrial civilisations may be sending signals through space by “tickling” stars, new research suggests. The signalling would be the galactic equivalent of the internet…”
Ten things you don’t know about the Earth – “Good advice from the 70s progressive band. Look around you. Unless you’re one of the Apollo astronauts, you’ve lived your entire life within a few hundred kilometers of the surface of the Earth. There’s a whole planet beneath your feet, 6.6 sextillion tons of it, one trillion cubic kilometers of it. But how well do you know it?”
NASA’s options for space program dwindling – “NASA is about out of options for keeping U.S. astronauts in space after 2011. Unless President George Bush intervenes, or whoever succeeds him in January immediately steps into the space arena, the dismantling of the space shuttle program will be too far along to reverse course…”
Q: How do you make the object of your affections fall in love with you? A: Take them for a ride on a rollercoaster – “If you fancy someone and want them to fall for you the usual plan of action involves flowers, chocolates or just a few meaningful glances…”
How long would it take the LHC to defrost a pizza? – “Forget black holes. Here’s the real question about the Large Hadron Collider: How fast could it defrost a pizza?”
Why delaying gratification is smart: A neural link between intelligence and self-control – “If you had a choice between receiving $1,000 right now or $4,000 ten years from now, which would you pick? Psychologists use the term “delay discounting” to describe our inability to resist the temptation of a smaller immediate reward in lieu of receiving a larger reward at a later date. Discounting future rewards too much is a form of impulsivity, and an important way in which we can neglect to exert self-control…”
Why drunks forget the embarrassing things they do – “Research at the University of Sussex has found that alcohol influences the brain’s ability to form memories, making memories before a drink stronger and memories of things that happen while under the influence weaker…”
Bus of future rolled out for first test drive – “California’s dream of using self-steering buses to fight traffic congestion made headway in San Leandro on Friday when UC Berkeley researchers conducted their first test on a public street of a bus guided by magnets…”
Magnetic Brains Give Birds An Inner Compass – “Birds have good vision, but their brains turn out to be even more eagle-eyed…”
Top 10 Most Famous Hackers of All Time – “The reality, however, is that hackers are a very diverse bunch, a group simultaneously blamed with causing billions of dollars in damages as well as credited with the development of the World Wide Web and the founding of major tech companies. In this article, we test the theory that truth is better than fiction by introducing you to ten of the most famous hackers, both nefarious and heroic, to let you decide for yourself…”
Large Hadron Collider: Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios – “We break down how five major physics theories — and the theorists who’ve spent their lives developing them — may be impacted by the discoveries that could emanate from the LHC. We also provide answers to all your LHC FAQ in 140 characters or less, so you can send them to your friends on Twitter…”
The future of gaming is all in the mind – “Be excited, but be scared. A world of mind-blowing possibilities is suddenly being thrust upon the world of video gaming…”
Can Diesel Ever Become Fashionable In The U.S.? – “There has been overwhelming response to my story this week, “The 65 MPG Ford The U.S. Can’t Have.”The fact that the story has gotten picked up on so many news aggregators, blogs and other sites tells me there is a huge appetite for fuel efficient cars despite the recent drop in oil and gasoline prices…”
7 Years of iPod: What You Paid and What You Got – “With yesterday’s refresh to Apple’s iPod line, it was hard not to feel at least a little deja vu. I’ve been following new iPod announcements—which often come more than once a year—since 2001, when the first iPod showed up in stores for an astronomical $399…”
Laptop delivers all-day computing – “Hewlett-Packard (HP), the world’s largest computer company, has developed a new generation of laptops with a 24-hour battery life…”
Google Considering Internet Search Version 2.0 – “The future of Google search might look a lot like the current set up on sites like Reddit where users can submit, comment on, and vote for links they like. A limited number of Google users have begun to see up and down arrows next to all links on a search result page, and a place to leave comments about a website that appears in said search results…”
















