5IT, 11/13
1. How cats became lovable kitties.
"But the most intriguing findings came when the team sequenced the genomes of 22 domestic cats—representing a wide variety of breeds and locations— and compared them with the genomes of two Near Eastern and two European wildcats. The researchers uncovered at least 13 genes that changed as cats morphed from feral to friendly. Some of these, based on previous studies of knockout mice, seem to play a role in cognition and behavior, including fear responses and the ability to learn new behaviors when given food rewards."
2. The ACLU is doing great work tracking the spread of surveillance technology among local governments.
"Sixty-one of 118 California counties employ video surveillance in public places, and 16 have facial recognition capability. Twelve use sting ray technology that can detect a person’s location based on a cell phone signal. (If you’ve never heard of a sting ray, it’s because authorities are careful to keep mum about it.) Thirty-two outfit law enforcement personnel with body-worn cameras. Two operate drones."
3. Beavers, the underrated engineers of the animal world.
"A growing number of scientists, conservationists and grass-roots environmentalists have come to regard beavers as overlooked tools when it comes to reversing the disastrous effects of global warming and world-wide water shortages. Once valued for their fur or hunted as pests, these industrious rodents are seen in a new light through the eyes of this novel assembly of beaver enthusiasts and 'employers' who reveal the ways in which the presence of beavers can transform and revive landscapes. Using their skills as natural builders and brilliant hydro-engineers, beavers are being recruited to accomplish everything from finding water in a bone-dry desert to recharging water tables and coaxing life back into damaged lands."
4. A very solid history of the wrist-worn computer all the way back to the slide rule watch.
"In 2000, IBM displayed a prototype for what was called the WatchPad; a Linux-based, PDA-like watch they hoped to develop with Citizen. The project was cancelled in 2002, though other projects in the same space continued for companies like Sony. Eurotech/Prevus introduced a personal digital assistant called the ZYPAD in 2006. The ZYPAD was called a ‘wrist-worn PC’, could run Windows or Linux operating systems, featured GPS, Bluetooth, and WiFi functions, as well as a touchscreen. It’s large size made it rather unwieldy. Fossil introduced a Palm OS watch in 2003, and other companies created watches using various PDA operating systems like Windows CE."
5. Method Quarterly, a wonderful new publication about "science in the making" has launched.
"While the scientific method is routinely described as a linear path from observation to hypothesis to experiment to discovery, the everyday of scientific labor is much less ordered. It’s a process that’s circuitous, iterative, and often serendipitous. It can involve transcendent experiences of thinking the world into being alongside random accidents and detours. As a result, the realities of science in the making are simultaneously much more mundane—and much more interesting—than what the idealized version of the scientific method might lead us to believe. These ideals also constrain how we define, understand, and talk about science. Science is bounded on all sides by what it isn’t, so often defined in opposition to the messy world of human actions. Science is defined against art, politics, religion, and culture. We’re told it’s not emotional, irrational, mystical, or personal. At the same time, science is criss-crossed by the internal boundaries splintering disciplines, isolating people based on methods, goals, and language."
Today's 1957 American English Language Tip
consummation. For a consummation devoutly to be wished see HACKNEYED PHRASES.
+ Yeah, you definitely hear that bandied about way too often.
The Credits: 1. sciencemag.org / @noahWG 2. wsj.com 3. pbs.org / @wraabe 4. computerhistory.org 5. methodquarterly.com
Learn New Behaviors When Given Food Rewards