Catching up on blogs
Ah, back from a relaxing ski vacation. Christmas is done and it is time to catch up on some reading.
Virtual manufacturing is taking up root in microelectromechanical manufacturing, an extremely complex endeavor.
Scientists come up with an explanation about why there is no limestone on Mars: a massive sulfur cycle that inhibited carbonate materials. Sulfur may have kept Mars warm, as well.
Cognitive patterns of high flexibility and low self-restraint tend to correlate with impulse buying. If a person walks through a store randomly, just looking around and exhibits an “ooohh” response to a sale, they are likely to be an impulse buyer.
Sex education delays teen intercourse (71% and 59% less likely to engage in sex by 15) and increases the chance of using birth control (2.77 times among males). The study did not distinguish between abstenance-only or teach about contraceptives.
Decrease your chance of getting dementia by walking. You’ll know if you are doing enough, because you have a great, built-in exercise monitor. On a scale of 1-20, exercise on 12-15. Your idea of what that means is probably surprisingly correct.
I’m shocked. There is no evidence to support that airport security does any good. $5.6 billion worldwide spent each year. 13 million items stopped in the US, but how many of these are pocketknives, large shampoo bottles and other items that are probably benign. How many hijackers have been foiled with the question: “Did you pack all your bags yourself?” How about a little old-fashioned research?
Humor may be biological. A unicycling professor observed predictable responses based on age and gender that suggests that in men curiosity turns to aggression, then jokes, while in women curiosity turns to praise and concern.
A biology professor creates a biological fuel cell that turns garbage into electricity.
Metal foams are metals with many voids, like swiss cheese. They are light and tough.
Lack of insurance kills people. “The uninsured are less likely to receive recommended cancer screening tests, are more likely to be diagnosed with later stage disease, and have lower survival rates than those with private insurance….” Not surprising, but worth remembering as the country debates insurance in the next decade.
Yeah. You don’t have to stop drinking when you get old. “They concluded that moderate drinking is fine for the over 65s — and in some cases is better than not drinking at all.”