Science and Technology
Weekend America's Science and Technology Coverage
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10-4, Good Buddy
On 10-4, we take a look at the all but forgotten home of the phrase "10-4": The CB radio. Before the internet, cell phones, texting and IM, it was a way to chat with strangers and strange truckers, to invent new names, to use coded slang, to do all the things we do on computers today. Weekend America host John Moe remembers the CB boom of the 1970s and wonders why we're so hooked on blathering to strangers.
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Science of Happiness
A new book, "Emotional Awareness: Overcoming the Obstacles to Psychological Balance and Compassion," brings together the thoughts and experience of world renowned scientist Paul Ekman and His Holiness the Dalai Lama. An unusual project for a renowned brain scientist, but Ekman is the kind of researcher who inspires passionate following.
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The Flight of Thomas Selfridge
This weekend, aviation fans from all around are heading to Fort Myer, Va., for the Centennial of Military Aviation Celebration. It was there a hundred years ago that the U.S. military started looking into those new-fangled flying machines. A number of firsts happened pretty quickly--the first military test flights, the first military aviation school, the first long-distance flight. There was another first 100 years ago when Orville Wright rolled in to Fort Myer with the latest in flight technology.
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Happy Birthday Google?
If you Google the phrase "Google's birthday," some results say it's this weekend. Some say it's a couple weeks away. Some say it was a few days ago. It's almost as if you can't trust what you read online. We Google so much, it's an actual verb now. And much has been written about whether it's making us smarter, making us stupider, or just plain changing the way our brains work. Now that so many topics can be explored with Google, what's really left to talk about when you get together with friends to celebrate, or enjoy people's company?
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Political Houses, Smart Guns, and Ethical Dogs
Researchers report that dogs are learning ethics from people. They've acquired an awareness of fair play and a distaste for foul play. Is this Good News, Bad News or No News?
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Scarred for Life
Karen Williams had the chicken pox when she was seven years old. The case wasn't severe, but her body was left covered with unusual scars, called keloids, that often form on African-American skin. These days, Karen doesn't pay much heed to her scars, but other people do.
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BFF: Paris, Britney, Barack
John McCain aired a TV ad comparing Barack Obama to Paris Hilton and Britney Spears. ("He's the biggest celebrity in the world, but is he ready to lead?") Is this campaign tactic Good News, Bad News or No News?
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Spotting a Liar
There are a lot of popular conceptions about how to spot a liar: are they talking too fast; do they avert their eyes; did their hand go up to their mouth? How accurate are these popular ideas?
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Going Solar Gets Cheaper
About three-dozen friends are hanging out on the roof of Kevin Frank's home in Holderness, New Hampshire. They're there to save the environment, and a few bucks in the process.
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Built to Fail
Chances are, when your beat-up iPod from 2004 (you know, the one with the click wheel) stops working, as devastating as it might be, some part of you is probably thrilled because you now have a good excuse to buy the latest and greatest iPod.
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Three-Day Weekend: The Code Hunters
Another three-day weekend is upon us. Time to revisit our three day weekend series of stories about what we all do with one more day in our weekends. For the past decade, Francis Heaney and Dan Katz have spent the MLK weekend at MIT every year. They go to compete in the MIT Mystery Hunt, which recently celebrated its 29th anniversary. Weekend America's Charlie Schroeder recently talked with them about why they return to play the hunt year after year.
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Monty's Lifesuit: Science Fiction to Fact
This weekend, San Francisco hosts the 2008 RoboGames. Last year's event attracted more than three thousand spectators who came to see robots and their human inventors compete in races, weightlifting, and all out robo-smackdowns. Monty Reed, a RoboGames returning champion from Seattle has a bigger mission in mind.
