Author Archives: charlie
Don’t forget to say thank you!
With so much bad and negative news to read on a daily basis, it’s lovely when one of those really positive stories comes along. This week was the story of the cashier in Morrisons who helped a mum and her two blind and autistic daughters at the till.
Read more...What would another human race be like?
Science never ceases to absolutely amaze me.
Read more...Now you can chat with your cat
Ever wondered what your pet would say to you if it could talk? Of course you have. Well, now you can find out (sort of) thanks to the world’s first talking cat collar.
Read more...The Art of Deception
A 1998 study in Sweden revealed that rather than braking when approaching a zebra crossing, motorists were more likely to maintain their speed or in some cases actually accelerate towards it.
Read more...Magic Beans
Full of vitamins, minerals and cancer-fighting properties, the humble chickpea is one of the cheapest sources of protein and a store cupboard staple worldwide.
Read more...Where The Wild Things Are
After Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant’s Reactor 4 exploded on 26th April 1986, the surrounding area impacted by the radiation fallout (known as the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, or CEZ) was evacuated.
Read more...When Science Fiction Becomes Science Fact
Who remembers Michael Crichton’s 1969 novel ‘The Andromeda Strain’, about the outbreak of a deadly extraterrestrial microorganism that degrades plastic? Or the first episode of Doomwatch, a BBC sci-fi series that aired in the 70s, which revolved around a plastic dissolving microbe and was aptly named ‘The Plastic Eaters’?
Read more...Coffee drinking ‘reduces risk of liver disease and lowers cholesterol’
Apparently drinking high volumes of coffee…
Read more...The Stuff of Legends
According to two tech journalists from The Verge, in 2013 ‘the clouds [parted] … a light shined [sic] down from heaven’ and thus Slack appeared, a communication collaboration platform on a divine mission to make your working life simpler, more pleasant and more productive.
Read more...Dōmo arigatō, Mr. Roboto (Thank you very much, Mr Robot)
In 1983, a Chinese fast-food restaurant in California hired two disco-blasting robotic waiters, much to the amusement of the locals. Tanbo R-1 and Tanbo R-2 didn’t last long though; despite being able to serve food and tell jokes, they were prone to drop things and got confused easily. Humans were rehired, natural order was restored.
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