Denizens of the Dirt: A Map of Microbes Across California
I’ve recently been working on a new project with Ellie Harmon about dirt. Ellie hiked the Pacific Crest Trail last year, the 2,663 miles from the US border with Mexico to the border of Canada.
The Best Bracket Big Data Can Build
March Madness isn't over, but one thing is certain: no one is going to win "Buffet's Billion." Before even half of the NCAA college men's basketball tournament games had finished, every bracket entered into Yahoo's contest to win a billion dollars had at least one red strikethrough.
Linda Avey on Open Access and 23andMe
With 23andMe in the news this week, I thought it was a good time to share something I’d never published before. It’s a short interview with Linda Avey, co-founder of 23andMe.
Squirtle, I (Should) Choose You! Settling a Great Pokémon Debate with Science
In the fall of 1998 I stole a Pokémon trading card in Shanghai, China. It was a Kadabra, I remember now. It was slipped discretely from a child’s backpack and into my pocket.
Why Facebook Users Are Probably Not Committing “Virtual Suicide” in Droves
Do you have a friend who has sworn off Facebook? Not taking a break, but someone who has completely severed ties with the online social networking platform and the connections it houses?
Turns Out There IS Something New Under the Sun
If there is anything new under the sun it has to be this – and delightfully, it’s the domain of the moon. This spectacular table by Adrien Segal captures tidal data collected from San Francisco Bay for the duration of a full lunar cycle, 29 days in April and May of 2006.
If Only Pinterest Would Show Me More Ads… Said No One, EVER.
I want so badly to love Pinterest, but we just don’t seem to be compatible lovers. My initial objection to their service was the cavalier way in which they claimed rights to creative work displayed on their site (almost certainly a relic of being a new startup and writing the broadest terms of service they [...]
NSA and the problem of distinguishing good ideas from bad ones
Noted historian of technology George Dyson has a thought-provoking piece in Edge where he takes government surveillance to task, not just on legal or moral grounds but on basic technical ones.
A week in space: Cassini dips down to Enceladus, a solar flare erupts, Discovery moves, and more
If I lived elsewhere in the multiverse, this is the news and cool space stuff I’d have been covering this week. Unfortunately, in this universe I didn’t have the time.
Damage from Extreme Weather Increasing
Hurricane Irene is part of a worsening trend. Weather disasters have grown more frequent and more costly over the past 30 years in the U.S.,
The High-Performance Pioneer
Jim Gray, the missing Microsoft computer scientist, helped craft technologies that make the building of gargantuan databases practical