Good Reads

[Laurel]

http://media.kansascity.com/smedia/2013/10/10/14/52/GdvwH.St.81.jpg

Note: As Members of Congress quickly returned from their final symbolic, non-effective and otherwise useless votes to avert a government shutdown, the heavy drinking began. Reports of our representatives getting plastered on the government's dime - the one we have left - have come streaming in from witnesses all over Capitol Hill. Now's your chance to tell your Representative what you really think of their actions.​

- read the full article Drunk Dial Congress (from drunkdialcongress.org)​

 

[Laurel]

http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/70365000/jpg/_70365806_harry175006407thinkstock.jpg

Since deep sleep is so important for consolidating memories it is a good idea if you are revising or perhaps taking an exam to make sure that you're getting a reasonable night's sleep. In one study, people who failed to do so did 40% worse than their contemporaries.

Deep sleep only lasts for a few hours. My electrode results showed that during the night my brain went through multiple phases of another kind of activity, called REM sleep.

"This is the phase when you are usually paralysed - so you can't move," Wulff explained. But the eye muscles are not paralysed, and that's why it's called rapid eye movement sleep."​

- read the full article How much can an extra hour's sleep change you? (from the BBC)​

 

[trysail]

http://media.kansascity.com/smedia/2013/10/10/14/52/GdvwH.St.81.jpg

Note: As Members of Congress quickly returned from their final symbolic, non-effective and otherwise useless votes to avert a government shutdown, the heavy drinking began. Reports of our representatives getting plastered on the government's dime - the one we have left - have come streaming in from witnesses all over Capitol Hill. Now's your chance to tell your Representative what you really think of their actions.​

- read the full article Drunk Dial Congress (from drunkdialcongress.org)​

:leave it be:

 

[Colonel Hogan]

Major cool!

http://www.ifa.hawaii.edu/info/press-releases/LonelyPlanet/ps1_lonely_planet-450.jpg

 

[Laurel]

Major cool!

http://www.ifa.hawaii.edu/info/press-releases/LonelyPlanet/ps1_lonely_planet-450.jpg

It gives me chills!

 

[Laurel]

http://binaryapi.ap.org/8bd5adb2e04e45dd9bd6515fe27193be/460x.jpg

Way before Weight Watchers or "The Biggest Loser," a president known for his girth was helping to usher in a modern approach to treating obesity.

Got a nagging doctor? The 27th president, William H. Taft did, way back in the early 1900s. A medical historian has analyzed letters between the two, complete with food diaries and daily weigh-ins surely recognizable to many of today's dieters.

Have a problem with yo-yo dieting and weight gain? Yep, Taft did, too.

Monday's report offers a rare peek at the history of obesity, through the experiences of one of the first American public figures to struggle openly with weight — and how a doctor aided in an era when physician treatment of obesity was just emerging.​

- read the full article Portly Taft helped usher in modern obesity care (from Associated Press)​

 

[Laurel]

http://s.wsj.net/public/resources/images/OB-ZC059_1001WA_G_20130930021637.jpg

Crosswalk signals: You see them every day, but when was the last time you really stopped to look at them?

Artist Maya Barkai’s “Walking Men Worldwide” project invites pedestrians to do just that.

The Israeli-born artist, based in New York, has been photographing images of pedestrian-traffic-light icons since 2004, when Mayor Michael Bloomberg replaced her city’s “Walk/Don’t Walk” text instructions with symbols. She gradually expanded her collection on her travels, opening up the project to submissions from the public.
[...]
From the sparsely dotted Chinese walking man to the top-hat-wearing, cane-bearing Dane, almost a hundred “walking men” are displayed life-size on banners that line the sidewalk.

“It’s important to me that they are on human scale because they really represent us,” said Ms. Barkai.

Only rarely are the icons depicted as women, she noted. Of the hundreds of images in her collection, Ms. Barkai has only “about six or seven women, mostly from European countries.”​

- read the full article What Do Pedestrian Traffic Icons Say About Your Culture? (from The Wall Street Journal)​

 

[Laurel]

http://media.npr.org/assets/img/2013/10/10/kissingfinal_wide-a52df432b80735a62401024d79569bb0e4d2e6ff-s4-c85.jpeg

At a basic level, kissing is a biohazard. What is love then, if not the willingness to expose yourself to a host of nasty diseases lurking in your partner's mouth?

