Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Watch How the Police Raid a Cellphone
Everyone knows the cops have tools to get inside your phone. But what do they do? They suck your iPhone's entire soul in 15 minutes. With one single click. This is what it looks like.
Lantern 2 is an incredibly powerful piece of software. Plug your iPhone in. Click "Acquire." Wait for a progress bar to complete. After about fifteen minutes, I had the entire contents of my phone in an extremely user-friendly interface—even with a lock screen activated. Anything you would want to know—or didn't even know you'd want to know—about my phone is easy to tap. An entire minute by minute chronology of my text exchanges. Every picture I'd ever taken. My bookmarks. My cookies. Every Skype call I've ever placed. My entire Facebook friend list. Every cell tower my phone has touched, with longitude and latitude coordinates. All there. Lantern 2 is awesome—and must be a stellar thing to have in any cop's arsenal (and for those wondering, no, you can't download it—Lantern's only available to government agencies researchers, and security firms). We just hope it (and our phones) never get into the hands of anyone on the other side of the law.
Monday, May 2, 2011
Highway through a building
Gate Tower Building is a 16-storey office building in, Osaka , Japan . And what makes it notable is the highway that passes through the 5th-7th floors of this building. The highway is part of the Hanshin Expressway, a network (239.3 km) of expressways surrounding Osaka , Kobe and Kyoto , Japan . The Gate Tower Building is Japan 's first building to have a highway pass through it. And it had been nicknamed "beehive" referring to its appearance as a "bustling place". The Umeda Exit of the Ikeda Route of the Hanshin Expressway system passes through this building.
The expressway is the tenant of these floors. The elevator doesn't stop on floor 5th-7th, floor 4 being followed by floor 8. These floors consist of elevators, stairways, machinery and other stuff. The highway passes through the building as a bridge, held up by supports next to the building making no contact with the building itself. The building has a double core construction, with a circular cross section and special care is taken by providing surrounded structure to the highway to protect the building from noise and vibration. Generally expressways are built underground, and passing through a building is an extremely rare occasion. It dates back to 1983, when the redevelopment of this area was decided upon, "building permits were refused because the highway was already being planned to be built over this land. The property rights' holders refused to give up, and negotiated with the Hanshin Expressway corporation for approximately 5 years to reach the current solution."
The expressway is the tenant of these floors. The elevator doesn't stop on floor 5th-7th, floor 4 being followed by floor 8. These floors consist of elevators, stairways, machinery and other stuff. The highway passes through the building as a bridge, held up by supports next to the building making no contact with the building itself. The building has a double core construction, with a circular cross section and special care is taken by providing surrounded structure to the highway to protect the building from noise and vibration. Generally expressways are built underground, and passing through a building is an extremely rare occasion. It dates back to 1983, when the redevelopment of this area was decided upon, "building permits were refused because the highway was already being planned to be built over this land. The property rights' holders refused to give up, and negotiated with the Hanshin Expressway corporation for approximately 5 years to reach the current solution."
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Your hands give away your hotness
The ratio of length between a man's second and fourth fingers (2D:4D) is thought to be linked to the amount of testosterone he received in the womb. According to new research, it also shows something else: How attractive a man's face will be to women.
The research looked at the relationship between the 2D:4D ratio, how attractive women thought the face was, and other signs associated with attraction and testosterone production: body smell and voice.
Men with a lower 2D:4D ratio (shorter pointer and longer ring fingers) were thought by the subjects to be more attractive, have more "masculine" features, and have more symmetrical faces.
However, the men's smell and voices — both of which are linked to testosterone levels and attraction — didn't correlate with the ratio. Scientists say this implies that facial structure is influenced by the hormone during pregnancy, and voice and odor by testosterone levels later in life.
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Which "gut type" do you have, and what does it say about you?
We all have flourishing bacterial ecosystems in our intestines filled with thousands of microbes. But these gut ecosystems only come in three types. And the type you have may influence the kind of life you lead.
Bacteria are a crucial part of human digestion. Hundreds of billions of them live in our stomachs and intestines, many helping us digest food. With the many different kinds of bacteria, and the many different types and habits of people, it would seem like each stomach and intestines would be unique - a less poetic metaphor for human individuality than a snowflake, but a more apt one. This, however, is not the case. We're far more uniform inside than we are outside. Human gut bacteria ecosystems fall into three different types: Bacteroides, Prevotella and Ruminococcus, each named for the bacteria that rules the roost.
Scientists believe that the reason for this conformity is that our guts can only configure themselves into a limited number of habitats for bacteria. In one habitat, one type of bacteria can dominate - in another, they are forced into a more niche group. Three different gut types is all that humanity can muster.
The ruling bacteria may influence our bodies, too. Gut types have been associated with different physical and medical conditions in people. A recent study found some bacteria process food more efficiently than others - this leaves more calories for their human hosts, and so they may have trouble losing weight. Another study found a correlation between certain bacterial strains and diabetes.
So do our stomachs create us or do we create them? Scientists aren't sure yet. All they've found is correlation - with no word on cause. They also don't know if people could change their gut ecosystems through diet, exercise, or medication.
Bacteria are a crucial part of human digestion. Hundreds of billions of them live in our stomachs and intestines, many helping us digest food. With the many different kinds of bacteria, and the many different types and habits of people, it would seem like each stomach and intestines would be unique - a less poetic metaphor for human individuality than a snowflake, but a more apt one. This, however, is not the case. We're far more uniform inside than we are outside. Human gut bacteria ecosystems fall into three different types: Bacteroides, Prevotella and Ruminococcus, each named for the bacteria that rules the roost.
