How Owning a Boat Can Help You Sleep
Reading Time: 2 minutes Scientists have linked being rocked all night to better sleep, even for grown-ups.
Fighting Algae With Algae — A Problem Solving Itself
Reading Time: 2 minutes It sounds odd, but algae is being harnessed to reduce instances of algal bloom growing in lakes and reservoirs.
Plants Are Being Engineered to Earn Their Keep
Reading Time: 2 minutes Researchers are working on transferring bioluminescence to trees and giving houseplants traits to warn owners of harm. What could possibly go wrong?
We Don’t Know What Our Computers Are Doing
Reading Time: 10 minutes Computers are like a black box — we don’t really know what they’re up to inside. A series of recently discovered vulnerabilities only drives home the point, and further calls into question the US’s reliance on electronic voting systems.
Big Brother at Work: Employee Monitoring in the Analytics Age
Reading Time: 3 minutes Playing upon employers’ desires for greater “employee engagement” and more quantitative rationales for hiring decisions and performance appraisals, a new generation of employee surveillance and analytic technologies is creating advanced ways for managers to pick out the high-performers from the rest of their workforce.
Team Trump’s Hostility Toward Science Is No Hoax
Reading Time: 3 minutes Many Americans only believe in science as long as it doesn’t conflict with their political views. Unfortunately, some of them hold influential positions in government.
The Cruel Cost of Extreme Dog Breeding
Reading Time: 7 minutes You wouldn’t expect to find animal cruelty among those who claim to love animals most—those who proudly breed and show off pets. But show breeders want their dogs to stand out from the crowd. As a result, we are seeing more dogs bred to develop exaggerated features, leaving the animals in chronic pain, or with respiratory issues, heart defects, and even seizures.
Say Hello to Your Future
Reading Time: 3 minutes An Army Brigade Combat Team is made up of about 4,000 soldiers. One general suggests they could get by with 25 percent fewer, making up the difference with…robots.
Innovation Alert: Kinder, Gentler (Cheaper?) Medical Care?
Reading Time: 4 minutes Is there a way to get good health care at a low cost? These people think so—and they’re leading the way in innovation.
China Really Is On the Faster Track
Reading Time: 2 minutes What can we learn from the Chinese? Plenty. Check out what they’re doing with high-speed rail.
Documentaries We Like: Chasing Ice
Reading Time: 1 minute Friends don’t let friends continue to believe there’s no climate change when they could simply show them Chasing Ice. This is not only the most powerful visual evidence of global catastrophe, it’s also one of the most disarmingly beautiful and riveting films you may ever see. Here’s a preview: opens around the US in November.
Documentaries We Like: Escape Fire
Reading Time: 1 minute We all know that the health care situation in America cannot continue as is. It is totally untenable. To get the discussion started about concrete steps we can take, as a society and as individuals, there’s the new documentary Escape Fire: The Fight to Rescue American Healthcare.
Energy Solution Leaves Us Glowing
Reading Time: 2 minutes How we can learn from leaves: Artificial photosynthesis could be the key to unlocking the sun’s full energy potential.
ClassicWHO: Worth Watching—Kids, Cancer….and Cannabis?
Reading Time: 1 minute Cannabis from a juicer might just save lives—so why are doctors so scared to talk about it?
WhoWhatWhy Favorites: Superfast building construction
Reading Time: 1 minute Need some motivation to get moving? Watch this time-lapse of a 30-story building that came together in just 360 hours. And it’s even super-earthquake resistant. Sorry, Charlie….Made in China. And they did this instead of watching pro sports all day.
WhoWhatWhy Radio: Fukushima Update
Reading Time: 1 minute WhoWhatWhy’s Karen Charman speaks with KGO San Francisco radio host Pat Thurston about Karen’s article updating us on the Fukushima disaster (Saturday, January 21, 2012)
Fukushima Update: Why We Should (Still) Be Worried
Reading Time: 7 minutes If you thought you didn’t need to pay attention any more to the Fukushima nuclear disaster, well, you’d be wrong. The Japanese government isn’t necessarily taking the right steps. Karen Charman explains.
Scientists Saving The World
Reading Time: 1 minute Video explains how the answer to some of the world’s biggest problems can be found in the smallest of places.
Worth Watching: Kids, Cancer…and Cannibis?
Reading Time: 1 minute Cannabis from a juicer might just save lives—so why are doctors so scared to talk about it?
Did You See This? Unnecessary Medical Tests a Boon to Docs and Big Pharma
Reading Time: 3 minutes The potential self-dealing by doctors who overprescribe medical tests is staggering.