Video-game developer Epic Games announced that it has bought Bandcamp, the online music store and community geared around independent musicians. Read more…
Category Archives: Stuff
The Writers Who Translated Goethe into English Became Some of the Best Writers in English
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) is the central figure in the German literary canon. Poet, novelist, playwright, and scientist, he is to the German language what William Shakespeare is to English-speaking cultures, only more so. The fact that such a protean, polymathic, and “great” figure emerged on the doorstep of the modern world, rather thanContinue reading “The Writers Who Translated Goethe into English Became Some of the Best Writers in English”
The Theology of Chocolate
Many Christians, and even post-Christians, give up chocolate for Lent. This self-denying act now sometimes seems to be simply part of a calendar of occasions for virtuous abstention: as with ‘dry January’, we do it because it is good for us. But the original theory behind the Lenten fast is that it helps those whoContinue reading “The Theology of Chocolate”
Potato farmers conquer a devastating worm with paper made from bananas
Potato cyst nematodes are a clever pest. These microscopic worms wriggle through the soil, homing in the roots of young potato plants and cutting harvests by up to 70%. They are challenging to get rid of, too: The eggs are protected inside the mother’s body, which toughens after death into a cyst that can surviveContinue reading “Potato farmers conquer a devastating worm with paper made from bananas”
The life of Pi: Ten years of Raspberry Pi
Designed by Cambridge engineers and computer scientists, Raspberry Pi has sold more than 40 million units, and created a market worth $1 billion. Raspberry Pi is manufactured in the UK, and supports more than 300 jobs in Wales and Cambridge. Read more…
Nasa’s new shortcut to fusion power
PHYSICISTS FIRST SUSPECTED more than a century ago that the fusing of hydrogen into helium powers the sun. It took researchers many years to unravel the secrets by which lighter elements are smashed together into heavier ones inside stars, releasing energy in the process. And scientists and engineers have continued to study the sun’s fusionContinue reading “Nasa’s new shortcut to fusion power”
Solar-powered system offers a route to inexpensive desalination
Passive solar evaporation system could be used to clean wastewater, provide potable water, or sterilize medical tools in off-grid areas. Read more…
Norway’s sovereign wealth fund to vote against Apple management’s pay plan
Norway’s $1.3 trillion sovereign wealth fund, the world’s largest, will vote against ratification of tech giant Apple Inc’s management remuneration plan after an advisory firm urged investors to act, the fund’s manager said on Sunday. Read more…
The claimed effect size is about a zillion times higher than is plausible
Joe Hilgard writes: Some years ago, you blogged about a research article by Hasan and colleagues (2013). I had tried to direct your attention to the narrowness of the error bars, which I found suspicious. What I was really trying to say was that the effect size was much, much too big — by dayContinue reading “The claimed effect size is about a zillion times higher than is plausible”
Cryptographers Achieve Perfect Secrecy With Imperfect Devices
For the first time, experiments demonstrate the possibility of sharing secrets with perfect privacy — even when the devices used to share them cannot be trusted. Read more…
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