Category: technology

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People Shared Their Ode to Cool Libraries

Libraries are amazing, and they rarely get the credit they deserve.

My library for sure got me through the pandemic with a steady supply of ebooks.

They do so much for the most under-served areas of our communities every day.

So it was great to see Buzzfeed do a roundup of Reddit posts from the r/mildlyinteresting subreddit, entirely dedicated to library awesome-sauce!

Here are 18 of the most exciting things going on in libraries these days.

1. Cone of Silence

Keeping people quiet has always been an uphill battle for librarians, especially in a world of group projects and shared technology.

Cell phones just add to the trouble because people don’t always police their own etiquette and when you can be reached anywhere, you WILL be reached anywhere.

Now you can take your calls in private!

My local library has vault you can go into to talk on your phone. from mildlyinteresting

2. Self Monitoring

Like I said – group projects.

Sometimes it’s necessary to talk in the library.

And that’s okay, just don’t be screaming about it.

For those who need a little help with keeping an eye on their volume, technology can help!

Click on the image to see the full effect!

My school’s library has noise-level guides that change colour when it gets too loud from mildlyinteresting

3. Secret Complaint Line

Neighbor’s not monitoring their own volume?

Loud cell phone conversations interrupting your flow?

You don’t have to handle it yourself, and this library doesn’t expect you too.

This sign at my University with the number for the library police. from mildlyinteresting

4. When All Else Fails

Grab a pair of ear plugs while you wait for the librarian to sort the loudmouths out.

My library gives out earplugs on the silent floor from mildlyinteresting

5. Stools For All

Libraries are more than just a quiet place to work in solitude these days.

Now, instead of having to find a workroom with enough space for your group, you can just pull up a chair from anywhere.

Take one literally right off the wall!

My university library has a wall where you can quite literally take a seat from mildlyinteresting

6. Try It Before You Buy It

Or maybe you are working alone, but you need to be moving around.

Well now you can!

I have always wanted to try a standing desk or a treadmill desk, but I couldn’t quite commit.

Being able to do this once in awhile, throughout a long writing day, would be amazing.

Basement floor of my campus library has a treadmill with a computer, so you can exercise & study at the same time. from mildlyinteresting

7. Up-Cycle Aesthetics

When you’re tired of working and walking, this library invites you to put your feet up–on old discarded books!

Had a volunteer help me make these stools out of our discarded books for new library seating. from mildlyinteresting

8. Bee-Hive Yourself

If you need a break from working, mosey on down to the children’s section and check out this incredible living bee exhibit!

My local library has bee hive in the kids section, with a tube that leads to the outside. from mildlyinteresting

9. Bottoms Up

Libraries are changing, but they still have a great selection of books to check out.

They’re also finding unique ways to get books into the hands of eager readers.

Like turning the books on the lower shelves so that you can read the spines without doing squats.

The library places the books on the lower shelves on their sides so the titles are easier to read. from mildlyinteresting

10. Don’t @ Me

Librarians are also the best at coming up with clever book display ideas.

All to help books find readers, and readers find books.

When libraries troll their patrons. from pics

11. Spy On Your Neighbors

What better way to find your next big read than to check out what other people are reading too?

Word of mouth always was the best way to find the next great thing.

Library has "Recently Returned" section so you can see what other people have been reading from mildlyinteresting

12. LibGuides to Tough Topics

They’re sensitive to the fact that sometimes you need a book you don’t want to ask for, and not everyone knows how to use the catalog to find it on their own.

This library has a directory for topics people might be embarrassed to ask for. from mildlyinteresting

13. Surprise Me

For when you just don’t know what you WANT, but you know what you LIKE.

Because sometimes you don’t have the time or brain space to decide.

Let a librarian do it for you.

At my library you can pick up bags of books in a certain genre without knowing what those books are from mildlyinteresting

14. Marathon Movie Night

Sometimes you want to have a marathon, but you can’t get all the things.

Well now you can.

This library has grouped them together into marathon kits so you can binge to your heart’s content.

