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People Are Just As Superficial About Robots’ Looks As They Are About Humans’

Depending on a person’s age and the robot’s job, people feel differently about what the robot should look like

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Energy Innovation

This Gadget Charges Your Phone With Fire

A new device uses heat from any fire to produce electricity

A recreation of an ancient English farm

Early Agriculture Nearly Tanked Ancient Europe’s Population

While the rise of agriculture allowed human populations to blossom, it also opened the door for catastrophic collapses

257,000 Years Ago, a Hyena Ate Some Human Hair (And Probably the Rest of the Person, Too)

The brown hyena who originally planted the evidence most likely ate the person, though it could have scavenged on a dead body

These Mice Sing to Mark Their Territory

A lot of things sing to mark their territory - birds, wolves, howler monkeys. But you can now add mice to that list

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People Have Already Managed to Litter on Pakistan’s New Earthquake-Formed Island

A massive earthquake last week created a new island off the coast of Pakistan

Tom Clancy at a book signing at Boston College.

Espionage Thriller Author Tom Clancy Dies

Clancy authored more than 20 books and his final novel, Command Authority, is scheduled for release on December 3

NASA Found Propene, the Chemical Used to Make Your Tupperware, on One of Saturn’s Moons

This new discovery fills in a gap in that chemical line-up, though experts suspect that many more molecular surprises await

How Much Abuse Can a Single Lego Brick Take?

Forget iPads, if you want a long lasting toy stick with blocks

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Early Easter Islanders Ate Rats—Lots of Rats

Perhaps the lack of fish food even explains the orientation of Easter Island’s famous statues, which face inwards toward the islanders’ food source

This Jetpack Could Carry You Twenty Miles And Be On the Market by Next Year

Pilots will have to wear hearing protection along with a helmet, neck restraints, boots and a fireproof suit

Proto Indo-European is thought to be one of the precursor to languages as diverse as English and Hindi.

Hear Stories Read in Proto Indo-European, a 6000-Year-Old Language

Proto Indo-European is thought to be the precursor to many Indian, Asian and European languages

What We Can Learn from Whale Breath

Researchers are trying to culture what comes out of blowholes from whales and dolphins, to see if they can use them as diagnostic tools

Krokodil, a “Flesh-Eating” Heroin Substitute Popular in Russia, Just Showed Up in the U.S.

Desomorphine, a cleaner form of the drug, was first concocted by the U.S. in the 1930s as a potential morphine substitute

Lomboc Island is now a sleepy vacation spot.

The Case of the Mysterious, Thirteenth-Century Eruption Might Finally be Solved

In A.D. 1257 a massive volcano erupted, spreading ash all over the world. The problem is that scientists have no idea where the eruption happened

Occupy Wall Street Has Spawned a Financial Services Group

People affiliated with the Occupy Wall Street movement want to open an Occupy-branded bank

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Ballerinas’ Brains Are Desensitized to Dizziness

Dancers may reshape their brains with years or training, or people who have a natural ability not to fall over may be most likely to become pro ballerinas

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This Site Shows You Every Face on Facebook

There are over a billion people with Facebook accounts, and this site lets you see all of their profile pictures at once

Lysol’s Vintage Ads Subtly Pushed Women to Use Its Disinfectant as Birth Control

As if that wasn’t bad enough, Lysol isn’t even an effective contraceptive

Funding Gaps Have Only Forced Government Shutdowns Since the 1980s

Funding gaps didn’t always bring a shut down of the federal government

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