HowStuffWorks.com

kenobi-wan-obi: Milky Way over the Alps by Leonardo Orazi

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 12:02:50 -0400

Milky Way over the Alps by Leonardo Orazi

stufftoblowyourmind: Monster of the Week: The Mirocaw...

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 09:52:40 -0400

Monster of the Week: The Mirocaw Harlequins

The prospect of a human/earthworm hybrid is as perplexing as it is horrifying. The last common ancestor of earthworm and man existed 600 million years ago, but if you just focus on the digestive system, we’re not all that different. In fact, according to Dr. Alexander Khoruts in Mary Roach’s “Gulp,” humans are “basically a highly evolved earthworm surrounding the intestinal tract.” And this is perhaps what makes the idea of a human worm so terrifying: it breaks us down to our most basic function.

READ MORE: http://is.gd/bKjIgE

Thought I’d share this one here as well, for the Lovecraft/Ligotti/Scary Clown fans out there. /Robert

the-science-llama: Shield BugMicroscopy by Francis Prior

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 08:02:09 -0400

Shield bug at 10x magnification by Francis Prior // posted by The-Science-Llama

Shield bug head symmetry by Francis Prior // posted by The-Science-Llama

the-science-llama:

Shield Bug
Microscopy by Francis Prior

ucresearch: A view of Halley’s Comet from the Lick Observatory...

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 04:01:16 -0400

ucresearch:

A view of Halley’s Comet from the Lick Observatory on June 6, 1910

BrainStuff — Where’s the best place to sit in a...

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 20:01:30 -0400

BrainStuff — Where’s the best place to sit in a movie theater?

When it comes to where you should sit in a movie theater to get the best experience, it’s mostly a matter of preference. Except when it comes to sound. Find out why — and where you should sit — in this episode of our new show, BrainStuff.

Whether the topic is popcorn or particle physics, you can count on the HowStuffWorks team to explore - and explain - the everyday science in the world around us on BrainStuff.

Warner/Chappell, the music company that owns the rights to "Happy Birthday to You," makes about $2 million a year off the song.

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 16:02:57 -0400

Warner/Chappell, the music company that owns the rights to "Happy Birthday to You," makes about $2...

inothernews: HOW MARS GOT ITS GROOVES BACK Dubbed linear...

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 12:02:45 -0400

inothernews:

HOW MARS GOT ITS GROOVES BACK Dubbed linear gullies, these long grooves appear on the sides of some sandy slopes during Martian spring. They have nearly constant widths, extend for as long as two kilometers, and have raised banks along their sides. Unlike most water flows, they do not appear to have areas of dried debris at the downhill end. A leading hypothesis — actually being tested here on Earth — is that these linear gullies are caused by chunks of dry ice breaking off and sliding down hills while sublimating into gas, eventually completely evaporating into thin air. Or, there are aliens. Aliens on Mars. And these are the tracks of their peers. (Photo: HiRISE, MRO, LPL (U. Arizona) via NASA APOD)

rollingstone: Since early February, a growing number of...

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 08:01:56 -0400

rollingstone:

Since early February, a growing number of Guantanamo prisoners have been on hunger strike to protest their treatment here. As of Monday, 104 detainees in Camps 5 and 6 were on strike, 44 were being force-fed through tubes and two were hospitalized. “Most detainees on hunger strike who are designated for enteral feed go compliantly,” says Guantanamo spokesperson Captain Robert Durand. “Some detainees protest by laying down, and some resist actively. In all cases, the minimum amount of force is needed to safely restrain the detainee.”

Read our feature on Guantanamo Bay and find out what it’s like at the detention center where over 100 prisoners are on hunger strike.

"Background noise creates a distraction, but balance is key. A moderate level of background noise..."

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 04:01:21 -0400

“Background noise creates a distraction, but balance is key. A moderate level of background...

losangelespast: Echo Park in 1895: Snow-capped peaks in the...

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 20:01:49 -0400

losangelespast:

Echo Park in 1895: Snow-capped peaks in the distance and rolling countryside all around.

guardian: Guardian front page, 17 June 2013 Foreign politicians...

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 16:03:05 -0400

guardian:

Guardian front page, 17 June 2013

Foreign politicians and officials who took part in two G20 summit meetings in London in 2009 had their computers monitored and their phone calls intercepted on the instructions of their British government hosts, according to documents seen by the Guardian.

futuramb: futuristgerd: Hands On: Scanadu Scout Medical...

