The Sensitivities

Man Bites Snake to Death in Revenge

Man Bites Snake to Death in Revenge - A Nepali man who was bitten by a cobra snake subsequently bit the snake to death, a local newspaper reported on Thursday (Aug. 23). After being bitten by the snake, while he was working in his rice paddy on Tuesday, 55-year-old Mohamed Salmo Miya chased the snake, caught it and bit it until it died, the Annapurna Post reported, according to Reuters. An Indian Spectacled Cobra. "I could have killed it with a stick but bit it with my teeth instead...

Why are Apple, Google, and Facebook eradicating a linchpin of user interface design?

Save the Scrollbar! - Why are Apple, Google, and Facebook eradicating a linchpin of user interface design?When I noticed the scrollbars were missing on my smartphone, I didn’t care all that much. When I’m reading an article on a tiny screen, I don’t want anything to distract me from the text. User interface experts refer to all this extra material—the operating system’s borders, menus, and widgets—as “chrome,” and the test of the value of a given piece of chrome is whether you miss it when it’s...

Computers Can 'See' People's Dreams

Computers Can 'See' People's Dreams - A computer can predict what you're dreaming about based on brain wave activity, new research suggests. By measuring people's brain activity during waking moments, researchers were able to pick out the signatures of specific dream imagery — such as keys or a bed — while the dreamer was asleep. "We know almost nothing about the function of dreaming," said study co-author Masako Tamaki, a neuroscientist at Brown University. "Using this method,...

Seven Ways to Trick Your Brain

Seven Ways to Trick Your Brain - By some accounts, the human brain is the most complex object in the universe. But it is also surprisingly easy to trick. Mental shortcuts and shortcomings, which allow us to be tricked, also show us how the brain works, said Jerry Kolber, the head writer and executive producer of "Brain Games," a new show on the National Geographic Channel that debuts today (April 22) at 9 p.m. ET/PT. Here are some simple games designed to trick your mind and teach...

The NASA plan to "shoot" an asteroid with a rocket spacecraft

The NASA plan to "shoot" an asteroid with a rocket spacecraft - NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory is quietly working on a computer-piloted spacecraft that might help us understand how to blast an asteroid into a different orbit. When American government representatives asked NASA head Charles Boden this year what the best response to a large asteroid headed towards New York City would be, his answer was simple - “Prayer”. But NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory is quietly working on a computer-piloted...

X-ray telescope reveals secrets of supernova seen in 1000AD

X-ray telescope reveals secrets of supernova seen in 1000AD - An X-ray image from NASA’s Chandra Observatory has offered a glimpse into the ruins of a star that lit up the skies when it exploded 1,000 years ago. The scan could help us understand the huge explosions produced when stars die. The supernova SN1006 was seen by astronomers in China, Japan, Europe and the Arab world in 1006. On May 1, 1006, the explosion began to blaze so brightly it was visible during the day for weeks. Far brighter...

Hunt for Mars colonists to launch today (warning, it's a one-way ticket)

Hunt for Mars colonists to launch today (warning, it's a one-way ticket) - A seven-month journey in a tiny, cramped capsule doesn't sound like an attractive prospect - especially when you realise it's a one-way trip. But 10,000 people have already contacted Dutch organisation Mars One to volunteer for a trip to Mars planned in September 2022 - due to arrive at the Red Planet on 2023. Return to Earth "cannot be anticipated nor expected", the firm says. The search for astronauts formally...