Searching Big Data for a Win
Experts tell us that there are nearly 8 zettabytes of data out there in the world, and the count is growing fast. Much like the stuff in your attic, a lot of it is redundant. There are things you might find really interesting or valuable, and others you would prefer to forget. On all-too-rare […]
Portrait of a Thumb Addict
Healthy people suck their thumbs. It’s a proven scientific fact. Thumb sucking benefits heart rhythm and breathing, while also regulating the muscles engaged in peristalsis of the digestive tract. Surprisingly, thumb suckers become emotionally independent at an earlier age. TS is definitely “nature” rather than “nurture”- many babies have been sucking for several months before […]
Missing Links
The Drake equation is not well known outside the world of astrophysics, but it has a lot in common with the ROI calculations that motivate venture capitalists. Dr. Drake figured that half a dozen statistical variables could be neatly crunched into the number of intelligent civilizations that could share the Milky Way with us. The […]
Who Wants to Know?
“Where ignorance is bliss, ’tis folly to be wise.” This oft-paraphrased line from Thomas Gray’s 1742 poem has certainly gathered a lot of cred over the past two hundred and seventy-some years. It is sacred tribal knowledge that what you don’t know won’t hurt you, absence makes the heart grow fonder, and that which is […]
Not So Super
For some, a flop is a Broadway play that didn’t do well at the box office. For others, the term conjures the vision of a high-jumper executing the ubiquitous Fosbury technique. For the scientific elite, it is an acronym for Floating Point Operation. The appeal of modern computers is basically two-fold; they can automate the […]
Selfie Reflection
Selfie Sticks in various forms have been around for a long time. Since the first caveman saw his reflection in a pool of water, we have been fascinated by our own image. In the first Century, the Romans invented hand-held glass mirrors, and all of us have been looking back ever since. Mirrors are everywhere. […]
Tools, Gadgets and Oreos
If you own some sort of exercise tracking device like a Fit Bit or a Fuelband, you are a ten-percenter. Market research shows that 1 out of every 10 Americans over the age of 18 has one of these high-tech wearables. That same research tells us that one third of those who got them have […]
Does Not Compute!
Around the age of one year, the average human will stand on two legs and start walking. For some reason, parents think this is a good thing, forgetting how convenient it was to strap them into a car-seat-carrier and have total control over their whereabouts. Of the three primary childhood milestones – walking, talking and […]
Fly Catcher
Reading about the latest developments in technology can really make me feel like an old fart. Consider fly swatters. For most of my life, if there was a fly that was annoying you, you rolled up a newspaper or magazine, crept up on the little Musca domestica Linnaeus, and quickly swatted it into oblivion. Those […]
All Is Not Forgotten
Ninety-five percent of all lab animals are mice or rats. Without them, we humans would be in pretty bad shape. They have been used as models for cancer, heart disease, diabetes, hypertension, Alzheimer’s and a host of other human maladies. If you’ve ever been cured with a medication prescribed by a doctor, odds are you […]
