Actual Iris Scanners in Mexico

via Fast Company:

Minority Report-style retinal scanning & identification. To be used for security purposes, but advertisers are already salivating.

Videotapiing Law Officers illegal?

via time:

Info on multiple cases awaiting court dates, prosecutors attempting to argue that filming the police equals a violation of federal wiretapping laws. Dunno how that's supposed to work.
Understandable that the police are wary about being filmed, but don't criminalize and/or harass bystanders to cover the collective ass, just in case a cop is doing something he or she shouldn't.

Amateur 3D

via wired:

A group of like-minded collaborators have been DIYing 3D. More research required.

DARPA & Nitrous Oxide

via wired:

DARPA awarded funding to researching attempting to find a way to rapidly oxygenate the blood of soldiers (minutes, not days), specifically to allow them to maintain function at high altitudes. Other uses include vastly increased muscle efficiency at lower altitudes, potentially easier healing, etc. Via nitrous oxide, no less.

Might also help improve the quality of donated blood (after weeks of transit, very low in oxygen).

Human Regeneration is getting closer...

via wired:

Muscle tissue regeneration in mice @ Stanford U, without the use of stem cells. These are regular, adult cells that have been coaxed into replicating themselves as if the mouse were still growing.

Pregnant woman executed by Taliban

via Huffpost:

Executed for ALLEGED adultery. Not even proof, just the allegations are enough to warrant her death, apparently. Way to go, humanity. You suck.

A Look at the Coming Collapse of Society

via Salon:

A glimpse at the precursors to larger local gov't collapse. Chipper.

Govt Agency storing body-scan images

via Huffpost:

Despite all the ink & bandwidth devoted to promises of it being "not physically possible" to store bodyscan images (in use at various airports & courthouses), the U.S. Marshall's Service has been saving them. Tens of thousands of them. Surreptitiously.

But it's OK, since they're not PHYSICAL. What is this, the Dark Ages? They're digital, of course.

Right Wing Nutjob, now with Rifle & Bulletproof Vest!

via Salon:

Yet another crazy man, stopped by Oakland PD prior to going on a shooting spree. Joy.

Disturbed Individuals with Weapons (and no training)

via Wired:

Collection of costumed vigilantes. Not in the funnybooks, in New York. "Stun-knuckles" and throwing stars are referenced. And these people might be serious.

Freakangels are go.

via Slate:

Scientists' predictions for rising sea levels by 2100 - including losing roughly 2/3 of Asia's rice-farms.

Police on BP payroll. Literally.

via Salon:

Louisiana police enforcing BP's no-photo/no reporters policy. On public land. Search & seizures, confiscation of film, etc. No legal, well, anything to justify this behavior. But BP's paying for their overtime. Privatized police, here we come.

India's "Pink" Gang

via Slate: Reporting on India's all-women vigilante gangs, protectors of those domestically abused. More research needed.

Synthetic biology-a-go-go

via UK Times: First fully man-made and functional cell is here.

Potential 'Methuselah' Gene identified

via UK Times: first solid lead on the genetics behind living past 100 years of age. What can be identified can eventually be reproduced. Also a key element of the Grim Meathook Future(for the wealthy, at least.)

Potential new scum Serial Killer

via the UK Times: Suicide Voyeur, who's been trolling the internets for years, finding depressed people he could convince to commit suicide. On webcam. Yes, really.

Photons & Quantum Teleportation: Success.

via ars technica: quantum entanglement of two photons verified over a distance of TEN MILES(!) Very early stages, again. but the research seems to be snowballing.

Glucose Fuel-cells for Implantation

via physorg.com: glucose fuel-cells implanted in rats, produced 2.2 microwatts over 11 days. Very early stages, but bio-friendly pacemaker batteries (and a general implant power source) imminent.

"Live Fire Zone" in Bangkok

via MSNBC: slums of Bangkok declared a Live Fire Zone by Thailand's military as rioting continues and anti-govt "Red Shirts" feed a giant pile of burning tires. More research required.

Evolution brings us...

via Kenneth Hite: Varieties of moth-related Russian/Eastern European legends & monsters, including the...wait for it...

...Vampire Moths

via National Geographic. Yes, vampire moths exist, and are a theoretical evolutionary offshoot of a more common species.

Holy crap! Prototype Bio-Computing

Yes, really.

300+ biologically engineered neurons that learn, self-organize, and most amazingly for computing - reroute information around damaged bits.

Mega-cities imminent

via guardian.uk: The world's first actual mega-city is on the way, consisting of Hong Kong/Shenhzen/Guangzhou in China. Over 120 million inhabitants.

stainless-steel 3D printing

via singularity hub: Just what it says. Slightly more expensive, longer wait. But very user-friendly.

biz site is shapeways.com.

Touch-screen quantum mechanics trick

via bbc.co.uk: Utilizing quantum tunneling to create a pressure sensitive touchscreen the thickness of a human hair. (This already is in commercial use!) Say hello to synthetic skin for prosthetics, everybody!

