Tag: var-elem

Assassin of Korean dictator’s brother wore LOL shirt

One of the two women suspected of assassinating Kim Jong-un’s brother wore a shirt with “LOL” written on it. CCTV images released by Malaysian authorities show the suspects lurking in Kuala Lumpur airport; reports variously have them using needles or a spray to poison Kim Jong-nam, who died en-route to hospital. In a scene out of a James Bond film, the toxic spray-wielding femme fatales targeted 45-year-old Jong Nam – the globetrotting black sheep of his North Korean ruling class family — in the airport’s departure hall on Monday morning. The women – believed to be North Korean agents – unleashed the noxious fumes in the face of Jong Nam as he waited for a flight to Macau, China. Jong Nam staggered to a receptionist, indicating that he was on the verge of passing out and suffering a mild seizure, police said. Nam would be running the hermit kingdom but for several embarrassing episodes (such as being arrested trying to visit Tokyo Disneyland on a false passport) that saw his younger brother rise in their now-dead father’s eyes. Assassin targeting Kim Jong Un’s half-brother wore ‘LOL’ shirt [New York Post]

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Assassin of Korean dictator’s brother wore LOL shirt

China to require fingerprints of all foreign visitors as new security step

China’s Ministry of Public Security said today that starting on Friday–tomorrow–at one airport then at others, the government will begin recording fingerprints of each foreign visitor upon arrival. China is ramping up security along its borders, according to reports in state media. (more…)

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China to require fingerprints of all foreign visitors as new security step

"Cruelty free" Italian snail-farming booms thanks to caviar and slime-cosmetics

The Italian snail-farming industry has grown by more than 325% over 20 years, driven by a boom in eating snail-egg “caviar” and snail-slime-based cosmetics (which have little-to-no scientific basis) — slime sales are up 46% over the past ten months. (more…)

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"Cruelty free" Italian snail-farming booms thanks to caviar and slime-cosmetics

The story of Indian mathematical genius Srinivasa Ramanujan

In 1913, English mathematician G.H. Hardy received a package from an unknown accounting clerk in India, with nine pages of mathematical results that he found “scarcely possible to believe.” In this week’s episode of the Futility Closet podcast, we’ll follow the unlikely friendship that sprang up between Hardy and Srinivasa Ramanujan, whom Hardy called “the most romantic figure in the recent history of mathematics.” We’ll also probe Carson McCullers’ heart and puzzle over a well-proportioned amputee. Show notes Please support us on Patreon!

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The story of Indian mathematical genius Srinivasa Ramanujan

How to fold a World Record-winning paper airplane

John Collins holds the Guinness World Record for designing the farthest flying paper airplane. The plane, folded from a single piece of A4 paper, flew 69.14 meters in 2012. Harvard University made this video of Collins folding his masterpiece during a recent visit with Harvard’s design engineering graduate students. More designs at The Paper Airplane Guy .

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How to fold a World Record-winning paper airplane

How "I’m not a Robot" checkboxes work

Zuck That says, “Have you ever been on the Internet when you came across a checkbox that says “I’m not a robot?” In this video, I explain how those checkboxes (No CAPTCHA reCAPTCHAs) work as well as why they exist in the first place.” I mention CAPTCHA farms briefly, but the idea behind them is pretty straightforward. If a company wants to create an automatic computer program to buy 1,000 tickets to an event or make 1,000 email accounts, they can make a script that fills out the form one at a time, and when the program gets to a CAPTCHA, it will send a picture of it to a CAPTCHA farm where a low-wage worker will solve it and send the answer back to the computer program so that it can be used to finish filling out the form.

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How "I’m not a Robot" checkboxes work

This maglev quadcopter hints at transportation’s future

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCON4zfMzjU Hyperloop One engineers demonstrate the power of maglev using spinning arrays atop a copper plate. Despite weighing over 100 pounds, the gadget floats and could hold considerably more weight. (more…)

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This maglev quadcopter hints at transportation’s future

Unprecedented: Japan’s population has declined by 1 million in 5 years

Rich countries have low birthrates (in part because they have more rights for women, and women who can control their bodies and fates choose to have fewer children on average than women who live in poor countries with fewer rights for women); Japan, one of the most xenophobic of all the rich countries, has the killer combination of a near-total ban on immigration from poor countries (where all the young people are) and a high standard of living. (more…)

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Unprecedented: Japan’s population has declined by 1 million in 5 years

10 hours of ambient noise from an icebreaker in the frozen arctic

Imagine the horror being trapped in a hostile landscape surrounded by snowflakes that were one objects of amusement but now form a blizzard of menacing proportions. Then smile because you’re not a fascist, and are merely stuck on a polar icebreaking vessel for 10 hours. 10 hours video of Arctic ambience with frozen ocean, ice craking, snow falling, icebreaker idling and distand howling wind sound. Natural white noise sounds generated by the wind and snow falling, combined with deep low frequencies with delta waves from the powerful icebreaker idling engines, recorded at 96 kHz – 24 bit and designed for relaxation, meditation, study and sleep.

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10 hours of ambient noise from an icebreaker in the frozen arctic