In 1912 forensics was still in its infancy when a pretty girl was found dead in her parent’s parlour. Her boyfriend was the immediate suspect, but he had an alibi that couldn’t be broken. Here’s how make-up, and the people who analyze it, broke it…

When police questioned Gourbin, he smoothly produced a big group of friends who could verify his whereabouts … Read More → "The first time we used cosmetics to catch a murderer"

We know that storms can be found on planets, but until recently there’s been little evidence showing they can also form above the scorching-hot surface of a star. According to NASA, the L-dwarf star known as W1906+40 is the first living star that’s been observed hosting an active storm system.

NASA first discovered the star during their Wide-field Infared Survey of 2011, but it … Read More → "NASA spotted a storm system over a star for the first time"

Robotics company Boston Dynamics created a wonderful holiday video, which features three robot reindeer pulling Santa Claus on her Sleigh.
via Laughing Squid

… Read More → "Boston Dynamics holiday video featuring three robotic reindeer pulling Santa on her sleigh"

Another day, another UAV causing headaches. This time around, a falling drone camera almost crashed into Marcel Hirscher, a four-time World Cup skiing champion and Winter Olympics medalist, during a slalom race on Tuesday in Italy. The drone, which was carrying broadcast equipment, hit the snow at full speed while Hirscher was in the middle of his run and, luckily, missed making contact with him by a … Read More → "Drone camera almost takes out a skier on live TV"

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket successfully landed upright on solid ground at Cape Canaveral, Florida this evening, after traveling into space and back. It’s the first time SpaceX has been able to gently touch down the Falcon 9 post-launch — something the company has been trying to do for the past year. It’s a big first step toward reusable rockets. 

This launch was also the first time SpaceX has flown since June, after one of … Read More → "SpaceX successfully landed its Falcon 9 rocket after launching it to space"

Hearing loss can have a negative impact on work. It can lead to social isolation. It can even contribute to dementia. And one-third of Americans 65 and older have some level of hearing impairment. Typically they wait years to get tested.

But there’s a scientifically validated hearing test that you can take over the telephone in the privacy of your home for just 5 bucks.

If you remember having a hearing test as a kid, well, this telephone test is nothing like that. The kinds of tests given by doctors and audiologists … Read More → "Is everybody mumbling? Try a hearing test you take on the phone"

Fallout 4 is easily one of the biggest hit games of the year. With its post-apocalyptic setting and near-endless list of things to do and quests to complete, it’s easy to understand how players could get so caught up in the game’s world that lose track of time. And their job. And their real-world spouse too. That’s exactly what happened to a poor Russian gamer, and now he’s suing < … Read More → "Fallout 4 player sues Bethesda for losing self-control (job, wife too)"

Video editor Hadaya Turner of The Verge explains how the brain interprets music, why the bass line is so pleasing and what happens when the beat is off in a short animation that she wrote, directed and drew.
via The Verge

… Read More → "A short animation explaining why the bassline is most pleasing part of the song"

Several fairly new technologies combine to make something pretty neat -Christmas lights in the sky! Ascending Technologies programmed a drone with LEDs to perform a precise dance in the air, while taking long-exposure photographs and video. You can see how long the exposure is by the movement of the stars in the picture above.

The Drone Light Painting Video is world’s first drone light painting project of that quality. For this purpose a high-tech drone … Read More → "Light painting with a drone"