Hear and Now: Robots Are Getting Soft - Today on HowStuffWorks NOW

Aug 29, 2016 09:10 pm   Today on HowStuffWorks NOW   Hear and Now: Robots Are Getting Soft Plus, Microsoft Excel is sometimes autocorrecting science, and Seattle is looking to address its opioid problem by opening safe houses for drug use.       This Tree Is Europe's Oldest Living Organism — Sort of, Kind of, Maybe Saying what the oldest thing alive is can be tough, because you have to define "alive" as well as "thing." But still, this Greek tree's got serious years.       Airports That Float What do you do when you're out of land but want to expand an airport? Try building on water.       Keeping Zika Out of the U.S. Blood Supply The FDA is recommending that all blood donations start being tested for Zika virus in the next 12 weeks. But what about the blood already on hand? What happens to that?       Cannibalistic Ancient Shark Ancestors Devoured Their Own Young The eel-like Orthacanthus, a precursor to modern sharks, may have turned to cannibalizing its own babies in times of crisis.       Gay Termites Plot the Death of Kings A solo male termite isn't long for this world, but a pair of them stands a much better chance. Once united, that pairing can become deadly for other male termites.       The Two Months That See the Most Divorce Filings Year after year, there are two months where people file for divorce the most. But why? A new study has an interesting explanation.       Not a Coffee Fan? That Could Be Genetic New research indicates a genetic variation may affect how quickly the body breaks down caffeine, affecting the frequency of a certain craving.       Octobot Is a Squishy, Cute, Autonomous Robot And someday soft-bodied bots like this could slither in and out of your belly and revolutionize biomedical technology.       Chemtrails Can't Be Proven, Say Top Scientists — But Will That Sway Believers? Top atmospheric scientists say there's no evidence those lines in the sky are part of some sinister government plot. But will that dissuade conspiracy theorists?     Copyright © 2016 InfoSpace LLC, All rights reserved. HowStuffWorks, 675 Ponce de Leon Ave, Atlanta, GA 30308 Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list

Dolla Dolla Bills Y'all: The Real Business of Fake Movie Money - Today on HowStuffWorks NOW

Aug 25, 2016 03:53 pm   Today on HowStuffWorks NOW   Dolla Dolla Bills Y'all: The Real Business of Fake Movie Money Companies that make prop money for movies and videos have to walk a fine line between making cash that looks realistic, but not crossing into counterfeit.       Wrapped Feces Allow Baby Lobsters to Safely Devour Live Jellyfish Hosts Consider the lobster feces: a new discovery about a midgut membrane and how lobsters consume toxic sea nettles could help develop more sustainable farming practices.       Hold Thy Horses: Shakespeare's First Folio Is Touring the U.S. The First Folio is pretty much thee book that gave us Shakespeare. And now you may be able to see it for yourself.       Excel Is Autocorrecting Scientific Research. And That's Not Cool After surveying thousands of published genetics papers, researchers found nearly one-fifth had errors caused by Microsoft Excel in their supplementary files. Uh-oh.       New Analysis Suggests Existence of an Unknown Ancient Mayan Astronomy Genius The introduction of a single "Copernicus" math whiz who charted the cycle of Venus in the Dresden Codex has scholars rethinking what they know about the Mayan calendar.       Seattle Considers Creating Heroin Safe Zones The city could become the only place in the U.S. to have safe zones where heroin addicts could use drugs under medical supervision.       Postage Stamp-sized Device Traps More Solar Energy to Purify Water Faster The big problem of cleaning water quickly and cheaply might just have been solved, thanks to this tiny gadget.       We Know Far Less About Sharks Than You Might Think Think science has sharks all figured out? Think again. We still have so many unanswered questions about the aquatic marvels.       Closest Exoplanet Yet Confirmed By European Southern Observatory And guess what? Proxima b, our nearest rocky exoplanet cousin, is in the all-important habitable zone, too.       Duck, Duck, Booze: Bird Herds Handle Pest Control at South African Winery A South African winery is employing a band of feathered guards to protect from invaders, and these runner ducks are eating up the enemy.       Got a Backup Plan? Think About Ditching It Yep, that backup plan may be getting in the way of you achieving your dream.       How Much Pee Is in Your Pool? Urine for a shock when you learn how much pee is in the average public pool. Even Olympic swimmers admit to peeing in the pool -- just like you and me.       Today Is Equal Pay Day for Black Women in the U.S. On average, black women in the U.S. workforce earned $0.37 less for every dollar a man in the U.S. workforce earned in 2014. That's a pretty big wage gap.       The Tiny Fox Saved From the Brink of Extinction Thanks to the work of conservationists, these rare California island foxes have been removed from endangered species list and marked totally recovered.       Extinct Marsupial Lions Killed Prey in a Really Weird Way The method this ancient carnivore employed is unlike anything we see in predators today.     Copyright © 2016 InfoSpace LLC, All rights reserved. HowStuffWorks, 675 Ponce de Leon Ave, Atlanta, GA 30308 Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list