Tennis' Ugly Truth And Outrageous Fixit Tips
(Mitch Butler)
(Mitch Butler)
All Blog Posts from Fast Draw
June 29, 2009 1:36 PM
Boycott Tawdry Dunces - If you’re looking for immortality take out a pencil or pen and create a word people will use forever. (Just try to do it without killing anyone). Here's how some other people did it. Click here for the story.
Serving Up The Ugly Truth - Wimbledon organizers admit female tennis players’ looks matter more than skills when it comes to where they play. Click here for the story.
June 28, 2009 12:23 PM
Fast Draw: Gossamer Albatross
30 years ago Brian Allen soared into the history books, flying his "Gossamer Albatross" across the English Channel in two hours, fifty minutes. Josh Landis and Mitch Butler honor the man who inspires the innovators among us to this day.
June 22, 2009 9:23 AM
What's In A Name?
One of the joys of fatherhood - and motherhood - is helping to choose the name of the baby but, as Fast Draw's Mitch Butler and Josh Landis reports, it can be a perplexing job.
June 17, 2009 12:36 PM
Fuzzy Math - Kids at two schools in California are losing their summer vacations because adults messed up on their math, accidentally under-scheduled a number of school days by five minutes. As a result of state rules, that would put millions of dollars in jeopardy, so school will not be out for the summer. Click here for the story.
Holy Medicine - The ancient art of trepanation - drilling a hole in the skull - may be making a comeback to treat Alzheimer's disease or other forms of dementia. Doctors have used it to help patients with traumatic brain injuries but a top doctor in the UK says it may have wider applications to help the brain. Click here for the story.
Scared To Death - Opponents of deep-water sonar exercises by the Navy say there's undeniable proof that loud noises underwater can harm whales and dolphins. An investigation after England's largest mass beaching of dolphins has found military activity the most likely cause. The Royal Navy disputes the findings. Click here for the story.
Rest In Peace, Online - Websites are encroaching on another traditional area of newspapers' turf: obituaries. Sites like Legacy.com create obituaries that are more responsive to friends and family but less beholden to facts or objective portrayals of someone's life. Who should have the last say in how you're remembered? Click here for the story.
Kids These Days - A major demographic shift is taking place fueled by the youngest citizens. In almost one out of every six counties, minority kids now outnumber white kids. The trend is not expected to reverse, which will soon raise the question of what defines what exactly defines a minority. Click here for the story.
Fuzzy Math To Online Obituaries
(CBS)
(Mitch Butler)
(CBS)
Rest In Peace, Online - Websites are encroaching on another traditional area of newspapers' turf: obituaries. Sites like Legacy.com create obituaries that are more responsive to friends and family but less beholden to facts or objective portrayals of someone's life. Who should have the last say in how you're remembered? Click here for the story.
Kids These Days - A major demographic shift is taking place fueled by the youngest citizens. In almost one out of every six counties, minority kids now outnumber white kids. The trend is not expected to reverse, which will soon raise the question of what defines what exactly defines a minority. Click here for the story.
June 17, 2009 9:13 AM
Traffic jams are a huge annoyance for most commuters in big cities but they are not always caused by car accidents.
More often than not, traffic has a simple solution: obey the 2 second rule.
Phantom Traffic Jams
Traffic jams are a huge annoyance for most commuters in big cities but they are not always caused by car accidents.
More often than not, traffic has a simple solution: obey the 2 second rule.
June 16, 2009 2:49 PM
Home Stubborn Home – A person’s home is their castle. It can also be a thorn in the side of very powerful neighbors. Here’s what happens when the holdouts really hold out. (Check out the farmers who farm on an active runway.) Click here for the story.
IQ Clues – Child development experts say they’ve figured out a way to predict some children’s future intelligence when they’re just weeks old. The technique could help families prepare for the challenges of raising a special needs child. Click here for the story.
It's Alive! – Bacteria that’s been frozen and dormant for more than 100,000 years has been revived, opening a window on the Earth’s past and providing hints of what life might look like if it exists on other planets. Click here for the story.
Waste Not – Evolutionarily this plant got the short end of the stick. But it’s making do. Click here for the story.
Classified Humor – Craigslist is officially weird. Weird Al. The king of parody’s take on the website where you can find (for better or worse) anything. Click here for the story.
IQ Clues And Classified Humor
(CBS)
IQ Clues – Child development experts say they’ve figured out a way to predict some children’s future intelligence when they’re just weeks old. The technique could help families prepare for the challenges of raising a special needs child. Click here for the story.
It's Alive! – Bacteria that’s been frozen and dormant for more than 100,000 years has been revived, opening a window on the Earth’s past and providing hints of what life might look like if it exists on other planets. Click here for the story.
Waste Not – Evolutionarily this plant got the short end of the stick. But it’s making do. Click here for the story.
Classified Humor – Craigslist is officially weird. Weird Al. The king of parody’s take on the website where you can find (for better or worse) anything. Click here for the story.
June 15, 2009 1:21 PM
Airborne Amphibians - A mystery is unfolding in Japan, where scores of tadpoles have been turning up far from any place they could conceivably live. Biologists are trying to find out whether they're being carried through the air by weather patterns or if there's another explanation.
Click here for the story.
