• Science

    Bill Nye vs. Intelligent Design

    By popsci Posted on 4.7.2006 135 Comments

    Bn_globe_1 His show stopped producing new episodes nearly eight years ago, but it seems that Bill Nye the Science Guy (Bill! Bill! Bill! Bill!) isn't submitting to B-level TV-celebrity status just yet. A mechanical engineer who studied at Cornell under Carl Sagan, Nye has much more under his belt than his beloved educational show; he engineered a hydraulic device for Boeing that is still used on the 747 and a special sundial used during the Mars Exploration Rover mission.

    Now it seems he's busy touring small-town America, giving sold-out lectures for charity and ruffling a few feathers with criticisms of intelligent design in the process .

  • DIY

    Cure for the Failed Credit Card Swipe: It’s in the Bag

    By Dave Prochnow Posted on 11.26.2007 35 Comments

    If youve ever stood at a checkout line and frantically swiped your credit (debit) card again and again, only to see error messages, try this little trick: Slip your bashful card inside a plastic shopping bag (typically hanging right next to the card swipe reader). Smooth out all wrinkles and ensure that the bag is tight and taut on the magnetic stripe side of the card. Now swipe your card/bag combo through the card reader. Success! The plastic bag adds just enough thickness to your card for a persnickety card reader to accept. —Dave Prochnow

  • Science

    Pakistan Accidentally Hijacks YouTube

    By Abby Seiff Posted on 2.25.2008 2 Comments

    All across the globe yesterday, users tried and failed to get their daily dose of yawning kittens and manic explosions. The problem? Pakistan accidentally hijacked YouTube. It started when the government of Pakistan tried to limit access to a video critical of Islam. In order to keep its citizens from playing the clip, reportedly a portion of an inflammatory film by the Danish Dutch politician Geert Wilders, Pakistan Telecom had local Internet service providers block the site by rerouting users—instead of getting the video site, they'd hit a blank page.


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February 2012: The Future of Fun

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