Tuesday, December 15, 2015
HISTOGRAPHY
“Histography" is interactive timeline that spans across 14 billion years of history, from the Big Bang to 2015.The site draws historical events from Wikipedia and self-updates daily with new recorded events.
The interface allows for users to view between decades to millions of years.
The viewer can choose to watch a variety of events which have happened in a particular period or to target a specific event in time. For example you can look at the past century within the categories of war and inventions.
Tuesday, December 01, 2015
Monday, November 23, 2015
Sunday, November 22, 2015
A Harrowing Account of What It’s Like to Die From a Snakebite
In 1957, American herpetologist Karl P. Schmidt was bitten by a poisonous boomslang snake. With no anti-venom available—and mistakenly believing he hadn’t received a fatal dose—he proceeded to do what any diligent scientist would do: he kept a detailed diary chronicling the last agonizing hours of his life.
What’s the best way to die?
There are lots of ways to look at the query. Would I want to know when I’m going to die, or be taken by surprise? (I mean, as surprising as such an inevitable event can be.) Would I want to be cognizant, so I can really experience dying as a process? Or might it be better to drowse my way through it?
In the Early 1900s, Robber Barons Bought Dozens of Centuries-Old European Buildings
We had been driving through what felt like one continuous Miami strip mall for almost an hour. Our GPS promised that in a few short minutes we would reach the destination we had traveled some thousand miles to find: a Spanish monastery, from the 12th century, once inhabited by a bevy of monks, moved stone by stone across the ocean, now set in the middle of a swamp-jungle.
Counting the Hours
Time is limited, as we've seen. How do you spend your days? Since 2003, the Bureau of Labor Statistics has sponsored the American Time Use Survey asking thousands of people this question. The Census Bureau conducts the survey.
The Caves of Forgotten Time
When Josie Laures came out of her cave on March 12, 1965, she thought it was February 25. A few days before Antoine Senni came out of his cave, on April 5 that same year, he thought it was February 4.
The two cave explorers emerged from their holes in the French Alps, near Nice, 50 years ago. Each of them set the then-world record for time spent alone in a cave—Laures set the female record at 88 days, and Senni the male record at 126 days—as part of an experiment to see what the effects of extreme isolation and loneliness would be on their bodies and minds.
The two cave explorers emerged from their holes in the French Alps, near Nice, 50 years ago. Each of them set the then-world record for time spent alone in a cave—Laures set the female record at 88 days, and Senni the male record at 126 days—as part of an experiment to see what the effects of extreme isolation and loneliness would be on their bodies and minds.
Wednesday, November 04, 2015
Sunday, November 01, 2015
Saturday, October 31, 2015
Inside the Anzob ‘tunnel of death’ in Tajikistan
Good luck getting out of here alive.
The Anzob Tunnel was supposed to make life easier for people wanting to travel between Tajikistan’s major cities. Before the tunnel was built, drivers had to cross the border into Uzbekistan via a dirt road in order to travel between the Tajik capital of Duschanbe, and it’s second biggest city of Khujand. They also faced the threat of year-round avalanches blocking the roads, leaving people with the only option of flying — simply too expensive for most.
So a 5km long (3.1 miles!), $4 billion tunnel, built by Iran, was meant to be a step up.
The tunnel was officially opened in 2006 but remained unfinished until March this year. Within a matter of three months, it had to be closed for repair work and reopened in September.
It quickly became known as the “tunnel of death” by locals and those who braved the nightmarish journey.
Monday, October 19, 2015
Daily Shots of Earth!
NASA The space agency has launched a new website today that will post a dozen new images from DSCOVR each day, showing the Earth as it rotates over a 24-hour period.
Sunday, October 18, 2015
Sunday, October 11, 2015
Saturday, October 10, 2015
Tell Your Fingers That You Love Them!
No harm comes to this man! It's just the speed that he cuts chicken that makes me cringe!
Friday, October 09, 2015
The Man Who Got No Whammies
On May 19, 1984, before a live studio audience for the game show Press Your Luck, a squirrely-looking, gray-bearded 35-year-old named Michael Larson leapt from behind his podium and squealed with joy.
For the contestant, the show’s catchphrase, “Big bucks, big bucks, no Whammies!”, had just come to fruition: in an era where no single contestant ever won more than $40,000 — not even those competing on the ever-popular The Price In Right, or Wheel of Fortune — Larson had earned $110,237 ($253,000 in 2015 dollars).
And in achieving this, he’d overcome insurmountable odds...or had he?
