Logikron

Books, gizmos, art, science & solutions

[usatoday]

The combination of the “ferocious storm” and full moon led to dangerous flooding along the New Jersey and Delaware coasts.

[pbstv]

NOVA Next

Future incandescent bulbs could be up to 40% efficient, if a newly-developed process pans out.

More from NOVA Next

[oupacademic]

“Insight” is not a very popular word in psychology or biology. Popular terms – like “intelligence,” “planning,” “complexity,” or “cognitive” – have a habit of sprawling out to include everyone’s favourite interpretation, and end up with such vague meanings that each new writer has to redefine them for use.

So do primates have insight? If so, what can it tell us about the evolutionary origins of insight in humans? And what does all this mean for cognitive psychology? Richard W. Byrne presents an important new theory on primate intelligence.

Image credit: Facing the Silverback by Dominik Bartsch. CC BY 2.0 via Flickr.

[discoverynews]

Some Plants Can Count

Venus flytraps and other carnivorous plants have the ability to count, according to a new study.

The discovery adds to the growing body of evidence that certain plants possess many animal-like abilities, even though they do not have brains. In this case, it’s now known that meat-eating plants can count up to at least five.

Learn more

[breakingnews]

Blizzard blasts East Coast; 2nd largest snowfall in Central Park at 26.8 inches

NBC New York: A powerful blizzard that stunned much of the Eastern United States dumped 26.8 inches of snow in Central Park, giving the city it’s second heaviest snowfall since records were kept in 1869.The amount is .1 inches away from breaking the all-time record of 26.9 inches set in Feb. 2006.  Follow updates on BreakingNews.com 

[engadget-news-blog]

Scientists figure out how to create affordable smart windows: Imagine having the power to tweak your windows’ opacity depending on the weather. That’s one application a group of MIT scientists believe they’ve made possible by conjuring up an equation that can predict how light goes through a rubber-like polymer… http://dlvr.it/DMSsTN

[engadget-news-blog]

Microsoft Selfie app now shares your iPhone self-portraits: The whole point of Microsoft’s Selfie app for iPhones is to share your pretty face (albeit an ideal, algorithmically-modified version of it) with the world, but you haven’t had an easy way to make that happen for most of the app’s existence. A bit i… http://dlvr.it/DMSrRT

[discoverynews]

Could You Get Hit By Falling Space Junk?

Vietnam recently found three giant balls that may have fallen from space. What are the chance of getting hit by space junk? 

[codeorg]

[seekernetwork]

Laborers on the front lines of Fukushima, Japan are known as “nuclear gypsies” and expose themselves to radiation to remove nuclear waste. Watch the video here: http://skr.cm/1OSHiXj

[skunkbear]

This week The New York Public Library  released more than 180,000 of its public-domain items — including maps, posters, manuscripts, sheet music, drawings, photographs, letters, ancient texts — as high-resolution downloads, available for public use!

We’ve selected a few of our favorite images from their vast collection. The folks at the library have done a great job making images searchable. Cruise through the site on your own or check out some of their pre-filtered collections.

All Images Courtesy of The New York Public Library

[npr]

This collection is definitely worth a deep dive. -Emily

[engadget-news-blog]

PC shipments see their steepest drop ever

Windows 10 might be pretty popular, but it wasn’t popular enough to rescue the PC business. IDC estimates that computer shipments actually fell 10.6 percent in the fourth quarter of 2015, making it the steepest year-over-year drop in history. In fact… http://dlvr.it/DG3Wyt

[technobuffalo]

That time legendary Final Fantasy artist drew David Bowie: http://dlvr.it/DG3jNm

[theindependent]

January 13, 2016 at 03:20AM

[msnbc]

In his final State of the Union, President Obama said that keeping Americans safe is “priority number one.” 

But he also said ISIS and other terror groups do not pose an existential threat to the United States:

“Over-the-top claims that this is World War III just play into their hands. Masses of fighters on the back of pickup trucks and twisted souls plotting in apartments or garages pose an enormous danger to civilians and must be stopped. But they do not threaten our national existence.”

Read more here. 

[engadget-news-blog]

Now we can 3D print ceramics

Despite being able to build just about anything with 3D printing, until now items have been limited to polymer plastics, a handful of metals and glass. However, researchers at HRL Laboratories have announced a significant advancement in additive manu… http://dlvr.it/D8h0jk

[engadget-news-blog]

Domino's Pizza brings one-tap ordering to Apple Watch

If you’re a Domino’s Pizza addict, there’s now a faster way to get some fresh slices hurtling towards your front door. The company has updated its Apple Watch app with “Easy Order,” a feature that lets you set up a specific basket and then, when hung… http://dlvr.it/D8jdpH