Category: Human Behavior

Area 51 explained tonight on the Nat Geo channel

On By A.P.In Area 51, Military Industrial Complex, Technology, Uncategorized, WarLeave a comment

 

Area 51 Declassifiedpremieres on the National Geographic Channel on tonight at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT.

After a rash of declassifications, details of Cold War workings at the Nevada base, which to this day does not officially exist, are coming to light—including never before released images of an A-12 crash and its cover-up.

Area 51 was created so that U.S. Cold Warriors with the highest security clearances could secretly pursue cutting-edge aeronautical projects.

During the 1950s and ’60s Area 51’s top-secret OXCART program developed the A-12 as the successor to the U-2 spy plane.

Nearly undetectable to radar, the A-12 could fly at 2,200 miles an hour (3,540 kilometers an hour)—fast enough to cross the continental U.S. in 70 minutes. From 90,000 feet (27,400 meters), the plane’s cameras could capture foot-long (0.3-meter-long) objects on the ground below.

But pushing the limits came with risks—and a catastrophic 1963 crash of an A-12 based out of Area 51.

A rapid government cover-up removed nearly all public traces of the wrecked A-12—pictured publicly for the first time in this gallery, thanks to the CIA’s recent declassification of the images.

Read here about how the government hides aircraft in Area 51:  http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2011/05/110520-area-51-secret-hid-craft-base-declassified-a-12-plane/

And read here for more general information about Area 51:  http://science.howstuffworks.com/space/aliens-ufos/area-51.htm

Thanks to Kedmobee for bringing this to the attention of the It’s Interesting community.

The Connection Between Altitude and Goodness

On By A.P.In AltriusmLeave a comment

 

Height is often used as a metaphor for virtue: moral high ground, God on high, looking up to good people, etc.

Larry Sanna and his associates at the University of North Carolina wondered if people who were primed to think about height would be more virtuous.

Read here about their work, recently published in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, which describes 4 human experiments involving altitude.  Their work suggests that unconscious processes may be important in determining whether we will act to help others.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=why-escalators-brings-out-best-in-people&WT.mc_id=SA_20110420

Facebook Planking

On By A.P.In Human BehaviorLeave a comment

‘Planking’ is the latest fad to sweep through facebook.  It involves laying someone down on their belly in a dangerous position and then taking a picture that is placed on Facebook. 
Read more here: Facebook ‘Planking’ Craze Under Fire In Australia http://therandomforest.com/facebook-planking-craze-under-fire-in-australia/#ixzz1M9YiEADr

And here are 10 other fads that have swept through Facebook:  http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/facebook/8509708/Planking-Top-10-Facebook-crazes.html

 

Cell Phone Radiation

On By A.P.In Cell Phone, Communication, Human Behavior, RadiationLeave a comment

It will likely be decades until we know whether or not cell phone radiation is hurting users. 

Here is the latest on the possible effects of cell phone radiation on our body.  

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/31/technology/personaltech/31basics.html?_r=2&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha26

Thanks to Parfit for bringing this to the attention of the It’s Interesting community.

Pac-mecium

On By A.P.In games, Science, TechnologyLeave a comment

Scientists have made Pac-Man using  paramecium, in which movement of the microorganisms is controlled with a joystick while a digital microscope relays images to a computer screen.  The joystick is connected to a controller that controls the polarity of a mild electrical field applied across the fluid chamber, which influences the direction in which the paramecia move. 

Read more here:

http://www.newscientist.com/blogs/nstv/2011/01/play-pacman-pinball-and-pong-with-a-paramecium.html

Goose befriends retired man in L.A.

On By A.P.In Animal Communication, Communication, Geese, Human BehaviorLeave a comment

  • Passing by…:
    NO NO NO!!! Whatever the excuse, they KNEW they were father and daughter. Are th
  • Simim:
    “i bet rich white american women own these. ewww!” I bet rich white American wo
  • Phil E. Drifter:
    Derp, it thinks the webcam lens is another owl, durp derp

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    Man and Maria the Goose Become Unlikely Friends (Video)

    AWWW, Strange News — By Goran on 2011/02/19 5:14 AM

    Dominic Ehrler, 65, a retired investor, befriended a goose that began following him around Echo Park ten months ago and she now meets him every day at 8 a.m.

