Exercise for All: NYC Bike Share Program to Power Times Square Ball Drop

If any New Yorkers are resolving to exercise in the New Year, here’s an opportunity for them to put that promised sweat to a good cause. Their athletic abilities will power tonight’s New Year’s Eve ball drop in Times Square. The city’s new Citi Bike bike share program has set up a stationary bike generator… Continue reading Exercise for All: NYC Bike Share Program to Power Times Square Ball Drop

Do Science a Favor: Count Some Stars to Help Crowdsource the Dark

That star up there. No, a little to the left. Can you see it? No? You can’t see it at all? That’s a datapoint for the German scientists trying to measure light pollution all over the world. As city lights get brighter, light pollution gives city dwellers brighter nights and leaves them with fewer visible… Continue reading Do Science a Favor: Count Some Stars to Help Crowdsource the Dark

Receive 1/2 Price Food at This Restaurant if You Can Survive Your Meal Without Your Cell Phone

If you can get through your whole meal without using your cell phone at his Abu Ghosh restaurant, Jawdat Ibrahim will give you a 50% discount. The restaurant owner thinks cell phones are ruining his customers’ meals, and he’s willing to pay them to unplug. Ibrahim has had enough with smartphones at the table: “A… Continue reading Receive 1/2 Price Food at This Restaurant if You Can Survive Your Meal Without Your Cell Phone

The Future Is Here: Engineering Students Discover How To Use Wi-Fi to Charge Cell Phones

In the future, cell phones will charge on air. We’re almost there, thanks to the genius engineering students who figured out how to charge cell phones with a Wi-Fi signal. Students at Duke University developed a material that captures Wi-Fi energy waves and converts them into electrical current. With this technology the students have proposed… Continue reading The Future Is Here: Engineering Students Discover How To Use Wi-Fi to Charge Cell Phones

What You Didn’t See at the Zoo: Captive Animals Stare Back in Resignation

You might not have noticed the animals’ misery during your visit to the zoo. Yet you must have seen it because photographer Gaston Lacombe took these photos standing outside the enclosures just like any other visitor. Was your last zoo visit a great day with popcorn and a sea lion feeding? Gaston’s photos capture something… Continue reading What You Didn’t See at the Zoo: Captive Animals Stare Back in Resignation

Turning Discomfort Into Art: How This Photographer and Her Harassers Become Friendly Acquintances

When Hannah Price moved to Philadelphia, the street harassment threw her off guard. A photographer who grew up in suburban Colorado, she was unprepared for one of the many cities where men regularly catcall and proposition women walking alone on the streets. Initially angered, Hannah used photography to turn the unpleasant experience of being harassed… Continue reading Turning Discomfort Into Art: How This Photographer and Her Harassers Become Friendly Acquintances

3 Ways Video Games Screw Women Over

Almost half of Americans who play video games are women, so it’s no surprise that both scientists and players have started wondering how video games affect women. It’s true that video games can be a force for good – a slim majority of parents say video games are a positive part of their child’s life… Continue reading 3 Ways Video Games Screw Women Over

Edit-A-Thon to Improve Wikipedia’s Pages on Female Scientists

Isn’t it frustrating that many female scientists don’t have Wikipedia pages? Anne Fausto-Sterling, a Brown University professor of biology and gender studies, and Maia Weinstock, a former student of Brown, are committed to beefing up Wikipedia’s entries on female scientists. On Ada Lovelace Day, an annual celebration of women and technology, the two awesome activists… Continue reading Edit-A-Thon to Improve Wikipedia’s Pages on Female Scientists