But could kissing also be a tool with a purpose?

Psychology graduate student , from the University of Oxford, wanted to find out. Results from his experiments supported two of the existing hypotheses about why we kiss. First, we kiss to assess potential mates. Second, we kiss the mate we've found to maintain attachment.

And while kissing may result in arousal, he says, it's probably not a driving reason why people in romantic relationships kiss each other. Killjoy.

The findings in the Archives of Sexual Behavior.

So, how did Wlodarski figure this out? He posted a questionnaire on an online repository for psychology studies. For the chance to win an online shopping voucher, 900 people in about 20 countries responded to questions about how they value kissing in various romantic situations. Most of them were in the U.S. and the U.K.

Wlodarksi concluded from the response that men and women value kissing for different reasons. "Men are more likely to initiate kissing before sex, when it might be used for arousal purposes, whereas women are more likely to initiate kissing after sex, where it might better serve a relationship maintenance function," he writes.​

- read the full article What Humans Can Learn From A Simple Kiss (from NPR)​

 

[Laurel]

http://o.onionstatic.com/images/23/23463/original/700.jpg?500

CALDWELL, ID—Calling it a vital part of his daily routine, local man and utterly depraved masochist Richard Petrillo revealed to reporters Friday that he enjoys keeping up with the news.

The sick man, who confirmed that he makes a concerted effort to follow all manner of current events, evidently derives pleasure from torturing himself in this way, saying he likes to know as much as possible about the world in which he lives.

“There’s a lot going on these days, and I like to stay on top of things,” Petrillo said of his disturbing desire to follow news stories, including those about the Middle East, the state of the U.S. economy, and the recent activities of the National Security Agency. “With such a wealth of knowledge at our fingertips, it just makes sense to keep abreast of the latest developments.”

“It’s important to stay informed, you know?” the degenerate continued while perusing a news website. “Oh, look, here’s an update on what’s happening in Somalia.”

According to those close to Petrillo, the 36-year-old web designer devotes several hours each week to this vile form of self-abuse. He reportedly indulges his twisted obsession by seeking out news articles and videos on everything from politics and international affairs to health care and the environment—often multiple times a day.

In the past, sources said, Petrillo only gratified this unsettling need for punishment in the privacy of his own home, where he consults the internet, television, and various news magazines to find out about the world’s most pressing issues. Now, however, he often engages in his perverse behavior publicly, using a smartphone to see what’s currently happening in Syria, Egypt, Greece, Russia, and even North Korea.​

- read the full article Depraved Masochist Enjoys Following The News (from The Onion)​

 

[Laurel]

http://qzprod.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/nomura.jpg?w=500

No one’s sure how box jellyfish and the Irukandji are spreading. Jellyfish species are turning up in new habitats every year—and thriving. That’s probably because, from an evolutionary standpoint, jellyfish are biologically primed to swarm the seas. Here’s why:
+

* They have few predators. The ones they do have include sea turtles, salmon, mackerel and albatross—animals that are increasingly scarce. And of course, when they’re transported to new ecosystems, jellyfish often have no natural predators.

* They’re eating machines. The comb jellyfish, which wiped out the Black Sea’s $350 million fishing industry, can put away 10 times its body weight in food in a single day. This is even though it needs to eat only 16% of its body weight to keep growing. The rest of that food goes toward making it bigger and bigger.

* They play dirty against competitors. Not only do jellyfish compete with smaller fish for the same food, but they also eat those fishes’ eggs. That collapses fish populations.

* They’re world-class proliferators. Jellyfish don’t have baby versions of themselves the way most animals do. They create polyps—little bundles of clones—that attach to hard surfaces and wait for their opportunity to release small jellyfish. However, while they’re waiting, polyps clone themselves, creating more bundles of future baby jellyfish.

