In my opinion the English language is currently diffy two words. First, the fear that having checked into your hotel room you will pull back the shower curtain in the bathroom – extended for hygiene purposes – and discover a dead body in the bath, courtesy of some horrific Coen Brothers-like murder. The second missing…
Category: Science & Tech
What are you looking at?
Computers may rival human visual analytical ability for the first time Fans of the Where’s Wally picture books (known as Where’s Waldo in the United States and Canada) have for years searched for their hero with nothing but a keen eye and herculean dose of patience. Readers are challenged to locate their man along…
MH370: Searching for answers
The search for missing Malaysian airliner MH370 began afresh in a new area last year. I wrote about it for The Economist at the time (see here). It has been reported today that debris consisting of a wing part and, possibly, a suitcase that may have come from the plane has washed up on Reunion island, thousands…
Hitting home
AFTER falling in love with European coffeehouses on his wanderjahr in Germany in1971, Brian Olson started importing espresso machines to America. Today his three Café Intermezzo outlets in Atlanta employ 150 people and take in $7m a year. But in 2013, after fake credit cards were used in one of his restaurants, his card payment processor…
Gastrophysics is changing the way we understand food
A staple ingredient of many science fiction movies is the ‘food pill’; a small tablet containing all of humanity’s daily nutritional needs. Whilst not light years from reality, this glimpse of the future fails to acknowledge the important social benefits humans derive from food and communal dining. But food alone is thought to be only…
Crime prediction and detection: exploiting mobile phones and twitter
How far should one’s front door be from the road to minimise the risks of burglary? Aviva, an insurance company, say this “goldilocks distance” (not too much, not too little) is six metres. Any less may invite opportunistic vandalism; any more and determined ne’er do wells could get up to mischief unseen. It is one…
addingtonWord 