The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, popularly known as “Obamacare,” was signed into law five years and one week ago. Here’s a compact seven-and-a-half-minute video clip assessing how well it’s working from prolific writer and commentator John Green, who incidentally buys his own … Continue reading
As today’s edition of the XKCD comic strip reminds us, the Opportunity rover has been exploring Mars since January 25, 2004 — way, way longer than the 90 (Martian) days it was originally designed for. The twin rover Spirit, which … Continue reading
As you probably know, Minecraft is a versatile and creative video game from Sweden that allows players to build virtual worlds out of blocks or go on adventures in worlds created by others. An organization based in Finland called Minecraft … Continue reading
Two-minute example of bad decision making: Link: https://youtu.be/rg80-vhEH6g by … Continue reading
Ever since 1972 the General Social Survey has polled adult Americans’ opinions on a variety of subjects using in-person interviews. The latest results, based on a survey conducted in 2014, have recently been released, and they’re quite interesting. The Associated … Continue reading
Short version: Guy apparently intending to record a video of himself attempting to play his guitar forces his cat out of the chair he wants to sit in, and he cat gets back at him, all in 37 seconds. Link: … Continue reading
Charlie Chan has been hired by a French scientific organization to investigate sales to the collectors market of artifacts from a tomb whose excavations they had funded, and in the course of things he discovers that the body of a … Continue reading
I was recently in a conversation with someone who suggested that this winter’s heavy snows in the eastern U.S. had “proved Al Gore wrong” or words to that effect. The person who said this isn’t especially interested in science but … Continue reading
While it was directed by Christopher Nolan, who previously did the Dark Knight series of Batman films, this is basically what you’d get if J.J. Abrams made a Superman movie, complete with something that resembles the planet-wrecking gizmo in the … Continue reading
Alchemists influenced by eldritch forces discover the secret of making movies and this proves popular enough with the public that there are soon multiple movie factories grinding out product in a Holy Wood. Notorious Ank-Morpork sausage vendor Cut-Me-Own-Throat Dibbler manages … Continue reading