Category: Interesting Reads

I think my wife funded this research

Sometimes, you hear research results that you just know will get used against you some day.

Women can be allergic to sex with men, but doctors are finding women can overcome this allergy through regular sex combined with treatments derived from semen.

“It’s really a very rare condition, but it does happen,” allergist and immunologist David Resnick at New York Presbyterian Hospital told LiveScience.

I’ve often tried to convince my wife of the benefit of treatments derived from semen – I’ve heard it’s good for the skin and throat. She doesn’t seem to accept my hypothsis as valid.

One study from the University of Cincinnati of 1,073 women who sought information on semen allergy concerning their symptoms found 130 had the allergy. In some women, the reaction occurs only with one partner while others are allergic to all partners.

How do I get in the study to help the researchers find which of these women is allergic to only one partner and which is allergic to all?

[tags]Women allergic to sex, Studies seemingly made to disenfranchise men[/tags]

Taking tests improves memory

Students, don’t cringe, but new research suggests that the very act of taking a test is enough to enhance long-term memory. Furthermore, testing helps students remember not only what they studied for the test, but also related, non-tested concepts.

There you have it. Having memory problems? Start taking tests. Or something like that.

[tags]Taking tests improves memory[/tags]

Robots adapting, learning – to better rule the world?

I used to think the zombies would take over the world first, and then be wiped out by the robots. Now, as I study advances in zombie technologies and robot technologies, I’ve come to the irrefutable conclusion that the zombies will not have a chance to wipe us out first. In fact, with the latest technology the robots are getting, the day of the robot uprising will happen so quickly, we’ll all be wiped out so completely that there will be no corpses available for the zombies to seed their own uprising.

Nothing can possibly go wrong … go wrong … go wrong … The truth behind the old joke is that most robots are programmed with a fairly rigid “model” of what they and the world around them are like. If a robot is damaged or its environment changes unexpectedly, it can’t adapt.

So Cornell researchers have built a robot that works out its own model of itself and can revise the model to adapt to injury. First, it teaches itself to walk. Then, when damaged, it teaches itself to limp.

Soon, the robots will be able to adapt better to injuries. The technology starts with learning locomotion strategies after injuries. What next? And what happens when the robots decide to experiment on humans to see how we adapt? Ahhhh, the fear this should install.

I, for one, welcome our new robot overlords.

[tags]Robots gaining self-awareness, Robots learn to compensate for injury, I for one welcome our new robot overlords[/tags]

Target recalls toys

This one might be worth checking out.  Target has recalled 190,000 children’s toys.  The toys in question were made with lead paint or have sharp points which are likely to injure the children in the age group for which the toys are made.

The recall involves “Kool Toyz” brand toys, including sets containing die-cast cars, playground set, doll house set, dinosaurs, trucks, boats and planes. The packaging is primary blue and has the “Kool Toyz” logo is on the upper left corner of the packaging.” If you have these toys, take them away from children and bring them to Target for a full refund.

So check out the recall details and see if you have some toys which need to be returned to Target.  Pictures of all involved products are on the government agency’s web site.  (via The Consumerist)

[tags]Target children’s toy recall[/tags]

Human genetic differences – an order of magnitude greater

Listening to NPR on the way home, I heard a very interesting news bit on the latest in human genetic make-up studies.  For the longest time, scientists have said that humans are 99.9% identical genetically.  Now it seems that we differ at least 10 times more than previously believed.

Scientists have shown that our genetic code varies between individuals far more than was previously thought.

A US-led team made a detailed analysis of the DNA found in 270 people and identified vast stretches in their codes to be duplicated or even missing.

A great many of these variations are in areas of the genome that would not damage our health, Stephen Scherer and colleagues told the journal Nature.

. . .

…researchers have developed the molecular “tools” to focus on medium-scale variations of the code – at the scale of thousands of DNA letters.

Continue reading “Human genetic differences – an order of magnitude greater”

US Mint still trying to get Americans spending dollar coins

I have to admit that I think dollar coins are pretty cool. I like them, and think the US following Canada’s lead in replacing one dollar bills with dollar coins is a good idea (as much as I hate to let Canada lead the US in anything). The government seems mystified as to why the dollar coins aren’t catching on. In case any government official with any power in this struggle reads my site, here’s the answer:

Continue reading “US Mint still trying to get Americans spending dollar coins”

Robot pr0n?

Oh man, are robots even infiltrating our pr0n industry?

Scientists are using ‘mating’ robot fish to verify whether early humans had flexible ‘rods’ instead of backbones. They say robot tadpole sex might help shed light on how our early ancestors evolved backbones, reports LiveScience.

