Apple Tablet Prototype is Real, Nov. Launch Expected, says Report – “The Apple tablet is real, and someone claims they’ve actually seen the thing…”

Music sales – Interesting infographic. It shows that music sales today do not come close to the peak in 1999.

Crop Scientist Seeks Niche Growers for ‘Dessert’ Sweet Corn – “It’s a product that could change the world, one bite at a time. For now, however, the owners of what has been touted as the world’s tastiest sweet corn just want to figure out how to get their ears on American plates…”

The Load of Lying: Testing for Truth – “We may think we know the telltale signs of lying, be it shifty eyes or nervous fidgeting. Professional interrogators look for such tells, too, assuming a suspect’s nervousness betrays his guilt. But interrogation can rattle even the innocent, so nervousness alone cannot distinguish liars from truth-tellers…”

Surveillance sandpit tests future Mars rover – “The ESA engineers are using the area to test the sense of direction of a prototype of the six-wheeled ExoMars rover. The final version will have to travel across the surface without the aid of a map, as well as to drill 2 metres beneath the Martian surface in search of life. Ensuring the rover can look after itself is vital to the mission’s success…”

Astronaut Koichi Wakata didn’t change underwear for a month – “Designed to resist the rigours of lengthy space travel, the anti-static, flame-resistant, odour-eating, bacteria-killing, water-absorbent smalls have been put through their paces as part of a project aimed at ensuring that future space travellers will need only minimal space in their suitcases…”

Offbeat space experiments:

Men ogle women 10 times a day – “MEN ogle up to TEN women every day, researchers have revealed. They spend an average of 43 minutes admiring girls – which adds up to A YEAR in a lifetime… “

An almost perfect real-world hack – “Almost immediately after we bought our house I received a letter in the mail. The local school district was appealing the tax assessment of my house. The issue in question was the value of my property in 2002 (don’t ask, it’s a long story, and a silly law). My property tax is some percentage of the 2002 value of my home, and they thought my assessed value was too low. Great…”

The safety inadequacies of India’s fast breeder reactor – “India’s Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) is planning a large expansion of nuclear power, in which fast breeder reactors play an important role. Fast breeder reactors are attractive to the DAE because they produce (or “breed”) more fissile material than they use. The breeder reactor is especially attractive in India, which hopes to develop a large domestic nuclear energy program even though it has primarily poor quality uranium ore that is expensive to mine…”

Apple tried to silence owner of exploding iPod with gagging order – “Apple attempted to silence a father and daughter with a gagging order after the child’s iPod music player exploded and the family sought a refund from the company…”

Journalist hunts for acid-spitting Mongolian death worm – “ARMED with explosives, two men are heading to Mongolia’s Gobi Desert to find the fabled acid-spitting and lightning-throwing Mongolian death worm…”

A Brief History of The Hells Angels – “Despite the group’s fame and long history, there is much about the Angels that remains shrouded in mystery…” See also: Mob rule

SIN BINS FOR WORST FAMILIES – “THOUSANDS of the worst families in England are to be put in “sin bins” in a bid to change their bad behaviour, Ed Balls announced yesterday…”

Scientists discover secrets of red wine’s health benefits – “Red wine’s health benefits lie in resveratrol which works as an effective therapy for life-threatening inflammation, a new study has found…”

Building a Balancing Scooter – “Self-balancing scooters, like the Segway™ are often thought to be technological miracles, but it is not actually very hard to build one. I built the one described here in about a week using off-the-shelf parts. I spent another week tweaking the high-speed stability, improving the steering control, and writing about it…”

BMW Z4 vs. Nissan 370Z:

Organic food ‘no healthier’ blow – “Organic produce is no better for health than conventional food, the Government’s Food Standards Agency announced today…”

Studies: Millions of U.S. kids lacking Vitamin D – “Millions of U.S. children have disturbingly low Vitamin D levels, possibly increasing their risk for bone problems, heart disease, diabetes and other ailments, according to two new studies that provide the first national assessment of the crucial nutrient in young Americans…”

The Top 100 Web Sites of 2009 – “It’s been a strange year on the Web. In the 12 months since our last installment of Top 100 Web Sites, I’m betting you signed up for a Twitter account (and likely abandoned it), browsed the Web on a mobile phone (if you haven’t yet, you soon will), and read 3.4 online news stories about Michael Jackson and watched 5.8 MJ videos on YouTube (I like this one)…”

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