Australia is in the top 10 (via), but you probably won't guess number 1 (and it is number 1 by quite a margin).

A great visual animation of life expectancy and average income over the last two centuries. Visual proof that the West did not get rich "at the expense of" the Rest.

A few weeks ago I tripped and fell, twisting my knee. It was a very contemporary trip, I was consulting Google(tm) maps on my iPhone(tm) at the time ( Read more... )

Made me laugh: Dante’s Internet.

Ms Eleven argues for why she should get a laptop.

About beer and the rise of civilisation.

A nice rant on energy drinks, with a recipe for a healthy energy drink.

Study finds that “pre-flight” style surgery checklists save lives.

Nice presentation on different cultural attitudes to time ( Read more... )

Outrage over a suspended sentence for a mother who strangled her daughter.

About different patterns of family formation:
To define the divide in a sentence: In red America, families form adults; in blue America, adults form families.

Noting how Asians have become “white”:
“White” has stopped meaning Caucasian, imprecise as this term has always ( Read more... )

Great wallpaper against PowerPoint™. The essay on why PowerPoint™ is evil (or, at least, a disastrous way to present technical data).

Best article ever about Wikipedia™:
Crackpottery is to Wikipedia what self-interest is to capitalism - a human failing that, yolked in the right way, can turn ill into benefit for all. Before Wikipedia, what would ( Read more... )

Wimbledon has had the longest match in tennis history.

The threatened life of a World Cup matches winner picking “psychic” octopus.

A C16th air mattress, with bellows.

Placing countries so as to “map” cultures.

Japan attempts to regulate waistlines.

We are much more likely to die as the result of the consequences of personal decisions than our ( Read more... )

A funny post about how males and females name colours.

That octopus has grabbed my camera!

Getting a car to explode after going over a cliff is harder than one might expect.

A mathematical model for marital break-ups.

A brilliant speech in favour of science.

Being sanguine about the effects of new technology.

Beware of the terrifying ( Read more... )

Venezuela now has over 30,000 Cuban advisers.

Pointing out that every President since Nixon has vowed to reduce American dependency on foreign oil, while use of foreign oil has gone up and up.

Not a good photo moment for the Obama Administration.

Various dissidents around the world are beginning to prefer President Obama’s predecessor ( Read more... )

An Austrian opposite-sex couple are suing for the right to have a civil partnership.

As the debate over health care grinds on in the US, the NHS is doing its bit to provide a suitable horrible example of socialised medicine.

A girl dies after police and safety officials were delayed by 2 hours from entering the water to rescue her by health and ( Read more... )