Science
FORA.tv
FORA.tv “helps intelligent, engaged audiences get smart”. It features videos from conferences, debates and university lectures around the world. It’s been compared with TED, but Fast Company have produced a handy comparison table so you can find out whether you are a TED or a FORA.
Sudden Genius
Sudden Genius: Creativity explored through ten extraordinary lives by Andrew Robinson looks at the nature of good ideas – why some people have loads and some seem to have few, if any. And how does a ‘sudden flash of genius’ happen? He explores these questions by examining the lives of five artists and five scientists [...]
2030
2030: Technology That Will Change the World by Rutger van Santen takes a look into the future in the company of 20+ world-renown scientists who predict which technologies will be significatn in the realms of infectious disease, financial instability, and climate change.
Oil Spill Interactive Map
The Associated Press has produced an excellent interactive map and illustrated guide that makes sense of the events around the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. via @DRexplore
All Terrain Robots
Meet seven all terrain robots – invented by Dennis Hong his team at RoMeLa, Virginia Tech. The include Strider, CLIMBeR and DARwin. Watch them in the video:
How Long For a Happy Meal to Decompose?
After claims that an American nutritionist found that a McDonalds Happy Meal didn’t compose, even after a year, a concerned Chinese citizen decided to conduct their own experiment. The photographed a burger and fries every day for 23 days, logging the weather and temperature. As you can see from the pictures, the meal wasn’t so [...]
Hookworms: Your Friend
Jaspar Lawrence believes he has found the cure for (or at least respite from) hay fever, Crohn’s disease and multiple sclerosis: a parasite known as the hookworm. He breeds the worms and sells them by mail order to people desperate to get some relief from their symptoms, and he has many loyal and grateful customers. [...]
Solar Powered Satellite
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency has successfully launched a space probe – Akatsuki – which is carrying a solar-powered kite called IKAROS. Akatsuki is headed to Venus, while Ikaros will disconnect and travel to the other side of the Sun on a three year scientific journey . Read more on MSNBC.
Infertility Treatment and Autism
A study carried out by Harvard School of Public Health suggest that there may be a link between fertility treatment using Clomid, a drug stimulates ovulation, and the incidence of autism. Another study, by a team of researchers in Israel found an association between autism and IVF treatment. Read the full article in Time.
ADHD and Pesticides
Time reports that a study in the journal Pediatrics associates the exposure of children to pesticides and other environmental factors such as flashing images on TV with the growing incidence of ADHD. The effects could be seen even in children with only low levels of exposure to pesticides. Scientists suggest parents feed their children organic [...]
