NASA’s InSight Steers Toward Mars. The InSight lander has made its first course correction towards Mars. InSight, short for Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport, is the first mission dedicated to exploring the deep interior of Mars. The lander is currently encapsulated in a protective aeroshell, which launched on top of an Atlas V 401 rocket on […]
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Budapest Power grab: In the face of mass protests and international condemnation, the Hungarian parliament has overwhelmingly passed 15 pages of amendments to the country’s 1-year-old constitution that practically abolish all judicial checks on the government. The amendments retroactively restore a number of controversial laws that were passed by the right-wing Fidesz government but subsequently ruled unconstitutional by the courts. […]
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Meet “Pepper,” said Richard Lawler in Engadget.com. Japanese telecom firm SoftBank unveiled a new, robot last week that it claims “can recognize human emotion” thanks to technology that allows it to “communicate through emotion, speech, or body language.” Pepper is also equipped with microphones and proximity sensors, and will feature upgradable software, allowing users to install apps and updates to […]
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Thomas Moore a fifth grader from Maryland decided that he wanted to help cancer patients by donating his hair. It took him two years to get it long enough to donate. The longer his hair grew he had to keep it in cornrows to help it stay nice and tame. After a while the braids started to hurt his head, […]
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Awe-inspiring experiences, such as viewing works of art or overlooking a scenic vista, may have physical as well as mental health benefits, according to a new study. Researchers from the University of California, Berkeley, found that the positive emotions triggered by these encounters can have an immune-boosting, anti-inflammatory effect that helps protect the body from heart disease, depression, autoimmune conditions, […]
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The city of San Francisco is praising an addition to their “311” mobile application that is supposed to help the city deal with its growing homeless population. But the app is already under heavy criticism by anti-gentrification groups who say its unnecessary to report the homeless for interacting with the public, or for simply existing. Under Mayor Ed Lee’s watch, San Francisco’s homeless population has skyrocketed, increasing […]
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Authorities in an east Indian state have made it mandatory for candidates contesting village elections to have a toilet in their home as part of a move to improve sanitation in the country, a senior official said. On Wednesday, the Bihar state assembly passed an act mandating that candidates must confirm that they have a toilet inside their home in […]
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Researchers have identified a new mechanism that drives the development of form and structure, through the observation of artificial materials that shape-shift through a wide variety of forms which are as complex as those seen in nature. It’s curious to observe such life-like behavior in a non-living thing – in many cases, artificial objects can look more ‘alive’ than living […]
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Bulgarians hate old people, said Ruslan Jordanov. I’m not kidding. In a recent survey, 58 percent of Bulgarians surveyed admitted to disliking the elderly, making them even more reviled than the Roma—quite a feat in Bulgaria. No wonder “nobody ever gets up to give them a seat on the tram.” Long ago, our society revered grandparents as fonts of wisdom. […]
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The more ziplining becomes popular the more injuries are soaring. A study shows that the rise between 2009 and 2012 rose about 50% where kids under the age of 9 rose about 45% of that number. Most of the injuries were broken bones, fractures and about 10% of the injured needed to be hospitalized. Most of the injuries occurred by […]
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