Roberto Abraham Scaruffi

In the 07/08/2015 edition: Share Tweet Forward Why Ernest Hemingway was Probably the Most Interesting Man in the World By Tibi Puiu on Jul 08, 2015 11:44 am Ernest Hemingway is famous as one of the greatest American fiction authors. However, his personal life is no less interesting. A tough, hard-driving, hard-drinking, larger-than-life figure who hunts big game on the savannah, cheers toreadors, covers wars and always, always writes. Reading the countless biographies and reports of Hemingway's life, it's easy to lose track of the fact that Hemingway also suffered from some serious mental health conditions. He was a real badass for sure, but he could also be a real prick!Hemingway is also a genuine survivor, too. He lived through anthrax, malaria, pneumonia, dysentery, skin cancer, hepatitis, anemia, diabetes, high blood pressure, two plane crashes, a ruptured kidney, a ruptured spleen, a ruptured liver, a crushed vertebra, and a fractured skull. It seems like the only thing that could kill Hemingway was Hemingway himself. Alas, this was exactly what happened. He believed the FBI would ransack his things and follow him around. This, and other borderline psychotic episodes, prompted his wife to admit him in a mental hospital. There, he received electric shocks until he couldn't remember his name anymore, let alone write. He killed himself shortly after his 36th electric shock. Ironically, the FBI admitted they were following Hemingway and ransacked his belongings. Read article »   New painkillers could be made out of the venom of a killer snail By Tibi Puiu on Jul 08, 2015 11:38 am Cone snails have one of the most dangerous venom in the animal kingdom. This complex venomous soup is made up of thousands of chemicals used both to hunt prey and ward off predators. The venom is enough to kill a human in a matter of minutes. Now, these lethal chemicals could be used to create a new class of painkiller for chronic pain and cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy, according to University of Queensland researchers. The same team also used a genetic and proteomic to find out how the cone snails developed its venom. Apparently, the animals initially used their chemical weaponry as a defense mechanism and later on adapted it into an attack. Read article »   An ancient monkey skull hints to how primate brains might have evolved By Tibi Puiu on Jul 08, 2015 10:03 am Duke University researchers made micro CT scans of the skull of ancient monkey and found its brain, though tiny by modern standards, was far more complex than previously thought. The fossils, discovered in Kenya in 1997, belong to a monkey ancestor who lived some 15 million years ago. Read article »   The stunning biodiversity of New England’s catterpilars By Tibi Puiu on Jul 08, 2015 09:53 am We don’t often think about caterpillars. Caterpillars are generally regarded as voracious eaters and many of them are considered agricultural pests, but beauty lies in the eye of the beholder, and for Samuel Jaffe, they are definitely beautiful.     The furry, fluorescent, grubby little creatures we often find inching along our trees and sidewalks fascinate Jeffe, who takes pictures of them to help Read article »   Why some creatures in the deep sea grow to enormous sizes By Mihai Andrei on Jul 08, 2015 08:39 am Deep sea gigantism (or abyssal gigantism) is the tendency for deep-sea animals, mostly invertebrates, to grow to much larger sizes than their shallow water relatives. But what causes animals to grow so much, and what giant animals can we find in the deep sea? Let’s have a look. When Jacques Piccard and Navy Lieutenant Don Walsh reached dove to a depth Read article »   It’s hard to believe these long-exposure photos of glowing worms are real By Mihai Andrei on Jul 08, 2015 02:25 am   Arachnocampa luminosa, commonly known as a glowworm is a bioluminiscent gnat larva found mostly throughout New Zealand’s caves. The species is generally widespread, although populations are isolated due to the lack of suitable habitat in areas where farming is intense and forests were cut down. The species glows both in its larval and in its adult stages. Both males and females Read article »   Book Review: Decarbonising the World’s Economy By Mihai Andrei on Jul 07, 2015 03:54 pm “Decarbonising the World’s Economy” Editors: Terry Barker, Douglas Crawford Brown Imperial College Press, 376pp | Buy on Amazon We have to make the transition from a fossil-fuel based economy, to a greener, sustainable economy – but won’t that cause economic downfall? That’s a misconception too often repeated by both the media and policy makers. We can tackle climate change and Read article »   Elon Musk Offers Ten Million Dollars to Keep AI Under Control By Henry Conrad on Jul 07, 2015 12:19 pm Elon Musk, the mastermind behind Tesla Motors, SpaceX and Hyperloop, will offer $10 million in grants to fund 37 research projects dedicated to keeping artificial intelligence “beneficial” and “under control”. With the mind blowing explosion of computing and the ever-growing interest in AI, we’re growing closer to the point where we have to ask ourselves whether we’ll still be in control and Read article »   Suidobashi Heavy Industries accepts US’s Megabot Inc challenge for a giant robot duel By Alexandru Micu on Jul 07, 2015 12:17 pm Earlier this month, Megabots Inc issued a video challenge on Youtube to Suidobashi Heavy Industries, to pit the company's' biggest, baddest robots against each other in a duel of giant robots. And grab the popcorn, put the beer on ice and get your geek on, because Japanese robot manufacturer has accepted the challenge from its US competitor, Efe news agency reported. Read article »