Shrinking Americans

Two articles, one from newsday.com and the other from AlterNet, talk about how Americans are losing their height advantage over the rest of the world. Historically Americans have always been taller than people in other places. In 1850 for example, the average American was 2.5 inches taller than the average European. Now the situation has nearly reversed with the average Dutchman being 2 inches taller than the average American.

It's not that being tall actually makes you smarter, richer or healthier. It's that the same things that make you tall -- a nutritious diet, good prenatal care and a healthy childhood -- also benefit you in those other ways.

The double fisherman's knot

Lifehacker links to a video showing how to tie a double fisherman's knot. The video refers to the knot as the impossible knot due presumably to how difficult it is to untie.

A binary counter made of wood

This one is a bit geeky but it is a YouTube video of a binary adder made using wood and marbles.

Swarms

National Geographic has a good introduction to swarm theory.

"Ants aren't smart," Gordon says. "Ant colonies are."

Followup: the article is discussed in this slashdot article

US tries to simulate the world

An article on The Register describes the US Department of Defense's effort to create giant simulations of the world. They aim to have one "node" in the simulation for every person on earth.

via slashdot

The Bank Machine Turns 40

According to this article on the BBC, the banking machine has just turned forty. The first machine was installed at a Barclay's branch in Enfield north London in 1967.

"It struck me there must be a way I could get my own money, anywhere in the world or the UK. I hit upon the idea of a chocolate bar dispenser, but replacing chocolate with cash."

Gooble Maps: Cool New Feature

Google maps has a new feature on its driving directions. After you enter the location that you want directions between, you will get a map showing the route between the two points. Now, if you grab hold of the route you can drag it to include any places that you want to pass though on the way.

Photo: The International Space Station

Astronomy Picture of the Day has a photo of the newly expanded International Space Station.

How to fold a bag of chips

It may not be origami but Instructables has an article on how to fold closed a bag of chips.

Video: Folding Furniture

A video showing some interesting folding furniture. The chairs are ok but I really like the table.

Getting Real - Web Development the 37Signals Way

Getting Real is a book (available free online) from the folks at 37Signals that describes their development methodology. The scheme is similar to Extreme Programming but seems geared more specifically to web development. 37Signals are the people who brought us Backpack, Basecamp and the more recent Highrise.

An Alternate US State Map

Here is a map of the US with the state names replaced by the names of countries that have a GDP similar to that of the state.

via smallist

A Robot to Rescue Wounded Troops

The BBC has an article (with pictures) about a robot called the Bear that is being developed to evacuated wounded soldiers from combat. I'm not sure I buy it - I would have thought a lower, perhaps four legged, robot would have worked better for this - but it is worth a read.

A more practical Grandfather Clock

Here we have a very thin grandfather clock that you can hang on your wall.

via Smallist

The Travels of Humanity

An interesting animation of the movements of humans around the world after their origins in Africa.

via RobotWisdom

Learn languages by podcast

Open Culture has a blog post with a list of podcasts that will help you learn another language.

via lifehacker

Cool Photos: Underwater Tiger

The Daily Mail has an article with some amazing pictures of a tiger swimming underwater.

A Cunning Combination

Network World has an article about a new scheme to replace those somewhat annoying CAPTCHA screens with something that does useful work. In this case the user is invited to help with the digitization of a scanned paper document.

via slashdot

US Intelligence now has its own DARPA

Yahoo News has an article (via the AP) about the IARPA which is a new research agency for the American intelligence agencies. The new agency is similar to the Defence Department's DARPA.

A Robotic Fence

Another robot blog post describes a robotic electric fence that is designed to move cows slowly around a field so they eat the grass in different areas evenly.