* They’re (almost) invincible. One reason jellyfish blooms are so disastrous is that they’re almost impossible to get rid of. In fact, cutting some species open actually creates exponentially more of them. When the cells of one species, named the Benjamin Button jellyfish, are released through post-mortem decomposition, they somehow find each other again and from a whole new polyp.​

- read the full article Jellyfish are taking over the seas, and it might be too late to stop them (from Quartz)​

 

[Laurel]

http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/70496000/jpg/_70496019_76790796.jpg

Somalia has one of the highest rates of mental illness in the world and with a healthcare system devastated by years of war, most sufferers receive no medical help. Many are chained up - to trees or at home. Some are even locked in cages with hyenas. But one man is trying to change all that.

Dr Hab's advert runs up to three times a day on Mogadishu's radio stations.

"He's gone crazy! He's running away!" screams the actor. "Chain him down!"

The scenario is familiar in Somalia. A man has become possessed by spirits and the only option for his family is to restrain him and call the sheikh. But as the young man protests, a voice that challenges Somali tradition booms out.

"Stop with the chains!" the voiceover orders. "Take him to Dr Hab's hospital! If he's having mental problems, take him to Dr Hab. He won't chain him, he'll help him."

Dr Hab is not actually a real psychiatrist. Rather it's the persona of Abdirahman Ali Awale, a nurse who after three months of specialist training from the World Health Organization (WHO), has made it his mission to rescue Somalia's mentally ill. He claims he is able to treat everything from post-natal depression to schizophrenia.​

- read the full article Where hyenas are used to treat mental illness (from The BBC)​

 

[neci]

http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/70496000/jpg/_70496019_76790796.jpg

Somalia has one of the highest rates of mental illness in the world and with a healthcare system devastated by years of war, most sufferers receive no medical help. Many are chained up - to trees or at home. Some are even locked in cages with hyenas. But one man is trying to change all that.

Dr Hab's advert runs up to three times a day on Mogadishu's radio stations.

"He's gone crazy! He's running away!" screams the actor. "Chain him down!"

The scenario is familiar in Somalia. A man has become possessed by spirits and the only option for his family is to restrain him and call the sheikh. But as the young man protests, a voice that challenges Somali tradition booms out.

"Stop with the chains!" the voiceover orders. "Take him to Dr Hab's hospital! If he's having mental problems, take him to Dr Hab. He won't chain him, he'll help him."

Dr Hab is not actually a real psychiatrist. Rather it's the persona of Abdirahman Ali Awale, a nurse who after three months of specialist training from the World Health Organization (WHO), has made it his mission to rescue Somalia's mentally ill. He claims he is able to treat everything from post-natal depression to schizophrenia.​

- read the full article Where hyenas are used to treat mental illness (from The BBC)​

i read about this when i woke up. the austrians should send their mental health experts. they need safe places. shit. the whole country needs a safe place. dr hab is going to need a lot more help from who.

 

[JohnnySavage]

http://i.space.com/images/i/000/000/481/i02/blue-moon-101119-02.jpg?1291043297


According to Gennady Raykunov, General Director of the Central Research Institute of Mechanical Engineering, the Moon may eventually leave the Earth's orbit and become an independent planet. In this case, the Earth will turn into a lifeless desert.


or...


"The statement "The Moon could leave Earth's orbit and become a planet "is wrong," Surdin said. " Solar tides will continue to inhibit the Earth. But now the Moon will outstrip the Earth's rotation, and tidal friction will slow down its motion. As a result, the Moon will approach the Earth, albeit very slowly, because the force of solar tides is low."


- Read the full article Moon can leave Earth's orbit to become independent planet (from Pravda)

 

[Laurel]

http://i.space.com/images/i/000/000/481/i02/blue-moon-101119-02.jpg?1291043297


According to Gennady Raykunov, General Director of the Central Research Institute of Mechanical Engineering, the Moon may eventually leave the Earth's orbit and become an independent planet. In this case, the Earth will turn into a lifeless desert.


or...


"The statement "The Moon could leave Earth's orbit and become a planet "is wrong," Surdin said. " Solar tides will continue to inhibit the Earth. But now the Moon will outstrip the Earth's rotation, and tidal friction will slow down its motion. As a result, the Moon will approach the Earth, albeit very slowly, because the force of solar tides is low."


- Read the full article Moon can leave Earth's orbit to become independent planet (from Pravda)

In short, we still have nothing to fear, and earthlings will be able to walk under the Moon for at least five billion years.

Whew!

