I’m not usually one to gloat, but I told you so. Last week’s big announcement that the Mars Curiosity Rover had found something incredible on Mars was a big misunderstanding. Turns out that when NASA said they had made an “earth-shattering” discovery—”one for the history books”—they were talking about the whole Curiosity mission. Which sounds [...]
Straight out of Stanford University is a new material that is not only touch sensitive, but also self-healing. Being a bit of a human augmentation geek, my mind immediately went to smarter prosthetic limbs that can relay sensation back to their users. Using nickel micro-particles embedded in a special polymer, the skin is able to [...]
Yesterday was Thanksgiving. I hope those of you who partook had a lovely time with friends and family. It was also my birthday, so I did jack squat diddly doop doop dah doo. That is, until this article in New York Magazine about the psychology of Black Friday crossed my desk*. Then my pen flowed [...]
On Friday we introduced the concept of “brood parasitism”, where one organism will leave its offspring to be raised by another. It’s a tactic meant to conserve the resources of the parent parasite, and in extreme cases where the invading brood kicks its foster siblings out of the nest, serves to lower the amount of [...]
You probably already know how this one goes. I’m a bit late on getting it out the door. If not, kudos. This is for you. Evolution is often simplified to be about predator vs prey. In order to survive, you must eat and avoid being eaten. But the reality is more complex than that. In the [...]
This may be an inherently American problem, but I’m sure many of you know what I’m talking about here. I’m sure there’s some German word for the distinct feeling of betrayal felt when you are handed a piece of real licorice as a child, only to discover that you had been lied to by a [...]
Am I the only one who did this? Correction: Am I the only one who spent a great deal of time doing this? (If you did, tweet about it! #phosphenediary) As far as hallucinations go, phosphenes are pretty common, and they can be induced mechanically, electrically and even magnetically. But what’s going on here? What makes the [...]
I tend not to think of anything pretty when I hear the word slug (in fact I think of dull slimy things that would be best avoided*). But the Nudibranchs, a type of sea slug, come in an incredible variety of shape, size and coloration. They either use camouflage to hide from predators or go [...]
So excited. Do they pick you up in Air Force Two? Should I just sit tight here and wait? By the way, if you haven’t yet voted for me, here are some helpful websites: Where’s My Fucking Polling Place? Having trouble deciding on a party? Vote Swedish.
Decided to mix in some Guild Wars 2 imagery* for this comic, which is sort of a sequel to It’s Important and It’s Really Important, and the spiritual successor to the Show Me Your Cyber Face comic from a while back. I dare say the first panel overshadows the rest of the comic in scope, and [...]