Mclean Gordon
Let's Raise a Glass to the Clean Water Supply of New York City
How the city gets clean water to its citizens.
Science Explains What's Cool
Two psychology PhD students get into an argument about whether Steve Buscemi's character on _Boardwalk Empire_ is cool or not. One of them thinks he's the coolest, while the other thinks he's too "weasly" and ugly looking. They do some empiricism and...
Immanuel Velikovsky, Einstein's Russian Friend, Argued Jupiter Barfed Out Venus
For the most part, it’s a good call to live out one’s days in denial. It’s a safe bet that the world will not end in the next 100 years, so why should anyone worry about it, since we’ll all be dead anyway? Things have been going along smoothly for...
The True Secret of Being a Multimillionaire Is Selling Junk Magic
The beauty of speculative theories about the nature of life and the world in general is that they can be much more satisfying than good old objective reality, which could leave you feeling like the most logical conclusion is to lie down in the road...
Putin's Porn
A successful political campaign relies on memes that can capture the hearts and minds of the people and turn them into voters. Words like "hope," "change," and "poor people" work, but in Russia, where campaign season is in full swing ahead of elections...
Saving The Planet With Fart Gas
Sulfur dioxide, the stinkiest part of a fart, has the power to reflect light from the sun.
Solving Global Warming With Fart Gas
Imagine a world with balmy, 70 degree weather every single day of the year. Imagine that the sun is shining with only a few picturesque clouds passing by. In a veritable garden of Eden, all varieties of fowls are squawking, warbling and chirping away...
Science Says People On The Frontier Make More Babies
Land ho! "New research shows":http://www.aaas.org/news/releases/2011/1103sp_moreau.shtml that first colonists of new lands produce more offspring than those who remain within the fold. There is something called the “wave front,” which marks the outer...
Screen-on-Screen Violence: Now TV Watches You
As the screens face off, the computer appears to be holding all the aces, as the poor old television stares into a busted hand. Computers are smart. They can track user input and decipher a consumer's interests and tastes. TV is a voice crying alone in...