Haiti, Chile, Turkey, Chile (again). There've been a lot of earthquakes lately. But scientists say there haven't been more earthquakes lately. Tremors are, and have always been, common. On average, per year, you can expect one 8.0 or above quake, 17 quakes between 7 and 7.9, and 130-odd quakes between 6.0 and 6.9. One thing that has risen: Death tolls. But scientists say that increase has more to do with economic conditions that drive people to pack into mega-cities and live in cheaply built (and quick-to-collapse) homes.
Another earthquake, but not more earthquakes
The glowing light bulb discovered by accident in 1675
Long before Edison, a working light source turned up by accident. In 1675, the French astronomer Jean Picard noticed that the mercury in his barometer glowed as he carried it… READ THE REST
RAF pilots spotted 6,000 stone traps invisible from the ground
RAF pilots flying over the Middle East in the 1920s kept seeing huge shapes laid out on the ground that nobody walking across them had noticed: two long stone walls… READ THE REST
A single atomic nucleus hit Utah with the force of a pitched baseball
On the evening of October 15, 1991, the University of Utah's Fly's Eye detector at Dugway Proving Ground recorded a single subatomic particle arriving from space with an energy of… READ THE REST
This is the $60 Montessori-inspired kids' app that won't leave you feeling guilty afterward
Disclosure: Boing Boing earns a commission on purchases made through links in this post. TL;DR: For $59.99 (reg. $250), Pok Pok gives your family lifetime access to an award-winning educational app designed to… READ THE REST
PDFs fill you with dread? Save yourself the stress with a PDF reader
Disclosure: Boing Boing earns a commission on purchases made through links in this post. TL;DR: Stop fearing your PDFs! Easily edit, convert, annotate, and master your PDFs with this license to PDF… READ THE REST
Microsoft Office 2024 puts the old reliables back on your PC
Disclosure: Boing Boing earns a commission on purchases made through links in this post. TL;DR: Microsoft Office 2024 Professional Plus for Windows is $54.99 (reg. $249.99) with Excel, Outlook, Word, PowerPoint, Access,… READ THE REST
