Just what are probiotics and why are they so good for you? Probiotics are "viable microorganisms" that can confer lots and lots of health benefits if they reach your intestine while they're alive. You may have heard them described as "friendly bacteria." These bacteria aren't ...more
LIFE magazine has posted a gallery of bizarrely wonderful old school scientific models. Don't miss the giant fetus or massive colon (double ew). Behold, science education before computers ruled our world. A girl scout leans in to take a closer look at an enclosed model of the ...more
So cute, so furry, and so chock full of parasites. While raccoons are fun to watch, they are neither friendly nor clean — and they can make you sick in more ways than one. Native to North America, you can find raccoons just about everywhere except for parts of the Rocky Mount ...more
For most Americans, the bane of the hangover is typically remedied by lots of water, painkillers, greasy food, and a day wasted on the couch. But if you're tired of potato chips and fried eggs, perhaps it's time you enter unfamiliar territory. Below, a combination of unorthodo ...more
There's no shortage of ways to filter water, but it doesn't get much simpler than this. Researchers at MIT have found that you can turn dirty water into drinking water with nothing more than a stick. Mechanical engineer Rohit Karnik figured out that the xylem tissue in plants ...more
Need to know how to solve function problems in algebra? From Ramanujan to calculus co-creator Gottfried Leibniz, many of the world's best and brightest mathematical minds have belonged to autodidacts. And, thanks to the Internet, it's easier than ever to follow in their footst ...more
If you've already read the first part exploring what geniuses actually eat as opposed to what the rest of us are told to eat for brain health, you've noticed that there are some big discrepancies. Instead of favoring healthy, wholesome foods high in antioxidants, lots of high- ...more
Body hacks. So simple, so ingenious. They're the shortcuts in life. We love them, the internet loves them. Back in 2008, somebody named Alicia Goh wrote a friendster blog post that has been passed along far and wide. Her tricks of the body include quick solutions for an itchy ...more
Cast-iron cookware breeds a strange kind of obsession. When I got my first pan, I spent untold hours seasoning, cooking, researching the best non-soap methods to use for cleaning, and re-seasoning that thing. Finally, I became exhausted by the whole process and realized that y ...more
In the race to outsmart "untreatable" antibiotic-resistant gonorrhea, one of the three new treatments on the track is about to enter Phase 3 clinical trials. Hopefully, it'll be widely accessible sooner rather than later, for the 78 million people who are diagnosed with gonorr ...more
Palm reading can be complicated because chirognomy, the study of the mounts of the hand, sometimes contradicts chiromancy, the study of the lines of the hand. For that reason, it's best to do a reading as a whole. In this particular video palmistry tutorial, Peter John explain ...more
Need a little help with your math homework? No problem, the Math Centre offers students video tutorials that will provide as a reference guide for self-study. Students get self-study resources targeted to the needs of individual courses, and teachers gain generic mathematics s ...more
We might never truly know all of the colors behind old and classic black-and-white photos, but thanks to technology, we can get a pretty accurate colorization. Although Photoshop is a popular way to colorize these images, you can now use your iPhone, along with a nifty shortcu ...more
Biting into a perfectly ripe mango is living proof of nature's goodness. The flesh is at once creamy, smooth, tart, and sweet. Plus they're incredibly good for you. Don't Miss: The Best Way to Peel a Mango A study led by Dr. Edralin Lucas, an associate professor at Oklahoma ...more
While you might suspect your MacOS computer has been infected with malware, it can be difficult to know for sure. One way to spot malicious programs is to look for suspicious behavior — like programs listening in on our keyboard input or launching themselves every time we boot ...more
Check out this instructional math video that demonstrates how to solve ratio problems. In the 14th lesson, learn how to solve SAT problems using the Official SAT Study Guide. Here are the math problems and their page numbers that this video covers: - p472 #6 - p843 #16 - p535 ...more
You just sat down, coffee in hand, and the day is ready to start. Now that you have taken a few sips, let me pose a question: What is living in that coffeemaker of yours? The answer might make you dump that coffee down the drain pronto. Extremophiles are rugged microbial indi ...more
Need help figuring out how to remove fractions from linear equations in algebra? Learn how with this free video lesson. From Ramanujan to calculus co-creator Gottfried Leibniz, many of the world's best and brightest mathematical minds have belonged to autodidacts. And, thanks ...more
Stuck on one side of a river or ditch? If you are stranded with no other way to get to your destination you will need to build a bridge! Without many supplies, your best bet is a beam bridge which can be made with just a single piece of wood. This video will show you how to ge ...more
Before there was Gray's Anatomy, physicians and medical students used anatomical flap books to explore the inner workings of the human body—a scientific illustrated guide that takes its name from the moveable paper flaps that can be "dissected" to reveal hidden anatomy underne ...more