For the contestant, the show’s catchphrase, “Big bucks, big bucks, no Whammies!”, had just come to fruition: in an era where no single contestant ever won more than $40,000 — not even those competing on the ever-popular The Price In Right, or Wheel of Fortune — Larson had earned $110,237 ($253,000 in 2015 dollars).
And in achieving this, he’d overcome insurmountable odds...or had he?
Wednesday, October 07, 2015
Tuesday, September 29, 2015
Sunday, September 27, 2015
Sunday, September 20, 2015
Class Matters: An Overview
A team of reporters spent more than a year exploring ways that class - defined as a combination of income, education, wealth and occupation - influences destiny in a society that likes to think of itself as a land of unbounded opportunity.
Class Calculator
Class Calculator
Political Typology Quiz
Are you a Steadfast Conservative? A Solid Liberal? Or somewhere in between? Take our quiz to find out which one of our Political Typology groups is your best match compared with a national survey of over 10,000 U.S. adults conducted by the Pew Research Center.
Sunday, September 13, 2015
Building the Hoover Dam
In the early years of the 20th century, the rapid development of the southwestern United States was creating a high demand for electricity and water. Simultaneously, a series of catastrophic floods made it clear that the Colorado River needed to be dammed and controlled.
In 1922, the U.S. Reclamation Service settled on Black Canyon as the ideal location for a dam. They had initially chosen Boulder Canyon (unfortunately located on a seismic fault line), which gave the project its first name, Boulder Dam.
Congress authorized the project in 1928; construction began in 1931, under the direction of a consortium called Six Companies, Incorporated.
The Great Depression was in full swing, and tens of thousands of hopeful workers flocked to the dam site with their families, camping out in temperatures that reached 120 degrees Fahrenheit. At its peak, the project employed 5,251 people.
In 1922, the U.S. Reclamation Service settled on Black Canyon as the ideal location for a dam. They had initially chosen Boulder Canyon (unfortunately located on a seismic fault line), which gave the project its first name, Boulder Dam.
Congress authorized the project in 1928; construction began in 1931, under the direction of a consortium called Six Companies, Incorporated.
The Great Depression was in full swing, and tens of thousands of hopeful workers flocked to the dam site with their families, camping out in temperatures that reached 120 degrees Fahrenheit. At its peak, the project employed 5,251 people.
Friday, September 04, 2015
Statistically speaking, when are you going to die? Go find out!
The last Friday of the summer season is now upon us. As the days shorten and the leaves change and the year staggers toward its frigid terminus in the dead of winter, we at Wonkblog have been thinking about the inevitable conclusions of our own lives, and wondering how much of our potential we've squandered already.
Driven to Kill
It seems like a crazy urban legend: In China, drivers who have injured pedestrians will sometimes then try to kill them. And yet not only is it true, it’s fairly common; security cameras have regularly captured drivers driving back and forth on top of victims to make sure that they are dead. The Chinese language even has an adage for the phenomenon: “It is better to hit to kill than to hit and injure.”
Thursday, September 03, 2015
Sunday, August 30, 2015
Salaries in Real-Time
Find out how many hours of work it takes to buy…
Every job and career has its perks and range of disposable income. With Salaries in Real-Time, you can discover the purchasing power of popular occupations. Compare your salary to other occupations and see how long it takes to earn a burger, top performance running shoes, a flat screen television, a new car, and even a home.Sunday, August 23, 2015
Friday, August 21, 2015
Guy Visits His Apartment After The Tianjin Explosion
The first video is a reminder of how powerful this blast was...
Thursday, August 20, 2015
Thursday, August 13, 2015
167-Mile Section Of I-84 Closes As Eastern Oregon Fires Grow
A section of Interstate 84 in eastern Oregon is closed due smoke from nearby wildfires, according to a release from the Oregon Department of Transportation. As of 6:30 p.m. Thursday, about 167 miles of the highway is closed between westbound at Ontario and eastbound at Pendleton.
Perseid Meteor Shower
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| Plane. |
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| My ONE good shot of a Meteor! |
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| Plane. Notice the pulsing in the streak. |
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| You know the drill. |
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| Milky Way Galaxy. |
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| Soda fire through the smoke. |
Wednesday, August 12, 2015
Watch the Incredible Force of a Typhoon Move a Skyscraper's 720-Ton Mass Damper
Mass dampers are designed to counteract the swaying of a skyscraper as it’s buffeted by strong winds or earthquakes. But it’s incredibly rare to see one of these huge devices moving more an a few inches. Unless, of course, there’s a typhoon nearby.
