Discovery News: Friday News Feed Blog

Goodbye OLD feedblog...and hello NEW feedblog!!!

James Williams — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 16:39:56 -0500

so this is the offical final post on this feedblog...but that's only because we have a new home. And here it is...The Brand New Fancy Friday News Feedblog!

See you there!

November 6 - What's Your Favorite Story?

James Williams — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 13:58:13 -0500

November 6 - Friday News Feedbag

Shooting Violence: A Reason Why?

James Williams — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:35:59 -0500

Horrible news about Fort Hood yesterday. As an alumnus of VA Tech who followed that tragedy from afar, I found this latest shooting extremely painful to watch. Our hearts go out to the victims and their families and friends.

As we learn more about the identity of the shooter, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, we're wondering what drives someone like that to do something so horrible. And is that thing - whatever that thing is - something shared by all people who commit these crimes? And finally - what happens at the breaking point.

To find out, I asked Clinical Psychologist Jill Weber if she had any insight. (You'll need to have Flash enabled to hear them...)

First of all, are there common elements between Hasan and other people like the Columbine shooters?

Jill Weber Answer 1

But lots of people feel marginalized and isolated and they aren't becoming violent...

Jill Weber Answer 2

Reports say that Hasan was a mental health therapist himself, so shouldn't he have had the knowledge and tools to process those feelings?

Jill Weber Answer 3

I asked Weber if there was anything else to add. She said this...

Jill Weber Answer 4

October 30 - Halloween Special!

James Williams — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 11:05:03 -0500

October 30 - Friday News Feedbag

Which Halloween Ghoul Is Eco-Friendliest????

James Williams — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 13:31:09 -0400

I'm trying to figure out which monster has the smallest carbon footprint. Here's my list from most eco-friendly to Eco-Scourge Of The Earth.

GHOST: Look...I don't think it's fair to count you in this, ghost, because you don't have an actual physical presence, you don't eat or consume things or do anything except just be there so big deal. If you wanna be a baby about it..FINE - YOU WIN. BLEH. But it's lame. You're just made of air and who knows what else and you're taking the fun out of this for all the other monsters.

*ghost leaves*

OKAY - Now onto the REAL competition (don't tell ghost).

MUMMY: Hey mummy - you WIN! Hands down. CONGRATULATIONS!!! Let's start with your wrappings - presumably hemp - so they're organic and produced locally (way back when). You've reused your wrappings for thousands of years, so kudos for not swapping out when chain mail or polyester or corduroy or spandex hit the scene. On top of THAT you walk everywhere....no transportation-related pollution or costs. You don't even need lights to see, so you are completely off the grid. Well done, mummy. You are a model for eco-friendly haunting.

WITCH: There can't possibly be carbon emissions from spell-casting. Bravo! You reuse EVERYTHING in your cauldrons (name another use for newt eyes. you can't. there aren't any.) Bravo! You travel on a broomstick - zero emissions! Bravo! BUT - I'll bet that broomstick ain't FSC Certified (although locally made???) and you still make your mark on the world by way of clothing every so many years (no amount of magic will keep those duds clean that long with all that newt-stewing going on) and you still eat stuff...so you aren't AS carbon friendly as the mummy. But you're close! (DO NOT cast a carbon-free spell on me for coming in 2nd, witch. Seriously - I'm keeping this list as honest as possible and 2nd place is where you landed. Not my fault.)

FRANKENSTEIN: Eco-friendly as all-get-out at first glance. Everything about you is made with recycled parts which were initially powered by renewable energy (lightning). And you don't seem to change your clothes much, so there's some reuse going on there (although Frank - IF you happen to sweat a lot when you walk, I'm sure others would appreciate a quick laundering...just sayin'). But here's the thing - you still eat food and what kind of energy went into your creation BEFORE the lighting strike? Your doctor spent YEARS working on you, using tons of carbon-based energy and because of that I can't make you first. Plus I don't trust that those bolts in your neck aren't made of some toxic metal like arsenic or something that makes frogs grow extra limbs. You frighten me. Sorry.

WEREWOLF: You are just like a normal person except you turn into a wolf and need new clothes every time you Wolf Out in a track suit or whatever you wear most of the time. Here's where you have an argument (I guess...). You consume locally grown food (your neighbors) and don't waste your victims...UNLESS you let them live which makes more werewolves which then creates the need for more new clothes, which are likely being transported from overseas using fossil fuels. So nevermind. You have no argument.

