George Dvorsky

This Timelapse Shows How Napoleon Nearly Conquered All Of Europe

From 1802 until his exile in 1815, Napoleon embarked on several massive campaigns across virtually all of Europe. This new video shows the changing front lines from his position as Consul for Life to his historic defeat at Waterloo. This timelapse was put together by Emperor Tigerstar. The changing frontlines are shown in two-week intervals,…

Charts Show When We’re At Our Most Miserable During the Year

Our moods ebb and flow with the seasons. They also change quite dramatically over the course of a single week. These visualizations show exactly when we can expect to be depressed, anxious, and stressed. These visualizations were put together by Christopher Ingraham of the Washington Post, and he calls them the index of misery. Using…

10 Diseases That Might Afflict Us In The Future

Today, humans suffer from a wide range of diseases and disorders that didn’t exist in the past, a trend that will likely continue well into the future. Here are 10 unexpected and wholly unpleasant diseases we’ll eventually have to contend with. Top image: A scene from Floris Kaayk’s Metalosis Maligna, a short film featuring a…

Skeletons Found In Ancient Cemetery Still Have Shackles On Their Necks

Archaeologists working in southwest France have discovered hundreds of Gallo-Roman graves dating to the second half of the 2nd century AD, with some of the skeletons featuring shackles still strapped around their necks and ankles. The site, which may have been part of an important Gallo-Roman necropolis, is situated near the amphitheatre of Saintes. The…

The U.S. Army is now testing its lightweight warfighter exosuit. The assistive devices could significantly reduce soldiers’ risk to injury and improve battlefield performance. The exosuit, which can cut a wearer’s exertion level by 25% when carrying a 100 pound load, could be ready as early as 2016. Image: U.S. Defense Department

Giving Up Those Late Night Snacks Could Be More Effective Than Dieting

A new study is cautioning against those late-in-the-day trips to the refrigerator. Because the evidence suggests that, when it comes to our health, it’s not just what you eat, but when you eat it. Okay, right off the bat I need to tell you that this study only considered the health benefits of time-restricted feeding…

Why Does Your Microwave Oven Mess With The Wi-Fi Connection?

Wireless devices often lose Internet connectivity whenever the microwave oven is running. Here’s why it happens and what you can do to fix it. The problem is that both microwave ovens and Wi-Fi operate on the same frequency, 2.4 GHz. In theory, a properly shielded microwave shouldn’t leak any radiation, but the reality is that…

This 5-Year-Old Boy Is Battling Cancer Dressed As A Ninja Turtle

Meet Harley Renshaw, a brave 5-year-old from Britain who has created a Ninja Turtle superhero costume to help him face months of grueling treatments as he fights a rare form of cancer. Harley was diagnosed with neuroblastoma, a rare and aggressive childhood cancer, which he is fighting in his kidney, neck, lung, and bones. The…

Stephen Hawking is once again warning about the perils of AI. “The development of full artificial intelligence could spell the end of the human race,” he recently told the BBC, adding that “It would take off on its own, and re-design itself at an ever increasing rate…Humans, who are limited by slow biological evolution, couldn’t…

The British Government Wants To Build A Tunnel Under Stonehenge

In an effort to ease traffic around the region, the British government has announced proposals to bury the A303 highway under Stonehenge. The howls of outrage have begun. Ever since the A344 was closed last year on account of the new visitor center, traffic jams have increased considerably in the area around Stonehenge. The proposals,…

HIV May Be Evolving Into A Less Deadly and Less Virulent Form

It’s possible that HIV’s ability to cause AIDS is slowing. A new paper from Oxford University suggests the disease is becoming less deadly and less infectious over time as it adapts to our immune system and therapies. The new study, which appears in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, shows that HIV’s virulence…

King Richard III’s Remains Have Been Confirmed To 99.999% Accuracy

The case is officially closed on what’s being called the oldest forensic investigation in history. A new genetic analysis is providing incontrovertible evidence that the skeleton found under a parking lot in Leicester belonged to the king, while uncovering new truths about his appearance and lineage. Richard III was the last king of England to…

Behold NASA’s Awesome New Countdown Clock

In anticipation of its new deep space explorer, NASA has unveiled a sleek countdown display at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The modern, digital LED display is replacing the iconic analog countdown clock. The new display, which resembles a stadium monitor, is similar in size to the historic clock. It features a screen nearly…

Why Lawyers Could Become An Endangered Species By 2030

A new report is predicting that robots and artificial intelligence will dominate most legal practices within 15 years, leading to the “structural collapse” of law firms. Expert systems fuelled by sophisticated algorithms, natural language processing capabilities, and unhindered access to stores of data are poised to uproot many well established industries and institutions. And as…

This Wristband Will Zap You With 255 Volts When You Misbehave

For the masochists among you: A U.S. company has just raised $254,133 via an Indiegogo campaign to fund a wearable “personal coach” that shocks you into self-directed compliant behavior. It’s called Pavlok — as in Pavlovian conditioning — a habit changing device that will shock you with 255 volts when it detects undesirable behavior, such…

3D printers are poised to revolutionize the ways face transplants are done. Using a new technique, face replicas can now be made in accordance to bone grafts, metal plates, and the underlying bone structure of the skull. The new procedure is faster and with improved outcomes. Read more at Live Science.

Was Britain’s WWI Blockade The First Atrocity Of The 20th Century?

From 1914 to 1919, the Allied powers restricted the maritime supply of raw materials and foodstuffs to the Central Powers. The policy is often called a key component in the Allied victory, but it resulted in hundreds of thousands of civilian deaths, and introduced the world to a terrifying new kind of warfare. The Great…

Harrowing Video Shows A Fire Truck Clipping The Blades Of A Helicopter

There was a terrifying scene in San Miguel, Chile last night when a fire truck drove through the twirling blades of a police helicopter. The collision caused the helicopter to spin wildly out of control until it eventually exploded in a ball of flame. Earlier in the evening, a police patrol car with three officers…

The Wonder Material Graphene Could Be Used To Make Powerful Body Armor

Engineers in the U.S. have shown that graphene — a remarkable material that’s only 10 to 100 nanometers thick — could make for excellent body armor, absorbing 10 times the amount of energy than steel before failing. Since its discovery in 2006, graphene has been hailed as the next big thing in materials technology. At…

xkcd Explains Why Brain Scans Can Be Misleading

So much of neuroscience is now based entirely on fMRI studies. But as Randall Munroe’s latest webcomic points out, brain scans are not without their limitations. Indeed, as important and illuminating as fMRI studies are, they often don’t tell the whole story. More on this here, here, and here.