Are the chemical dispersants BP's using in the Gulf oil spill a cosmetic solution? "Dispersants decrease the amount of oil that directly reaches the shores or the creatures that live on the shores or sea surface. But they increase the exposure to oil by creatures that live in the water or on the sea floor — like, say, shrimp or oysters."
BP's solution for the spill, chemical dispersants, may make things worse
Is your name spiky or round? Scientific study shows people judge you based on the sound of your name
The bouba-kiki effect (aka the maluma-takete effect) is the name of a phenomenon in which people map certain verbal sounds to shapes, no matter the language. For example, b, m, l and o sounds are associated with rounded shapes while k, t, p and i sounds map to jagged or spiky shapes. Now researchers have… READ THE REST
Mars helicopter Ingenuity snapped a fantastic aerial photo of the Perseverance rover
During Sunday's third flight of the fantastic Mars helicopter Ingenuity, it snapped the image below in which you can see the Perseverance rover that delivered the chopper to the Red Planet and acts as its base station for communications to Earth. "The helicopter was flying at an altitude of 16 feet (5 meters) and roughly… READ THE REST
"Where does a candle go when it burns?"
A New York Times reader asks: "Where does a candle go when it burns, anyway? Is it healthy to be breathing in melted candle particles? How concerned should I be?" Randall Munroe of XKCD fame breaks down the science in his illustrated "Good Question" column. From the New York Times: Wax is made of hydrogen… READ THE REST
Learn valuable IT skills for Linux with this 7-course package for just $20
Microsoft has Windows. Apple has Mac OS. Between them, they're the operating systems running 92 percent of the computers in the world. And they were created, developed, owned, and sold as proprietary software by those two companies for use on their particular machines. Linux? Linux is the very definition of a free agent. A versatile,… READ THE REST
This $80 portable instant photo printer will be an instant hit at your next party
Not too many years ago, just about every home had a basic printer for handling a variety of household projects from protecting major documents to printing reports or information from the web. More upscale households even had laser printers or photo quality printers for creating high-end images that were virtually indistinguishable from photographs. That's not… READ THE REST
Pay whatever you want for nine courses that can turn you into a real game developer
It may all seem like fun, but game developers don't have it easy. In addition to trying to infuse next-level creativity into the hard-and-fast rigors of coding and unforgiving tech, they're also trying to keep an eye on innovations that could change the whole development arena as we know it. It wasn't all that long… READ THE REST