… Read More → "56 years of deadly tornados on one gorgeous map"Assembled from 56 years of NOAA data, this map shows every single (known) tornado that has touched down in the United States in the last 56 years. Each line represents an individual tornado, while the brightness of the line represents its intensity on the “Fujita Scale.”
via Gizmodo
Can I let you in on a secret? Typing two spaces after a period is totally, completely, utterly, and inarguably wrong.
And yet people who use two spaces are everywhere, their ugly error crossing every social boundary of class, education, and taste. You’d expect, for instance, that anyone savvy enough to read Slate would know … Read More → "Why you should never use two spaces after a period"
Virgin Galactic, the world’s first commercial spaceline, announced today that its vehicle developer, Scaled Composites (Scaled), has been granted an experimental launch permit from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for its suborbital spacecraft, SpaceshipTwo, and the carrier aircraft, WhiteKnightTwo.
“This important milestone enables our team to progress to the rocket-powered phase of test flight, bringing us a major step closer to bringing our customers to space,” said George … Read More → "FAA launch permit gives Virgin Galactic’s space vehicles the green light for powered flight"
NASA and SpaceX have decided on a time for the latter’s Dragon commercial space capsule to return to our planet. Once again you’ll be able to watch it live, but this time you may actually be able to sleep in.
From NASA:
In reverse order of how Dragon was captured and berthed Friday, the crew will use … Read More → "Dragon returns to Earth tomorrow"
Mary Meeker, a partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield Byers, has released her latest compilation of eye-popping data concerning trends on the web and in mobile. Meeker’s analysis and data points are well-known for giving a comprehensive overview of what’s happening now in tech.
via Venture Beat
Check out the full report here
… Read More → "Mary Meeker’s eye-popping annual Internet Trends report hits the web"Jose R. Gonzalez was issued a patent in 1989 for his punishment wheel.
[A patent!]
via Boing Boing
… Read More → "Spinning wheel metes out random punishment to kids"Pluto’s demotion from “planet” status to
“lame Kuiper Belt resident”ahem “dwarf planet”/”planetoid” continues to be the subject of deep nerd rage. Many of us who grew up with Pluto-as-planet feel that modern astronomers are messing with our childhood memories. Others just make shirts and move on.Today I bring you C.G.P. Grey’s beautifully reasoned discussion of why Pluto is or isn’t a planet, what the Kuiper Belt … Read More → "Why Pluto isn’t a planet (sorry)"
Precocious young physicist Aisha Mustafa just patented a new system that could propel spacecrafts to the final frontier without using a drop of fuel.
In short her system taps one of the odder facets of quantum theory, which posits that space isn’t really a vacuum. It’s really filled with particles and anti-particles that exist for infinitesimally small periods of time before destroying each other. Mustafa thinks she can harness them to create propulsion, resulting in space craft that need little-to-no fuel to maneuver around in space.
via Read More → "Egyptian teenager invents new space propulsion system based on quantum physics"
Sergey Brin has once again hit the town with Project Glass – but this time he let someone else wear Google’s augmented reality headset. California Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom wore the specs on The Gavin Newsom Show, and later told Wired about his brief experience with one of the world’s most rarefied pieces of technology.
“You can easily forget you have them on, and sense the capacity of use in the future,” Newsom told us, adding the headset felt incredibly light, comfortable and inconspicuous on his head.
Brin and … Read More → "Sergey Brin finally lets someone else wear Google Glass"
I like hearing stories about how people got into computers and programming. Perhaps if I blog my story, you’ll share yours.
I went to school in NE Portland in a small and diverse but relatively poor elementary school. I remember the first time a computer showed up in class. It was fifth grade – I think I was 11 – and the computer was an … Read More → "How did you get started in computers and programming?"