My library loans out themed "Binge Boxes" from mildlyinteresting

15. Book 1A Please

Available 24-7, book vending machines really are a thing now.

They’re quick, easy, convenient, and freaking brilliant!

This train station has a library book vending machine from mildlyinteresting

16. Rolling Library

If you thought the book vending machine was cool, check this out.

Libraries have always been great about meeting people where they are.

Remember book mobiles?

Well now there are libraries built into actual subway trains! BECAUSE WHY NOT?

This subway car in Seoul has a mini library from mildlyinteresting

17. Not Only Books

I’ve heard of libraries that will let you check out art prints to hang on your wall.

Well this library has figured out a cool niche.

After all, how many times is your kid going to want the Darth Vader birthday cake?

At this library in Philadelphia you can rent cake pans from mildlyinteresting

18. It All Adds Up

The value of libraries is continually debated and called into question.

You can’t put a number on many of the services, like story time for the kids and reading groups and meeting spaces and community events.

But some libraries are fighting back, finding ways to remind us just how much they are worth, when it IS quantifiable.

Amazing!

My library receipt shows how much money I’ve saved. from mildlyinteresting

I love these posts, and I think maybe “cool library things” need a dedicated subreddit all their own.

Everyone has a library story. Share yours in the comments!

The post People Shared Their Ode to Cool Libraries appeared first on UberFacts.

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People Talk About Things That Sound Futuristic but Are Happening Right Now

The future is now, people!

While it might seem like crazy inventions are a long way off, we’re already living in it!

And we’re about to get some inside info.

What sounds futuristic but is happening now?

AskReddit users shared their thoughts.

1. Robots.

“It’s quite phenomenal how much certain industries have developed their robotics.

You just don’t see it in your everyday life, but places like Amazon and pretty much all mechanical-related businesses are developing robotics at an insane rate.”

2. Didn’t see it coming.

“I still feel a tiny bit blindsided by lab-grown meat suddenly being commercially viable. Would not have predicted that one.

Those drone light-shows too. What year was it where radio-controlled drones just kind of showed up, and became commonplace?

I think around 2015 was when they really “took off.””

3. It is a big deal!

“Private companies launching rockets into space like it’s no big deal. You can literally walk outside one night and think “what tf is that???”

And someone will tell you “oh that’s just the latest Space X launch.” And you go about your business.”

4. There you go.

“My 2 yr old daughter, walking around the house following and talking to a robot while it vacuums our house.”

5. Pretty insane.

“I have a device that fits into my pocket.

I can get virtually every bit of information produced by the human race if I know what buttons to push.

It’s also voice-activated, so I can just talk to it and figure out when my flight leaves or where the nearest fresh tomatoes are being sold.”

6. Seeing double.

“Scientist have already managed to clone a living thing.

And it happened around 25 years ago.”

7. Open Sesame!

“Automatic doors.

I remember seeing the first 6 Star Wars films many years ago (I’m 18 now) and playing the Lego games of it and I remember thinking to myself how cool the sliding doors were.

I understand they’ve been around for so long, but recently it just came to me that they have automatic doors just like in Star Wars.”

8. Scary.

“In China, they are using AI to identify Uyghur Muslims from the rest of the population.

It detects “classic Uyghur features” based on complexion, and facial features.

It’s the worlds first instance of “automated racial profiling.””

9. Weapons of war.

“Saw the recent news of the Israeli-Hamas conflict, including footage of Iron Dome being used.

I remember seeing the prototypes of that system in a “future weapons” documentary on TV years ago, but was never really sure if or when it entered active service

So yeah, we have rockets that shoot down other rockets now and might have for years already.”

10. Antimatter.

“The fact that humans are capturing and containing antimatter for study is amazing.

The fact that we can store it longer than a year at a time is extraordinary.”

11. That’s crazy.

“Facebook is integrating occlus rift support.

I’m not sure what’s available to the public, but in-house, they are having 3d meetings like in Star Wars. They can project and manipulate a screen in 3D like the 3d map in the first Ray movie. It doesn’t wrap around you yet, it hovers in front, but it will.

