Panera Bread has announced it’s going to replace its human cashiers by 2016. The company will install automated ordering and payment kiosks so you don’t have to talk to a human while ordering your food. Or while picking it up — just snatch the tray with one hand and continue playing with your phone with the other…

The news follows moves from Chili’s and Applebee’s to place tablets on their tables, allowing … Read More → "Panera Bread replacing its cashiers with robots"

When the Milan Expo opens next year, the centerpiece building will be a masterpiece of sustainable engineering. Designed around the idea of an urban forest, the new Palazzo Italia will generate its own electricity, and will be clad in materials specifically designed to clean the surrounding air. The designers, Nemesi & Partners, are using photocatalytic cement – basically, concrete that’s been mixed with titanium oxide. When the building material comes into contact with ultraviolet … Read More → "Milan building will pioneer smog-eating cement"

Half year after DBS surgery, Mr B stated that he was turning into a Johnny Cash fan. He had been listening to the radio, when he coincidentally heard Ring of Fire of the Country and Western singer and experienced that he was deeply affected by the song. Mr B started to listen to more songs of Johnny Cash and noticed that he was deeply moved by the raw and low-pitched voice of the singer,” researchers wrote. “Mr B reported that he felt good following treatment with DBS and that the songs … Read More → "Brain implant turns man into passionate Johnny Cash fan"

When we’ve previously heard about “organs on a chip,” they’ve been miniature recreations of healthy organs. If they’re being used for research into the treatment of health problems, however, then it only makes sense that those “organs” should have something wrong with them. With that in mind, a group of Harvard scientists have created the world’s first lab-grown sample of functioning human heart tissue that has a cardiovascular disease.

The … Read More → "“Heart disease-on-a-chip” could usher in an age of personalized medicine"

Congress’ approval rating sits as low as 10 percent, depending on which poll you trust. So a bunch of engineers and developers came up with a uniquely Silicon Valley solution — replace politicians with software. We’re not talking about some advanced AI, though, so don’t start worrying about Skynet just yet. PlaceAVote is a simply a digital polling platform, which means there will still need to be a human being on the … Read More → "PlaceAVote wants to replace politicians with internet polls"

Luna Park opened in Brooklyn in 1903, during the heyday of Coney Island attractions. This weekend, artist Fred Kahl pays tribute to the park’s history with a 3D-printed model depicting it as it appeared 100 years ago. It’s being billed as the largest art installation ever created on a desktop 3D printer, and building it involved some fascinating, custom-made technology.
via Read More → "1914 Coney Island diorama is world’s largest desktop-printed sculpture"

Nothing is safe from parents’ inclination to insist that anything new and different is bad for kids and inferior from the way they grew up. According to an 1859 issue of Scientific American, that darn Chess contraption hinders learning, and kids should go play sports instead.

Here’s the full quote (thanks to Read More → "In 1859, people thought chess was rotting their kids’ minds, and they should go play sports instead"

Off the top of your head, can you think of a quick, simple, and anonymous way to report a food borne illness you may have contracted at a restaurant? And even if you can, have you ever done so? If not, you’re not alone. In 2012, New York City’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) found that residents weren’t turning … Read More → "NYC Dept of Health used Yelp reviews to shutter dirty restaurants"

Commuting is often, no, regularly, hell. And now there’s a map to prove it. Enter a city into the Isoscope map, and it will show how far a two, four, six, eight and ten-minute drive will take you, specific to the day of the week — and to a prescribed hour of awful, awful rush-hour traffic. You can click multiple areas and adjust the hour, increasing or decreasing where you’re able … Read More → "This map shows you how far you can go in 10 minutes"

A science mystery, solved! After going missing for 78 years, the Clarion nightsnake (Hypsiglena ochrorhyncha unaocularus), a nocturnal snake first discovered in the 19th century, then struck from the scientific record, has been rediscovered. National Museum of Natural History researcher Daniel Mulcahy and his team found the species on the Mexican island of Clarion, which is its exclusive habitat. The reptilian species “could have remained unknown to science if not for the team& … Read More → "Snake species missing for nearly 80 years rediscovered"