FYI: Could Scientists Really Create a Zombie Apocalypse Virus? View Photo Gallery Maybe, but it's not going to be easy.
In West African and Haitian vodou, zombies are humans without a soul, their bodies nothing more than shells controlled by powerful sorcerers. In the 1968 film Night of the Living Dead, an army of shambling, slow-witted, cannibalistic corpses reanimated by radiation attack a group of rural Pennsylvanians. We are looking for something a little in between Haiti and Hollywood: an infectious agent that will render its victims half-dead but still-living shells of their former selves. See our gallery of real live zombies in nature. The Department of Homeland Security's Favorite PopSci Posts. The Department of Homeland Security is carefully watching the internet.
They search through publications like this one (actually, specifically this one: we've been on the DHS watch-list for awhile), as well as all of our public social media lives, for possible "Items of Interest," which they find by searching for a whole bunch of sometimes-ridiculous keywords. (Animal New York rounded up a bunch of them.) It got us wondering: We write about a lot of security and military stuff here at PopSci. What's the DHS reading on our site? We filtered out our traffic to hits originating from DHS.gov, and found that, yes, the Department of Homeland Security reads PopSci. 1. Published: May 19, 2011DHS Hits: 762 The Department of Homeland Security is particularly touchy about discussion of disasters, natural or otherwise, as well as emergency assistance and preparedness. 2. 3. 11 Ways Science and Technology Are Waging War on Winter 4. Can Treating Your Life As a Game Make You a Better Person?
101 Gadgets That Changed The World - Top 101 Gadgets of All Time. 74.
Safety Razor King Camp Gillette did not invent the safety razor--that honor goes to the Kampfe Brothers, circa 1880--but his company, founded in 1901, quickly became the foremost name in facial hair removal. Advanced manufacturing methods, low prices and shrewd promotion--for example, Gillette arranged to have his safety razors issued to every American soldier during World War I--changed the practice of shaving from the exclusive domain of skilled barbers to an everyday act that any man could perform from the comfort of his own bathroom. And according to Gillette, his blade saved money and time, too. From the March 1918 issue of The Gillette Blade: "Every razor sold by the Gillette Company represents a saving of half an hour of time spent in a barber shop, without saying anything about the money paid for service and tips.
Apple media event whispers: iPad 3 shipments already en route to U.S., possible pre-orders, two new products? Photo of iPad 3 units being loaded on planes?
(thanks @sonnydickson) Some new tidbits are coming our way as the days until Apple’s next major announcement dwindle down. The first item of note is a purported shipping document for iPad 3 units. The document appeared on Twitter-like website Sina Weibo, and it is highlighted by Apple.pro. The origin seems to be in the WeiPhone forums. Apple working on enhanced A5 chip (A5X) AND completely new chip (A6) Apple’s new iPad processor will likely offer improved gaming performance Typically, when Apple’s product launched approaches, many industry watchers offer conflicting views on the features the new products might sport.
Fifth-generation iPhone rumors mostly conflicted in terms of the product’s design, but industry watchers seemed to agree on features like an improved camera and a dual-core processor. With the upcoming iPad 3, most industry watchers agree on a design similar to the iPad 2′s design and a Retina Display. Notably, publications are disagreeing on the new iPad’s processor; some are pointing to a quad-core A6 chip and others are calling for an improved A5 dual-core chip. Why, though? While trustworthy publications like iMore and Bloomberg both independently said the new iPad will sport a quad-core chip (also, we found quad-core chip references in iOS 5.1 beta code), The Verge reported the iPad 3 will feature an enhanced dual-core chip that sports an improved graphics engine. Apple Gives Shareholders More Input; Will Facebook Get the Message?
Images by Wired's Jim Merithew At its annual shareholders meeting on Thursday, Apple’s management bowed to pressure from key investors and agreed to allow shareholders to elect board directors by a simple majority vote.
Now any new or current director standing for election who fails to receive support from a majority of shareholders must resign his or her position. At next year’s shareholder meeting, the company’s bylaws will be changed to reflect the new policy. Apple’s current directors all received votes of over 80% signaling shareholder approval. CEO Tim Cook’s popularity was the highest, at 98.15%.