Total energy supply explained. Someone has turned my daughter against gasoline—because it’s bad for the environment. She suggested electricity would be a superior power source for cars. I asked her where electricity comes from. “Total energy supply (TES) includes all […]
China is winning the vibe shift. “China is now seen more positively than the U.S. in most of 36 countries surveyed.” Pew’s new global survey of 42,151 people shows a sharp reversal from recent years, with favorability toward China rising […]
Data wizardry on road quality. “Using data from Uber, they are able to estimate the roughness of every road in America and precisely estimate the value people place on it, and so much more.” Even pavement condition can be measured […]
The “women are better multitaskers” stereotype. “We can do things at the same time when they are highly automatized, but other than that, humans in general struggle,” says cognitive neuroscientist Marco Hirnstein. The gender part is messy too: “The findings […]
Pigeons sense magnetic forces in their livers to navigate. “We found by far the strongest magnetic response in liver tissue,” which points to iron-loaded liver macrophages acting like a compass. When researchers depleted those cells, pigeons could still get home […]
Chinese automakers in Detroit. “No one answers a knock on SAIC’s locked office door. It’s not possible to leave the company a phone message unless the caller has an extension, but no phone directory is offered.” Chinese automakers cannot sell […]
We’re on version 27 of the US flag. “That’s how many different versions of Old Glory have been officially recognized since the nation began.” The stripes briefly grew to 15, then Congress reverted to 13 in 1818 and let the […]
100 Miles of abandoned railroad on e-bike micro camper. “Matt Spears explores a remote, abandoned railway with a custom electric rail bike camper. Navigating through heavy snow and numerous fallen trees, he must repair damaged tools to continue the journey […]
Cucumbers used to be called “cowcumbers.” “By the end of the 18th century, ‘cowcumber’ had become a standard pronunciation, and even spread to the U.S.” It later became a class marker, and Dickens used it to signal lower class characters. […]