Daughter Wanted Mermaid Doll For Christmas. She Got It, And Cocaine
“When they removed Pearl’s head to repaint her offensive skin, they found 2 ounces of cocaine stuffed in her head,” said Elizabeth Faidley.There was one item Ellie Faidley desired for Christmas more than anything in the world — a baby mermaid doll. Thereby her mother, Elizabeth Faidley, was set on granting her wish. Faidley’s quest…
2019 in review: More Arab revolutions, but how much change?
Big protests felled more autocrats in the Middle East, as America squared off with IranDec 26th 2019IT HAS BEEN nine years since the self-immolation of Muhammad Bouazizi, the Tunisian fruit-seller who despaired over corrupt officials and the lack of work. His act inspired the “Arab spring” uprisings that toppled the leaders of four countries. No…
2019 in review: trade wars and tech battles
Politics and technological disruption fray the economic orderDec 25th 2019THE OVERARCHING story of 2019 was trade—to be precise, trade war. China’s rise, technological innovation and above all the protectionism of America’s president, Donald Trump, forced companies to rethink supply chains, especially within NAFTA, the three-country block that for a quarter-century knit America, Canada and Mexico…
Guy Implants Tesla Key In His Hand So He Can Unlock Car With A Wave
A man from Utah has ingrained a key under his skin so he’s able to log onto his computer and unlock his Tesla by waving his hand.Ben Workman owns cybernetic implants, which are computer chips integrated under the skin that permit you to perform various functions, news outlets say. Reportedly, Workman has four chips in…
Armed with smartphones, Colombians are taking on the local mozzies
Jul 6th 2019IF YOU SEE a pothole, smell gas or step in water from a burst main, you can report the details online immediately. Smartphones mean that any concerned citizen can help keep a city’s infrastructure in proper repair—in theory. In practice, a nudge is sometimes required. And in the case of a project organised…
How to make a better raincoat with tiny “water bowls”
Jul 6th 2019A FEW YEARS ago Kripa Varanasi, a researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, made the news with a ketchup bottle that could be emptied without leaving any of the ketchup behind. Instead of sticking to the bottle’s interior, the sauce was repelled by it.Superhydrophobicity, as physicists call this effect, involves peppering a…
Beetles and flies are becoming part of the agricultural food chain
Jul 6th 2019SOME VISIONARIES hope that insects will play a big role in future human diets. Insects are nutritious, being packed with protein. Unlike hot-blooded mammals and birds, which use a lot of energy to keep themselves warm, they are efficient converters of food into body mass. And in some parts of the world they…
A team of chemists are searching for a new red pigment
Jul 11th 2019HUMANS ARE creatures with sophisticated colour vision, so the market for pigments is big—about $30bn a year. In this marketplace, however, not all colours are equal. In particular, bright reds, much desired for their attention-grabbing qualities, are tricky to make, and each of the existing options has flaws.The especially vivid reds made from…
A new type of engine for electric cars
Jul 11th 2019AT THE DAWN of the motor industry one of its pioneers, Ferdinand Porsche, caused a sensation at the Paris World Fair in 1900 with a vehicle driven by a pair of electric motors incorporated into its front wheels. This arrangement allowed the Lohner-Porsche (pictured above) to dispense with cumbersome belts, chains and gears.…
The oldest known Homo sapiens outside Africa was Greek
Jul 11th 2019EARLY HUMAN fossils are so rare that each new discovery may rewrite the textbooks. A chance find two years ago in Morocco, for example, pushed the origin of Homo sapiens back to at least 315,000 years ago, from a previous minimum of 260,000 years based on remains found in South Africa. Now, as…