Ironclad - flashdrive pc

from lockheedmartin: Secure, compact computing. Flash drive contains its own OS and files, merely hijacks the connected system's monitor & keyboard. No files actually transferred to host computer.

Claytonics & programmable matter

via singularity hub: very early stages of claytronics research...organised, computerised matter. Current prototype computing elements approx. 3cm tube, hopefully will be 3mm soonish. All elements share computing tasks, and can join together/shift via magnetics & electro-motive chicanery. Your actual SmartMatter (TM).

Bionic limbs are the new black

via bbc: Rather hyperbolic article about the "kewl-ness" of prosthetics. Rightly trashed in the comments. However, still very interesting.

Technoccult

Technoccult: Something to Keep An Eye On.

"cyborg anthropology"

via grinding.be: How technology augments our ability to communicate and live.

Cops & Quota's in NYC

via simple justice: half a million stop-and-searches in NYC yearly, and more than 9 out of 10 result in no charges, no evidence of crime at all. NYC police are meeting quota's, and this has led to intrusive searches, public humiliation, and the NYPD keeping any searched individual's personal info on file. Forever. Even those who have done no wrong.

Colorado Springs = Snowtown

via obsidian wings: town with no tax income, pretty much all essential services are shutting down. Parks, police, trash pickup, public transport, streetlights. On the road to becoming a bona fide feral city, right here in america.

Erie Correctional - dying to get out

link: Erie correctional facility refuses access to a county-employed suicide-prevention expert after 5(!) different suicide attempts in rapid succession. cover-up of what, exactly?

Vatican remains almost-silent

via slate: Further explanation of Ratzinger's irresponsibility. Covering up child abuse (systematically and without any apparent concern for the victims) is NOT OK.

Galaxies on the run

via USAToday: Discovery of a series of galaxies(!) all hurtling towards the same destination - the Hydra cluster. Not explicable by current dark matter theory, cause unknown. Something beyond our celestial horizon, pulling them in?

Fred Phelps

via philly enquirer: Fred Phelps, evangelical crazy-at-large, has been protesting US servicemen funeral services with such delightful placards as "God Hates Your Tears" and "Thank God for Dead Soldiers". His claim is that US deaths are the result of God's anger at gays being allowed to exist in america. Court case is currently pending, regarding free speech. Lots of angles here -1st amendment, obscenity, slander, right to religious freedom (they were protesting a religious service, for example). Should follow this.

using Disorder as an aid in quantum systems

via wired: designing a quantum system (the goal being computing) that uses the inherent chaos in complex systems as an aid, not something to be avoided. Interesting.

DARPA & Quantum mechanics

via wired: DARPA offering funding to any & all who can incorporate quantum mechanics into actual prototypes. R&D, clearly, since the first observable quantum superimposition in a physical(visible) object just happened a couple weeks ago. Not that you could look at it, since looking at it would change it's quantum state. Damn you, quantum physics!

Da Vinci's hidden mirror-enabled images

random link: Regarding Da Vinci's "newly discovered"(read: debatable)use of mirrored images within some of his famous works. When viewed with a mirror, in just the right place, you get some other image a la Mad Magazine. Also comes with a healthy dose of crazy.

japanese "rape-simulator" videogame

via huffpost: Really!? The player is a rapist out to capture & , y'know, a mother and her two daughters. I don't even know where to begin vomiting with this one.

Different from Ethnic Cleansing from Rsistance Records (spewers of Racism - yes, with a capital 'R'), and LB: Eternal Forces, where women have their uses, but it appears that only americans get to know the glory of the Jeebus.

apocalypse does not justify sex with yer daughters, you fuck

via huffpost: Aswad Ayinde has been mentally & physically terrorizing his daughters for ten years, including repeated rapes, in order to breed within his own family and create a "pure" bloodline for the End Times.

Vatican STILL full crap

via telegraph.co.uk: brief discussion of the Vatican's exorcism programs, and the psychological usefulness (to the church) of an external Tempter.

Nihilists

via wickipedia: Russian Nihilists, which may actually work better for this application.

Russian Anarchists of Yesteryear

via wickipedia: Yup, Russian anarchists.

Jessica Canfield sucks

via huffpost: more maternal horror. 24-year-old claims to not know she was pregnant, as some kind of excuse for dumping her newborn infant in the trash. Yay people.

Silly Vatican

via huffpost" Vatican employee in gay prostitution scandal. The scandal being he wasn't prostituting some altar boy, just gay adults. *ba-dum ching*

Victorian English uniforms

ThinRedLine.co.uk - collection of uniforms & repro bits for re-enactors. Specific rorke's drift accoutrements.

Rorke's Drift

via wikipedia: January 1879

high IQ linked to monogamy, liberalism, and atheism

via CNN(and Justin): statistical linkage between smarts & what have you. Awesomesauce.

Wimhurst machine

via wickipedia: Old-school method of creating an electrical charge. Invented between 1880-1883. Used in tandem with:

the Leyden Jar, which was invented almost 100 years before victorian times.

