BenRoudenis.com

Every December, millions of tech-savvy young people descend on their homes only to arrive to a long list of tech support issues that their parents need help with. Google thought there had to be a better way that would save us all a few hours each December…

The result of their brainstorm was TeachParentsTech.org, a site that allows you to select any number of simple tech support videos to send to mom, dad or uncle Vinnie. The site is not perfect and hardly covers all the tech support questions you may be asked, but hopefully it’s a start!

Twinkies. Nutty bars. Powdered donuts.

For 10 weeks, Mark Haub, a professor of human nutrition at Kansas State University, ate one of these sugary cakelets every three hours, instead of meals. To add variety in his steady stream of Hostess and Little Debbie snacks, Haub munched on Doritos chips, sugary cereals and Oreos, too.

His premise: That in weight loss, pure calorie counting is what matters most — not the nutritional value of the food.

The premise held up: On his “convenience store diet,” he shed 27 pounds in two months.

For a class project, Haub limited himself to less than 1,800 calories a day. A man of Haub’s pre-dieting size usually consumes about 2,600 calories daily. So he followed a basic principle of weight loss: He consumed significantly fewer calories than he burned.

His body mass index went from 28.8, considered overweight, to 24.9, which is normal. He now weighs 174 pounds.

But you might expect other indicators of health would have suffered. Not so.

Haub’s “bad” cholesterol, or LDL, dropped 20 percent and his “good” cholesterol, or HDL, increased by 20 percent. He reduced the level of triglycerides, which are a form of fat, by 39 percent.

Twinkie diet helps nutrition professor lose 27 pounds [CNN]

In an important breakthrough, scientists at McMaster University have discovered how to make human blood from adult human skin.

The discovery, published in the prestigious science journal Nature today, could mean that in the foreseeable future people needing blood for surgery, cancer treatment or treatment of other blood conditions like anemia will be able to have blood created from a patch of their own skin to provide transfusions. Clinical trials could begin as soon as 2012.

Mick Bhatia, scientific director of McMaster’s Stem Cell and Cancer Research Institute in the Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine, and his team of researchers have also shown that the conversion is direct. Making blood from skin does not require the middle step of changing a skin stem cell into a pluripotent stem cell that could make many other types of human cells, then turning it into a blood stem cell.

“We have shown this works using human skin. We know how it works and believe we can even improve on the process,” said Bhatia. “We’ll now go on to work on developing other types of human cell types from skin, as we already have encouraging evidence.”

The discovery was replicated several times over two years using human skin from both young and old people to prove it works for any age of person.

McMaster scientists turn skin into blood [Medical Daily]

Three American astronauts flying on the International Space Station may be far from home, but they’re not left out of today’s Election Day fervor. They still get to vote from space.

. . . . .

To help space station crewmembers stay involved with their local politics, NASA has made arrangements with county officials that allow astronauts to vote from space. The ballots are prepared by county officials and beamed up from Mission Control.

. . . . .

Once the astronauts vote, the ballots are then beamed back to Mission Control and delivered to their respective county clerk’s office.

Voting From Space: American Astronauts Cast Ballots In Orbit [Space.com]

A father-son team from Park Slope decided NASA wasn’t doing enough to document the stratosphere, and decided to take matters into their own hands. After testing their “19-inch helium filled weather balloon” in Brooklyn, Luke Geissbuhler and his son Max headed upstate and launched the device, complete with a camera, into space. Here’s what the planet looks like from up there:

Video: Spacecraft Launched From Newburgh [Gothamist]

Chilean add agency DDB prepared and utilized this dastardly box to seriously freak out apartment dwellers in Santiago, all in the name of ADT, the home security firm. To quote their video:

“To prove residents that anyone could break into their homes unexpectedly.”

What could possibly go wrong?

When not held flat, the boxes pop open to a cube, allowing them to be inserted under doors to lie in wait for the returning home owner. The owner sees the terrifying sight of something that has gotten inside your home without your consent. To compound the brief moment of horror, it bears the slogan “Breaking into your apartment is easier than you think” next to the ADT logo.

ADT Ad Tries to Convince You That Someone Broke Into Your Home [Geekosystem]

Southerners are more like to die from the effects of the weather than people living in any other region of the US.

But for all the attention garnered by catastrophic hurricanes such as Katrina and Andrew, simple heatwaves kill far more people than all natural disasters combined, according to a newly published county-by-county map of natural hazard deaths.

Other extreme summer hazards, such as floods, and cold winter weather also outranked hurricanes, earthquakes, and wildfires, according to geographers Kevin Borden and Susan Cutter, of the University of South Carolina in Columbia. Overall, natural disasters account for less than 5% of natural hazard deaths across the US.

Large cities like San Francisco and New York are among the safest places to live, but if city living isn’t for you, the odds of dying from the weather are lowest in the Midwest.

Death map USA: Natural disaster hotspots revealed [New Scientist]

Speaking ahead of a talk at the British Science Festival in Birmingham tomorrow, Guy Consolmagno, who is one of the pope’s astronomers, said that the traditional definition of a soul was to have intelligence, free will, freedom to love and freedom to make decisions. “Any entity – no matter how many tentacles it has – has a soul.” Would he baptise an alien? “Only if they asked.”

Pope’s astronomer says he would baptise an alien if it asked him [The Guardian]

Stronger than glass, various military and commercial applications for this remarkable material are already being tested. What was once used in the science-fiction Star Trek movies, see-through aluminum is now something that – through test mixing with rubies, sapphires and more – is now being tried out in all kinds of ways to create transparency where strength is also required.

For now, it is used in static-free transparent aluminum wrapping for computer parts and other electronics. It is also being tested in otherwise-conventional see-through soda cans and military shielding for vehicles where windows once were. At over ten dollars per square inch, however, it is still not cheap enough for mainstream everyday use – but may be someday soon.

Transparent Aluminum: Real, Glass-Like, See-Through Metal [Dornob]

REACQUAINT YOURSELF WITH THE PLEASURES OF A HAND-SHARPENED PENCIL.

In New York’s Hudson River Valley, craftsman David Rees still practices the age-old art of manual pencil sharpening. His artisanal service is perfect for artists, writers, and standardized test takers. Shipped with their shavings and a “certificate of sharpening,” these extra-sharp pencils make wonderful gifts.

Traditionally people mail in their pencils to be sharpened; however David now offers a new service: He will provide the pencil.

IS THIS A JOKE?

If you start a pencil-sharpening business, you can expect to hear this question a lot. The short answer? No, this is not a joke. You pay David Rees money and he sharpens your pencils. It actually happens.

If you think it’s a joke, why don’t you poke yourself with your newly sharpened pencil? Or better yet, don’t — because it’ll really hurt. In fact, every pencil David Rees sharpens is shipped with a signed and dated certificate authenticating that it is now a dangerous object.

$60 gets you a sharp pencil and the poster you see here. Only want your pencil sharpened? That’s just $15.

Artisanal Pencil Sharpening