The Top Five Actions Parents Can Take to Reduce Child Exposure to Toxic Chemicals at Home

ScienceDaily (June 15, 2011) — Controlling house dust tops a list of five ways parents can protect their children from toxic substances in and around the home, say leading health and environmental experts in Canada.
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Does Driving a Porsche Make a Man More Desirable to Women?

ScienceDaily (June 16, 2011) — New research by faculty at Rice University, the University of Texas-San Antonio (UTSA) and the University of Minnesota finds that men's conspicuous spending is driven by the desire to have uncommitted romantic flings. And, gentlemen, women can see right through it.

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Fathers Still Matter to Kids Who Have Moved out

ScienceDaily (June 13, 2011) — BYU family life professor Larry Nelson's oldest daughter Jessica graduated from high school this spring, so his career researching the transition to adulthood is starting to get personal.
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What’s your Android ‘Fiddling ratio’?

By James Kendrick | June 10, 2011, 12:47pm PDT

A thoughtful article on MobileUnwrapped today addressed a factor the author termed “Android fatigue”, and the observation was so right on the money it got me thinking. Once I get thinking about something an article is almost always the result, so now everyone must pay.

The reference article covered the author’s growing dissatisfaction with Android and subsequent realization that iOS 5 looks to offer a complete system that functions well. I have been growing uneasy with Android myself recently, the result of a system software update on my HTC EVO. Since the update have used the EVO with the stock user interface and not customize the phone as heavily as I normally would. This leads me to the realization that the Android ‘fiddling ratio’ is extremely high.

What is the Android fiddling ratio? That’s the amount of time owners of Android devices spend fiddling with the interface to customize it just so. The beauty of Android is that every aspect of the system and interface can be tweaked by the user to make it look and work in just the desired way. Unfortunately, while users are busily customizing the device, they aren’t doing anything productive with it. That’s what I discovered was happening to me without even realizing it until I stopped and just used my phone like it is.

Looking back, I spent a tremendous amount of time tweaking my devices. My situation is worse than most uers as I use a lot of different devices. I regularly spent hours at a time installing different apps that let me customize the look and feel of the phone. Additional hours were spent on top of that experimenting with the tools to get them to look a certain way. Then came the search for additional apps and widgets to do other things related to making the phone work just so.

The simple fact is while I was doing the nearly constant fiddling with Android to fit my “needs”, I wasn’t using the device to get anything done. Sure I’d end up with a feeling of accomplishment once I got a new tweak to work just so, but I really wasn’t getting anything of substance done. The fiddling ratio was off the chart, and not the correct side of the chart.

Since leaving my phone alone and using it as is, I have been frankly amazed how useful it is. Now every time I pick up the phone I actually do something with it, and that has positively impacted my routine. I find myself thinking about things that really matter, and not just about how something looks. It’s like I have recovered a lot of time each day that would have been lost not that long ago. The ability to customize a device is a good thing don’t misunderstand me, but when you take it so far that it’s all you do the fiddling ratio is much too high.

I’m interested to hear from Android device owners, smartphones or tablets, about your thoughts on fiddling with Android. Give it some earnest thought about how you use it and let me know in the Talkback if you find your fiddling ratio to be as high as mine was.

Image credit: Flickr user mogmismo

Beam of X-Ray Laser Light With Shortest Wavelength Successfully Produced

ScienceDaily (June 13, 2011) — RIKEN and the Japan Synchrotron Radiation Research Institute (JASRI) have successfully produced a beam of X-ray laser light with a wavelength of 1.2 Angstroms, the shortest ever measured. This record-breaking light was created using SACLA, a cutting-edge X-ray Free Electron Laser (XFEL) facility unveiled by RIKEN in February 2011 in Harima, Japan. SACLA (SPring-8 Angstrom Compact free electron LAser) opens a window into the structure of atoms and molecules at a level of detail never seen before.


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How Journalists Data-Mined the Wikileaks Docs

Posted by samzenpus on Sunday June 12, @11:15PM 

from the reading-between-a-million-lines dept.

meckdevil writes"Associated Press developer-journalist extraordinaire Jonathan Stray gives a brilliant explanation of the use of data-mining strategies to winnow and wring journalistic sense out of massive numbers of documents, using the Iraq and Afghanistan war logs released by Wikileaks as a case in point. The concepts for focusing on certain groups of documents and ignoring others are hardly new; they underlie the algorithms used by the major Web search engines. Their use in a journalistic context is on a cutting edge, though, and it raises a fascinating quandary: By choosing the parameters under which documents will be considered similar enough to pay attention to, journalist-programmers actually choose the frame in which a story will be told. This type of data mining holds great potential for investigative revelation — and great potential for journalistic abuse."

