John C. Rock, a Harvard professor of gynecology, was the co-inventor of the birth control pill and a pioneer of in-vitro fertilization. Harvard's Center for the History of Medicine is holding an exhibition of his papers and artifacts, including two devices to help with "family planning" during a time when the only legal form of birth control in Massachusetts was the rhythm method. Above is "The Rythmeter," circa 1944. "A Pioneer in Family Planning" (via Mother Jones)
Clubhouse, the fast-growing audio-only social network, has two problems: first, its platform is really just a feature. Second, Facebook is adding the feature. Audio-only networks have become increasingly popular during the pandemic.Facebook will also launch a new feature, Soundbites, where users can create and share short audio clips. The feature will be launched over the… READ THE REST
Luke Metoki virtualized MacOS and Windows simultaneously on an 2000s-era PC, with Arch Linux as the host organism. The mad science worked, but Windows was "very sluggish" if not given the lion's share of RAM. If you want me to write more about this, contact me. READ THE REST
This video shows a monkey playing Pong using Neuralink, the Elon Musk-backed brain interface tech. Neuralink touts a new breakthrough technology, but a little skepticism is warranted, because we've been here before and paddle games are always the demonstrator. READ THE REST
The difficulties of pandemic life have brought some unexpected consequences over the past year. With some transportation options closed and everyone mostly stuck in their houses, people got stir crazy for an alternative — and bicycle sales surged nationwide. Unfortunately, that wave of new bike riders brought an all too expected result: a corresponding surge in… READ THE REST
An extra power bank or charging hub that keeps your smartphone or tablet powered up in a pinch is always a great idea. But those batteries will only handle the needs of your small electronics. They aren't really built for those heavy-duty power tasks that you might encounter. You know…like when your car battery is… READ THE REST
If you're in the market for a laptop, it's tough out there. Between companies producing incredibly similar models with only slight tweaks and variations and shoppers starved for reliable sources of information to make sense of it all, you practically have to be a computer science major to untangle what's what. And when shoppers get confused… READ THE REST