Daily news links

I see a lot of articles that catch my eye, but don't seem to have enough meat behind them for a full thread. So I'm going to experiment with a thread for those sorts of interesting snippets.

Feel free to share links of your own.

Army’s Virtual Reality Plan: A Digital Doppelganger for Every Soldier

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...the avatars would be much more comprehensive than simple lookalikes. A soldier’s performance during physical training, for example, would be inputted into the digital replica’s athletic abilities. So unlike super-charged videogame operatives, soldiers who huff and puff running an 11-minute mile won’t see their avatars do much better. Likewise, soldiers with crappy real-life shooting skills will be liabilities to their virtual units during group training sessions.

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The President sends best birthday wishes to Betty White:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWVNrm4sWpo

Oh dear. That nearly made me choke on my Cheerios. :D

Somewhat less hilariously, Kodak files for bankruptcy.

Rick Perry drops out of the GOP presidential race and endorses Newt Gingrich: http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com...ich/?hpt=hp_t1

The Thrifty Brainotype.

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"Thrifty" in the headline refers to efficiency of information processing. That's a departure from the standard anthropological version of the story, in which "expensive brains" are optimized for energy efficiency. These ideas are not mutually exclusive: a strategy toward bit-saving might well reduce the neural overhead, so to speak. But a brain that follows a strategy of greatest information efficiency might in some respects be more energetically expensive. More important, an evolutionary process that results in a brain with high information efficiency might follow a very different pathway than a process that would give rise to high energy efficiency.

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With bonus link to the NY Times!

A key Cleveland Indians ballplayer isn't who everyone thought he was: http://www.cleveland.com/tribe/index...ed_from_j.html

The highest resolution image of Earth yet:

http://www.thestranger.com/images/bl...otostream.jpeg

Absolutely stunning. If you follow the link and then click on the larger version of the picture, you can get it at 8000x8000 pixels.

UK tourists arrested over "destroy America" Twitter joke.

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The 26-year-old bar manager wrote a message to a friend on the micro-blogging service, saying: "Free this week, for quick gossip/prep before I go and destroy America."

The Irish national told the Sun newspaper that he and his friend Emily Bunting were apprehended on arrival at Los Angeles International Airport before being sent home.

"The Homeland Security agents were treating me like some kind of terrorist," Mr Bryan said.

"I kept saying they had got the wrong meaning from my tweet."

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Originally posted by Zuul

The highest resolution image of Earth yet:

http://www.thestranger.com/images/bl...otostream.jpeg

Absolutely stunning. If you follow the link and then click on the larger version of the picture, you can get it at 8000x8000 pixels.

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You can't see Ireland. :(

Nope. Mexico is the focal point in that one. The rest of us are just along for the ride.

The last known WWI veteran in the entire world has died - may she rest in peace: http://www.time.com/time/world/artic...106357,00.html

It's stunning to think that all the veterans we know of from that war are now gone. Time marches on and all things eventually pass from living memory to simple history.

Hard to believe as I can remember seeing WW1 vets marching, now I feel like those that recall the last of the civil war vets.

A prediction made by a top ranking official in the Vatican is that the Pope will die in a year.

Assassination plot, ravings of a madman or something more sinister - we'll find out at the end of the year.

The Vatican has now denied that there's any such plot, FWIW.

What's on POTUS's iPod?: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/m...oundtrack.html

Science behind ponytail revealed

Stuff like this is why we as a society mock science.

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Originally posted by RabbitMage

Science behind ponytail revealed

Stuff like this is why we as a society mock science.

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When, as a society, we should mock science reporters.

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Originally posted by Rube E. Tewesday

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Originally posted by RabbitMage

Science behind ponytail revealed

Stuff like this is why we as a society mock science.

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When, as a society, we should mock science reporters.

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Agreed.

Science reporters are, in fact, minions of evil.

Well, I wouldn't go THAT far...!

Justice Breyer robbed while on vacation - where was his U.S. Marshals Service guard?: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-17021192

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Originally posted by Zuul

Science reporters are, in fact, minions of evil.

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Yes they are.

Complex Wiring of the Nervous System May Rely On a Just a Handful of Genes and Proteins

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Researchers at the Salk Institute have discovered a startling feature of early brain development that helps to explain how complex neuron wiring patterns are programmed using just a handful of critical genes. The findings, published in Cell, may help scientists develop new therapies for neurological disorders, such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and provide insight into certain cancers.

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Santorum, Romney tied in latest poll: http://content.usatoday.com/communit...l-polls-cbs-/1