Tuesday, August 11, 2015
Soda Fire shuts down U.S. 95
A range fire burning in the Owyhee County spread to an estimated 30,000 acres by Tuesday afternoon.
Bureau of Land Management officials say the Soda Fire is burning in sage-grouse habitat parallel to U.S. 95. The highway is currently shut down between Jordan Valley, Ore., and the weigh station near mile marker 19 south of Marsing because of the fire.
The lightning-sparked fire started about a mile from the Oregon border northeast of Jordan Valley about three miles north of Cow Creek.
Crews with the Great Basin and Boise BLM are currently battling the fire with air and ground resources and assistance from Owyhee Rangeland Fire Protection Association and Vale BLM.
Bureau of Land Management officials say the Soda Fire is burning in sage-grouse habitat parallel to U.S. 95. The highway is currently shut down between Jordan Valley, Ore., and the weigh station near mile marker 19 south of Marsing because of the fire.
The lightning-sparked fire started about a mile from the Oregon border northeast of Jordan Valley about three miles north of Cow Creek.
Crews with the Great Basin and Boise BLM are currently battling the fire with air and ground resources and assistance from Owyhee Rangeland Fire Protection Association and Vale BLM.
Soda Fire Night Adventure
Deb and I headed out to get some shots of the Soda Fire and captured the Perseid meteor shower while we were at it!
Monday, August 10, 2015
Keeping Skyscrapers From Blowing in the Wind
Fueled by a scarcity of land and by demand from multimillionaires willing to pay record prices for helicopter views of Central Park and beyond, Manhattan developers are building ever taller, ever thinner apartment buildings on ever tinier lots. Clustered mostly in and around West 57th Street, these skinny skyscrapers are reaching heights of more than 1,000 feet.
One consequence of beanstalk proportions: The higher and slimmer buildings get, the more they tend to sway at the top.
One consequence of beanstalk proportions: The higher and slimmer buildings get, the more they tend to sway at the top.
The Container Ship Tourism Industry
Robert Rieffel was strolling with his wife and friends along River Street in Savannah, Georgia, a touristy corridor filled with trinket shops and restaurants, when he suddenly heard “this big brooooooooooo,” he says, imitating the sound of a ship’s horn. An enormous cargo ship was sailing up the river, one of many that travel international routes delivering everything from kitty litter to cars to clothes in massive stacks of metal shipping containers. Rieffel was captivated.
Before VHS And Betamax, There Was Cartrivision
Introduced in 1972, Cartrivision was well ahead of its time, and it was also a catastrophic failure. Although it was the first format to offer feature film rental and allowed consumers to record home movies, the first TV equipped with Cartrivision sold for what would be over $7,000 in today's dollars. Many of the rental tapes also disintegrated due to improper storage. Rest in peace, you pioneer.
Here’s What Disaster Preppers Pack to Survive for 72 Hours
When all hell breaks loose, it may be awhile before anyone comes to help. That’s why the government suggests having a three-day supply of essentials on hand. For some, that might mean food and water. For others, it might mean a pistol and plenty of ammo. And at least one guy wants to make sure he doesn’t run out of booze and barbiturates.
Why do hotels think guests want access to ice in their rooms?
From housekeeping service to a Bible in the nightstand drawer, there’s a standard set of amenities you can expect to find in most American hotels. We can chalk up housekeeping to hospitality and Bibles to the Gideons, but what about ice machines—how did these hulking apparatuses come to be so common in the alcoves of American hotel hallways? Sure, ice is theoretically useful, but who decided that hotel guests must have free access to it at all times?
A Hot Guide To Peppers
Hot foods are getting hotter. And it’s not lessening up. Peppers are being bred to become violently hot. Even typically non-spicy foods have received the hot treatment, from Sriracha potato chips and beer to the Ghost Pepper fries at Wendy’s. There’s even a documentary about Sriracha now. In our spicy guide, we’re going to track the history of the chile pepper—the source of quality spice the world over—why it’s so darn hot, and how that little chile gave rise to the hottest hot sauces in the world.
Pork Belly Prices Sizzle
Bacon is finally getting a bump as Americans add the fatty strips to everything from corn dogs to french fries, boosting demand while inventory shrinks.
Why the New Ebola Vaccine Is a Minor Miracle
If you still have yet to shake the last tendrils of paranoia over last year's historic Ebola outbreak, you're in luck: There's a new vaccine on the market, and it's apparently very effective.
Sunday, August 09, 2015
Saturday, August 08, 2015
A Gorgeous New Weather Model of the World
Though software engineer Cameron Beccario did it first with “Earth,” now NOAA has launched its own real-time wind model displayed over the gorgeous backdrop of the world at night.
