Would YOU kill the Fat Man?  Here’s an interesting discovery concerning how fluency in language affects our ability to make moral decisions.  Brains are neat!  And weird!

Speaking of brains, how would you like to fly a plane using yours?  Err, I mean JUST using yours. I hope if you’re a pilot you typically use your brain in addition to your hands.

An interesting article on biology and the space between order and chaos.  True nerd fodder.  Mmmm delicious fodder.

Here’s a very handy article on rules/tips for learning any language (relatively quickly).  No, it’s not an ad for Pimsleur.

And here’s an article about DARPA’s (that’s the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) work developing brain implants to help treat post-traumatic stress disorder.

Ever wondered what the inside of the internet looks like?  Surprisingly, it’s not just a series of tubes!  Very cool look at the physical architecture that supports all this datums running around out there.

A beautifully-crafted twenty-sided die … from second century BC.  Clearly we’ve been playing role-playing games since  the dawn of history.

Interesting legal discussion around the “right to be forgotten”, with the EU telling Google it has to delete links to sensitive information at a user’s request.  I guess it’s only interesting if you care about that sort of thing, but the “right to be forgotten” is one of those phrases that just might spark some story ideas.  Maybe not an interesting story, but you know.  You never know until you write it!  Or until you start writing it and then realize it’s not interesting!  This is way too much chatter about this one link!

The US military is working on developing robots with morals.  Mmm technological philosophy.  I wonder how long it’ll be before drones start questioning their existence and/or getting paralyzed by indecision over The Right Thing to Do.

Here’s one of the most effective cautions against blindly trusting charts and “data” I’ve seen.  It’s not so much what the data say that’s a problem so much as what we sometimes assume they say.  Data. Plural. Datums.  Though judging by this chart, the datums clearly show that Nicholas Cage’s acting is killing people, which totally lines up with my suspicions.

Here’s a cool Indiegogo campaign to create solar roadways.  Solar panels you can walk on, drive on, park your tractor on, all kinds of things.

Honey just might be helpful in the fight against antibiotic-resistant bacteria.  Something something joke about sweet!  Thanks, bees!

But if that doesn’t work, hey at least vampires were (are?) on to something!  Young blood apparently IS better for you!

The US Air Force is looking for a better Space Fence.  Tracking all the junk floating around our planet is complicated, and the legal issues around cleaning it up are even more so.  In other news, I plan to start a company specializing in space janitorial services. That’s as far as I’ve gotten in the planning though.

Scientists have created the first living organism from artificial DNA!  We now have a lab-created half-synthetic organism that can replicate itself (as long as it has help from its scientist buddies). Self-replicating synthetic organisms not found in nature? What could possibly go wrong!  Science is awesome!  And terrifying!

Speaking of which, some cool first steps towards a computer simulation of the human body.  Could theoretically be useful for predictive/preemptive medical treatment for when, say, a self-replicating synthetic organism not found in nature somehow enters your bloodstream.

I’ll be sitting down with the fine folks who run Carolina Book Beat tomorrow morning from 10-11AM to talk about books and writing and things! You can tune into WCOM 103.5 or catch it later at http://wcomfm.org/

It’ll be my first ever radio appearance, so who knows what might happen!  Shenanigans!  Hijinks!  Nervous mumbling and spilling of beverages on the console!

As part of NASA’s SpaceApps Challenge to create wearable technology for future space travelers, Team Reno decided to make a functional Pip-Boy 3000 of Fallout 3 fame.  Further evidence of science-fiction inspiring reality!

Scientists have developed an “off-switch” for neural activity!  Which could be helpful for things like studying and/or treating epilepsy! Or making that annoying person at work stop talking to you!  Maybe not that.  But hopefully!

It’s conventional wisdom in engineering that you can’t improve both stability AND maneuverability.  Just don’t tell the glass knifefish that!   Cool research that could have impact on design and control systems, particularly for robots.

An ad campaign from a Swedish energy company used an Oculus Rift virtual reality headset to simulate what it’d be like to live real-life with lag.  This will not be a revelation to anyone who’s ever had a couple of beers.

Here’s a pen that lets you doodle in the air.  Using 3D printing technology, it’s sure to entertain all your co-workers when you start writing “kill me now” over and over again during your next 3-hour planning session!

Talented fellow Chase Holfelder sings the Star-Spangled Banner in a minor key.  Very cool treatment of one of my most favoritest songs of all time because MERICA.

How about a brain implant that could restore lost memories?  Great application for folks dealing with Alzheimer’s or traumatic brain injuries.  Also, one step closer to implanting false memories so we can go all Total Recall!