 

[Laurel]

The singularity is coming

http://qzprod.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/briggo_temple.jpg?w=600

Starbucks’ 95,000 baristas have a competitor. It doesn’t need sleep. It’s precise in a way that a human could never be. It requires no training. It can’t quit. It has memorized every one of its customers’ orders. There’s never a line for its perfectly turned-out drinks.

It doesn’t require health insurance.

Don’t think of it as the enemy of baristas, insists Kevin Nater, CEO of the company that has produced this technological marvel. Think of it as an instrument people can use to create their ideal coffee experience. Think of it as a cure for “out-of-home coffee drinkers”—Nater’s phrase—sick of an “inconsistent experience.”

Think of it as the future. Think of it as empowerment. Your coffee, your way, flawlessly, every time, no judgments. Four pumps of sugar-free vanilla syrup in a 16 oz. half-caff soy latte? Here it is, delivered to you precisely when your smartphone app said it would arrive, hot and fresh and indistinguishable from the last one you ordered.​

- read the full article An army of robot baristas could mean the end of Starbucks as we know it (from Quartz)​

 

[Laurel]

http://mentalfloss.com/sites/default/files/styles/article_640x430/public/calvin_and_hobbes.png

For the December issue of mental_floss magazine, Jake Rossen managed to do something we thought was impossible—he snagged an interview with the legendary Bill Watterson! Since we’re guessing there are a few Calvin and Hobbes enthusiasts in the audience, we thought we’d provide a glimpse of the e-mail exchange. For our full story on the comic strip, be sure to pick up the print magazine (you can get a free issue here).

There is a tendency to rehash and regurgitate properties with sequels and remakes. You had an idea, executed it, then moved on. And you ignored the clamor for more. Why is it so hard for readers to let go?
Well, coming at a new work requires a certain amount of patience and energy, and there’s always the risk of disappointment. You can’t really blame people for preferring more of what they already know and like. The trade-off, of course, is that predictability is boring. Repetition is the death of magic.

Years ago, you hadn’t quite dismissed the notion of animating the strip. Are you a fan of Pixar? Does their competency ever make the idea of animating your creations more palatable?
The visual sophistication of Pixar blows me away, but I have zero interest in animating Calvin and Hobbes. If you’ve ever compared a film to a novel it’s based on, you know the novel gets bludgeoned. It’s inevitable, because different media have different strengths and needs, and when you make a movie, the movie’s needs get served. As a comic strip, Calvin and Hobbes works exactly the way I intended it to. There’s no upside for me in adapting it.

Your fight over protecting Calvin and Hobbes from licensing deals, and your battle to increase the real estate for your Sunday page comic, were notable—partially because they indicated your incredible autonomy over your work. Had you "lost" those battles, it appears you would have ended the strip. It reminds me of Howard Roark and his desire to blow up his building rather than see it molested by other hands. Was there a critical moment in your career that instilled such unwavering creative integrity?
Just to be clear, I did not have incredible autonomy until afterward. I had signed most of my rights away in order to get syndicated, so I had no control over what happened to my own work, and I had no legal position to argue anything. I could not take the strip with me if I quit, or even prevent the syndicate from replacing me, so I was truly scared I was going to lose everything I cared about either way. I made a lot of impassioned arguments for why a work of art should reflect the ideas and beliefs of its creator, but the simple fact was that my contract made that issue irrelevant. It was a grim, sad time. Desperation makes a person do crazy things.
​

- read the full article Mental Floss Exclusive: Our Interview with Bill Watterson! (from mental_floss)​

 

[JohnnySavage]

http://gombessa.tripod.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/century9.jpg


Camp Century-aka "Project Iceworm"-was a "city under ice," according to the U.S. Army, a "nuclear-powered research center built by the Army Corps of Engineers under the icy surface of Greenland," as Frank J. Leskovitz more specifically explains.


A fully-functioning "underground city," Camp Century even had its own mobile nuclear reactor-an "Alco PM-2A"-that kept the whole thing lit up and running during the Cold War. According to Leskovitz, the Camp's construction crews "utilized a 'cut-and-cover' trenching technique" during the base's infraglacial construction:

Long ice trenches were created by Swiss made "Peter Plows," which were giant rotary snow milling machines. The machine's two operators could move up to 1200 cubic yards of snow per hour. The longest of the twenty-one trenches was known as "Main Street." It was over 1100 feet long and 26 feet wide and 28 feet high. The trenches were covered with arched corrugated steel roofs which were then buried with snow.