My friend works for FB in the AI dpt. The first software I tried out was a demo for medical education. I saw a life size human and I could use gestures to look at his different body systems, right in front of me, like on the Holodeck.

You turn the system on by holding up your palm like a wizard and an interactive sphere appears on your hand.”

12. Gene editing.

“CRISPR gene editing. People’s genes can literally be edited.

Basically, people get this enzyme called Cas9 (a nuclease) inserted into their DNA somehow (don’t know how, maybe an injection?) and Cas9 slices the target strand of DNA open, allowing a sequence to be taken out and replaced with something else which can then be transcripted into RNA, translated into a protein, and used in the body.

It’s mostly being used right now for gene therapy, stuff like sickle cell anemia, and agriculture but it’s crazy to think about what it could be used for in the near future. It’s kind of controversial because people don’t like the unnaturalness of it (like people’s dislike of GMOs), and I can see their point, I just think it is very intriguing and revolutionary, and I will be interested in seeing what happens with it in the future.”

Now it’s your turn to sound off.

In the comments, tell us about things you know about that sound futuristic but are happening now.

Thanks in advance!

The post People Talk About Things That Sound Futuristic but Are Happening Right Now appeared first on UberFacts.

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People Discuss Inventions They Think Did More Harm Than Good

It’s fascinating to think about what inventors might have had in mind when they came up with new ideas.

And it’s also interesting to ponder whether they could really comprehend where their inventions would eventually go and what kind of impact they would have on the world.

Folks on AskReddit shared what inventions they think did more harm than good.

Let’s take a look.

1. That’s a hot take.

“Al**hol as a beverage.

Like it or not, if al**hol as a beverage was discovered today, it would be illegal.”

2. Major problems.

“Lead in paint.

Doctors were telling us it would cause severe neurological problems for about 80 years before the US finally listened and banned it.

There are houses in the US today that still have lead paint.”

3. Going way back.

“The cotton gin.

Yeah it alleviated the work of slaves but it catapulted the demand for slavery and some historians note it as one of the causes of the American Civil War.”

4. Done a lot of damage.

“High Fructose Corn Syrup.

Used to sweeten food, enhance flavor, and add texture and volume, HFCS is a cheap and easily mass-produced ingredient that’s become a prime culprit of the US obesity epidemic. Why? Well from 1970 to 2000, there was a 25% increase in “added sugars” in the US.

After being classified as GRAS, HFCS began to replace sucrose as the main sweetener of soft drinks in the United States. At the same time, rates of obesity rose.”

5. Be careful with that thing!

“It has to be the guillotine.

A French device which appeared during the French Revolution because France still employed gruesome methods of execution which were faulty at times. The guillotine was invented as a means of quick painless execution, but it was so efficient that it led to an increase in its usage during the following years, as the punish rate skyrocketed.

Needless to say, the good intentions of its creation turned bad quite quickly… Talk about having a happy trigger finger.”

6. My teeth hurt.

“Soda/sugary drinks

Drinking sugar drinks contributes to obesity, diabetes and other diseases. Yet it’s available EVERYWHERE you go. And cheap to buy.

It also doesn’t help that soda in aluminum cans are lined with BPA that can cause high blood pressure. And soda is also packaged in plastic bottles that also contain BPA which can enter the blood stream and cause cancer.

If the sugary drinks don’t get you first… The packaging will.”

7. It adds up.

“The keurig cups.

From what I recall the guy that started that whole thing regretted it because of the amount of garbage those little single use keurig cups waste.”

8. A forever chemical.

“Teflon. A cancer causing chemical used in everything from baby bottles to fabrics to cookware and everything else.

Teflon is a “forever chemical” and is detected globally in humans, soil, drinking water, food and animals.”

9. Weapon of war.

“Machine g**s.

The inventor of the AK-47 said something along the lines of, “I would have preferred to have invented a lawn mower.””

10. Seems to be out of control.

“Cable news

It’s nonstop mind control now.

