Frequency

Hear the ultrasonic scream of this pint-sized primate!

At just five inches long, tarsiers are among the world’s smallest primates. And yet they communicate much like humans, using a wide range of calls to communicate. That’s why it’s so weird that some tarsiers apparently stay completely silent. Tarsiers are like living fossils — a tiny link back to the ancient beginnings of primate…

How does your brain create short-term memories?

The brain’s long-term memory allows us to hold onto experiences long after we initially encountered them. But short-term memory is a more fleeting and mysterious phenomenon, allowing us to hang onto a thought only until we’re distracted by something else. While the basics of how the brain creates long-term memories is decently well understood –…

Orca Ears Inspire Researchers To Build Pea-Sized Underwater Microphones

If you want to make the best equipment to listen to underwater sounds, where should you look? Most people would point you to the sales department of a high-end audio company, but a group of Stanford researchers are looking to Orca whales for their inspiration. Orca whales have ears that can sense a wide range…

Rewriting History Always Leads To Serial Killer Rampages — It’s The Law

Call it the Butterfly Radio: in Frequency, a guy discovers his old ham radio can talk to his dead father, 30 years ago. And this causes endless time-paradoxes, including a serial killer. Good thing the 1960s dad is Dennis Quaid. After talking to Quaid earlier today, we couldn’t help watching him as the 1960s Queens…

Plan My Summer Viewing – And Your Summer Reading

As we head into Spring, one thing becomes obvious: There aren’t that many shows on TV for us to recap anymore. So what should we be watching instead? It’s time for you to tell us. This used to be the point of the afternoon where I’d talk about the previous night’s episode of Star Wars:…

How to Hijack a Fast Food Drive-Thru Frequency

You may or may not remember a video of a hilarious prank pulled a number of years ago involving a bunch of guys hijacking drive-thru window frequencies. Basically, they were able to say whatever they pleased to ordering customers. It is an awesome prank, but just how they managed to pull it off was always…

Set Your Bowel Disruptor To Explosive Diarrhea

For years there have been urban legends about a “brown sound” or “brown note,” a frequency so low that it’ll literally cause you to shit yourself. Not only has this elusive weapon been sought by governments, but it also crops up in science fiction. Just think about what this insidious weapon could do in the…

It looks like a Pennsylvanian has found a way to allow saltwater to burn when it’s being exposed to the proper frequencies. Can you say new fuel source? No? How about “We don’t know if this works or not.” Yea, me too. [Wired]