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Instagram warns you if posts show harm to animals or nature
Protecting wildlife and sensitive natural areas is hard enough as it is, and it's not helping that every brain-dead tourist wants to post a selfie with a koala bear or dolphin. Starting today, Instagram is making it harder to find such content. If you search hashtags associated with images that could harm wildlife or the environment, it will post a warning before letting you proceed. "I think it's important for the community right now to be more aware," Instagram's Emily Cain told National Geographic. "We're trying to do our part to educate them."
Texting makes kids dumb -- science fact!
Ready for your daily dose of wildly speculative extrapolation and unfounded fear-mongering? Predictive texting is the latest suspect in the ongoing war against things that make children dumb. A new study from Australia's Monash University has shown that predictive texters finish their exams faster and with more errors than others, because of course, when your mobile finishes your words in a text, you expect it to finish your sentences in a test. We jest, and there may be a sliver of truth to this contention, but let's be forthright here -- you could probably do more damage to your brain with a good night's alcohol intake than you can with a lifetime of texting. [Via Switched]
MummyWrap fends off radiation from fetuses
As the ongoing battle between the naysayers and the paranoid continues, Neil Bullock is making sure that those situated squarely in the latter camp have a way to "protect" their unborn child(ren). MummyWrap is a "sleeveless, loose-fitting garment for pregnant women made from a light-weight copper-based cotton fabric known as Swiss Shield," and according to its creator, it can "minimize the risk of electro-magnetic radiation (EMR)" warping your kid's brain before he or she ever sees the world. 'Course, we're not going to step in and suggest that you do / don't need this, but for those who'd rather be safe than sorry, you can order one now for $69.95. As an added bonus, it should go great with your Isabodywear underwear.[Via Textually]
DESK EOS rids your workspace of evil electromagnetic waves
Sure, you may have already been suckered into buying one of those cutesy USB air purifiers before, but Pure Air is hoping to fill up yet another one of your connectors as its DESK EOS fends off evil electromagnetic waves. Of course, this is bound to spark up another one of those "dangerous / not dangerous" debates, but this looks to be the device for you if you're not keen on taking chances. The debatably stylish unit can be had in red, silver, or blue color schemes (shown after the break), and the blue LEDs that glow once plugged in are an admittedly nice touch. Still, you'd probably be better off just holding onto that ???60,900 ($65) and donning a tin foil cap instead.[Via AVing]
Isabodywear underwear fends off cellphone radiation
If you thought donning tin foil caps was excessive, Isabodywear is out to make those contraptions looks mighty mild. While the debate about just how dangerous (or not) cellphone radiation is still rages on, there's certainly a paranoid sect that will snap up anything that claims to "protect them," and this Swiss garb maker is latching onto said opportunity. The briefs are purportedly constructed with threads made of silver, which the company claims will fend off harmful cellphone radiation; moreover, in an effort to really prove just how effective these undergarments are, it suggests that phone calls originated within the confines of your new underwear simply won't connect. Reportedly, 4,000 pairs have been created so far, and for folks willing to give these a try and fill out a survey, the first 500 of you to email in and request one will seemingly have one sent out gratis. There's no word on when you can expect the Slipways to hit the market, but they should sell for CHF29.90 ($24) apiece when retailers start stocking.[Via Textually]
Explosive data mining robots could be sent to hazardous asteroids
Sending robotic creatures into space has become somewhat of a worldwide pastime, but sending explosive robots to take care of multiple acts of business is what Dennis Ebbets of Ball Aerospace in Boulder, Colorado has on his mind. In a recent presentation given to the American Astronomical Society, Mr. Ebbets described a fleet of robotic probes small and cheap enough to "investigate a near-Earth asteroid's composition and structure." The devices would be battery-powered and would only be useful for a matter of days, but during the time it was on the asteroid, it would collect data of the surface, explode, and allow other still-in-tact siblings to "listen for vibrations that could reveal the object's inner structure." Considering that NASA has compiled a list of over 800 asteroids that could be potentially dangerous to our planet due to their orbit, these exploding bots would serve a dual purpose as they erupted on the surface to break up the asteroid or veer it off course, all while collecting precious data about the "inner structures" of these mysterious rocks. Although funding still isn't guaranteed for the volatile critters to take off just yet, as many as six of the 12-kilograms probes could loaded onto a single spacecraft and launched to its destination "relatively cheaply," and if things go as planned, we could see the first of these gizmos gettin' dirty by 2011.
More "proof" that violent video games breed rage
While we've already learned that television shows pull double duty as entertainment and a sedative, and that launching a console with a widely understood shortage hitting stores can cause all sorts of madness and criminal activity to break loose, the last thing we needed was one more "study" claiming that video games breed rage. But nevertheless, researchers at the Indiana University School of Medicine have discovered that "teenagers' brains become fired up" (read: angered) after playing violent video games. A survey using 44 same-sexed humans with "similar IQs and age" showed that a half hour of violent gaming "increased activity within the amygdala (involved in emotional arousal)" while simultaneously decreasing activity in "parts of the brain involved in self-control" -- unsurprisingly, the opposite effects were seen when gamers were forced to play non-violent titles. However, when all the fMRIs were completed and reports were being compiled, the doctors still noted that "further studies were needed to determine whether these physiological changes actually make individuals behave more violently," so until that's proven absolutely, we're sticking to our (pixelated) guns.[Thanks, Nate W.]
Consumer electronics slowly killing the good ole days?
Hours spent frolicking in fields, down at the local YMCA, or simply tossing a baseball back and forth with pops: these are just a few of the things that modern day children are growing less inclined to do, at least according to a hoard of seemingly-distinguished British authors, professors, and counselors. A letter published in today's The Daily Telegraph is encouraging the British government to take action in preventing the "death of childhood" (as it was so aptly phrased), citing concerns that video games, television, and basically anything that attaches to an AC outlet and provides entertainment is destroying the fabled childhood experience that is presumably oh-so-superior to the lives kids are currently leading. The letter apparently showed a desire for kids to have "real play" (as opposed to fake play?), and also expressed worry that the media was warping the brains of youngsters and encouraging them to act like "mini-adults." Regardless of whether or not the "indoor generation" will miss out on the days when TV was a pipe dream and duck-duck-goose made for a thrilling Saturday, we can't envision the government actually declaring a little late-night fragging illegal -- but hey, what do we know? Maybe the kids aren't alright, after all.[Via Slashdot]