ZOMBIE: You have some strong points working in your favor. You eat locally (neighbors, unsuspecting baby-sitters, anyone you see at the supermarket), you walk everywhere and you seem content to reuse what you have when it comes and apparel and tools. However, you are very wasteful when you do eat (would it kill you to eat any other parts? oh wait...you're Undead already) and you create such a mess around you as to require replacements of windows, walls, cars, more windows, etc. That is LANDFILL FAIL. In this sense you are like a mini-hurricane that creates piles of refuse for very selfish reasons. Then you go and create more zombies like you who do the exact same thing in other places. We are not impressed with your behavior, Zombie. You are extremely wasteful.

DRACULA: Sorry Drac - you lose. Fangs down. You stay alive for however many hundreds of years and use houses and cars and iPods and TVs and suck power from the grid as much as you do blood from your victims' necks. Plus you don't use sunlight as natural light since you only roll at night, which means you have to have things turned on all night long. ELECTRICITY FAIL. And as if that wasn't enough!!!! - every time you bite someone, you suck their blood and leave all the other parts - wasteful! And if you don't kill your victim then you create a new energy/blood sucking vampire which only creates a positive feedback loop wasting even more energy over the long run. I give you kudos for turning into a bat to travel, but I wouldn't even consider bumping you up the list if your coffins were produced with eco-friendly reclaimed wood. Which they probably aren't because you don't care about anything other than bloodmeals. LAME LAME LAME!!!! Dracula is Eco-Scourge Of The Earth.

Credit where credit is due: Thanks to Lauren for making sure I included all the ghouls.

Friday News Feedbag - October 23, 2009

James Williams — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 09:00:00 -0400

October 23 - Friday News Feedbag

Home Improvement Tips from the Solar Decathlon

Jorge Ribas — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 10:19:31 -0400

My house was built in 1941. It's a great little Cape Cod that has everything you need. My only real problem with it is that, quite frankly, it's dumb.

I recently went down to the National Mall in DC on a rainy, overcast day to check out the 2009 Solar Decathlon. And wow - those houses are smart. And filled with cool, green technology. Radiant heat and cooling, induction stovetops, LED lights, and of course solar panels. The systems in these homes talk to the appliances, which talk back to the systems, which talk to you!

So basically, you know how much energy they're using, where it's going, and how you can manage it to leave a smaller carbon footprint. Awesomeness.

And while photovoltaic panels are - yes - still expensive for the average homeowner, there are lots of other things you can add to your house that won't break the bank. And thanks to the folks at the Solar Decathlon, you can get a complete product list on their web site.

Here's the video I produced with Discovery Tech blogger Alyssa Danigelis. Click on the image!

- Jorge

Freemason Symbols and Secrets!

James Williams — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 15:50:16 -0400

Anyone who's read The Lost Symbol has GOT to have questions about the Freemasons, specifically Freemason symbols and secrets. I know I did, so I went straight to a real live Freemason to get some answers.

HERE'S THE GOOD/BAD NEWS: As awesome/horrible/frightening/crazy/ridiculous/awe-inspiring as it might be to have super secret organizations pulling the strings of power via secret handshakes and symbols hidden everywhere all over the world, that's just not the Freemasons. In fact, most of my lines of questioning ended with the interviewee saying something along the lines of "these men are just trying to make their communities better places." Fine, but that's a bit LESS mysterious an answer than I was expecting. Besides...

...DAN BROWN'S BOOK PAINTS A DIFFERENT PICTURE! Let's see how our interviewee responds to the questions I asked, shall we?

*Mind you, this is Part 1 of the interview. I'll be posting Part 2 this week, but you can't watch it unless you know the five mystic symbols hidden in the street layout of Washington DC, which don't actually exist. Click below please.

A Different Side To H1N1 Swine Flu

James Williams — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 12:55:07 -0400

We've all been hearing about H1N1 Swine Flu for a while now, especially with the vaccines now going out. You may even have gotten sick from it...but here's the thing: Flu viruses are really bizarre organisms, even if they do make us throw up. I wanted to find out more about them and how they work, so I interviewed Andrew Pekosz from Johns Hopkins U. You'll likely recognize him if you've been following the flu this season...I've seen him interviewed in several other places...

To see pics of an H1N1 virus popping out of a cell like a Gremlin, click on the video image below...

Also, there's a lot of info out there about swine flu...the best place to get the most up-to-date info is here: http://www.cdc.gov/H1N1FLU/

Stay healthy!

October 9 - What's Your Favorite Story?

James Williams — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 12:05:44 -0400