This is a list of people who disappeared mysteriously, and whose current whereabouts are unknown or whose deaths are not substantiated, as well as a few cases of people whose disappearance was notable and remained mysterious for a long time, but was eventually explained.
via Boing Boing
… Read More → "A list of people who disappeared mysteriously"
Who says video games aren’t educational? This low-key endorsement from Randall Munroe at xkcd (who is a former NASA roboticist) will probably do more for the game Kerbal Space Program than all the splashy ads they could buy.
via Neatorama and xkcd</ … Read More → "How well I understand orbital mechanics (xkcd)"
At the Project Ara Developer’s Conference in Santa Clara, California, the moment of unveiling was a bit of a letdown. When project lead Paul Eremenko got ready for the big reveal — finally showing off Google’s vision for a modular phone with working, user-interchangeable components — he had to dampen expectations from the enthusiastic crowd. “You should temper your applause,” he warned, explaining that the device had … Read More → "Google’s new modular phone may be the last you’ll need to buy"
Google’s research department is cranking out ideas for eye-worn electronics. Just a few months ago saw the company’s patent application for a glucose sensor in a contact lens — now it is looking at integrating a full-on camera.
The application, uncovered by Patent Bolt, is one of many recent ones relating to methods for adding chips and components of various kinds to contact … Read More → "Google applies for patent on contact lens camera"
Studying evolution is tricky — it’s a process that happens over countless generations and thousands of years, but the men tasked with studying it live less than a century. Researchers at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology have found one way around the problem: robots. OIST’s Dr. Stefan Elfwing has been using small, rodent-like robots to study the long-term effects of disparate mating strategies, observing the evolution of the simulated species for … Read More → "Scientists are studying evolutionary concepts with robot mice"
Google has been peddling its Google Glass wearable device for a while now and so far, to be able to buy one, you had to be invited. Even once you were invited, you still needed to cough up the $1500. If you have been dreaming about becoming a Glass user, but didn’t know anyone who could invite you, today is your day.
Google confirmed a few days ago that on … Read More → "Google Glass now available to all for limited time"
Statistical analysis site Five Thirty Eight has analyzed the artwork of Joy of Painting host Bob Ross, discovering that 91-percent of the works he created on the show featured at least one of the “happy trees” for which he is remembered. Author Walt Hickey further breaks down the 381 episodes on which Ross painted by conditional probability — i.e., what is the … Read More → "Five Thirty Eight breaks down the statistics of Bob Ross paintings"
Just imagine if your sofa could sense how you’re feeling when you get home from work. To stave off marathon TV sessions, it could transform from a cushioned pile of pillows to a rigid lounge as encouragement to go outside and move around. This exact shape-shifting scenario is an unlikely reality, but a new project from MIT’s Tangible Media Group envisions more realistically what might happen … Read More → "MIT whizzes invent magical furniture that changes shape on demand"
The emoticon might be older than we thought. This passage of text, which includes a cheeky smiley, is taken from Robert Herrick’s 1648 poem To Fortune—and it might be the first ever use of an emoticon.
Literary critic Levi Stahl thought the punctuation might be a typo … Read More → "Was this the world’s first emoticon?"
