Some 500 years ago, Leonardo da Vinci noted that branches on trees split with mathematical precision. Recently, physicists studying this phenomenon have discovered it has important implications for the way wind flows around and through trees.
http://www.npr.org/2011/12/26/144127874/the-wisdom-of-trees-leonardo-da-vinci-knew-it?ft=1&f=1007
The immense amounts of data collected by local, state and federal government agencies can be an incredibly valuable trove for enterprising journalists. It can also be a pointless slog. Texas Tribune reporter Matt Stiles and Duke University computational journalism professor Sarah Cohen explain how they find good stories in a sea of government data.
Tagged with on the media data data journalism open data npr
Try this: Put a blindfold on someone, take them to a park or a beach or a meadow and ask them to walk for as long as they can in a straight line. Then watch what happen.
http://www.npr.org/blogs/krulwich/2010/11/03/131050832/a-mystery-why-can-t-we-walk-straight
Tagged with npr morning edition robert krulwich science
Cory Doctorow is a best-selling science-fiction writer, champion of creative commons and, now, self-publishing pioneer. He’s distributing his latest book, a collection of short stories called With a Little Help, without the aid of a publishing house. Instead, he has turned to his online community, and social networks like Facebook and Twitter, to help build buzz, get advice and even copy edit his new book.
Doctorow tells NPR’s Michele Norris the key to making money off a business model that’s built around the word "free."
Huffduffed from http://www.npr.org/blogs/alltechconsidered/2010/10/25/130811846/doctorow
After MSNBC host Keith Olbermann was suspended for making political contributions, journalist Ted Koppel criticized the lack of objectivity in the news, and looked backward toward the halcyon days of Murrow. But media critic Jeff Jarvis believes the old model is outdated.
Huffduffed from http://www.npr.org/2010/11/16/131361367/should-objectivity-still-be-the-standard-in-news
Tagged with npr radio ted koppel jeff jarvis keith olbermann news objectivity
Behavior economist Dan Ariely of Duke University weighs in from time to time on how irrational we humans really are. Today, he talks to NPR’s Robert Siegel about dentistry and how many of us interact with our dentists.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130356647