Aug 21
SARS feels like as much a distant memory of the 2000s as Sean Paul songs, but it’s very much alive. In fact, it’s breeding in labs around the world—and our own research could trigger the next epidemic. More »
Aug 20
Yelp is a great way to weed out the lousy dry cleaners from the pros and locate various services in your area—but just how much should we be relying on the user reviews that keep this site alive? More »
Aug 17
People sharing drinks love to lay out the facts of life, love, and, of course, liquor. Wouldn’t it be even better if this cocktail science were actually right some of the time? Here are five bits of booze trivia that smart drinkers can use to blow their buddies off their barstools. More »
Aug 16
“Face-Kini” Full Body Bathing Suits Flaunted by Fashionable Chinese Swimmers
Posted in: Today's Chili
If Borat’s cringe-worthy Man-kini is a perfect example of less being more, than its polar opposite, the “Face-Kini”, must mean more is less. First seen on the beaches of Qingdao in northeastern China, the full-body facehugging suits seem to be catching on among women who seek to preserve their pale skin from the tanning sun.
Aug 16
Therapik Bug Bite Relieving Gadget Review: We Can’t Believe This Actually Works [Lightning Review]
Posted in: Today's Chili
Are you being eaten alive by mosquitos? Is the itch driving you completely and utterly insane? Us too! So when we heard about this magic wand that supposedly takes the itch away, we had to call it in to make fun of it. More »
Aug 15
Morphine is just about the best painkiller out there, as any doctor or any person who’s ever been in an accident will tell you. There’s just one small problem—it’s incredibly addictive. But thanks to some researchers from the University of Colorado and the University of Adelaide, we may have outsmarted that propensity for dependency. More »
Aug 15
Cardiio App Uses MIT Tech to Measure Your Heart Rate By Looking at Your Face
Posted in: Today's ChiliI’ve got a heart rate monitor, but it’s tied to a strap that connects wirelessly to my Garmin 500 cycling computer. There are also numerous smartphone apps which can measure your pulse when you cover up the camera and flash with your fingertip. But the Cardiio app for iOS uses MIT technology to measure your heart rate without even a touch, simply by “looking” at your face.
Cardiio measures when your face is reflecting more light and when it’s not, giving you a semi-accurate idea of what your heart rate is without having to strap a sensor to your wrist or chest. The slight increase in blood volume to your face whenever your heart beats causes more light to be absorbed, hence it is less reflected. Using this, the app tracks these changes and calculates your heart rate.
According to one study, the technology is accurate to within 3 beats-per-minute of a clinical pulse oximeter in a well-lit environment. Cardiio is available through iTunes for $4.99 (USD), and is compatible with the iPhone 4/4S, iPad 2 and above and 4th gen iPod Touch.
[via Uncrate]
Aug 15
Every time you wash your hands using antibacterial soap you probably feel good because you’re not spreading bugs. But check the bottle and you’ll probably find the soap contains triclosan—a chemical that has just been shown to impair muscle function in humans. More »
Aug 14
The “Life Light” is a combination lifesaver ring, marker buoy and emergency light that’s powered with renewable energy and a built-in battery. When the sun – and a swimmer in trouble – goes down, the Life Light’s LED light goes on, alerting rescuers to its presence.
Aug 10
The retinoic acid receptor-related orphan receptor alpha, RORA for
short, is a gene that ordinarily protects our fragile cells from stress,
but scientific findings in the last few years have shown that the RORA
gene often shuts down when certain other cells destabilize them. This
study, conducted by Boston University School of Medicine and the VA
Boston Healthcare System, finds yet another psychiatric disorder, post
traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), linked to a breakdown or ‘risk variant’
of the RORA gene.
Who's in charge here?
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.