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Cool clip on how a HDD works

Clever Commercial

Man Tries to Patent His "Godly Powers"

Posted by samzenpus on Wednesday June 08, @10:17AM 

from the this-patent-brought-to-you-by-shampoo dept.

KWInt1601 writes"A man who believes he is Christ files a patent application — and the formal dance of responding to office actions from the USPTO begins. Invoking the 1998 State Street decision, the applicant argues, 'like software, godly powers is a method, and affects a machine. Like business methods, godly powers produces a useful, concrete, and tangible result, and that should be all that's needed for statutory material.'"

New 'semi-solid' battery for EVs could recharge as fast as pumping gas

By Sharif Sakr  posted Jun 8th 2011 12:59PM

Researchers at MIT reckon they've struck oil. In fact, you're looking at what they call "Cambridge crude" -- a substance that could halve the weight and cost of EV batteries and make them quicker to charge too. The black goo is packed with a high concentration of energy in the form of particles suspended in a liquid electrolyte. When separated by a filter, these particles function as mobile electrodes that can be pumped into and around a system before the energy is released. So instead of waiting up to 20 hours to juice your Nissan Leaf, you could potentially just pump this pre-charged substance into it -- rather like dirty old gas. Until now, no such "semi-solid flow cell" has been able to hold useful quantities of energy, but this stuff literally oozes with it. Not only could it power EVs, it could even be used for large-scale electricity storage for utilities. The researchers insist this energy revolution is years off -- but when it comes, there will be blood.

Kinect integration in Ghost Recon: Future Soldier, hands-off (video)

By Sean Buckley  posted Jun 8th 2011 7:49AM

Hands-On

Microsoft's E3 keynote may have exploded with deeper Kinect support, but nothing caught our eyes quite as sharply as Ghost Recon: Future Soldier's rifle-exploding Gunsmith demo. A Ubisoft representative showed us how it's done: separating your arms separates your deadly firearm into a gorgeous display of floating screws, components, and accessories, which can be effortlessly modified, swapped, and replaced with gesture and voice commands. Too picky to decide for yourself? Then don't: just tell Gunsmith what you're looking for. For instance, saying "Optimize for range" produces a weapon any sniper should be proud of -- even better, we found that commanding Gunsmith to "optimize for awesome" birthed a rifle (pictured above) sporting an underbarrel shotgun attachment. A gun attached to a gun? Yeah, that works. Weapons can be tested in Gunsmith's gesture-controlled firing range, an engaging shooting mode exclusive to the Gunsmith weapon editor and not usable in regular gameplay. Head past the break for a hands-on (figuratively speaking) video.

Zach Honig and Sean Hollister contributed to this report.

Kogan Beats Samsung and Acer With World's First Chrome OS Laptop

Posted by timothy on Monday June 06, @03:40AM 

from the not-counting-the-cr-48-of-course dept.

cylonlover writes"Australian manufacturer Kogan will ship the world's first notebook featuring Google's open source Chrome OS from June 7. The release date for the 11.6'' Agora Chromium Laptop means that Kogan has pipped Samsung and Acer by just over a week in the race to be the first company to offer a Chromium OS notebook."

English Teenager Invents a Better Doorbell

Posted by timothy on Sunday June 05, @11:32PM 

from the it's-coming-from-inside-the-house dept.

Several readers have written with word of a new doorbell, invented by 13-year-old Laurence Rook. What's so special about a doorbell? This one lets you answer the door from wherever you can receive a call from its embedded 3G chip; to your in-person caller (facing the doorbell), that means it sounds like you're answering the door over an intercom system, even if you're really across town. Pretty clever way to make it harder for a thief to know if a home is actually occupied, though Rook says that he initially just wanted a system to avoid missed packages.

Windows Logo on the Apple store in Hamburg

I wonder what else you can get away with if you have a workbelt and a hardhat on?

Google Files First Solar Patent, Builds R&D Team

Posted by Soulskill on Friday June 03, @02:13PM 

from the searching-for-electrons dept.

bizwriter writes"Google has moved beyond investing and using solar power and has started on serious R&D work in the field. Its first patent application in solar energy technology just became public, and the company is staffing a new R&D group 'to develop electricity from renewable energy sources at a cost less than coal' at 'utility scale.'"

Is Identity Theft Overwhelming the IRS?

Posted by Soulskill on Friday June 03, @12:51PM 

from the taxing-their-resources dept.

coondoggie writes"The number of tax-related identity theft incidents is exploding, and nowhere is that more obvious than at the Internal Revenue Service, which has seen reports rise from 51,702 in 2008 to 248,357 in 2010. While it has programs in place to fight the identity theft issue, it is also hamstrung in many other areas, according to a report out this week (PDF) from the Government Accountability Office. For example, the GAO says the IRS's ability to address identity theft issues is constrained by privacy laws that limit IRS' ability to share identity theft information with other agencies."