It has been a long while since I last came here to write an article. Graduate school keeps you busy. After I looked over what I had written previously, I decided that I should introduce another fun topic from cryptography. In this case, steganography. In this article, I will ...more
Autodesk Maya, affectionately known as just Maya to its users, is a 3D computer graphics software that makes it easy to create impressive, realistic models of real-life - or imagined - objects. Super useful for graphic designers, film makers and web designers, the program is o ...more
Whether scheduling meetings, events, tasks, or even keeping tabs on the weather, a good digital calendar can help you stay on top of your game in ways that a normal calendar could never do. Indeed, there are many calendars to choose from, but Google Calendar is one of the best ...more
From Ramanujan to calculus co-creator Gottfried Leibniz, many of the world's best and brightest mathematical minds have belonged to autodidacts. And, thanks to the Internet, it's easier than ever to follow in their footsteps (or just finish your homework or study for that next ...more
If I told you that people who use emojis in their conversations have more sex than plain-text users, would you believe me? According to a recent study launched by Match.com, men and women that use emojis have more sex than those who do not. If you were looking for an excuse to ...more
With the macOS stager created and the attacker's system hosting the Empire listener, the malicious AppleScript can be designed and disguised to appear as a legitimate PDF using a few Unicode and icon manipulation tricks. A real PDF is required for the attack to work. Files ov ...more
See how to unpack and solve a word problem containing radical equations with this free video math lesson from Internet pedagogical superstar Simon Khan. From Ramanujan to calculus co-creator Gottfried Leibniz, many of the world's best and brightest mathematical minds have belo ...more
From Ramanujan to calculus co-creator Gottfried Leibniz, many of the world's best and brightest mathematical minds have belonged to autodidacts. And, thanks to the Internet, it's easier than ever to follow in their footsteps (or just finish your homework or study for that next ...more
With a predicated increase in the number of Lyme disease cases in the coming spring season, new research endorses the use of bait boxes to control ticks on the rodents that serve as their hosts. With cases spread across the country from coast to coast, Lyme disease is particu ...more
Garlic isn't just a food, it's a legend. It's been found in the pyramids of Egypt and is referenced in the Bible. Hippocrates, the father of Western medicine, prescribed it regularly, and it was given to the first Olympic athletes in Ancient Greece to enhance performance (tak ...more
Welcome back, my novice hackers! It has become clear from some of your questions that quite a few of you are unfamiliar with the hexadecimal system, or simply, hex. The hexadecimal system is used throughout computing and if you have never studied this Base16 numering system, ...more
Back in the '80s, NASA and the Associated Landscape Contractors of America did a study where they discovered which houseplants were the most effective in purifying the air in space facilities. Though you may not be living in a rocket ship, you can definitely benefit from havin ...more
Whether you're a serious, sweating athlete or just need to recover after a night of drinking, chances are you've replenished your body's fluids with a sports drink at some point. Those electrolytes aren't the only thing entering your systems, though. Sports drinks are sugary, ...more
Welcome back, my tenderfoot hackers! As hackers, we often are required to get past antivirus (AV) software or other security measures. To do so effectively, we need to have some understanding of how AV software works. In this tutorial, we will take a cursory view of how AV so ...more
Could you use a little help figuring out how to find an unknown angle in a paralellogram? Watch this free video geometry lesson. From Ramanujan to calculus co-creator Gottfried Leibniz, many of the world's best and brightest mathematical minds have belonged to autodidacts. And ...more
Typically taught during the elementary school years, cursive writing builds on the letter formation of block letters or printing. The pencil doesn’t leave the paper in cursive writing and letters flow together. If you don't know how to do this, check out this video tutorial. L ...more
Russian cyber disinformation campaigns have many missions, but one of particular interest is using technology to monitor, influence, and disrupt online communications surrounding culturally sensitive topics or protests. The ability to watch these events, and even filter positi ...more
Welcome back, my budding hackers! As I have mentioned many times throughout this series, knowing a bit of digital forensics might keep you out of a lot of trouble. In addition, digital forensics is a burgeoning and high paying career. Some knowledge and certifications in this ...more
Need help figuring out how to find the equation of a line given a single point? Learn how with this free video lesson. From Ramanujan to calculus co-creator Gottfried Leibniz, many of the world's best and brightest mathematical minds have belonged to autodidacts. And, thanks t ...more
Check out this instructional math video that demonstrates how to solve a number sequence. These are basically a list of numbers, and there's a pattern to figuring out which number will come next. In the 15th lesson, learn how to solve SAT problems using the Official SAT Study ...more
