Social networking has had a huge impact on our lives, from keeping in touch with old friends to finding a ride or a place to stay for the evening. I’ve just found another impact — a website called HelpfulPeeps, “The Helpful Network” (http://www.helpfulpeeps.com/). The idea, which came from Great Britain by the way, is very
Anyone who is an experienced Internet user has probably encountered a troll — someone who, by Wikipedia’s definition “sows discord on the Internet by starting arguments or upsetting people, by posting inflammatory, extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community (such as a newsgroup, forum, chat room, or blog) with the deliberate intent of provoking readers into an
On Feburary 1st, I wrote about a podcast that examined the gender pay gap. So ladies, have you ever wondered how much would you make if you were a man? I’ve just found “Pay Gap Calculator” that might help answer that question. It also further discusses the subject of gender pay. I tried it as
This is an exciting time for anyone interested in astronomy. For the first time since 2005, it is now possible to see five planets — Mercury, Venus, Saturn, Mars, and Jupiter together in the sky. The catch is this is the early morning sky. The window of opportunity is from about January 20 to February
I know the universe is a big place, but (at least as far as the general public knows) there has never been contact with a civilization from another planet. Distances and the limits of physics notwithstanding, I’ve just run across an interesting theory about why this might be true — all the aliens are
During this political season, you probably have heard the statistic that women typically earn about 77 cents for every dollar a man makes. The President even mentioned this during his recent State of the Union address. But is it really true? The behavioral-economics authors at Freakanomics have a podcast that explores this subject in depth.
You have probably heard how microbes become resistant to antibiotics. At great expense, an antibiotic is developed, only to have germs (technical medical term) like staph become resistant in just a few years. It’s happening so fast that it’s becoming uneconomical for drug companies to develop new medicines. I’ve just found an interesting NPR
Many people consider autism to be a 20th-century disorder, but an article in the January-February 2016 issue of Smithsonian magazine presents surprising evidence that the condition is much older than that. Entitled “Autism in Early America”, it outlines some possible early cases. There was the Wild Boy of Aveyron, who walked naked out of a
This is an obvious question with what seems to be an obvious answer — why do we get bored? Actually, it’s not that simple. Researchers are studying how and why people get bored, and what the implications are. For example, our economy would be much better off if everyone were fully engaged in their work.
This is one of those stories you check multiple times to make sure you’ve seen it right. I read this on Time magazine’s daily news brief awhile back, and I didn’t believe it either. Basically, here’s what happened — After fertility treatments had produced a son, the couple had a paternity test. Imagine their surprise when