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Domain: exn.ca
Stories and comments across the archive that link to exn.ca.
Stories · 7
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The Power of Accidental Discoveries
schmiddy writes "An article from Wired mentions the surprising number of discoveries that have been made entirely by accident. In an older article, The Discovery Channel's site points out a different subset of inventions that happened by accident. A much older article from PBS goes into more depth on the subject of accidental discoveries, and gives a great quote from physicist Joseph Henry: 'The seeds of great discoveries are constantly floating around us, but they only take root in minds well prepared to receive them.'" -
What's Geekier Than a Ferengi Bridesmaid?
gbulmash asks: "The newly updated "Star Trek: The Experience" at the Las Vegas Hilton not only offers thrills, chills, and a Borg invasion... It's offering Trek-themed Wedding Packages. You can be married on a replica of the Enterprise bridge by a costumed starfleet officer and have additional Trek characters as guests. I thought "how geeky", but then remembered the guy who paid $22,550 for Joaquin Phoenix's white armor from Gladiator , claiming he was going to wear it at his wedding. All this has inspired me to ask what's the geekiest or nerdiest thing you've ever encountered at a wedding? There was a thread on geeky party favors for a wedding last year, but this question goes beyond that... getting married by a Gandalf impersonator, a cake shaped like Cthulu, groom dressed as Darth Vader and his best man is a stormtrooper. I know tales like these are out there, so please share them." -
The Paradox of Choice
sproketboy writes "Psychology professor Barry Schwartz has written a book which is a must read by those wanting to get Linux on the Desktop. Dr. Schwartz examines the problem of too much choice in our society. Maybe Microsoft has it right after all? Here's a video interview with Dr. Schwartz, a review of the book from the New Yorker and more info from PBS." Of course, the choice issue applies to far more than desktop computers, but is still instructive in that area. Thanks to Stefan Hudson for a SciAm story that has more information. -
Crypto Series on TV
Jose writes: "Simon Singh has a series on the Discovery Channel (in Canada at least..)It is a 5 week series covering basically everything that is in the Code Book. Check it out here. It'll be on Tuesday's at 9 PM (and at 2AM)." -
English Researchers Find Extra-Terrestrial Water
Lister of Smeg writes: "Some researchers found water on a meteorite that is about 570 million years older than the oldest terrestrial rocks. The implications are that water isn't as rare as we thought, conditions for life may have existed elsewhere in the solar system before Earth, and from the article ... 'There is this old idea that life on Earth may have been seeded from somewhere else.'" -
Secret to Aging Discovered
Gazoomba writes, "Researchers at the Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Mass., have found a clue in our genes putting us closer to eternal youth. They hope to eventually do trials on worms and mice to try and get them to live longer and perhaps someday do the same thing for us. More on this story can be read here. " -
The Science of Star Trek
scode sent us the url to an article about The Science of Star Trek. Some cheesy stuff, some interesting stuff- talks about Warp Drives, Holodecks, Phasers, Tricorders, and Transporters.