They tell folks what to buy (which they do now by calling it a shortage, results in mass panic.) I’m sure someone holds shares in whatever they tell as it’s just getting odd now.

They tell folks where they should vacation and not vacation.

They tell folks what brands they should and shouldn’t buy.

They tell folks who they should and shouldn’t vote for. This is EXTREMELY DANGEROUS.

Yes, they pass all this off as opinion peices, people just take it as the truth and not an opinion.”

11. Echo chamber.

“Twitter.

Echo chamber, ego inflating, self importance and attention seeking galore.”

12. People have strong feelings about it.

“Airbnb.

Started as an opportunity for people to rent out a spare room and meet travelers. Has morphed into a short-term rental platform where wealthy second home owners let entire homes or apartments at the expense of local communities.

Residents in once peaceful neighborhoods are forced to endure all the impacts that come with living next to makeshift unregulated hotels and group accommodation.

Loud parties any night of the week, a steady stream of strangers in apartment blocks or residential streets, parking congestion, masses of rubbish, security issues, loss of community all become commonplace.

Long-term rentals dry up because Airbnb is more lucrative and local businesses, in some cases even local hospitals, can’t find staff as they have nowhere to live. Long-term locals find themselves kicked out of their rentals to make way for another more lucrative Airbnb.

They are left with nowhere to go as other long-term rentals have gone the same way and it’s pushed prices up so much that buying a property is no longer an option.

Residential neighborhoods become a smattering of hotels without the volunteers and local people that once gave the place the sense of community that attracted many visitors to the area in the first place.

Most Airbnb users wouldn’t be aware of the detrimental impacts Airbnb can have for local communities.”

Now we want to hear from you.

Tell us what inventions you think did more harm than good.

Do it in the comments!

The post People Discuss Inventions They Think Did More Harm Than Good appeared first on UberFacts.

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People Share Stories About New Technologies They Remember That Are Now Obsolete

Technology today seems like it’s moving at hyper-speed and if you blink, you’ll miss it.

And it’s pretty wild to see exciting stuff get introduced to the market and then see it go away later.

That’s called getting old, folks!

People on AskReddit discussed technology that they remember being invented and then going away.

Let’s see what they had to say.

1. Gone by the wayside.

“CD Players especially in cars.

I thought the best thing ever would be to have a CD changer in my car.

Now my car doesn’t even have a CD player.”

2. Get where you’re going.

“I remember when GPS devices came out, that was huge. No more printing out directions, the little machine will direct you.

Pretty much immediately the same exact thing was added to smartphones.

I bet my dad still has his GPS in his glovebox dusty as all hell.”

3. The good old days.

“Phone cards.

You’d buy a phone card so that you could use it in a payphone and never have to worry about having change. They converted half the phoneboxes to take them which must have been a major infrastructure operation.

This must have been the 1980s I think. Now completely forgotten.”

4. Oh yeah!

“The word processor.

Like a typewriter with a tiny bit of memory so you could make corrections before it printed the type. Before that it was either strike through or white out. Sort of.

Actually I used a computer at school before I ever saw a word processor but not even my rich friends had one at home. Short lived because home computers started becoming more common and affordable.

Kind of a step back in a way because dot matrix printers looked like c**p compared to something typed on a word processor.”

5. So cool!

“I’ll never forget getting a Sony Walkman for Christmas.

It was amazing to be able to take music everywhere with me.”

6. A status symbol.

“I remember when I was a kid, the rich neighbor down the street installed a satelite dish.

F**k basic cable, he needed a gigantic frisbee on his roof so that he could access dozens of independent TV channels.”

7. One and done.

“Moon boots were supposed to be amazing.

Tricked me into exercise for a weekend.

Never touched them again.”

8. Fancy stuff back then.

“Answering machines.

Like the old style with mini cassette tapes.”

9. I miss them!

“Disposable film cameras.

There is a show called Beyond 2000 from the 80s and 90s that would do segments on technology of the future. Lots of stuff they showed never went anywhere, but I distinctly remember disposable cameras being talked about. Then a few years later they were everywhere, and sometime in the last 10 they’ve mostly disappeared.