While we've already covered several good ways to tame the itch of a mosquito bite, you're much better off preventing them from biting in the first place than dealing with the itchy aftermath. Unfortunately, commercial mosquito repellents smell terrible and can be rather expen ...more
What do Leo Tolstoy (writer), Beethoven (composer), Paul Gaugin (artist), and Adolf Hitler (politician) have in common? They are all considered to have suffered from the sexually transmitted disease syphilis. With the incidence of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and se ...more
This video lesson demonstrates how to find the lowest common multiple/lowest common denominator (LCM/LCD) using factor trees. From Ramanujan to calculus co-creator Gottfried Leibniz, many of the world's best and brightest mathematical minds have belonged to autodidacts. And, t ...more
Yogurt is more than an excellent source of protein, calcium, and gut-healthy probiotic bacteria. A protein isolated from probiotic lactobacillus bacteria in yogurt is capable of inhibiting drug-resistant bacteria. Rachelle Allen-McFarlane, a doctoral candidate at Howard Unive ...more
Scenario: it's late at night, the roads are completely empty and you are stuck at the longest light ever. Solution: don't run a red- change it to green yourself. Avoid a ticket, save yourself some time (and perhaps a little gas). Many of you may have already seen Kipkay's ins ...more
The squiggly guys in this article's cover image are Propionibacterium acnes. These bacteria live in low-oxygen conditions at the base of hair follicles all over your body. They mind their own business, eating cellular debris and sebum, the oily stuff secreted by sebaceous glan ...more
It's funny to us that so many Victorian makeup looks done for Halloween emphasize heavy, dead makeup with lots of deep plums and reds because the Victorians wore little to no makeup (women were basically considered whores if they wore rouge). But we do love how authentically ...more
Many of the beauty products you buy at drug and department stores are loaded with potentially toxic ingredients like parabens, while their active ingredients are made of things like glycolic, lactic, malic, and alpha hydroxy acids and retinoids, which are all derived from food ...more
Palm reading can be complicated because chirognomy, the study of the mounts of the hand, sometimes contradicts chiromancy, the study of the lines of the hand. For that reason, it's best to do a reading as a whole. In this particular video palmistry tutorial, Peter John explain ...more
There are many, many home remedies out there for relieving itchy mosquito bites. Everything from mud to banana peels and basil leaves to Alka-Seltzer tablets can help curb the itch. But before you even have to resort to any of those methods, you should be thinking about preven ...more
Crusty, itchy, red eyes? There is a decent chance you could have conjunctivitis, or pink eye, an infection of the thin lining around the eye and the eyelid, caused by bacteria, an allergen, virus, or even your contact lenses. Whatever the cause — you call up your doctor to get ...more
A recent study in Canada concluded that competitive Scrabble players are twenty percent faster than non-Scrabble players at identifying real words on a Scrabble rack. In light of this news, this week's challenge is actually just a game of Scrabble Sprint from Pogo.com. See ho ...more
The art of persuasion is a very crucial characteristic that anyone can learn, and it has countless benefits. Whether it's at work, home, or in social situations, the ability to be veritably persuasive can have an unheralded impact on your daily life. Convincing others to do y ...more
Did you know that your face shows others how much alcohol you drink? Whether you've never had a sip of booze with those around you or you're known as the party animal of the group, the genes that shape your appearance also show others just how much you enjoy liquor. Pinpointin ...more
The 2011 Toronto International Scrabble Open (TOSI) took place last weekend, with former World Champion Adam Logan beating out all of the human competition for the $3,000 grand prize. But when it came time to take on the Quackle program in the Human vs. Computer Showdown, he l ...more
Minor mishaps occur all the time in the kitchen, whether you cut your finger while dicing an onion, scorched your hand in a grease fire, or burned the roof of your mouth because you were to eager to taste-test your killer pasta sauce. While the old standbys of ibuprofen, band ...more
Interested in knowing how to find the ratio of a geometric series? See how it's done with this free geometer's guide. From Ramanujan to calculus co-creator Gottfried Leibniz, many of the world's best and brightest mathematical minds have belonged to autodidacts. And, thanks to ...more
Sitting in a cubicle and never seeing sunlight during the workday is unpleasant to even think about—and sitting in a flourescent-light cube can have terrible effects on both our work performance and overall attitude. Yet there are ways to counteract the effects of cubicle sitt ...more
There is a huge myth that most Americans believe, and it might be the marketing triumph of the 20th century. We pay an absurd markup (Zero Hedge says as much as 280,000% for "designer" water) on something we can get for free because most of us believe that bottled water is hea ...more
I'll admit it: I ignore expiration dates. No matter if it's a sell-by date, "best if used before" date, or even a use-by date, I don't care. I just check for signs of food decay and keep on eating. Not everyone is as lax as I am about expiration dates, though. Some people tos ...more