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How Facebook Could Skew an Election
Open Facebook today and you’ll see a public service announcement of sorts. “It’s Election Day,” proclaims the text. “Share that you’re voting in the U.S. Election and find out where to vote.” Then...
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Thank Cyclists, Not Drivers, for Early Road Improvements
Before he became one of Wayne County's first road commissioners, Edward N. Hines was a cyclist. He would take long rides out of Detroit, into the country. Sometimes, he had a particular goal: The woman...
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Adventures With Technology: Home
As we enter the holiday season and the twilight of 2014, we’re thinking about what it means to be home, to come home, to make a home, and to feel at home. And so, we’re again opening the doors of our...
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The First Plastic Football Helmet Often Broke on Impact
It didn't take long for people to figure out that football was dangerous. From close to the beginning of American football, innovations in helmets were associated with the risk of devastating head...
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Your Spirit Animal: An Investigation
What is your spirit animal? Is it the manatee? Is it the snow leopard? Is it Beyoncé perched upon a bear in the manner of Vladimir Putin? Perhaps it is the goldendoodle (because you are friendly and...
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The Future of Plutonium
On November 6, 1944, researchers at the Hanford Site in Washington first created weapons-grade plutonium, the radioactive element used less than a year later in the Fat Man, the atomic plutonium...
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Are Americans Afraid to Talk About Their Faith Online?
Professions of faith are never not a big deal. Even preachers and imams and rabbis, who get paid to talk about God, share something intensely personal when they talk about their religious beliefs. Most...
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Translating the Web
The giants of the connected world are finally waking up to one of the biggest obstacles in their stated missions of connecting billions more people to the Internet: the language barrier. This week...
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This Is How Planets Are Born
Spectacular clouds of dust and debris whirl around a cosmic womb some 450 light years away from Earth. A planetary system is born. And now astronomers can bear witness to the stellar scene unlike ever...
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A Little Ship Just Saved the International Space Station
In a week that seems to be at least partially dedicated to space movies, the International Space Station—and the six very real humans living within its confines—just had a Hollywood-worthy moment. The...
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Aluminum Was Once One of the Most Expensive Metals in the World
Charles Martin Hall was 22 when he figured out how to create pure globs of aluminum. Paul Héroult was 23 when he figured out how to do the same thing, using the same strategy, that same year. Hall...
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The Good (and the Bad) of Twitter's New Bid to Stop Harassment
Is the Internet a safe space for women? It’s a huge question—yet, more and more, the answer seems to be a clear no. Last month, online abusers drove female video game critics and developers out of...
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Facebook's Ebola Donate Button Is Admirable, But Flawed
After donating $25 million of his own money to help fight the spread of Ebola, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg now wants 1.3 billion of his closest friends to chip in. Today, Facebook is installing an...
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Space Is Filled With Orphaned Stars
For billions of years, galactic train wrecks have scattered stars across the cosmos. Alone in space, the celestial orphans only dimly light their drift through the blackness. Now, after detecting the...
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Is It Wrong to be Hooked on Serial?
What is it about the murder-mystery podcast Serial that makes it so gripping? This question has come up in conversations a lot lately, mostly with other journalists who, like me, instantly got hooked...
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The Resurrection of the Dodo
Alas, the poor dodo. All that remains of this extinct flightless bird’s legacy are a single complete skeleton and a synonym for “dimwit.” But from those bones, researchers may now be able to recreate...
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The Brain Makes Its Own Ghosts
When I was little, whenever I climbed a flight of stairs in the dark, the climbing quickly turned to running. About halfway up the steps, every time, I was overcome with an unshakeable certainty that...
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This Cyborg Cockroach Could Save Your Life Someday
Researchers at North Carolina State University say they've capitalized on the resilient nature of cockroaches by turning them into cyborgs that will assist in rescue and relief efforts by fitting in...
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Grammar In Space: Are Satellites 'In Orbit' or 'On Orbit'?
An astronaut blasting into low Earth orbit likely has many things on their mind. Is my seatbelt strapped? Did the booster rocket ignite? Did I leave the front door unlocked this morning? They are...
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How Numbers on Facebook Change Behavior
A "like" on Facebook is a treat. You get a little red pop-up on your notifications icon, you see the little box on the lower-left corner of your screen describing the like, and you get that warm,...
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