--- read the full article (and don't forget the links!)Project Iceworm: the nuclear city hidden under Greenland's glaciers

 

[JohnnySavage]

http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n308/adivinadesordem/an08.jpg


On the 11th of July 1897, the world breathlessly awaited word from the small Norwegian island of Danskøya in the Arctic Sea. Three gallant Swedish scientists stationed there were about to embark on an enterprise of history-making proportions, and newspapers around the globe had allotted considerable ink to the anticipated adventure. The undertaking was led by renowned engineer Salomon August Andrée, and he was accompanied by his research companions Nils Strindberg and Knut Fraenkel.
In the shadow of a 67-foot-wide spherical hydrogen balloon--one of the largest to have been built at that time--toasts were drunk, telegrams to the Swedish king were dictated, hands were shook, and notes to loved ones were pressed into palms. "Strindberg and Fraenkel!" Andrée cried, "Are you ready to get into the car?" They were, and they dutifully ducked into the four-and-a-half-foot tall, six-foot-wide carriage suspended from the balloon. The whole flying apparatus had been christened the "Örnen," the Swedish word for "Eagle."

"Cut away everywhere!" Andrée commanded after clambering into the Eagle himself, and the ground crew slashed at the lines binding the balloon to the Earth. Hurrahs were offered as the immense, primitive airship pulled away from the wood-plank hangar and bobbed ponderously into the atmosphere. Their mission was to be the first humans to reach the North Pole, taking aerial photographs and scientific measurements along the way for future explorers. If all went according to plan they would then touch down in Siberia or Alaska after a few weeks' flight, laden with information about the top of the world.


- read the full article ANDRÉE AND THE AERONAUTS' VOYAGE TO THE TOP OF THE WORLD

 

[JohnnySavage]

Woah.

Sorta-related: a few years back, I used to regularly check this site that sold decommissioned underground missile bases as houses. Living in something like that has an exotic appeal, but it'd probably be insanely claustrophobic.

But the missile is an interesting conversation piece.

 

[Laurel]

http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/00685/alexander-litvinenk_685231c.jpg

The three Russians who ordered drinks on the chilly afternoon of November 1, 2006 had little of the lethal glamour one might expect of spies. True, two of them were smoking cigars and drinking gin. But the other, a fair-haired man whose slightly angelic face and wide eyes gave him a look of worried alertness, was dressed inelegantly in a khaki t-shirt, jeans and denim jacket. He sipped green tea as the smokers, complaining about the small British measures, ordered several rounds of drinks at once. Andrade placed their orders on a tray, but when he reached their table, one of the men obstructed him. The moment had an unforgettably hostile edge to it. He struggled to put the drinks down, finally managing to sit them next to the tea pot.

The men eventually left, and Andrade cleared the table. As he poured the remaining tea away, he noticed that the consistency of the liquid that tipped into the sink was strange. Gooey. He couldn’t have known it as he puzzled over its weird yellow tinge, but the man who’d been sipping the tea was a 43-year-old Russian dissident called Alexander Litvinenko, and the tea itself, draining away into the London sewers, was lethally radioactive.
[...]
On Friday November 17th, 2006, more than two weeks after he fell ill, doctors finally identified the chemical signal. Their toxicology reports matched what their patient had been saying all along. Litvinenko wasn’t crazy: it now seemed possible someone had indeed tried to kill him.​

- read the full article Bad Blood (from Matter)​

 

[JohnnySavage]

http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/00685/alexander-litvinenk_685231c.jpg

The three Russians who ordered drinks on the chilly afternoon of November 1, 2006 had little of the lethal glamour one might expect of spies. True, two of them were smoking cigars and drinking gin. But the other, a fair-haired man whose slightly angelic face and wide eyes gave him a look of worried alertness, was dressed inelegantly in a khaki t-shirt, jeans and denim jacket. He sipped green tea as the smokers, complaining about the small British measures, ordered several rounds of drinks at once. Andrade placed their orders on a tray, but when he reached their table, one of the men obstructed him. The moment had an unforgettably hostile edge to it. He struggled to put the drinks down, finally managing to sit them next to the tea pot.