Was at a wedding a few years back and they put one camera on each table for the guests to shoot with. All were collected, developed and scanned, then put up online for everyone to see. Really fantastic idea. Now everyone takes their own photos at events like that and there’s not a unified way to share them with everyone in quite the same way.

I’d love to see a digital camera version of the per-table units. Having something shared and physical at an event like a wedding is so much better.”

10. Seen a lot…

“Oh my….. I am 62……

Fax machines, word processors, pagers, home answering machines, cable TV, vhs, Beta, cd players and disks, 8 tracks, 85 percent efficiency furnaces, 4 barrel carburetors.

Fuel injected 2 stroke outboad engines, variable cylinder engines, frozen orange juice, Tang, electric typewriter……..I could go on…..”

11. Do you remember?

“Commodore 64.

Was bought new into my Grade 1 class, and it just sort of sat as an oddity in the corner. My teacher was at least in her early 60s if not older so it didn’t really get used until I started poking around on it.

I got one at home halfway through the year and played a ridiculous amount of Bruce Lee.”

12. So fun!

“Walky-talkies.

I remember when I was a kid we would go on vacations with with a couple other families we lived near. We would all put the Talkies on channel 3 and any time one of the cars needed to pull over or something we would all stop.

Was good for asking for directions and whatnot as well in case someone fell behind the rest of the caravan. No GPS back then either.”

How about you?

What technology do you remember being introduced and then going by the wayside?

Talk to us in the comments and share your stories!

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Radioactive Diamond Battery Can Practically Run Forever

I’m being a little bit hyperbolic with the title of this article, because the diamond-powered battery in question can only run for around 28,000 years, not forever forever, but when we’re talking about the framework of a human lifespan, well…forgive me.

Basically, if it started powering something today and humanity went extinct, there would still be evidence that humans existed far, far into the future.

The offering comes from U.S. startup NDB (Nano Diamond Battery), and is a “high-power diamond-based alpha, beta, and neutron voltaic battery” that gives devices “life-long and green energy.”

Also? They say it could become a reality in homes everywhere within the next couple of years.

They built the nano diamond battery by combining radioactive isotopes from nuclear waste with layers of paneled nano diamonds. Diamonds have a good heat conductance that moves heat away from the radioactive isotope materials quickly enough to generate electricity.

Image Credit: NBD

Basically the layers and layers of diamond and radioactive waste panels equal higher total amounts of energy.

It uses less energy, uses nuclear waste, lasts for years, and only requires the smallest of diamonds…is there a catch, though?

If there is one, it’s to do with logistics. It will require a huge number of batteries in order to power even regular-sized devices, for one, and the other revolves around the safety of utilizing a battery that runs on nuclear waste.

NBD, though, thinks they have the answers we need, right on their website.

Image Credit: NBD

“The DNV stacks along with the source are coated with a layer of poly-crystalline diamond, which is known for being the most thermally conductive material also has the ability to contain the radiation within the device and is the hardest material, 12 times tougher than stainless steel. This makes our product extremely tough and tamperproof.”

NBD believes these batteries will soon power huge things like spacecraft and satellites, as well as regular things like our many, mane LED displays, and be able to be passed down through generations with no loss in efficiency.

Expect to see a working prototype by 2023, people.

And prepare to be amazed.

The post Radioactive Diamond Battery Can Practically Run Forever appeared first on UberFacts.

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Radioactive Diamond Battery Can Practically Run Forever

I’m being a little bit hyperbolic with the title of this article, because the diamond-powered battery in question can only run for around 28,000 years, not forever forever, but when we’re talking about the framework of a human lifespan, well…forgive me.

Basically, if it started powering something today and humanity went extinct, there would still be evidence that humans existed far, far into the future.

The offering comes from U.S. startup NDB (Nano Diamond Battery), and is a “high-power diamond-based alpha, beta, and neutron voltaic battery” that gives devices “life-long and green energy.”

Also? They say it could become a reality in homes everywhere within the next couple of years.

