• Science

    Self-Control is Good, But Only up to a Point

    By Paul Adams Posted on 4.24.2009 6 Comments

    A strange new study found that people who rated high in self-control made good choices among an array of relatively healthy foods -- until a much healthier option was thrown into the mix, at which point self-control seemed to go out the window. Also in today's links: the most delightful creature in the world, the worldwide spread of technology, and more.

  • Entertainment & Gaming

    Apple Store to Serve Billionth Download Today

    By Paul Adams Posted on 4.23.2009 2 Comments

    Here's a shocker: Apple's iTunes App Store is all over the news today. Some of it is good (at least from the company's perspective): The store is about to hit its one billionth download. Apple has even estimated the time it's going to happen down to the minute. Download the milestone application, and you can win some valuable prizes, including a $10,000 iTunes gift card.

  • Science

    A, T, G, C and What?

    By Paul Adams Posted on 4.17.2009 8 Comments

    Turns out life has more essential building blocks to play with than previously thought: researchers at Rockefeller University have discovered a new nucleotide in the mammalian DNA code. Remember good ol' adenine, thymine, guanine and cytosine? Well, the alphabet of our DNA sequence is about to receive a new letter. Meet 5-hydroxymethylcytosine; we aren't sure what it does or where it's located, but we know it's important -- really important.

  • Science

    'Gay Elephant' Is Just the Tip of the Iceberg

    By taylorhengen Posted on 4.15.2009 10 Comments

    "We didn't pay 37 million zlotys for the largest elephant house in Europe to have a gay elephant live there," said Michal Grzes, a conservative councillor in the Polish city of Poznan, Reuters reported last Friday.

  • Science

    A Synthetic Solution for a Legal 4:20

    By taylorhengen Posted on 4.20.2009 20 Comments

    Legal-ish alternatives to marijuana exist, you just need to know where to look…er, smell. Apparently that’s what someone learned when they put the herbal incense brand “Spice” in their pipe and smoked it. The results were, like, totally rad, dude. It turns out Spice contains the synthetic substance JWH-018, which is incredibly similar to the main active component of marijuana. Although sold legally in many countries, governments around the world are lining up to put the kibosh on the Spice party.

  • Entertainment & Gaming

    Levitation and Precession

    By Paul Adams Posted on 4.22.2009 3 Comments

    For a beautiful demonstration of both magnetic force and gyroscopic motion, let's contemplate the Levitron. This novelty toy (which even now sits on my shelf waiting for a quick spin around the block) consists of a magnetic base upon which you spin a magnetic gyroscope. Both the bottom of the gyroscope and the top of the base contain magnetic north poles, and therefore they repel each other. However, try as you might, you'll never be able to balance the magnet above the base without spinning the top. Why is this?

  • Science

    Islam Is Good

    By Paul Adams Posted on 4.21.2009 33 Comments

    British government officials are planning to deploy search-engine optimization in their war on terror, working with certain Muslim groups to push "positive" depictions of Islam up in the Google rankings. Also in today's links: watching your kids like a hawk, living like a pig, and more.



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December 2009: Best of What's New

In our December issue, Popular Science names the 100 best innovations of the year: bombproof wallpaper, self-parking cars, the fastest helicopter, and 97 more. Plus inventor profiles and videos.

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