Stream of Reading (Prepare to be Forwarded) – An Archive of What I'm Reading
If you want to quantify the alarming impact of the anti-vaccine movement, the chart above is a good place to start. It plots the cumulative number of new measles cases by month, for each year from 2001 to 2014. There were 644 new measles cases in 27 states last year, according to the CDC. That’s the…
A gigantic mushroom cloud billowed over Nagasaki, Japan, when an atomic bomb was dropped on the city in 1945. Credit: U.S. National Archives The world is “3 minutes” from doomsday. That’s the grim outlook from board members of The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. Frustrated with a lack of international action to address climate change…
The measles outbreak that started at Disneyland in late December has been spreading; most recently, it’s hit Huntington Beach High School in Orange County, where 24 unvaccinated students have been told to stay home from school after an infected classmate exposed the school to the disease. Thanks a lot, paranoids who don’t want their precious…
Last year’s crashes of rockets operated by Virgin Galactic and Orbital Sciences came as a reminder of the risks inherent in commercial space ventures. But now a rush of new fundraising in the private space sector shows that investors are still prepared to back the start-ups behind the private space race if the potential reward is…
Begin: WordPress Article Content Everyone’s favorite food-disrupting nutritional slurry, Soylent, has just closed a $20 million funding round, led by existing investor Andreessen Horowitz. Another prior investor in its 2013 $1.5 million seed round, Lerer Ventures, also participated in the new financing, along with Index Ventures. Announcing the raise on his blog, a16z partner Chris Dixton noted Soylent is…
While on an expedition in Antarctica, photographer Alex Cornell had the rare opportunity to photograph a recently flipped iceberg. Defining to the old adage “just the tip of the iceberg,” it turns out the underside can be illuminated with unbelievable bright blues and striation that reveal visually stunning secrets of these sleeping giants. Witnessing a…
In U.S. academia, fields that cherish sheer genius shun women By Will Dunham WASHINGTON Thu Jan 15, 2015 2:50pm EST Tweet Share this Email Print Graduates from Columbia University’s School of Journalism cheer during the university’s commencement ceremony in New York in this May 16, 2012 file photo. Credit: Reuters/Keith Bedford/Files WASHINGTON (Reuters) –…
Five categories. Thirty-two films. All about science. Today, as the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announces the nominations for those coveted Oscar statuettes, WSF launches our first-ever Scio Awards. Vote for your favorite actor in a scientist role or write in your pick. You have until February 22nd, the date of the Academy Awards ceremony,…
Out of the wild Deer are invading New York City, and we don’t know how to stop them By Brendan O’Connor Just before Christmas of last year, John Caminiti, who lives in Staten Island, New York City’s least populated borough, watched traffic come to a standstill outside the Staten Island Mall. “It got quiet all…
One of the most unlikely harbingers of the computer age was a Christian mystic. After getting his ass kicked by Muslim scholars, he thought up a device that would let him win any argument, answer any question, and convert all people to the one true faith. A Man of Many Names and Many Talents The…