A Lufthansa flight on final approach to Warsaw nearly hit a drone flying about 100 meters away, according to the Aviation Herald, an Austrian news site.

The site quoted unnamed crewmembers as complaining about Warsaw air traffic control, noting that the staff there should “take care of your airspace… it is really dangerous.”
via ars technica

< … Read More → "Lufthansa plane has near-miss with drone on approach to Warsaw airport"

The Grand Rapids Public School district took a big step into the future back in the 1980s when it used money from an energy bond to purchase a Commodore Amiga computer. The Amiga, which replaced a computer the size of a refrigerator, was set up to control heat and air conditioning at the district’s 19 schools. It has been doing that job tirelessly for the last 30 years. 
via Read More → "1980s Commodore has controlled Michigan School District’s A/C for 30 years"

No one has ever exclaimed “I can’t wait to take the train!” with an Amtrak ticket in hand—it’s usually just the cheapest solution to your travel needs. But after watching this wonderful GoPro footage, who wouldn’t be excited to ride this detailed miniature model railroad for hours on end?

via Gizmodo</ … Read More → "Ride along on tiny trains with a GoPro strapped to a model railroad"

This is the lunch that President Richard Nixon ate on August 8, 1974, just before going on national television to announce that he was resigning. White House photographer Robert Knudson captured it on film. The next day, Nixon boarded a plane for California.

By the … Read More → "The sad, stately photo of Nixon’s resignation lunch"

Oregon State University researchers created and patented a new strain of the protein-rich red marine algae known as Dulse. When cooked, this new stuff really tastes like bacon. The engineered strain is high in protein, and purportedly offers twice the nutritional value of everyone’s favorite vegetable-du-jour, kale.
via Boing Boing

< … Read More → "Scientists create new strain of algae that tastes like bacon"

The Lion Identification Network of Collaborators (LINC) is a crowdfunded project from Lion Guardians, a Kenya-based conservation organization [PDF]. Using facial recognition software and images of the profiles of individual lions, LINC is helping researchers monitor population levels and where different lions travel in their migrations. 

Lions don’t have big, identifiable marks like cheetahs or leopards that allow … Read More → "Facial recognition software is helping lion conservation"

Chocolate chip cookie dough is probably the only sin you connect with ice cream parlors—after all, they’re associated with squeaky-clean, rated-G good times in a fresh-faced, olden-timey environment. But ice cream didn’t always have such a deliciously benign rep. In fact, at the turn of the 20th century, the ice cream parlor was regarded by many as a den of corruption, prostitution, and sin. 

There was … Read More → "Ice cream parlors used to be considered evil"

There is now a hotel in the world with a dinosaur concierge. He’s also a robot. He also speaks English. He wears a cute li’l bowtie. And his coworkers are a bunch of other robots. Welcome to Henn na Hotel, aka, “Weird Hotel.”

This Friday, Japan’s Henn na Hotel (“henn na” … Read More → "There’s a hotel with a robot dinosaur concierge"

In a macabre development worthy of a horror movie, the head of Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau — the director of silent horror classic Nosferatu — has reportedly been stolen from his grave. According to Der Spiegel, Murnau’s skull was removed from his family in Stahnsdorf, Germany, while the bodies of his two brothers remained unmolested. The German publication says wax residue was found near the disturbed grave, hinting at the possibility of occult intentions … Read More → "Graverobbers steal Nosferatu director’s head from German cemetery"

Researchers partially restored hearing in deaf mice with a certain kind of genetic hearing loss by inserting working copies of the mutated genes. Eventually the technique could lead to gene therapy for certain causes of human deafness. The Columbia University Medical Center scientists report their results in the journal Science Translational Medicine. From Science News:

The ear’s sound-sensing hair cells (see image above) convert noises into information the brain can process. … Read More → "Gene therapy restored hearing in deaf mice"