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05 Oct 2009 10:33

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Tech: Nobel Prize people: Your life’s work worth $1.4 million

  • three Americans will split the prize for their work in chromosome research source

20 Sep 2009 20:30

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Tech: You don’t need a gaydar; you need someone’s Facebook profile

A bunch of MIT researchers figured out you could figure out whether or not someone was gay based on their Facebook friends alone. Stalkers. source

07 Sep 2009 11:50

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Tech: Your brain on Twitter < Your brain on Facebook. Any questions?

  • On Twitter you receive an endless stream of information, but it’s also very succinct. You don’t have to process that information. Your attention span is being reduced and you’re not engaging your brain and improving nerve connections.
  • University of Stirling (Scotland) psychologist Dr Tracy Alloway • Describing the difference between Facebook and Twitter usage. Since tweets are so short, you’re not thinking as much, which damages your working memory. Facebook has the opposite effect. Which means, in the long term, Twitter makes you dumber and Facebook makes you smarter. • source

17 Aug 2009 11:09

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Tech: The future of silicon chips: DNA. We’re scared.

Now that research has proven that chips made out of silicon can be made smaller and faster, how long until the chips get a mind of their own? source

31 Jul 2009 10:21

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Offbeat, U.S.: Tornado-chasers lament the lack of tornadoes to chase

  • You’re out there to do the experiment and you’re geared up every day and ready. And when there isn’t anything happening, that is frustrating.
  • University of Oklahoma scientist Don Burgess • Regarding the relatively slow tornado season so far this year, which has meant that research has suffered, while just about everyone and everything else that would be affected by tornadoes hasn’t. Burgess notes this as a positive, but you have to imagine he’s only just saying that because he’d seem like a mad scientist if he didn’t. • source

27 Jul 2009 11:13

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Offbeat: Stupid study of the day: Women are getting hotter, guys

  • A researcher found that beautiful women tended to have 16% more children than less attractive women, facilitating the birth of increasingly more attractive women. Creepiest part: Photos were used in research. source
  • Also according to the story, it doesn’t matter how attractive a man is – it doesn’t seem to have any sort of effect on how attractive their kids are. So ugly dudes, don’t give up hope: Your kid could still be the next Brad Pitt! source

01 Jun 2009 21:21

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Biz, Tech: Web advertising is more like the stock market nowadays

  • It’s nice to be able to tell your brand manager or the chief marketing officer which audience is interacting with the unit, what time of day, what day of the week, and what the response is on certain types of offers. Before, nobody could really tell you that.
  • Darren Herman • President of Varick Media Management, on what his company does – looks at statistics on how people are reacting to web advertising, rejiggers some things, and reacts accordingly. The large selection of statistics online make this much easier than it used to be and allow you to track response much better than you could with say, a billboard. As a result of the new data-heavy approach, it’s starting to make sense for laid off workers in the financial industry to move over from Wall St. to Madison Ave. • source
 

01 Jun 2009 08:57

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Biz: An acquisition pays off in the form of a landmark cancer drug

  • $500 million The amount French drugmaker Sanofi-Aventis SA paid for BiPar Sciences Inc. of San Francisco, which has just 18 employees source

22 May 2009 11:30

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U.S.: Brains tend to falter to dementia in old age

  • ≈40% of men who live to 95 suffer from dementia in their old age source

21 Apr 2009 23:02

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Politics, Tech: Are Google Profiles a good idea? We argue yes.

  • Google Profiles creates an easily-searchable public page for you and your life. It’s not a new concept – Yahoo has done this for years – but Google has integrated it with other Web services really well, and it makes you easier to find online. source
  • Privacy advocates will probably complain. Some jerks will probably say that Facebook already does this quite well. We say this is a good idea because it separates the social networking from the personal aspect. Plus, it’s simple. Simple is good. source