Monday, March 13, 2006
- Hate mornings? You can now wake up to cool blue electroluminescent bedding and the automated smell of frying bacon instead of harsh lamps and alarm clocks. The blue bedsheets look especially nice - like a cross between a "CSI" crime scene splattered with biological fluids, and a basement psilocybe grow tray. Also see: Matty Sallin's "Water Sparks" interactive dinoflagellate exhibit.
- A 2002 The Stranger article by Dan Savage on "The Chicago El: It's big, it's loud, it's dirty, and it's dark - so how come everyone in Chicago loves it?"
- Searchscapes is an experiment in three-dimensional mapping, using the Z-axis to display websearch results for geographic locations in Manhattan; it's a somewhat odd cousin to the concepts used in GIS.
- Bad news for beef lovers, good news for people that love country music song titles: Alabama Cow Has Mad Cow Disease, The Government Says
- A recent study has found that using human growth hormone to boost the adult height of short-but-otherwise-healthy kids (as opposed to children with endocrine problems) results in total average height gains around two inches, but at a price of over $50,000 per inch. Earlier studies have posited that taller folks (especially taller men) earn more than their shorter peers, but economically speaking, is a $100k-plus investment in growth-enhancing medication to grow two inches taller "worth it" in the long run? [JAMA Pediatric Archives via Slate] What I haven't heard much mention of is the role of psychology and self-esteem in the earnings equation - do taller people earn more because employers wish to pay more solely on the basis of workers' height (unlikely), or have many taller people learned to be more self-confident, leading to more opportunities for advancement?
- Archetypal rocker (and current BBC-2 radio show host) Suzi Quatro has a
boldkick-ass new album, "Back to the Drive," [import-only in the U.S. at this time] that both revisits her crunchy rock 'n' roll roots and incorporates a diverse palette of newer songs (it's co-produced by Sweet guitarist Andy Scott). There's also a nice interview with her over at BBC-4 Woman's Hour [streaming RealAudio, with podcast available] - Color blind individuals now have a new tool to help them navigate the world of color-intensive computer displays: EyePilot, a software-based solution developed by Boston-based Tenebraex, allows users to navigate their screens with customized labeling and alerts for troublesome hues. [WIRED]
farkleberries Links du Jour 143: The Glow in the Dark Edition