Cloud 10? - Next time you're flying keep an eye out for an extra-special cloud. Meteorologists are debating whether a new cloud variety has been identified. It would be the first since 1951. The new cloud might be called undulus asperatus, Latin for "turbulent undulation." The Fast Draw has explored the secret life of clouds before.
High And Mighty - Engineers are looking to the sky for future power - but not at the sun. They've discovered that the winds are super-strong a few miles up and estimate that there's enough energy up there to meet world demand 100 times over.
Click here for the story.
Breaking Bread - Biologists say they're in a race against time to save the world's wheat crop from a pervasive fungus. They say the Ug99 fungus could wipe out more than 80% of worldwide wheat crops as it spreads from eastern Africa. It's already jumped the Red Sea and traveled as far as Iran. It's expected next to hit the breadbasket of northern India and Pakistan, and the wind will inevitably carry it beyond.
Click here for the story.
Let’s Make A Deal - Teenagers in North Carolina are reportedly being paid a dollar a day not to get pregnant. It's an example of 'behavioral economics' - a strategy that nudges people to make certain decisions - which has a following in the Obama administration.
Click here for the story.
New Clouds And Flying Frogs?
(CBS)
Click here for the story.
(CBS)
(CBS)
Click here for the story.
(CBS)
Click here for the story.
Let’s Make A Deal - Teenagers in North Carolina are reportedly being paid a dollar a day not to get pregnant. It's an example of 'behavioral economics' - a strategy that nudges people to make certain decisions - which has a following in the Obama administration.
Click here for the story.
June 12, 2009 1:44 PM
Friends And Money - Is the recession ruining friendships? Economics and social interactions go hand-in-hand and there's evidence your 401K might not be the only thing suffering in this downturn. Click here for the story.
The Anti-Recipe - A cook and author says forget the recipes you've learned; all you need to cook is a set of simple formulas that tell you what proportions of foods should be combined. Click here for the story.
Elemental - Chemistry has a new kid on the block. A new element is moving in 13 years after it was first created. The "superheavy" substance still hasn't been named, but it's first new element in five years and the heaviest yet. Click here for the story.
It Came From The Deep - Tapeworms may be gaining in the US. The parasites - which can grow to 30 feet or more - have definitely become more common around the world and they're spreading particularly fast among "yuppies with a hankering for sashimi and ceviche." Click here for the story.
Teenager, Cure Thyself - A high school senior suffered for years from stomach pains her doctors could not explain. It wasn't until one day in her science class she discovered the cause by examining her own cells. She diagnosed herself with Crohn's disease. Click here for the story.
Fast Draw: Friends And Money
(CBS)
(CBS)
(CBS)
It Came From The Deep - Tapeworms may be gaining in the US. The parasites - which can grow to 30 feet or more - have definitely become more common around the world and they're spreading particularly fast among "yuppies with a hankering for sashimi and ceviche." Click here for the story.
Teenager, Cure Thyself - A high school senior suffered for years from stomach pains her doctors could not explain. It wasn't until one day in her science class she discovered the cause by examining her own cells. She diagnosed herself with Crohn's disease. Click here for the story.
June 10, 2009 10:16 AM
Confidence Game - A secret of the punditocracy and various opinionated blowhards has been revealed: outsized confidence. We're 100 percent sure of this! Researchers at Carnegie Mellon have demonstrated that people prefer to take advice from a confident source even if that source has a poor track record.
Click here for the
story.
Sleepily Ever After - New research presented at a sleep conference today concludes women who are married or in stable relationships get better sleep than their single sisters. (No word on whether their significant others are boring them to sleep.)
Click here for the story.
Phantom Traffic Jams - Ever get through a long delay and wonder for the life of you what the holdup was? It might have been a "phantom traffic jam." They occur when someone drives too fast and then hit the brakes and researchers at MIT are figuring out how to prevent them.
Click here for the story.
Funemployment - The recession has spawned a subculture of the formerly employed who are living it up now that they don't have professional responsibilities. Supported by severance packages, savings, unemployment checks or parents, the "funemployed" don't sweat their status. They enjoy it. Are they incurable optimists or people living in denial?
Click here for the story.
Air Show - Bird researchers, armed with high-speed cameras, have discovered male hummingbirds reach speeds "faster than fighter jets" relative to their body size. Why do they fly so fast? To impress females, of course. The researchers used stuffed decoys of female birds to provoke the feathered need for speed. http://bit.ly/fxrzNClick here for the story.
Phantom Traffic To Funemployment
(Mitch Butler)
Click here for the
story.
(Mitch Butler)
Click here for the story.
(Mitch Butler)
Click here for the story.
Funemployment - The recession has spawned a subculture of the formerly employed who are living it up now that they don't have professional responsibilities. Supported by severance packages, savings, unemployment checks or parents, the "funemployed" don't sweat their status. They enjoy it. Are they incurable optimists or people living in denial?
Click here for the story.
Air Show - Bird researchers, armed with high-speed cameras, have discovered male hummingbirds reach speeds "faster than fighter jets" relative to their body size. Why do they fly so fast? To impress females, of course. The researchers used stuffed decoys of female birds to provoke the feathered need for speed. http://bit.ly/fxrzNClick here for the story.
June 9, 2009 5:31 PM
Fast Draw: Human Power
There are devices that can turn energy created by humans into electricity. Fast Draw's Mitch Butler and Josh Landis talk about how it works and how it can be harnessed to power the future.
