[ weird things ] | 2011 [ weird things ] | December
articles for December 2011
the uncertain future of a gloomy prison nation
# politics

the uncertain future of a gloomy prison nation

We don't know what will happen to North Korea now that Kim Jong Il is dead, but we know it's not going to be good.

why the medical world apparently hates money
# health

why the medical world apparently hates money

How do we make sense of the alt med claim that Big Pharma is just trying to keep people sick for a profit?

why cognitive computers come with a drawback
# tech

why cognitive computers come with a drawback

Popular science outlets and tech pundits are getting the wrong idea about chips built to function more like biological neurons.

why martian microbes won’t outnumber earth’s
# space

why martian microbes won’t outnumber earth’s

A study says that more of Mars than Earth should be hospitable to life. But the data on which this conclusion is based is incomplete.

and so the world loses a titan of journalism…
# politics

and so the world loses a titan of journalism…

R.I.P. Christopher Hitchens, 04.13.1949 - 12.15.2011

why a missing higgs boson won’t derail physics
# science

why a missing higgs boson won’t derail physics

It would be amazing for the LHC to find the Higgs boson. It would be even more interesting if it doesn't.

changing comp sci for all the wrong reasons
# tech

changing comp sci for all the wrong reasons

A disagreement between academic and industrial computer science is threatening to leave students in an educational no-man's land.

the dark monsters who will inherit our universe
# space

the dark monsters who will inherit our universe

How big are some supermassive black holes? Just trying to scale them down to numbers we can wrap our minds around is a challenge in and of itself.

eliminating dark matter with an intuitive culprit
# space

eliminating dark matter with an intuitive culprit

An Italian mathematician is trying to replace dark matter observation by playing with models of gravitational measurements.

how religion is taking over the arab spring
# politics

how religion is taking over the arab spring

The Arab Spring is not turning the Middle East into a hotbed of secularism. But given the history and demographics of the region, it would be strange to expect it to.

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