Archive for January, 2011
Nominees for the 83rd Academy Awards, which will take place on February 27, have been announced. So you know what that means — you have about a month to plan your Oscar party and only a couple weeks to get those e-mail invitations out there. FYI — Evite has a few awards party themes to choose from if you need some help on that front. But before you get carried away on what that invite looks like, you need to decide the essentials: who to invite and when they should arrive.
There are now three companies, with three different technologies, that are claiming they can eliminate fossil fuels and replace them with something green and much less expensive. We have already talked about Joule Unlimited, which claims it can use modified E. coli bacteria to create diesel fuel at a $30/barrel equivalent price: The impossible has [...]
‘Wave and pay’ technology for iPhone 5 – “Apple is expected to install “wave and pay” technology for the next version of its iPhone, boosting mobile commerce and potentially giving the company a big piece of the multibillion-dollar transaction industry…” Breakthrough promises $1.50 per gallon synthetic gasoline with no carbon emissions – “UK-based Cella Energy [...]
Why Bedbugs Might Take Over the World
by Amanda Arnold | January 26, 2011
Like vampires, bedbugs feed on your blood. And it hurts.
But it’s worse than that. These little blood-sucking beasts have been evolving to resist the pesticides we’ve developed to make them go bye-bye. That’s why they’re in your hotel bed, Mr. and Ms. Traveler.
Drowned Towns from Tennessee to Bulgaria Equally Cool
by Josh Clark | January 26, 2011
Cool thing I came across today: drowned towns; towns that have become submerged as the result of a dam constructed nearby. That water’s got to go somewhere and when it backs up, a surprising amount of small towns around the world have been abandoned in sacrifice.
One of my coworkers pointed this article out to me late last week and I thought it would make a great post. Poor e-mail etiquette in the workplace is devastatingly common, and often carries serious consequences. Coworkers can get the impression you’re careless, abrupt, insipid, disrespectful, snooty and so on, simply because your e-mailing style is a little off. (Of course, if one of those adjectives applies to you anyway, this probably won’t really help.) So if you suspect you’re not the most savvy when it comes to shooting off work e-mails, we’re here to help.
A different way to think about the Federal Government
by Marshall Brain | January 26, 2011
One thing that I personally enjoy is reconceptualizations. For example, the idea of solar road made of glass is a fantastic reconceptualization of what a road can be: It takes what is normally a completely passive, non-productive surface (an asphalt road) and turns it into something that produces power, displays messages, and transmits power and [...]
Something interesting showed up in my Twitter feed yesterday — a link to a podcast from Buddhist Geeks called “Gaming as a Spiritual Practice.” It’s a discussion with game designer Jane McGonigal on how games can work to end suffering. (In other words, it’s the near-opposite of the usual coverage of games in the media.)
Imagine that you would like to take satellite photos like those seen in Google Earth. The traditional way to do it, obviously, is to launch a satellite. But there are at least five problems with this approach: Satellites themselves are expensive to build Satellites are even more expensive to launch (some estimates put the cost [...]
Many people who go to see a 3D movie get a headache about 20 minutes into the movie. And even if you don’t get a headache, you may notice that your eyes don’t feel right. It could be anything from excessive tearing to an achiness that makes you take off the glasses and rub your [...]
Recent Postings by Category
BrainStuff
- Thank You and Best Wishes to Marshall Brain
- Contest – Design a $300 house and win $25,000
- How the Philtrum works – the place under your nose where your face comes together
The Coolest Stuff on the Planet
- The Latest in Frugal Lodging: Camping in Somebody Else’s Backyard
- The Painted Beauties of Bucovina
- The Cat Passageways and Track Furniture of Gillette Castle
Keep Asking
- Why can a 5 foot 8 inch man dunk a basketball on a 10 foot rim while some people of taller stature can’t?
- What happens to our sun once it runs out of fuel?
- How do we know the age of the universe?
Stuff Mom Never Told You
- Who invented the Christmas card?
- How the Kinsey Report Fueled Whiskey Sales
- How to Get Your Wedding Announcement into The New York Times
Stuff to Blow Your Mind
- Space Music: DJ Food and ‘The Search Engine’
- Stuff to Blow Your Mind: Hug it Out
- Space Music: Jay-Z and Beyoncé to Film Music Video in Orbit
Stuff You Should Know
- The Southern Death Cult, the Maya and Georgia
- Deformed Baby Spider Brains
- Amazing Medical Conditions: Maple Syrup Urine Disorder
The Stuff of Genius
CarStuff
- Why is NASA studying car safety?
- Tips for in-car Navigation Systems
- Tips for Using Bluetooth in the Car
How-to Stuff
- How to Swim with Dolphins (When Deep Water Terrifies You)
- How to Cure a Homemade Cookie Craving Without Turning on the Oven
- How to Know When It’s Time for a New Pet
PopStuff
- PopStuff Show Notes: Episode 36: Now Available in 3-D
- PopStuff Show Notes: Episode 35: Let’s do brunch!
- PopStuff Show Notes: Episode 34: Play it again, Sam
Stuff They Don't Want You To Know
Stuff to Change the World
- Who will own the Arctic?
- Obesity: The New Global Crisis
- Bill Gates Makes For A Pretty Decent Cartoon
Stuff You Missed in History Class
- Butch Cassidy: Should we read between the lines?
- Are we rooting for D.B. Cooper?
- Party Time: A Look at Unconventional Politics

