Sunday, September 15, 2013
40 Maps That Will Help You Make Sense of the World
Hopefully some of these maps will surprise you and you’ll learn something new. A few are important to know, some interpret and display data in a beautiful or creative way, and a few may even make you chuckle or shake your head.
The Perfect Nap: Sleeping Is a Mix of Art and Science
There's an art to napping.
Studies have found different benefits—and detriments—to a nap's timing, duration and even effect on different people, depending on one's age and possibly genetics.
"Naps are actually more complicated than we realize," said David Dinges, a sleep scientist at the University of Pennsylvania's Perelman School of Medicine. "You have to be deliberative about when you're going to nap, how long you're going to nap and if you're trying to use the nap relative to work or what you have coming up."
Studies have found different benefits—and detriments—to a nap's timing, duration and even effect on different people, depending on one's age and possibly genetics.
"Naps are actually more complicated than we realize," said David Dinges, a sleep scientist at the University of Pennsylvania's Perelman School of Medicine. "You have to be deliberative about when you're going to nap, how long you're going to nap and if you're trying to use the nap relative to work or what you have coming up."
Risk Ahoy: Maersk, Daewoo Build the World's Biggest Boat
They’re container vessels that will ply the route between Northern Europe and China. The new class of ship is called the Triple-E, and Maersk has ordered 20, at a cost of $185 million each. They’re 1,312 feet long, 194 feet wide, and weigh 55,000 tons empty. Stand one on its stern next to the Empire State Building, and its bow would loom over the heads of those on the observation deck; a single link from its anchor chain weighs 500 pounds.
The World's Tallest Skyscrapers Have A Dirty Little Secret
Supertall skyscrapers aren't necessarily built to fit as many people inside as possible--sometimes they're just aiming to be, well, really tall. Large portions of these buildings are designed to increase height, but remain unoccupied.
Children of the Corn
Every summer, thousands of Midwestern kids climb aboard school buses, headed out to fields to detassel corn. Modern Farmer goes along for the ride.
Monday, September 02, 2013
10 Weird Facts About Cereal
Breakfast cereal is one of the most popular foods in the world and is enjoyed by hundreds of millions daily. But like many staples of our diet, it is not nearly as old as you might think.
10 Weird Facts About Cats
As with dogs, the domestication of cats was based on mutual benefit. In the earliest days of agriculture, man was forced to deal with an unforeseen consequence: rodents devouring his crop and spoiling his grain. Following voraciously in their footsteps were predators like snakes and owls—and cats. The cats with the friendliest dispositions were eventually welcomed into human settlements, highly valued for their ability to destroy vermin. The house cat was domesticated from the African wildcat approximately 10,000 years ago in the Middle East and has rarely strayed from our side since, worshiped in some cultures as gods and reviled in others as manifestations of the devil himself.
Technology Really Is Making You Fat (But Not How You Think)
It's lazy to point out that technology makes us lazy. Of course it does. The entire idea of technology is predicated around an efficiency whose end is specifically a decline in human exertion. You know, lazy. But technology's actually making us fat for another reason altogether.
Your Ancestors Didn’t Sleep Like You
Ok, maybe your grandparents probably slept like you. And your great, great-grandparents. But once you go back before the 1800s, sleep starts to look a lot different. Your ancestors slept in a way that modern sleepers would find bizarre – they slept twice. And so can you.
Mark Rober left Nasa to make awesome wearable Tech Halloween Costumes
Until June of this year, Rober was a mechanical engineer at the world's most famous space agency. He worked at Nasa for nine years, seven of were spent working on the Curiosity Rover.
Now he creates wearable tech Halloween costumes and recently sold his company, Digital Dudz, to the British company that makes Morphsuits, where he now works (nope, we didn't know they were a British invention either).
Now he creates wearable tech Halloween costumes and recently sold his company, Digital Dudz, to the British company that makes Morphsuits, where he now works (nope, we didn't know they were a British invention either).
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