They built the nano diamond battery by combining radioactive isotopes from nuclear waste with layers of paneled nano diamonds. Diamonds have a good heat conductance that moves heat away from the radioactive isotope materials quickly enough to generate electricity.

Image Credit: NBD

Basically the layers and layers of diamond and radioactive waste panels equal higher total amounts of energy.

It uses less energy, uses nuclear waste, lasts for years, and only requires the smallest of diamonds…is there a catch, though?

If there is one, it’s to do with logistics. It will require a huge number of batteries in order to power even regular-sized devices, for one, and the other revolves around the safety of utilizing a battery that runs on nuclear waste.

NBD, though, thinks they have the answers we need, right on their website.

Image Credit: NBD

“The DNV stacks along with the source are coated with a layer of poly-crystalline diamond, which is known for being the most thermally conductive material also has the ability to contain the radiation within the device and is the hardest material, 12 times tougher than stainless steel. This makes our product extremely tough and tamperproof.”

NBD believes these batteries will soon power huge things like spacecraft and satellites, as well as regular things like our many, mane LED displays, and be able to be passed down through generations with no loss in efficiency.

Expect to see a working prototype by 2023, people.

And prepare to be amazed.

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People Talk About the Things They’re Most Nostalgic About Right Now

It can be easy to fall into the trap of identifying some bygone era as “the good ol’ days.” 

But it’s important to remember that that classification is entirely subjective. Often the times we yearn for seem simpler just because we were younger and had fewer responsibilities – or maybe we just lived in a bit of a bubble.

There’s certainly never been a time when everything was great for everyone. But knowing that doesn’t seem to stop us pining over the little fixtures of our past, because dang it, there’s just something so comforting about them.

15. Look it up!

I myself barely remember this – by the time I was learning how to navigate a library the lookups were mostly computerized.

Who remembers looking through the card catalog to find a book? from nostalgia

14. That’s entertainment

Dust-collecting machines, these bad boys were.

Entertainment cabinets, the click sound it would make after closing from nostalgia

13. Absolute legends

How to build, how to paint, how to read, how to be yourself.

Legends of PBS from nostalgia

12. Some serious dedication

The haphazard stickers all around are a nice touch.

Remade my room from the 90s in a 3D-software, as I remembered it. from nostalgia

11. Take it away, the paper

Practicing cursive on these made you feel so sophisticated.

Elementary School Paper from nostalgia

10. Wild in the sheets

How could you even sleep surrounded by all that excitement?

Visiting home and Mom busts out my sheets from 1986 from nostalgia

9. See deese?

We all nearly died a hundred times trying to flip through these in the passenger seat while driving.

CD Wallets… I know they’re still around, but 90s nostalgia. from nostalgia

8. The glamour of Hollywood

I don’t know if these carpets were meant to distract from stains or just make you dizzy or what.

90’s movie theaters ?? from nostalgia

7. Fancy feasts

Looking this up right now, these little cakes cos like five bucks. Back then they were maybe $2.
Don’t be fooled by the fanciness of ads.

Viennetta, the ice cream that I knew my family couldn’t afford from nostalgia

6. Jonathan Hyde

He can’t hyde from us much longer.

Actor Jonathan Hyde, a staple of fun 90s movies (Pictured: Richie Rich, Jumanji, Titanic, and The Mummy) from nostalgia

5. Fisher Price kids

So fascinating and so boring at the same time.

Fisher Price Farm from nostalgia

4. Master splinter

Looking coozier than ever.

? sweater my grandma sewed for me in the early 90s from nostalgia

3. Make it a Blockbuster night

I had the pleasure of working there just before they closed down.
*sigh*

I truly miss rental stores from nostalgia

2. Cut the cord

I’m just now realizing how much work it would take to explain this to a Zennial.

Anyone else want to bring back kitchen phones with the 10 ft cord? from nostalgia

1. Animation takeover

It was truly a renaissance.

I miss this Cartoon Network from nostalgia

Maybe those were the good ol’ days after all.

What are you most nostalgic for right now?