OK, I guess out naughty movie bits are safe for now. Still, how often do you get to hear scientists are dealing with mating, humans, robot fish, and flexible ‘rods’ all in one sentence? And people say scientists have no fun!

[tags]Robot pr0n?, Robots and their flexible ‘rods’, Robots mate to help scientists understand the secrets of early life and evolution[/tags]

Simpson book, TV deal cancelled

In a move that is surely a surprise to dozens of people around the country, Fox has cancelled OJ’s book and TV special due to public outcry against it. If you aren’t aware of this garbage (and shame on you, as I’ve covered it recently here), Simpson gives an interview on his book “If I Did It” which recounts how, hypothetically, he would have killed his ex-wife and her friend, if he’d been the killer.

Now apparently, the media whores at Fox Television (I’m thinking formost of Rupert Murdoch) discovered that even the dirty-laundry loving Americans have limits:

“I and senior management agree with the American public that this was an ill-considered project,” said Rupert Murdoch, News Corp. chairman. “We are sorry for any pain that this has caused the families of Ron Goldman and Nicole Brown Simpson.”

A number of Fox affiliates had already decided not to air the special when it was broadcast, but now this is not an issue. Hell – even an industry publisher could see it was a bad idea.

The industry trade publication Broadcasting & Cable editorialized against the show Monday, saying “Fox should cancel this evil sweeps stunt.”

Wow! A group inside the industry thinks this is evil? You really know you’re low when your own kind calls you out. It’s like sharks telling lawyers they’re too aggressive and blood-thirsty.

[tags]OJ Simpson book/TV interview cancelled[/tags]

Solar power via windows?

I’ve finally started a subscription to MIT’s Technology Review magazine. My first issue arrived last week, and I was all gaga over this totally cool (no pun intended) power providing window. I’m sure others won’t be as impressed as I am, but then again – I’m easily impressed.

solar-window.jpg

The next building material to generate solar power may be windows. In a dye-sensitized solar cell, dye molecules attached to nanoscale titania particles are held between two panes of glass; the dye absorbs light and releases electrons, which are harvested by the ­titania. The basic concept was invented 15 years ago by Michaël ­Grätzel, chemistry professor at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in Switzerland. Now, the technology is in limited production by Konarka, a company based in ­Lowell, MA, and will soon be more widely available. “The normal configuration has glass on both sides and can be made to look like a colored glass,” Grätzel says. “This could be used as a power-producing window or skylights or building facades. The wall or window itself is photovoltaically active.” This could give a whole new meaning to the term “power windows.”


I can’t figure out yet how to put these to use, but I gotta get m3h some of them winders.

[tags]Power via solar-cell windows, New technology in windows for home/business[/tags]

More evidence that RFID passports are bad

This probably falls more under the category of things only I am interested in, but I still feel the need to point it out just in case any of my visitors actually care about privacy, personal safety, or good security.  In the US, our government is burning a fast path to mandatory passports at the same time we are being pushed into required RFID tags in our passports.  This is a bad idea, and has been documented as such in numerous places.  Fortunately, we have the British leading the way in this endeavor, although I doubt we’ll learn anything from the failure of their RFID passport system and its supposed security.

Continue reading “More evidence that RFID passports are bad”

No dragons were harmed in the making of this sausage

Sometimes, the headlines just sort of pop out there, and everyone understands immediately:

A SPICY sausage known as the Welsh Dragon will have to be renamed after trading standards’ officers warned the manufacturers that they could face prosecution because it does not contain dragon.

The sausages will now have to be labelled Welsh Dragon Pork Sausages to avoid any confusion among customers.

Just in case any of you thought you would be getting actual dragon meat in them. (via boingboing)

[tags]Are there dragons in this?, Dragon safe sausage[/tags]

Sony’s problem

This, in a nutshell, is Sony’s problem: they’ve all been acting like arrogant dicks.

I really can’t say it any better than Bill says it. He talks about what Sony is doing to make the PlayStation 3 succeed or fail.

Sony’s entire future rests on the strength of the Playstation brand, because every Sony executive who’s opened his mouth in the last nine months has acted like a complete fool. Their execution has been incredibly poor, they’ve made major strategic and tactical errors, and incredibly, they’ve managed to piss off almost everyone in the process.

So we’re about to see if a brand name can overcome complete and utter incompetence. It should be interesting.

[tags]Sony’s problem, How will the PS3 fare?, Bill gets another Sony shot off[/tags]