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Random Articles - RAW 160603


Welcome to yet another curated edition of Random Articles across the Web. I really like the idea of the first article Why Everyone Needs to Read (More) Science Fiction, however I felt that the author could have said more, but it's still a good discussion starter or way to kick off further thinking on the subject.  If you have some ideas on Why Everyone Needs to Read (More) Science Fiction then please let me know, here in the comments or via Twitter, I'd be happy to hear them.
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Well sit back with your favourite beverage and enjoy reading this weekend.  Perhaps you want to try a NovelTea.... Don QuixoTea or my favourite The Picture of Earl Grey :)








Why Everyone Needs to Read (More) Science Fiction


Want to think better, learn faster, kick more ass and save the world? There’s a genre for that. Some people think science fiction is the bastion of nerds, geeks and a milieu of maladjusted social cripples who just can’t come to grips with the real world.
Those people are wrong. And one day they’ll probably work for someone who’s read or reads science fiction. Read more...


I Bought A $600 Lamp. Now I Read More Books.


Or, why lamps are more valuable than TVs.
The only lamp I had was a crappy IKEA one. My old roommate gave it to me when I moved out and didn’t have any furniture. It didn’t cast light evenly on my books, so I often found myself leaning over the edge of my armchair just to read.  I prefer not to develop the posture of Quasimodo, so it was time to find a different lamp. Read more...


Six Books That Explain The World Of Today


As technology is eating the world everything is becoming increasingly complicated. One could say that we are in troubled waters. Or that we know nothing. That’s good news for explorers. And for people who like to read. We do. If you do too, these six books will give you a comprehensive understanding of the world as it is now and where it is heading. Read more...


2007 OR10: Largest Unnamed World in the Solar System


Dwarf planets tend to be a mysterious bunch. With the exception of Ceres, which resides in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, all members of this class of minor planets in our solar system lurk in the depths beyond Neptune. They are far from Earth – small and cold – which makes them difficult to observe, even with large telescopes. So it’s little wonder astronomers only discovered most of them in the past decade or so. Read more...


Jupiter's Moon: Europa's Ocean May Have An Earthlike Chemical Balance


The ocean of Jupiter's moon Europa could have the necessary balance of chemical energy for life, even if the moon lacks volcanic hydrothermal activity, finds a new study. Read more...


NASA Finds 1,284 Alien Planets, Biggest Haul Yet, with Kepler Space Telescope


The number of known alien planets has just gone up by more than 60 percent. NASA's Kepler space telescope has discovered 1,284 new exoplanets, including nine rocky worlds that might be capable of supporting life as we know it, astronomers announced today (May 10). This is by far the largest haul of alien planets ever unveiled at one time. Read more...


Computers Might Beat Us At Board Games, But That Doesn’t Mean They’ll Take Over The World


It shouldn’t surprise us when computers beat humans at board games. They can, after all, store and rapidly analyse hundreds of millions of moves, and work out the implications of strategies hundreds of moves ahead, something no merely human player can manage. But AlphaGo is different. Experts in Go strategy report that it (I initially wrote “he” …) played in non‑obvious ways, making unusual, sly and even bizarre moves that only belatedly revealed themselves as tactically worthwhile. Read more...


DHL’s Tilt-Rotor ‘Parcelcopter’ Is Both Awesome and Actually Useful


Earlier this year, a small robotic helicopter flying through the Bavarian Alps made more than 100 deliveries between two villages that are within yodeling distance of each other but so far from anything else that they may as well be on Mars. Read more...



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