Tell us in the comments.

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This is How You Can Delete Yourself From Google Searches

There are many great things about living in the age of the Internet, but not everyone likes the idea of random people being able to learn things about their family and lives with a simple Google search.

It can make a person uncomfortable even if they don’t have something to hide, but that said, there are plenty of people out there with extremely legitimate reasons for needing to stay as anonymous as possible.

Whether you just like your privacy or safety is a major concern, everyone should know how to delete themselves from a Google search if they want to, and we’re about to hand over that knowledge right now.

If you’ve got a common name, this process might not be worth your time and effort, but only you know whether or not it’s important enough to you – and if it is, these steps will help you erase around 99% of your digital footprint.

#1. Do a search yourself.

Image Credit: Pexels

Google yourself first and see what actually comes up.

Open an incognito window using the Chrome browser menu, type your name into the search box surrounded by quotes – your whole name, including your middle name and then without your middle name – and make a list fo what comes up.

If there are things that seem problematic, focus on removing those results first.

#2. Realize there are downsides.

Image Credit: Pexels

Google searches aren’t the way that corporations store your information, so if you’re concerned about data sharing, you’re going to have to take a hard look at your social media usage and online shopping habits instead.

There will still be plenty of information floating around for data mining; deleting yourself from Google searches will only help thwart future employers, potential stalkers, nosy neighbors, and the like from being able to find you in real life by using the internet.

#3. If you still want to, take the first step.

Image Credit; Pexels

The first thing you’re going to have to do is to delete your social media accounts, or at the very least, use a fake name online.

You’ll want to make sure you delete even accounts you haven’t used in some time, like MySpace or Reddit, but your self-Google should make it easy to jog your memory.

If you don’t want to delete, keep the apps that allow you to set them to “private,” which at least prevents google from showing your pictures in the search results.

#4. Contact some data collection sites directly.

Image Credit: Pexels

Data collection and data broker results will look like “click here to get the arrest records for” or “we’ve found the address and phone number for” in your search results.

Those sites allow people to pay to access a person’s phone number, address, court history, etc, and unfortunately, there’s no easy way to get the sites to remove you without contacting them directly.

You can pay services like DeleteMe to do it for you, if you have the cash, and it will save you a ton of time.

#5. Delete comments you’ve made.

Image Credit: iStock

If you’ve made comments on website articles, those can come up in a Google search. If you can, just log on to the site and delete your comment.

If you can’t, you’ll have to contact the owner(s) of the site and ask them to remove it for you.

If you can’t find the contact information for the site’s owner, you can use WhoIs.com to find it, but know that the owners aren’t required to delete your comments and may not.

Shoot your shot, though! There are still some people out there who aren’t complete jerks just because they can be.

#6. Remove photos or article mentions.

Image Credit: Pexels

If there are photos of you posted by someone else, or articles that mention your name, you will once again be relying on the kindness of the person who put them up to take them down.

Google might be willing to help – you can contact them and request the information be removed on their end, and if the mention or image is inappropriate, you can try using the Report Inappropriate Content Tool to speed up the process.

#7. Hide your home on Google Maps.

Image Credit: Pexels

If people know your address (or pay to get it) they’ll be able to see your home on Google Maps (or even street view), but Google makes it fairly simple to request that your house be blurred out through this service.

Go to Google Maps, search your address, and click on your home’s photo.

A black box should appear with your address, and there’s a menu that includes Report a Problem.

Fill out the form and submit, but know that you can’t undo this action.

#8. Hide anything you can’t get removed.

Image Credit: iStock

If Google and/or site owners aren’t willing to help you remove something you’d rather not be easily found, you can force those embarrassing results onto a second page.

Update your information on as many sites as you can, join new ones, start a personal blog or webpage, etc – more recent information should show up first, which would push the things you don’t want found down lower on the list of results.

There you have it, my friends. Not simple, exactly, but doable if you’re committed.

If you decide to disappear from the internet, well, it was nice knowing you – be safe out there!

