CES 2016, Smart Guns and the Power of Cheese - Today on HowStuffWorks NOW

Jan 07, 2016 09:41 pm   Today on HowStuffWorks NOW   Is This How Ant-Man Controls His Ants? You were a soldier ant. Each day you mostly did that job until one day a scientist came along, jabbed a needle into your brain and your behavior changed.       Whey to Go: Behold the Power of Cheese, Literally Dairy waste product gets second life as biogas in — where else? — France.       Obama Is Ordering a Push for Smart Guns. So What Are They? On Monday, the White House released new executive actions it's taking concerning gun violence, and smart guns are part of that push.       Kia Throws Its Hat Into the Autonomous Vehicle Ring at CES One of the coolest things it's working on? Driverless valet parking, or a system that can drop you off at the curb and then find its own parking space without you.       In 'Star Wars' Entire Stars and Planets Get Destroyed — Is That Possible? Starkiller Base in 'The Force Awakens' swallows stars and blows up entire planets like its Death Star predecessors. Could a man-made device ever actually do that?       Clear Plastic Bubble Would Let Aircraft Passengers Enjoy View from Outside Windspeed Technologies' proposed SkyDeck could offer an external, 360-degree view for airline passengers, and could be a luxury add-on to existing airplanes.       3-D Printed Bikes and 4K Camera Drones! HowStuffWorks Visits CES Unveiled HowStuffWorks cruised the CES Unveiled event like kids in a candy store. Here's what they got excited about.       Fluency in Bad Words Indicates Good Vocabulary Overall A recent study shows that the more creative a person's use of profanity, the better their overall vocabulary.       Is the Affordable Care Act Changing the Ties Between Doctors and Big Pharma? In the U.S., drug companies can't legally pay doctors to prescribe their drugs, but they do find ways to put money in doctors' pockets. Will the ACA change this?       Robots Are Rare in the Construction Industry, but That Could Soon Change Unlike many other industries, construction hasn't yet been revolutionized by automation. But pretty soon, robotic workers may do everything but tote a lunch pail.       This Sponge-filled Syringe Could Save Your Life It's not easy to treat a person who's hemorrhaging. Especially if that person isn't near a hospital. A cool, new tool could change the outcome of that scenario.       Rejoice! Quebecol, Found in Maple Syrup, May Have Anti-inflammatory Properties One day doctors may say, "Take two pancakes and call me in the morning." The maple syrup molecule quebecol and its derivatives may have anti-inflammatory applications.       We Owe It All to Radio: The Inside Story of CES Jammed with more than 170,000 attendees in 2015 and packed to the gills right now, the ginormous consumer electronics event wasn't always this big and crazy.       Underwater Icicles Are Salty, Weird-Looking and Deadly Underwater icicles, also called brinicles or sea stalactites, form when super-cold brine meets normal seawater. The sub-zero phenomenon can kill some sea life.       Equality in Alcohol? Gender Differences in Drinking Are Shrinking in U.S. And the U.S. isn't the only country where this gender gap is closing.       Sony Will Retire Betamax in 2016. Wait, That Hasn't Happened Yet? The Japanese electronics company retired its Beta VCRs in 2002, but has still made cassettes. That will all change come March, when the "format wars" come to a quiet end.     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

The Private Space Race, Ridiculous History and Traveling the World on Foot - Today on HowStuffWorks NOW

Jan 04, 2016 02:31 pm   Today on HowStuffWorks NOW   10 Fascinating Facts about the New 'Tree of Life' Evolution Chart The newly developed family tree of Earth's 2.3 million species is a first draft of the 3.5-billion-year history of evolution.       Why the Next Few Years Will Be a Boom Time for the Private Space Race The commercial space industry is entering a growth spurt, with companies cutting costs with reusable launch vehicles, and governments joining forces with entrepreneurs.       One Crazy Odyssey: Traveling Around the World … on Foot Sometimes you need to take a walk to clear your head. For one man who circumnavigated the globe, that walk lasted more than a decade and stretched nearly 50,000 miles.       Distance Runners Are More Desirable Aside from being fit, male endurance athletes may have an evolutionary advantage by simply being more attractive to the opposite sex. Let's look at the science behind it.       Ridiculous History: H-Bombs in Space Caused Light Shows, and People Partied Rainbow parties in the 1960s may sound like good fun, but the frivolity actually centered around an H-bomb radiating the Earth's atmosphere.       We're Creating More Reusable Rockets. Here's Why That Matters SpaceX. Blue Origins. Private companies are creating rockets like the Falcon-9 and New Shepard to revolutionize our relationship with space.       How Drones Can Protect Us From Sharks — and Sharks From Us People are going to go into the ocean. Sharks are already in the ocean. What can we do to help minimize problematic encounters? Maybe it's time to send in the drones.       So Now Bling Means Blink, Drake? How Hip-Hop Pushes Linguistic Evolution From fleek to bling to hood, hip-hop and teen culture influence the evolution of American and global English.       Swiss Startup Wants to Tattoo You With Ink Made from a Loved One's Hair Biogenetic ink could be a way to honor living family or remember the deceased without using ashes and remains. Switzerland's Skin46 looks to launch in 2016.       The 15 Most Astounding Images from the 2015 World Beard & Moustache Competition Waxed up and ready to go? Austria hosted this year's global beard competition, and beardsmen showed up in droves with follicle feats of architecture and style.       This Ship Hopes to Be the First to Drill Beneath the Earth's Crust The JOIDES Resolution expedition launched in early December to drill into the Earth's mantle under the Indian Ocean and gain new geological and biological knowledge.       Certain Adolescent Brains Can't Stop Gaming. That's Good and Bad — Here's Why The brains of diagnosed compulsive gamers operate differently from the rest of us, mostly in beneficial ways, but sometimes in negative ways.       10 Times 'The Force Awakens' Nods to the 'Star Wars' Prequels Think "The Force Awakens" only references the original "Star Wars" trilogy? Think again. If you pay attention, you'll see that it's also full of prequel nods.     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