The latest iteration in the Angry Birds franchise is now available for download. Angry Birds Friends doesn’t deviate far from its roots although this time around, gameplay is centered around competing with friends and family on Facebook. … Read More
Chilean penguins facing extinction due to human activity
AFP – Several dozen Humboldt penguins sun themselves along the coast of an islet in central Chile where the majestic birds coming here to nest once numbered in the thousands. Humboldt penguins — which nest only in parts of Chile and Peru — over the years have become decimated by…
Inside the “Peepal Conclave”
The Papal Conclave starts tomorrow, with 115 cardinals flocking to the Sistine Chapel. Faithful readers of the Monkey Cage are familiar with political science treatments of Papal elections: here, here, here and here. Now, just in time for balloting in both the Sistine Chapel and the Washington Post Peeps Contest, you might enjoy this Binder-Maltzman (not Forrest) Peeps edition of the Papal Conclave, aka the Peepal Conclave. (Warning: This birds-eye view is still under peep/peer review.)Continue Reading… … Read More
Micro-drones will “hide in plain sight”
The Atlantic’s Conor Friedersdorf Tuesday highlighted a “terrifying” prospect on the military technology horizon. The U.S. Air Force are building micro-drones that are “unobtrusive, pervasive, and lethal” weapons.
According to a feature in the National Geographic looking at the progression of drone technologies, “the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has challenged researchers to build drones that mimic the size and behavior of bugs and birds.” The “bugbots” are supposed to “hide in plain sight.” Micro-drones already developed by the Air Force have been built to “resemble winged, multi-legged bugs.” In an Air Force simulation video shown to the National Geographic and posted below, “the drones swarm through alleys, crawl across windowsills, and perch on power lines. One of them sneaks up on a scowling man holding a gun and shoots him in the head.”
Landfill At Edge Of Bay Pits Environmentalists Against Waste Hauler – Petaluma, CA Patch
Swans, egrets and other birds are easy to spot in San Antonio Creek as it winds through northern Marin and joins the Petaluma River and eventually the San Pablo Bay.
These wetlands south of Petaluma are home to dozens of species of birds and fish, and the largest saltwater marsh on the West Coast.
Vertu’s latest luxury smartphone will cost you at least $10,000
If you are fed up with the “boring” appearance of today’s smartphones and just happen to have between $10,000 and $20,000 burning a hole in your pocket, you can kill two birds with one stone thanks to a new luxury smartphone from British designer Vertu. … Read More
Binky Philips: Two CBGB Bands vs. an Actual Biker Gang
The bikers just went happily berserk. Booing, screaming, howling, cursing, laughing, flipping birds, throwing empty beer cans… Poor T’winks, in front of everyone, the bar owner walked up and let them know that the Bands-From-NYC experiment was over.
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