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 12:02:42 -0400

futuramb:

futuristgerd:

Hands On: Scanadu Scout Medical Tricorder by PCMagazineReviews

The Scanadu Tricorder comes together and is explained in this short video. In this case technology is not replacing the doctor, but maybe some nurses who do routine tests.

shortformblog: Telegrams are still a thing in India, though...

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 08:02:01 -0400

shortformblog:

Telegrams are still a thing in India, though that’s about to change. On July 15, the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) will send the last telegram the world may ever see. Western Union quit the practice seven years ago. The industry was once so robust that it supported 60 million messages in India alone in 1985. Stop. Progress moves quickly sometimes. Stop. (photo by Rajanish Kakade/Associated Press)

I hope the next generation will be made entirely of history nerds, ‘cause otherwise we’re all going to get really tired of explaining old-timey communication references to them.

Will I think I’m sexier after my son gets here in a couple...

Sun, 16 Jun 2013 12:02:38 -0400

Will I think I’m sexier after my son gets here in a couple of months? Christen weighs in on THE STUDIES. /Robert

3d Graffiti? DJ Food has the lowdown on his blog right here. I...

Sat, 15 Jun 2013 20:01:37 -0400

3d Graffiti? DJ Food has the lowdown on his blog right here. I think we need to put “How Graffiti Works” on the to-do list, yeah? /Robert

WARNING: Brown note coming at you. So you might want to sit in a...

Sat, 15 Jun 2013 16:02:48 -0400

WARNING: Brown note coming at you. So you might want to sit in a towel-lined casserole dish while watching this latest mind-twister from the Conspiracy boys. /Robert

Josh is about to lay some science on you. Don’t be dumb.

Sat, 15 Jun 2013 12:02:41 -0400

Josh is about to lay some science on you. Don’t be dumb.

stuffmomnevertoldyou: Episode: Is Plan B access bad for...

Sat, 15 Jun 2013 08:02:12 -0400

stuffmomnevertoldyou:

Episode: Is Plan B access bad for girls?

The White House has announced that it won’t fight a court order for age restrictions on the sale of emergency contraceptives (not to be confused with the so-called “abortion pill”). So what was all the fuss to begin with? Cristen and Caroline dive into the fear-mongering politics of young female sexuality.

laughingsquid: xkcd: Ice Sheets

Sat, 15 Jun 2013 04:01:09 -0400

laughingsquid:

xkcd: Ice Sheets

theolduvaigorge: Stone artifacts unearthed from the early...

Fri, 14 Jun 2013 20:01:27 -0400

theolduvaigorge:

Stone artifacts unearthed from the early Paleolithic site of Danjiangkou reservoir area, China

“Danjiangkou reservoir is located in the northwest of Hubei Province and southwest of Henan Province at the headwaters area of the Middle Route of the South-to-North Water Transfer Project. In 1994 and 2004, Scientists from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP), Chinese Academy of Sciences, conducted two surveys around the margin of the Danjiangkou reservoir that will later be submerged upon completing a new section of the dam, and found 91 paleolithic open-air sites, distributed upon different terraces along the Hanshui River and its tributary Danjiang River. In April and May 2009, researchers carried out an excavation in the Guochachang II site which is located on the left bank of Hanshui River’s third terrace. The excavation exposed an area of 500 m2 and uncovered 132 stone artifacts in situ as reported in the latest issue of Acta Anthropologica Sinica 2013 (2).

The Danjiangkou reservoir area is a pivotal region for human migration and cultural communication between south and north China. The discovery of hominid fossils, such as Xichuan Man, Yunyang Man, Meipu Man, Yunxian Man, and abundant Paleolithic sites in this area highlight its significant position in the Paleoanthropology and Paleolithic archaeology of China.

The excavated lithic assemblage in the Guochachang II site includes hammerstones (9), cores (14), flakes (69), chunks (18), and stone tools (22). Stone tools include scrapers (13), choppers (5), picks (1), and handaxes (3).

The typology and technological analysis of these stone artifacts reveals that lithic raw materials were locally available from ancient river gravels. Four kinds of raw materials were utilized: quartz, siliceous limestone, tuff and sandstone. Quartz is dominant for hammerstones, cores, flakes and chunks. Scarpers were predominantly made on quartz, but the heavy-duty tools mainly employed siliceous limestone and tuff” (read more).

(Source: PhysOrg)