1. Logistically, how does the US military pull out of Afghanistan? 

"Command centers packed with arena-style seating, video-conferencing systems, and giant screens for monitoring the war. First-aid stations and hospitals outfitted with operating theaters, CT scanners, and MRI machines. And miles of generators to power it all. Along with traditional weaponry, like howitzers, mortars, and Apache helicopters, we dispatched miniature robots, thermal imagers, electronic listening systems, and blimps to keep watch over bases. And drones—big ones flown by pilots back in the States and small ones so easy to operate that young grunts could launch them single-handedly from remote outposts. We tossed in vehicles too. We shipped over thin-skinned Humvees, and then armor to fortify them. When those proved no match for IEDs, we sent out new armored trucks called MRAPs (for "mine-resistant, ambush protected"). And then we spun out several generations of those as well. We brought over backhoes, cranes, excavators, and earth movers. SUVs and John Deere Gators. Container handlers with tires as big as a man and giant claws that could hoist shipping containers."

2. They advertise it like this: "Simply Become Immortal."

"It works like this: while you’re alive you grant the service access to your Facebook, Twitter and email accounts, upload photos, geo-location history and even Google Glass recordings of things that you have seen. The data is collected, filtered and analysed before it’s transferred to an AI avatar that tries to emulate your looks and personality. The avatar learns more about you as you interact with it while you’re alive, with the aim of more closely reflecting you as time progresses."

3. Apparently, there is a whole subculture of long-duration ambient sci-fi listening experiences.

"Listening to any one of these pieces rapidly becomes a dual listening experience. On the one hand, it can transform a space – much more than a poster on one’s wall, say, or even watching a film or TV episode, the ambience suggests and fills the location, turning the mundane into something a little more adventurous, mysterious, call it what you want. That experience is, of course, informed by knowledge of the subject – if you recognize the ambient sound, there’s the pleasure of knowing its context. But on the other level, the act of looping, extending and otherwise transforming what would normally only be the aural bed of a scene – and presumably a short scene for the most part, Stanley Kubrick’s 2001 being the possible exception – turns that mood moment into a new kind of composition."

4.  The cutest little robots built at a nuclear laboratory.

"In 1996 researchers at Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, N.M., developed tiny robots to investigate the miniaturization of mechanical systems. They sought to demonstrate the feasibility and learn the limitations of using commercially available components to assemble tiny autonomous mobile vehicles. About one cubic inch in volume, MARV housed all necessary power, sensors, computers and controls on board. It was the first robot of its kind made at Sandia and among the smallest autonomous vehicles anywhere. On a custom track, the four-wheeled MARV detects and then follows a buried wire carrying a fixed radiofrequency (a 96 kHz signal). To accomplish this, the robot employs two Sandia-designed sensors to measure the relative strength of the radio signal. Based on the signal, the on-board computer decides where to move and directs two drive motors to steer toward the signal. Approximately 300 lines of computer code control the vehicle."

5. The effect of perceived avatar fitness on game-playing ability.

"We investigated how manipulating self and opponent avatar weight (normal vs. obese) affected people’s physical activity in real life as they played an exergame. While playing virtual tennis, female players operating a normal weight self avatar were more physically active relative to those using an obese self avatar."

Today's 1957 American English Language Tip

dent. A variant of dint (influenced by indent), an impression in a surface such as is made by a blow with an edged or sharp instrument. In fig. use, dint is still sometimes used. Dents in the wall, a dint in her character.

The Credits:  1. fastcompany.com 2. bbc.com 3. redbullmusicacademy.com / @terminalave  4. dp.la 5. sciencedirect.com / @danielah

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