The men eventually left, and Andrade cleared the table. As he poured the remaining tea away, he noticed that the consistency of the liquid that tipped into the sink was strange. Gooey. He couldn’t have known it as he puzzled over its weird yellow tinge, but the man who’d been sipping the tea was a 43-year-old Russian dissident called Alexander Litvinenko, and the tea itself, draining away into the London sewers, was lethally radioactive.
[...]
On Friday November 17th, 2006, more than two weeks after he fell ill, doctors finally identified the chemical signal. Their toxicology reports matched what their patient had been saying all along. Litvinenko wasn’t crazy: it now seemed possible someone had indeed tried to kill him.​

- read the full article Bad Blood (from Matter)​

I remember following that story when it was unfolding. The stuff of spy novels.

 

[RobDownSouth]

M.A.D.D. Officially Jumps The Shark​

High school girl gets drunk at a party...too drunk to drive. Instead of calling her parents, she calls her (sober) best friend. Best friend picks up drunk girl, cops show up and cite best friend for attending an underage drinking party.

Then M.A.D.D. gets involved and things go seriously to shit

LINK

I'm so old I remember back when M.A.D.D. was against teens driving drunk, instead of the puritanical neo-prohibition outfit they are today.

 

[IrezumiKiss]

Put in thread by request:

http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/192we19gx17khgif/ku-bigpic.gif

Six Decades of the Most Popular Names for Girls, State-by-State

There will always be people out there picking weird names for their kids, but when you look at the choices that make their way to the top you'll see that Americans tend to play it safe. The maps above, based on data from the Social Security Administration, show the most popular baby names for girls by state, for babies born from 1960 through 2012, with the colors representing the most popular single name for that year.

Baby naming generally follows a consistent cycle: A name springs up in some region of the U.S.—"Ashley" in the South, "Emily" in the Northeast—sweeps over the country, and falls out of favor nearly as quickly. The big exception to these baby booms and busts is "Jennifer", which absolutely dominates America for a decade-and-a-half. If you're named Jennifer and you were born between 1970 and 1984, don't worry! I'm sure you have a totally cool, unique middle name.

Notably, the recession seems to have put a temporary damper on creative baby naming. In 2007, eight different baby names made the map—including less-traditional names like Addison, Ava, and Madison—and all carried at least two states. By 2012 the map has just five names, and 47 states went with either "Sophia" or "Emma." A yearning for simpler times?

http://jezebel.com/map-sixty-years-of-the-most-popular-names-for-girls-s-1443501909

 

[Lorilei]

Put in thread by request:

http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/192we19gx17khgif/ku-bigpic.gif

Six Decades of the Most Popular Names for Girls, State-by-State

There will always be people out there picking weird names for their kids, but when you look at the choices that make their way to the top you'll see that Americans tend to play it safe. The maps above, based on data from the Social Security Administration, show the most popular baby names for girls by state, for babies born from 1960 through 2012, with the colors representing the most popular single name for that year.

Baby naming generally follows a consistent cycle: A name springs up in some region of the U.S.—"Ashley" in the South, "Emily" in the Northeast—sweeps over the country, and falls out of favor nearly as quickly. The big exception to these baby booms and busts is "Jennifer", which absolutely dominates America for a decade-and-a-half. If you're named Jennifer and you were born between 1970 and 1984, don't worry! I'm sure you have a totally cool, unique middle name.

Notably, the recession seems to have put a temporary damper on creative baby naming. In 2007, eight different baby names made the map—including less-traditional names like Addison, Ava, and Madison—and all carried at least two states. By 2012 the map has just five names, and 47 states went with either "Sophia" or "Emma." A yearning for simpler times?

http://jezebel.com/map-sixty-years-of-the-most-popular-names-for-girls-s-1443501909

Whoa.

So totally accurate! I can't even begin to count how many Lisas and Michelles I had as classmates.

 

[I_Grab_Ass]

Whoa.

So totally accurate! I can't even begin to count how many Lisas and Michelles I had as classmates.

Is your ass "grabbable?"