Or day—you can change the time to see current and future conditions, and even watch the sun line swoop across the globe. (The model is refreshed with new forecasts every six hours.)
Or day—you can change the time to see current and future conditions, and even watch the sun line swoop across the globe. (The model is refreshed with new forecasts every six hours.)
Wednesday, August 05, 2015
All Signs Indicate a New Monster El Niño Is Coming
Ocean conditions in the Pacific Ocean are increasingly suggestive of a potent El Niño event later this year. While that might seem like good news to the water-starved regions of the United States, the resulting torrential rains could be exceptionally hazardous.
Back in March of this year, scientists declared that El Niño conditions had emerged in the Pacific Ocean. Initially, it was thought that the event was too weak and too late to be of any significance, but conditions have changed over the past several months. According to NASA and other agencies, surface waters are getting warmer in the central and eastern Pacific, while conditions to the west are getting drier and cooler. What’s more, these conditions bear a striking resemblance to the substantial El Niño event of 1997-98.
Back in March of this year, scientists declared that El Niño conditions had emerged in the Pacific Ocean. Initially, it was thought that the event was too weak and too late to be of any significance, but conditions have changed over the past several months. According to NASA and other agencies, surface waters are getting warmer in the central and eastern Pacific, while conditions to the west are getting drier and cooler. What’s more, these conditions bear a striking resemblance to the substantial El Niño event of 1997-98.
What Windows 10's "Privacy Nightmare" Settings Actually Do
Windows
10 has some handy new features, but if you believe the rest of the
internet, it also comes with features that eviscerate any semblance of
privacy. But that view is a little overblown. Let’s take a closer look at what each of these settings actually do—and which ones are actually a privacy problem.
Windows 10
has a reputation for “phoning home” more often than its predecessors,
and while that’s primarily true, much of this was already present in
Windows 8—and an awful lot of it is present in other products like
Android, iOS, and Chrome. That’s not to say all of those settings are
good, just that there’s very little new happening here.
You can read the privacy statement for Windows 10 here. It’s not quite as sweeping as the Windows Insider Preview policy that caused so much commotion, but it’s still very broad (as most privacy policies are).
Plenty of sites have published lists of all the features
you should turn off in Windows 10 to protect your privacy, but many
don’t explain in detail what each of these settings do, which makes it
hard to separate FUD
from fact. So let’s go through those settings and explain what we know
about them, where the real problems are, and how to turn everything off.
What if your hometown were hit by the Hiroshima atomic bomb?
While the graying Hiroshima Generations who survived the atomic bomb attack seven decades ago are struggling to pass their memories to the younger generations, much of the world has allowed that fateful morning on Aug 6, 1945 to slip from their minds.
About 66,000 people, mostly civilians, perished, according to a report prepared by the US Army one year after the attack. Another 69,000 were injured and tens of thousands more were affected by radiation disease.
But how to show the damage more clearly? We've developed an application that allows you to visualize the damage of the same atomic bomb on another location in today's world, such as your hometown. You may be surprised at the extent of the damage.
About 66,000 people, mostly civilians, perished, according to a report prepared by the US Army one year after the attack. Another 69,000 were injured and tens of thousands more were affected by radiation disease.
But how to show the damage more clearly? We've developed an application that allows you to visualize the damage of the same atomic bomb on another location in today's world, such as your hometown. You may be surprised at the extent of the damage.
Wednesday, July 29, 2015
Thursday, July 23, 2015
A Trip Inside MakerBot's New 3D Printing Factory
In case you're unfamiliar with who MakerBot is and what they do, they're one of the leaders in the 3D printing field, specifically in the creation of the printers themselves. With more than 80,000 MakerBots out in the wild, the company continues to strive towards its goal of putting a 3D printer in every home and classroom.
Since 2009, MakerBot has quickly risen to the top of a cluttered field of 3D printing manufacturing and services industry. Their new 170,000 square-foot space in Brooklyn spans three floors, is home to more than 140 employees and doubles the production capacity compared to MakerBot’s previous factory.
Since 2009, MakerBot has quickly risen to the top of a cluttered field of 3D printing manufacturing and services industry. Their new 170,000 square-foot space in Brooklyn spans three floors, is home to more than 140 employees and doubles the production capacity compared to MakerBot’s previous factory.
Sunday, July 19, 2015
Stowaways and Crimes Aboard a Scofflaw Ship
Few places on earth are as free from legal oversight as the high seas. One ship has been among the most persistent offenders.
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