Scientists believe that the reason for this conformity is that our guts can only configure themselves into a limited number of habitats for bacteria. In one habitat, one type of bacteria can dominate - in another, they are forced into a more niche group. Three different gut types is all that humanity can muster.
The ruling bacteria may influence our bodies, too. Gut types have been associated with different physical and medical conditions in people. A recent study found some bacteria process food more efficiently than others - this leaves more calories for their human hosts, and so they may have trouble losing weight. Another study found a correlation between certain bacterial strains and diabetes.
So do our stomachs create us or do we create them? Scientists aren't sure yet. All they've found is correlation - with no word on cause. They also don't know if people could change their gut ecosystems through diet, exercise, or medication.
Friday, April 29, 2011
The most disgusting flower in the world is about to bloom
The amorphophallus titanum has perhaps the least charming nickname of any flower: it's known as the corpse flower because it smells like rotting flesh. And yet its latest bloom this weekend is expected to bring over 10,000 eager admirers.
It's a generally remarkable flower, standing well over six feet tall, and this particular one has been steadily growing more than two inches a day since it first emerged from the soil in March. Switzerland's Basel Botanical Gardens is the latest to bring the flower to bloom in captivity, the first time in 75 years the country has seen such a bloom. In fact, there have been just 134 recorded artificial blooms since the first one in 1889, making the corpse flower a relatively rare treat - if you can call the smell of rotting flesh a "treat" - for botany enthusiasts.
The species is native to the tropical rainforests of Sumatra, and any attempts to make the flower bloom in captivity require precise simulation of its natural humid climate. Even then, it's rare for the plant to grow and blossom, whether it's in the wild or in a greenhouse. Its corpse-like odor is thought to attract certain insects for pollination purposes.
It's a generally remarkable flower, standing well over six feet tall, and this particular one has been steadily growing more than two inches a day since it first emerged from the soil in March. Switzerland's Basel Botanical Gardens is the latest to bring the flower to bloom in captivity, the first time in 75 years the country has seen such a bloom. In fact, there have been just 134 recorded artificial blooms since the first one in 1889, making the corpse flower a relatively rare treat - if you can call the smell of rotting flesh a "treat" - for botany enthusiasts.
The species is native to the tropical rainforests of Sumatra, and any attempts to make the flower bloom in captivity require precise simulation of its natural humid climate. Even then, it's rare for the plant to grow and blossom, whether it's in the wild or in a greenhouse. Its corpse-like odor is thought to attract certain insects for pollination purposes.
Thursday, April 28, 2011
The physics of bubble bath
Why does soapy water bubble up in baths and dishwashers, while regular water stays flat? It's all connected to the foam in root beer.
Everyone knows that, when the bubble solution runs out, there's a quick fix. Just put a little dish soap in the jar, add a little soap, de-slime the wand so it doesn't fall out of a kid's chubby fingers, and start all over again. Although regular water is drinkable, only soapy water makes bubbles. But why? What is it about soap that makes the water suds-up? In fact, what makes water-based liquids bubble up in general?
The origin of soapy water's bubbling ability is the same as the origin as soap's cleaning ability. It's a surfactant. A surfactant is something that lowers the surface tension and cohesion of water - the properties of water that make one water molecule stick to another water molecule. These allow water molecules to interact more strongly with other molecules like dirt and grime - lifting them away when regular water won't do the job.
Regular water can form bubbles, or course, but only when a lot of air (or some other gas) is mixed into it harshly. Even then, these bubbles tend to only be half-bubbles, floating on the surface of the water. Any attempt to plump them up further generally results in the bubble breaking. This is because of the high surface tension of the water. The layer of water molecules need to pull together enough to keep the bubble of air trapped inside them from pushing free. If they pull together too much, though, they rip the bubble apart. Soap lowers the surface tension of water enough to let it relax around a bubble.
Soap isn't the only material to use surfactants. Some commercial root beers do, to make the root beer foamy enough to have a 'head' like regular beer. Note: The surfactant that root beer manufacturers uses probably isn't soap. Probably.
Everyone knows that, when the bubble solution runs out, there's a quick fix. Just put a little dish soap in the jar, add a little soap, de-slime the wand so it doesn't fall out of a kid's chubby fingers, and start all over again. Although regular water is drinkable, only soapy water makes bubbles. But why? What is it about soap that makes the water suds-up? In fact, what makes water-based liquids bubble up in general?
The origin of soapy water's bubbling ability is the same as the origin as soap's cleaning ability. It's a surfactant. A surfactant is something that lowers the surface tension and cohesion of water - the properties of water that make one water molecule stick to another water molecule. These allow water molecules to interact more strongly with other molecules like dirt and grime - lifting them away when regular water won't do the job.
Regular water can form bubbles, or course, but only when a lot of air (or some other gas) is mixed into it harshly. Even then, these bubbles tend to only be half-bubbles, floating on the surface of the water. Any attempt to plump them up further generally results in the bubble breaking. This is because of the high surface tension of the water. The layer of water molecules need to pull together enough to keep the bubble of air trapped inside them from pushing free. If they pull together too much, though, they rip the bubble apart. Soap lowers the surface tension of water enough to let it relax around a bubble.
Soap isn't the only material to use surfactants. Some commercial root beers do, to make the root beer foamy enough to have a 'head' like regular beer. Note: The surfactant that root beer manufacturers uses probably isn't soap. Probably.
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