This week, I want to look at one of the unglamorous, but essential, parts of science: the problem of how to organize the information you have so that you know what you’ve got. For, like everything els
A few years ago I used to be a hothead. Whenever anyone said anything, I’d think of a way to disagree. I’d push back hard if something didn’t fit my world-view. It’s like I had to be first with an opi
The Instapaper “Read Later” bookmarklet is now redesigned as a faster, more compatible full-page overlay that’s easier to see. The previous little “Saved!” frame had a great run, but its time has pass
Creativity: now there’s a word I thought I wouldn’t see under attack. Don’t we live in a society that thrives on the idea of innovation and creative thought? The age of the entrepreneur, of the man of
Japan Weighed Evacuating Tokyo in Nuclear Crisis Journalists, in protective gear, were taken on a tour last week of Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, at the center of the cri
The decision-making power of honeybees is a prime example of what scientists call swarm intelligence. Clouds of locusts, schools of fish, flocks of birds and colonies of termites display it as well. And in the field of swarm intelligence, Seeley is a towering figure. For 40 years he has come up…
In the last half decade, magic—normally deemed entertainment fit only for children and tourists in Las Vegas—has become shockingly respectable in the scientific world. Even I—not exactly renowned as a public speaker—have been invited to address conferences on neuroscience and perception. I asked a…
You might think that this is a trick question. On the surface, the answer should be the iPad and its eco system. But the iPad is a new category and while it is true they fear Apple’s potential of owni
A reader writes: I wash my hands after going to the bathroom. I do, honest! But... maybe if I've only had a wee, I might just sort of... splash them a bit. I know I'm being disgusting. How disgusting
Our recent research on Google’s circumvention of the Safari cookie blocking feature has led to some confusion, in part owing to the company’s statement in response (reproduced in its entirety ). This
A week ago, John Battelle wrote a curious response to this Wall Street Journal report about Google circumventing Safari’s (and, notably, Mobile Safari’s) default setting only to accept cookies from vi
Horse_ebooks became a bona fide internet celebrity when organizers of ROFLCON, the premier conference on internet pop culture, asked in January: "Anyone know how we might be able to get in touch with @horse_ebooks?" Horse_ebooks has 40,000 Twitter followers and a wildly passionate fanbase, but…
Tesla Motors ’ lineup of all-electric vehicles — its existing Roadster , almost certainly its impending Model S , and possibly its future Model X — apparently suffer from a severe limitation that can
Apple is good at many things, but so far, it has not excelled at "social" Web services. For example, Ping, the music-focused service it launched in 2010, is seen as one of its rare failures.
But now Apple has a real chance to do something "social" properly, by turning its huge and growing base of…
I wrote a draft of this post a few weeks ago, before Mac OS X Mountain Lion was announced. It was pretty critical of Apple’s aggressive approach to sandboxing, and I’ve kept most of that, but the new
February 15, 2012 Nothing in Android makes sense except in the light of its original vision In 2008, I met Rich Miner, one of the founders of Android. It was during a pivotal time in the mobile indust
Microsoft’s Biggest Miss One of the benefits of a long car trip with my wife is the opportunity to have really great and insightful conversations with the smartest person I know. Yesterday, on the fir
Today’s Mountain Lion announcement introduces an important new security feature, called Gatekeeper, in addition to the “sandboxing” feature that premiered in Lion. I’d like to talk a little bit about
“We’re starting to do some things differently,” Phil Schiller said to me. We were sitting in a comfortable hotel suite in Manhattan just over a week ago. I’d been summoned a few days earlier by Apple
The Guts of a New Machine Two years ago this month, Apple Computer released a small, sleek-looking device it called the iPod. A digital music player, it weighed just 6.5 ounces and held about 1,000 so
I like pasta. I’d like to help people make better pasta. It pains me to think about all the poorly prepared pasta being served and eaten in America. My advice will focus on plain old store-bought drie
What is Apple at heart: a software company, or a hardware company? This is a perennial question. The truth, of course, is that Apple is neither. Apple is an experience company. That they create both h
• Title: In situ formation of SgrA* stars via disk fragmentation: parent cloud properties and thermodynamics • Authors: M. Mapelli, T. Hayfield, L. Mayer, J. Wadsley • First Author’s Institution: INAF-Osservatorio astronomico di Padova, Vicolo dell’Osservatorio The Galactic Center The Center of our…
A Bridge Built to Sway When the Earth Shakes The new eastern span of the Bay Bridge in San Francisco. The existing eastern bridge, far left, will be torn down after the new bridge is complete. Credit.
Adrian Kingsley-Hughes, regarding this week’s news about Windows for ARM : And this is why Apple should be worried. So far I’ve beenconcerned that WOA would offer a cut-down, Fisher Price sort ofWindo
A reader writes: I know that when you look up at a clear sky, the dark things you see floating around inside your eyeballs are called... " floaters ". Someone worked hard on that name, huh. But what a
A reader writes: When I was visiting my mother the other day, I dropped her glass casserole baking dish... thing... (I'm not much of a cook), and it broke, and so of course I said I'd get her a new on
Following yesterday’s release of Tweetbot 2.0 for iPhone and Tweetbot for iPad (our reviews here and here , more coverage here ), I was able to chat with Tapbots’ co-founder Paul Haddad (@tapbot_paul)
Wolfram Alpha Pro 1024 On Wednesday, February 8th, Wolfram Alpha will be adding a new, "Pro" option to its already existing services. Priced at a very reasonable $4.99 a month ($2.99 for students), th
Title: Line profiles of cores within clusters: I. The anatomy of a filament Authors: Rowan J. Smith, Rahul Shetty, Amelia M. Stutz, Ralf S. Klessen First Author’s Institution: Centre for Astronomy at the University of Heidelberg, Germany Stars are a fundamental component of the universe, building…
In Praise of Cheap Labor Bad jobs at bad wages are better than no jobs at all. (1,669 words;posted Thursday, March 20; to be composted Thursday, March 27) For many years ahuge Manila garbage dump know
Most Recent Today’s Picks COME IN PEACE What OpenAI Really Wants The young company sent shock waves around the world when it released ChatGPT. But that was just the start. The ultimate goal: Change ev
Last week, Republican presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich made a bold claim: “By the end of my second term [2020], we will have the first permanent base on the Moon and it will be American.” On the sur
Check out the new Personal Finance page, powered by Credible. Read now Live Stream our event with Bravolebrities on 9/7. Get tickets Paper format, online ease. Get 30 days FREE w/ code POST 'Insulting
Abhimat