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We Have Now Connected the Human Brain to a Computer

If you enjoy science fiction, then you’re probably thinking that you’ve seen this movie before (and you definitely have). People imagining the future, or ways human beings might be able to live forever, have long turned their eyes toward possibly “uploading our consciousness” into a machine as a way to make that happen,

Now, with scientists connecting a human brain wirelessly to a computer, well…maybe it doesn’t sound so farfetched after all.

It happened at Brown University in Rhode Island, where some very smart people established a connection between a human brain and a computer that’s capable of transmitting signals with ‘single-neuron resolution and in full broadband fidelity.”

The study saw two clinical trial participants with paralysis (men with spinal-cord injuries) and used the BrainGate system with a wireless transmitter to point, click, and type on a standard tablet computer.

The researchers involved published their findings in the IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering, stating that the system works using a small transmitter that weighs more than 40g.

They place the unit atop the user’s head where it “connects to an electrode array within the brain’s motor cortex using the same port used by wired systems.”

Here’s what it looks like…

Image Credit: BrainGate

Yeah… ALL of that on top of somebody’s head. We didn’t say it looked sexy!

John Simeral, an assistant professor of engineering at Brown and the study’s lead author, was pleasantly surprised about how accurate the wireless transmission turned out to be.

“The signals are recorded and transmitted with appropriately similar fidelity, which means we can use the same decoding algorithms we used with wired equipment.”

It’s better, even, because people no longer need to be physically attached to the equipment, which means there are more and more possible applications and uses on the horizon.

Leigh Hochberg, the trial’s leader, sounded equally excited about the achievement.

“With this system, we’re able to look at the brain activity, at home, over long periods in a way that was nearly impossible before.

This will help us to design decoding algorithms that provide for the seamless, intuitive, reliable restoration of communication and mobility for people with paralysis.”

It sounds crazy, but it’s true – and I mean, what amazing breakthrough of the past 20 years didn’t sound crazy and impossible the first time you heard about it? Team Science!

What do you think about this innovation? Should we keep well enough alone?

Let us know in the comments!

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Scientists Make Mistakes…and Sometimes They Create New Fish

Science is a process. It follows a method, but it’s all about learning.

And sometimes the best learning comes from mistakes. Everyone makes mistakes, right?

Well last year, scientists at a lab in Hungary had a real OOPS moment.

But after the OOPS comes the learning.

Their hearts were in the right place. At the Research Institute for Fisheries and Aquaculture, they just wanted to try to preserve critically endangered species.

Their focus was the Russian sturgeon, also known as the diamond sturgeon.

Image credit: GlobalP via iStock

As Popular Mechanics explains:

The research team tried to breed more Russian sturgeons via gynogenesis, a type of asexual reproduction in which sperm is necessary but leaves no traces of its DNA behind.

As a result, the offspring ends up with 100 percent maternal DNA (and none from the paternal contributor.)

Easy-peasy, right?

The plan was to use sperm from another endangered species, the American paddlefish.

Image credit: tunart via iStock

What came next was completely unexpected.

Instead of merely fertilizing the eggs and then disappearing into the ether, the sperm actually fused with the eggs, creating a hybrid fish, affectionately known as a “sturddlefish.”

SCIENCE, am I right?

This new, uninentional hybrid species had some interesting differences.

Again, Popular Mechanics explains:

Some are close to an even 50/50 genetic split between their two parents, but others appear more sturgeon-like while others have stronger paddlefish traits.

The differences include things like what the fish like to eat.

Sturgeons are carnivores. They feast on smaller sea creatures like mollusks and crustaceans.

Paddlefish, however, prefer plankton, which are not exactly vegetables, but are microscopic organisms quite different from the usual sturgeon diet.

Not all of the hatched hybrids survived, but of those that did, some preferred a sturgeon diet and others preferred the plankton.

According to The New York Times about 100 of this new species survived.

And while the accident has proven an interesting one, the team has no intention of creating any more hybrids.

Sorry little sturddlefish.

What do you think about this wild story? Are you here for creating weird new animal hybrids? Tell us your thoughts in the comments.

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