At any institution of higher learning there will be a teacher whose lectures are boring. It’s not hard to tell when students are bored—they’re usually staring off into space, texting, or sleeping. But some teachers may have lost this ability, having become habituated to a lack of eye contact, and Bi
New research on death days shows that we’re 14 percent more likely to die on our birthdays. The researchers analysed 2.4 million deaths over a 40-year period. Results show there were 13.8 per cent more deaths on birthdays than might be expected compared with any other day of the year. The risk incr
If you’re willing to shell out $20 a month, you can encrypt your phone calls and instant messages with a new app called Silent Circle. The app’s creator, Phil Zimmermann, thinks it’s a service worth paying for. “I’m not going to apologize for the cost,” Zimmermann told CNET, adding that the final p
You’ve probably heard of the videogame that treats depression; now there’s a videogame that teaches scientific reasoning. It’s called Operation ARA and the initial research looks promising. Students learn the skills of scientific reasoning by engaging in interactive dialogs with avatars. They are tu
This vision of Japanese Ronald McDonald as the final boss in Earthbound is even more surreal than the original game. The not-so-subtle commentary on fast food may make its way into your nightmares. video
In early Zelda games, Link had little personality, but he did have a role to fulfill, whether it was as an adventuring son or a fairyless boy. His silence let players more readily identify with him… or so the Art of Gaming 101 puts it. Over at PopMatters, Kevin Dickinson argues that “silent” protag
A hospital brain bank recently accidentally thawed over fifty brains. Luckily, some of the DNA is still intact. The NY Daily News reports that all is not lost: An initial review indicates that the DNA in the samples is intact and can still be used for genetic research. It’s unclear, however, whether
Imagine you’re a game designer obsessed with recreating your games in your apartment, and that you’re looking for a roommate. Beth Newell imagines just such a situation: Future roommates are responsible for buying their own food and should NOT eat anything from the refrigerators in the biohazard con