• Psychopaths don’t lack empathy, they just have a switch for it
• Serco: the company that is running Britain
• ‘Rivers’ in air could boost flooding
• Scientists discover what’s killing the bees
• They Finally Tested The ‘Prisoner’s Dilemma’ On Actual Prisoners — With Unexpected Results
• Heart Surgery in India for $1,583 Costs $106,385 in U.S.
• New app puts idle smartphones to work for science
• 5 thoughts from a month with the Oculus Rift (Christ, I want one)
• More optogenetics: Fake memory implanted in mice with a beam of light
• US government recognizes League of Legends players as pro athletes
• This is what happens when you attempt to take a video of police in Sweden
• Video: Historically Accurate Disney Princess Song
• If Facebook existed during World War II
• Web Game: You Can’t Write Proper English Under Pressure
• To play later: Kanye Quest 3030

Also, these guys made a campfire setup with lazer lights and the visual effect is effin’ awesome.

• Even Rupert Murdoch wants tighter gun control
• Building a Better Truth Machine: Could algorithms help debunk online rumors before they spread?
• Secretaries of Safe: will Obama’s new cabinet be ‘too safe’?
• 9 signs the War on Drugs is almost over
• Monotremes (Platypus/Echidnas) are still fucking weird
• Bioethics, should we live to 1000?
• Hrm… Basketballer Yao Ming came from a special genetic breeding program to produce super-atheletes
• Why afternoon may be the best time to exercise
• Website: Google60 (punch card interface)
• Website: Moodstream (streams depending on set mood)
• Website: Mathrun (brain-juicing)

First modern Olympic Games in Athens, 1894 – via

Two very interesting Olympics based items popped up today. The first is a collection of photos from the Olympics of past that goes all the way back to the very first games. That can be found here.

And also, this video that profiles just what professional photographers will go through to cover events like track and field from every angle to get that one shot.

This Irish man takes on the sport of sailing (and it’s spectators) in grand fashion.

UPDATE: Video has been taken down because the IOC hate awesomeness existing on the internet. Mirror video available here.

• Yet to watch the Olympics opening ceremony, but I like Warren Ellis’ tweet-report version
• Plus, Danny Boyle’s programme introduction for the ceremony’s concept
• An interview with Alison Klayman, director of Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry
• Can Creativity be Automated?
• Editorial on how Writing is Acting
• Brian Lewis Saunders made self portraits for each drug he took
• Library of Congress’ map collection is basically a map-porn hub for enthusiasts
• 3 Really Long Wars and 3 Really Short Wars
• Video: Yeah, being in a dust storm would be pretty mental
• The sport science of table tennis is pretty wack too
• Mashable’s 25 Twitter Accounts That Will Make You Smarter

Also, this. Just cause.

Lonesome George Is Dead, and the Pinta Island Tortoises Are Extinct

• The Newsweek Daily Beast: 100 Digital Power Index
• First ever ‘photo finish’ tie in US track and field
• A Chinese soccer fan died from exhaustion after staying up to watch every Euro 2012 match
• Why is the retirement age 65?
• Apple’s retail army, long on loyalty but short on pay
• How Apple brainwashes its store employees – turning them into clapping, smiling zealots
• Infographic: Ray Bradbury predictions fulfilled

And here’s a brief clip from some interview with Marcia whatshername, but the real star here is a plucky audience member who knows just how to work the camera: