Exercising on a treadmill often feels like torture, and that’s not exactly a coincidence.

In 1818, an English civil engineer named Sir William Cubitt devised a machine called the “tread-wheel” to reform stubborn and idle convicts.

Prisoners would step on the 24 spokes of a large paddle wheel, climbing it like a modern StairMaster. As the spokes turned, the gears were used to pump water or crush grain. (Hence the … Read More → "The treadmill originated in prisons"

Visual journalist Marcelo Duhalde has created a data visualization that charts life expectancies around the world. According to the chart, a person born in 2013 in Monaco has the highest expected life span — an average of 90 years — while Chad has the worst with an average of just under 50 years.
via Laughing Squid

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More than nine in ten cancer-related deaths occur because of metastasis, the spread of cancer cells from a primary tumor to other parts of the body. While primary tumors can often be treated with radiation or surgery, the spread of cancer throughout the body limits treatment options. This situation could change if work done by Michael King and his colleagues at Cornell University delivers on its promises, as he has developed a … Read More → "Nanoparticles catch cancer cells that make it into the blood stream"

“Serpent d’Océan” is a massive aluminum sea serpent skeleton that is installed on a beach in the French seaside town of Saint-Brévin-Les Pins. The 425-foot-long sculpture was created by Chinese artist Huang Yong Ping for the 2012 “Estuaire” art exhibition.
via Laughing Squid

< … Read More → "Serpent d’Océan, a massive metal sea serpent skeleton installed on a beach in France"

Millions of charged particles are rushing toward earth after a gigantic solar flare on Tuesday.Bad news for NASA’s latest mission, but good news for sky-watchers: Those charged particles also collide with the earth’s atmosphere to produce the ethereal-looking northern lights.

Normally, northern lights, or auroras, are only visible at or near the pole, … Read More → "Tonight’s your best chance to see Northern Lights in years"

Overstock.com is now accepting payments in bitcoin, making it the first major online retailer to embrace the increasingly popular but controversial digital currency.

Since December, Overstock’s free-thinking CEO and chairman, Patrick Byrne, has been telling anyone who would listen that his company would adopt bitcoin sometime in the next six months. But Byrne is an impatient man. Last Tuesday, the company struck a deal to handle bitcoin payments … Read More → "Overstock.com is now accepting bitcoin as payment"

Can we blame Ron Paul’s political ambitions on his last name? Research suggests that people choose—or are unconsciously drawn to—careers that resemble their own names. The effect is stronger for women’s first names and men’s last names; psychologists hypothesize that women are less attached to their last names because they anticipate taking their husbands’.

In a 2002 … Read More → "Men named Dennis are more likely to become dentists"

Comic artist and author Jason Thompson has created “The Map of Zombies,” a highly detailed classification chart of over 350 different types of zombies. Prints of the map, which is still being refined by Jason, are currently available to purchase online through his Kickstarter campaign.
via Laughing Squid

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Last year, California residents installed more rooftop solar capacity in one year than in the previous thirty combined! In 2013 alone, the state added a whopping 1,000 megawatts of solar capacity to their homes, up from an already impressive 500 MW in 2012. The incredible spike can be attributed in part to the increasing affordability of photovoltaic panels.
via Inhabitat

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Artist Aganetha Dyck felt like the porcelain figurines she uses in her works were missing something, so she put her friendly neighborhood swarm of bees to work helping her finish up each piece with some hive worthy modifications of their own.
via Neatorama

Continue reading </ … Read More → "Porcelain figurines altered with a little help from honey bees"