Although Java is one of the industry’s most widely used programming languages, it has gotten an undeserved bad reputation over the years as being verbose and stagnant. Yes, sometimes you have to write a lot of code to do the most basic things. And yes, the releases of Java 7, 8, and 9 were each three years apart—and that’s an eternity in software development.
Tales From The Vaccine Vault: 30 Facts About Smallpox And The Coronavirus
These facts offer more than just a walk down memory lane for anyone old enough to remember smallpox terror. Together they tell a “then and now” story about how difficult it is to eradicate a disease, how vaccines work, and how devastating a virus left unchecked can be.
Every Successful Relationship Is Successful for the Same Exact Reasons
Hey, guess what? I got married two weeks ago. And like most people, I asked some of the older and wiser folks around me for a couple quick words of relationship advice from their own marriages to make sure my wife and I didn’t shit the (same) bed. I think most newlyweds do this — ask for relationship advice, I mean, not shit the same bed part — especially after a few cocktails from the open bar they just paid way too much money for.
But, of course, not being satisfied with just a few wise words, I had to take it a step further.
The Amazing Psychology of Japanese Train Stations
Suit-clad office workers, gaggles of schoolchildren, and other travelers gamely wend their way through the city’s sprawling rail stations.
To the casual observer, it is chaos; commuters packed shoulder-to-shoulder amid the constant clatter of arriving and departing trains. But a closer look reveals something more beneath the surface: A station may be packed, yet commuters move smoothly along concourses and platforms. Platforms are a whirl of noisy activity, yet trains maintain remarkable on-time performance. Indeed, the staggering punctuality of the Japanese rail system occasionally becomes the focus of international headlines—as on May 11, when West Japan Railways issued a florid apology after one of its commuter trains left the station 25 seconds early.
Toy Inventor’s Notebook: Make a Miraculous Marangoni Soap Boat
Here’s an update of a Victorian plaything. Cut out the fish on the dotted line and float it on a pan of water. Place a single drop of olive oil in the circle. The oil quickly spreads out the slit and across the water. The fish “swims” in the opposite direction, like an exhaust-spewing rocket subject to Newton’s third law of motion. Sadly, the soggy paper fish is only good for just a single use.
How Netflix’s Reed Hastings rewrote the Hollywood Script
The streaming giant had upended show business long before the pandemic hit. But with a highly unusual management style, its billionaire founder has now positioned his entertainment juggernaut to prosper like few companies in the world.
How Google’s ‘Hybrid’ Work Model Could Work For Your Business
According to CNBC, “Google is rethinking its long-term work options for employees, as most of them say they don’t want to come back to the office full-time.” According to a recent survey of Google employees, “sixty-two percent want to return to their offices at some point, but not every day”. For this reason, the company is working on “hybrid” models for future work.
How to boost happiness hormones like serotonin and dopamine in everyday life
In this new normal (aka life in a pandemic) a few simple rituals always make me happy: that first sip of coffee, cuddles with my puppy, reading before work, and getting some exercise. I don’t think I’ve ever left a dance workout class in a bad mood. Now more than ever, I’m leaning into these small things that make a difference in my day.
It turns out geckos can run on water—and this adorable video shows how
Geckos can run straight up a wall, but it’s their ability to run across water that makes them truly weird. Multiple animals can stick on vertical surfaces, after all. And yes, some can run on top of water—but not many that are as big as geckos. These little lizards have to combine three separate strategies into one unified motion that scientists think might be unique in the animal kingdom.
Watch a B-52 Bomber Impressively Slide to the Right in a Crosswind Takeoff
A new video from the U.K. shows off a unique capability baked into the B-52 bomber: the ability to fly with the landing gear facing a different direction than that of the aircraft.