Nikola Tesla

via Wickipedia: Man, myth and legend. In Paris in 1882, arrived in NYC early June 1884.

Failed Murder-Suicide

via huff post: Gigi Jordan kills her autistic son, attempts to kill herself. And fails. Some sort of failed-savior complex at work here.

Regrowing neurons

via tech review: regrowing neurons via implant.

Science and unfortunate nomenclature - the Spaser!

via tech review: "Spaser" - prototype nano-scale laser, fairly strong contender for basis of optical computing (at the nano-scale, no less). Takes advantage of nano-weirdness to confine photons to a very limited path, less leakage.

School VP brags about illegal surveillance

via huffpost: School officials admit (publicly, on television, without irony or shame) that they've been using school laptops & their webcams to spy on student activities.

extra qualifier: Students parents' allege that son was spoken to, at school, concerning innappropriate behavior at home observed via his school laptop. Yup, that's not ok.

graphite data storage

via tech review: graphite structure allows for vertical stacking, potentially increasing base Flash capacity by factor of 10.

5-dimensional data storage

via tech review: New 5-dimensional digital storage medium accesses the 3 dimensions of holographic storage + wavelength and polarization of laser.

Theo Janen - Kinetic sculpture

Theo Jansen: amazing wind-powered, walking kinetic sculpture

Sociological roots of Willful Ignorance

via NPR: Studies showing how much culture influences belief/non-belief. Interesting.

Bob Marshall is a Fuckwit

Observe the evidence. Stating, publicly and on the record, that birth defects affecting children of mothers who have previously had abortions, are in fact god's punishment.
Way to go politicians! Way to go Christian Right in America!

"Basket Cells"

via Technology Review: neurological plasticity may be able to be switched back on after childhood.

Neuro-evolution as species survival

via the Atlantic: Theory that the ability of humanity to rationally think & plan ahead was a direct response to a near-extinction event.

Neuro-engineering of the future

via h+: the future of neuro-enhancement.

DOJ stats

US DOJ statistics.

Russian Language

Online russian language reference. Includes pronunciation guides.

Anatomy of Horror

Ruminations on myths and modern horror, via a fine essay by Nicholas Seeley.

Bio-Goo

not just goo, goo that's floating in the ocean and runs for more than 15 miles. And it's "unidentified". Icky.

Playing Card Collection

Yeah, what the title says.

Passports

Collection of passports, from late 1800's through mid-20th century. Mostly from Europe.

The name of the Game

List of names of London street gangs, collected in summer '09.

Self-Defence

With a walking stick, naturally. Article from 1901 or thereabouts.

Urban Archaeology

Dark Passage, documentation of various abandoned buildings & subterranean structures.

Alchemy-A-Go-Go

Online archive for all things alchemical.

Ye Esoteric Archive

Esoteric Archives, online source for all things old-school + occult-ey.

Slightly larger-than-you Brother

via the BBC:

biometric ID cards, and

bio-met passports.

Passports contain facial recognition data (distance between features, mainly), ID cards contain digital fingerprints and what have you. C'mon, no retinal scan? Wankers.

Ethics of Mars Colonization

via Slate: rational discussion of some of the impracticalities and ethical requirements for moving human life to Mars.

Sonar-Boy & Echolocation

via Slate: Child loses eyes very young, turns to clicking & listening. Yes, his name should be Matt Murdoch.

"Paranoid Style" in American Science

via Slate: Final installment of 3 linked features on the "paranoid style" of journalism, here used to demonize the scientific establishment.

Damn Pishtacos!

via Slate: False police reporting of Peruvian gang that harvests people for their fat, selling it to wealthy americans. Builds on 400-year-old legends of the "pishtaco"

History of Media Tech-scares

via Slate: printing press, early tv, and the internets

On the nature of Luck

via telegraph.co.uk: Interesting discussion/experiment on what makes someone lucky, and how to change that luck.

Skyscraper Vertical Farm

via grinding.be: China plans to build a massive vertical farm. In the city. And it's planned to look pretty.

3d Printing

via grinding.be: More info & links about the impending desktop fabrication boom.

Scrapheap Transhumanism

via h+: Lepht Anonym implants himself with RFIDs & sensors. Why? Because someone has to!

"Performance Murder" profile

via Slate: Joseph Stack, latest in a long line of nutjobs, flew his plane into an IRS building and killed people, including himself. Apparently to "make them pay." Good (if brief) analysis of his manifesto, including comparisons to other performance murderers.

Govt. Poisoning during Prohibition

via Slate: The U.S. government added poison to industrial supplies of various alcohols that were frequently stolen during prohibition. By some estimates 10,000 people died from these poisons during the pro-temperance heydey.

China's "Yi Zu"

China's Ant Tribes: Roughly 1 million recent university graduates working for minimum wage, living in squalid conditions on the outskirts of urban centers. Powder-keg possibilities.