2014: Hottest Year on Record

2014 now ranks as the warmest on record since 1880, according to an analysis by NASA scientists. Nine of the 10 warmest years have occurred since 2000. This continues a long-term trend. The warming trend is largely driven by the increasing concentrations of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, caused by human emissions.
 

Game Theorists Crack Poker

Philip Ball Nature
An 'essentially unbeatable' algorithm for the popular card game points to strategies for solving real-life problems without having complete information.

Why Do Dogs Roll Over During Play?

Julie Hecht Scientific American
Wondering about why dogs do what they do seems to be an international pastime. But assuming that a dog rolling onto his back during play is akin to saying, you “came on too strong” or, ”OK, you won this round!” seems like a mistranslation.

Friday Nite Videos -- January 2, 2015

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Michael Franti - Same As It Ever Was. Neil deGrasse Tyson on 'Interstellar.' Top 10 Surprising People Who Advocated Socialism. Movie: The Imitation Game. What's Really Weird About Placebos.

Neil deGrasse Tyson on 'Interstellar'

How realistic is the space epic flick Interstellar? Neil deGrasse Tyson talks to (cognitive dissonance alert!) Fox News about the realism (and the "stretchers") of "Interstellar."

Movie: The Imitation Game

The story of Alan Turing, British mathematician, logician, cryptologist and computer scientist who led the effort to crack the German Enigma Code, helping the Allies win WWII. After the war Turing was prosecuted by the UK government for homosexual acts.
 

Friday Nite Videos -- December 19, 2014

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Millions March NYC (Time Lapse). Best of the Colbert Report. Stormscapes 2. Samuel L Jackson: 'Call Out Racist Police Violence.' Top 10 Cutest Animals of Science of 2014.
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