Internet Explorer Use Slips Below 55%

Posted by Soulskill on Friday June 03, @12:11PM 

from the slowly-but-surly dept.

rfc1394 writes with this snippet from an Infoworld report:"Internet Explorer's market share continues to drop like a rock. Net Applications published its numbers for May, and Internet Explorer's total share declined yet again, from 55.11 percent in April to 54.27 percent in May, a drop of [0.84 percent] in one month. Contrast that with Google's Chrome, which rose from 11.94 percent in April to 12.52 percent in May, an increase of [0.58 percent]. In the past year, IE's share of browser usage has dipped from 60.32 percent to 54.27 percent. How long before IE usage drops below 50%?'"

MI6 Swaps Bomb Making Info With Cupcake Recipe On al-Qaeda Website

Posted by samzenpus on Friday June 03, @12:14PM 

from the now-you're-cooking dept.

The British Intelligence agency has unveiled its latest weapon in the war on terror, cupcake recipes published by the Ellen DeGeneres show. MI6 hacked an online al-Queda magazine replacing instructions about how to “Make a bomb in the Kitchen of your Mom" with a web page of recipes for “The Best Cupcakes in America” from Ellen's show. From the article: "It included a recipe for the Mojito Cupcake – 'made of white rum cake and draped in vanilla buttercream'- and the Rocky Road Cupcake – 'warning: sugar rush ahead!' By contrast, the original magazine featured a recipe showing how to make a lethal pipe bomb using sugar, match heads and a miniature lightbulb, attached to a timer."

When Stressed, Men Charge Ahead, Women More Careful, Study Finds

ScienceDaily (June 3, 2011) — Stress causes men and women to respond differently to risky decision making, with men charging ahead for small rewards and women taking their time, according to a new study in Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, published by Oxford University Press. Under stress, men and women also have different brain activation patterns during decision making.

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Autism May Have Had Advantages in Humans' Hunter-Gatherer Past, Researcher Believes

ScienceDaily (June 3, 2011) — Though people with autism face many challenges because of their condition, they may have been capable hunter-gatherers in prehistoric times, according to a paper published in the journal Evolutionary Psychologyin May.

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Baby Thinking Radiologists Use Light To Scan The Inner Workings Of The Brain

December 1, 2007 — Radiologists have developed a new device to understand brain activity. It is a collection of fiber optic cables attached to a flexible cap placed atop the head. The cables send near-infrared light through the skull and into the brain, where it is diffused or scattered before it is collected by receiver cables. The device is able to interpret the light to measure blood circulation and the amount of oxygen in that blood, which helps explain brain activity.

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Fear of Dying During a Heart Attack Is Linked to Increased Inflammation

ScienceDaily (June 1, 2011) — Intense distress and fear of dying, which many people experience when suffering the symptoms of a heart attack, are not only fairly common emotional responses but are also linked to biological changes that occur during the event, according to new research published online June 1 in the European Heart Journal. These changes, in turn, are associated with other biological processes during the following weeks that can predict a worse outcome for patients.

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Low-Energy Diet Can Improve Sleep Disorder

ScienceDaily (June 1, 2011) — Sufferers of the sleep disorder obstructive sleep apnea could benefit from following a low energy diet to lose weight, finds research published on the British Medical Journal website.

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Life-size Angry Birds comes with giant slingshot, more realistic explosive death (video)

By Zach Honig  posted Jun 2nd 2011 6:18AM

Angry Birds was designed to be played on a device that fits in your pocket, so playing the game projected on a wall doesn't exactly feel natural. Throw a life-size slingshot into the mix, though, and things really get zany. The slingshot was on hand at the University of Queensland (Australia) last night, and had apparently been "months in the making." Details are scant, so we're not sure exactly how the slingshot communicates with the game, but however it works, it appears able to do its thing fairly well -- with only a brief delay after release. This slingshot appearance may be a one-time deal, so if you want to try flicking the bird on the big screen, Angry Birds for Chrome (and a mouse) may be your best option for now.

No Moon Needed For Extraterrestrial Life

Posted by Soulskill on Tuesday May 31, @12:13PM 

from the sheer-luna-cy dept.

sciencehabit writes"Given the generally accepted idea of how Earth got its big moon — through a dramatic collision with a Mars-sized body that knocked a huge chunk of Earth loose — astronomers estimate that only 1% of all Earth-like planets in the universe might actually have such a hefty companion. That would mean planets harboring complex life might be relatively rare. But researchers have now carried out large numbers of detailed numerical simulations of 'moon-less Earths,' which show that the consequences are less dire than is generally assumed. According to the simulations, these planets would have ample time for advanced land life to evolve. As a result, the number of Earth-like extrasolar planets suitable for harboring advanced life could be 10 times higher than has been assumed until now."