Science & Tech
The key to treating to metabolic disease that affects more than 20 million Americans may lie inside the stomach of the duck-billed platypus. There are already many unique things about the platypus, the furry little creatures native to Australia. For example, it’s semi-aquatic, meaning it spends some of its time on land, and some in […]
In preparation for the inevitable day when robots rise up and take over the world, you may want to familiarize yourself with these recent advancements in robot technology. Clonebots Scientists at Cornell University have built a small robot that can make copies of itself. The robot is made of several 10-centimeter-wide modules, each of which […]
The “he” being Brian May of Queen. The “rock” being space rocks, or asteroids. Brian May is the lead guitarist of Queen, a position he has held for more than 40 years. But right before the band came together to produce classic songs like “We Will Rock You,” “We Are the Champions,” and “Bohemian Rhapsody,” […]
Familiarize yourself with some of the latest and greatest developments in robot technology…before the robots take over. Christmas-Bot Hang Chu is working toward his Ph.D. in robotics at the University of Toronto. He’s especially keen on the relationship between robots and music, as he thinks it speaks volumes on how robots absorb and interpret the […]
Part man, part machine—and all real stories of people with robot parts. Finger Finnish computer programmer Jerry Jalava lost his ring finger in a motorcycle accident. He replaced it with a prosthetic finger of his own design—it’s also a computer flash drive. It looks like a normal finger (a shiny plastic one), but Jalava can […]
That headline is not a joke. There’s something weird going on in Scandinavia that involves reindeer, and unfortunately it doesn’t involve Santa, red noses, or delivering presents to all the children of the world. Here’s a freak story of the powerful effects of weather and electricity. A recent thunderstorm in Norway killed 323 reindeer (including […]
Here at the Bathroom Readers’ Institute, we like to keep you up to date on the all the latest breakthroughs in toilet technology. Here are some potties on the cutting edge of bathroom science. So fancy! Bathroom fixture company Kohler offers a model called the Numi. It’s loaded with features that turn using the facilities […]
It seems like everyday there’s another story about how the environment is doomed and there’s little we can do to stop it. In 2010, we brought you one of those stories: There was a worldwide shortage of helium and the possibility of it running out before long. Well, in an unlikely turn of events, the […]
A full moon is never just a full moon. For while they happen semi-regularly—about once a month, usually in the middle—where it falls in the year gives each full moon a special distinction. These originated primarily in New England, where many come Algonquin tribes passed them along to European settlers.
You may keep some in your car, or in your purse, or use some at stations posted at the entrance to most public buildings and doctors’ offices. Here’s a look at a product that’s become a regular part of daily life: hand sanitizer. (1) Hand sanitizer was first developed by an Ohio company called GOJO, […]
Game of Thrones is a pop cultural phenomenon. People are so excited about the HBO series based on a series of books by author George R.R. Martin that its influence has crossed over into the real world. 1) In 2015, a warthog at the Detroit Zoo named Lilith gave birth to five piglets. Officials from […]
From the iPod to the iPhone to the iPad, Apple has had a lot of successes in recent years. It wasn’t always like that. Macintosh Portable A portable computer was positively revolutionary in 1989. Apple’s entry had a black-and-white LCD screen, which folded down over the keyboard to make the whole thing easy to cart […]
These spider facts are more scared of you than you are of them. SPIDERS ARE SNEAKY! Ever seen a newborn spider? No? That’s because they’re colorless (and tiny), making them virtually invisible to predators…and you. Hundreds can colonize your home and by the time you realize it, they’re all fully grown. THEY CAN SEE YOU! […]
We hope these heifer-vescent cow facts really m-o-o-o-o-ve you. (1) The first American cows arrived with the British in 1611 at the Jamestown colony. (2) It takes about 350 “squirts” to make a gallon of milk. (3) How can you tell how old a cow is? Count the rings on her horns. (4) Cows were […]
Some interesting facts about America’s favorite pastime—lawn care. (And when you’re done with reading this, get out there and start mowing.) An average lawn has six grass plants per square inch. That’s 850 per square foot— which can contain as many as 3,000 individual blades of grass. There are 50 million lawn mowers in use […]
Until the day the robots rise up and take us over, stay alert by keeping aware of what they’re up to now. HER Hong Kong-based robotics designer Ricky Ma just unveiled his latest creation: Mark 1, a life-size, humanoid robot. Oh, and it looks exactly like actress Scarlett Johansson. It took Ma 18 months and […]
When a friend told Uncle John that she’d recently had her gallbladder removed, he wondered: What does a gallbladder do, and how can you live without it? GALLBLADDER Location: This four-inch pear-shaped sac sits just under the liver, below your ribs on your right side. What It Does: It’s part of the digestive system. The […]
We don’t really mind if this page puts you to sleep, here are 16 sleep facts you should know. (Nighty night.) (1) If it takes you less than five minutes to fall asleep, it probably means you’re sleep deprived. Healthy sleepers need between 10 and 15 minutes to doze off. (2) Researchers at Oxford University […]