    He said:  “When she first started following me around like a dog I got goose bumps,” Ehrler said. “David Foster, one of the parks people here, finally introduced me to her. He said, ‘You know you’re being stalked! Her name is Maria.’”

    Maria greets Ehrler when he rides his bright red motor scooter down the hill from his Figueroa Terrace condo and then she leads him around the lake as Ehrler pulls out a bag of tortillas retrieved from a store trash bin and feeds the park’s other geese.

    Ehrler said Maria is very protective and will peck and bite at strangers who come too close to him. He said their daily encounters end with him riding off on his scooter and her following closely in the air until he circles back to the park and delays her with a fence.

    Ehrler said he will follow Maria if the city follows through on plans to relocate her and the park’s other geese while Echo Park is renovated.

    “They’re supposed to collect the birds and truck them to another lake. I plan to follow her there, because when you have a friend like this you don’t want to lose her,” he said.

    http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-scooter-goose-20110213,0,6984760.story

    http://dailypicksandflicks.com/2011/02/19/man-and-maria-the-goose-become-unlikely-friends-video/

    The Brain-Drain to Wall Street

    On By A.P.In Wealth and PowerLeave a comment

    Recent trends indicate that the financial sector is sucking talent and entrepreneurial energy from more socially beneficial sectors of the economy.  Harvard graduates, for example, enter financial occupations at a far higher rate now than they did in the 1970s.  The trend has accelerated markedly in the past decade, as the computerization of finance has made the profession both more lucrative and more intellectually challenging.  The proportion of graduates from MIT, for example, who went to Wall Street rose from 18% in 2003 to 25% in 2006.
    Read more: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2061220,00.html#ixzz1IW6Rz4wC

    and here: 

    http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.campusprogress.org/campus_files/uploads/images/elitecolleges_thumb.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.campusprogress.org/articles/wall_street_brain_drain/&usg=__ESZim_XUAAnUpGceXPYr2eGSfsU=&h=92&w=140&sz=12&hl=en&start=2&sig2=mR4q_QozrVL5DcrQhLhZoQ&zoom=1&itbs=1&tbnid=Sd1StRetW4BWRM:&tbnh=61&tbnw=93&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dbrain%2Bwall%2Bstreet%26hl%3Den%26gbv%3D2%26tbs%3Disch:1&ei=XCiZTZqvC4W_0QGlk8GADA

    and here:  http://blogs.wsj.com/deals/2008/01/17/the-wall-street-brain-drain/

    Thanks to Mr. C for bringing this to the attention of the It’s Interesting community.

    An Environmentally Friendly Funeral

    On By A.P.In Funerals, The Future, UncategorizedLeave a comment

    A Swedish company has come up with a different approach to dealing with bodies after people die – freeze drying – that turns out to be one of the greenest ways to go.

    The body is cooled to around -18°C and then submerged in liquid nitrogen. As the body becomes colder, it gets brittle enough that when shocked with soundwaves it will crumble into powder.  The powder is then put in a vacuum chamber, which instantlyboils away all the water, reducing the mass by about 70%.   

    http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2011/03/having-your-body-shattered-like-a-frozen-liquid-terminator-is-good-for-the-earth/

    The Real Housewives of Wall Street

    On By A.P.In Government, Wealth and PowerLeave a comment

    Why is the Federal Reserve forking over $220 million in bailout money to the wives of two Morgan Stanley bigwigs?

    Read about it here in this article from Rolling Stone: 

     http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/the-real-housewives-of-wall-street-look-whos-cashing-in-on-the-bailout-20110411

    Thanks to Kedmobee for bringing this to the attention of the It’s Interesting Community.