The Dark Side Of Electronic Waste Recycling • Discoverology

The Dark Side Of Electronic Waste Recycling

Business, Nature, Science, Tech

Electronics can be hazardous when disposed of improperly, and the Basel Action Network, or BAN, investigates the underground world of the e-waste trade. The nonprofit group secretly embeds trackers in discarded devices, then hands them to recyclers to see where they end up, exposing bad practices in the process.

Related tags
Related posts
Speedgate, The Sport Invented By Artificial Intelligence

Speedgate, The Sport Invented By Artificial Intelligence

Innovation, Tech

A team of designers in Portland, Oregon, tasked their artificial intelligence system with building a new team sport for us humans. The result of that pet project, Speedgate, is being heralded as the first viable AI-created field game. It has since become an indie sports phenomenon, with proposed leagues in more than 50 countries worldwide.

The Madness Of Airline Élite Status

The Madness Of Airline Élite Status

Business, Economics, World

When you fly a lot for work, as I do, you check your frequent-flier mile balance often, to provide data for competitive commiseration. Frequent fliers sometimes go to great lengths to keep their airline élite status, and those efforts are often completely out of proportion to the perks.

The Most Common Airbnb Scams Worldwide

The Most Common Airbnb Scams Worldwide

Apps, Crime, Tech

Scammers all over the world have figured how best to game the Airbnb platform: by engaging in bait and switches; charging guests for fake damages; persuading people to pay outside the Airbnb app, and engaging in clumsy or threatening demands for five-star reviews to hide the evidence of what they’ve done.

How Small Business Owners Survived The Great Recession

How Small Business Owners Survived The Great Recession

Business

Successful business owners employed a variety of strategies to make ends meet, from entering into strategic partnerships to significantly downsizing staff. When small business owners faced dramatic downward shifts in revenue, they had to get creative and, in some cases, make extremely difficult decisions.

The Science Of Sleep: Dreaming, Depression, And How Rem Sleep Regulates Negative Emotions

The Science Of Sleep: Dreaming, Depression, And How Rem Sleep Regulates Negative Emotions

Life, Psychology, Science

Memory is never a precise duplicate of the original… it is a continuing act of creation. Dream images are the product of that creation. They are formed by pattern recognition between some current emotionally valued experience matching the condensed representation of similarly toned memories.

How Texas Instruments Monopolized Math Class

How Texas Instruments Monopolized Math Class

Business, Economics, Tech

Some major textbooks feature illustrations of Texas Instruments–series calculators alongside the text, so students can use their Texas Instruments calculator with the lesson plan, emphasizing how deeply interwoven Texas Instruments remains with the educational hegemony.

The Limits Of Clean Energy

The Limits Of Clean Energy

Nature

Once we trade dirty fossil fuels for clean energy, there’s no reason we can’t keep expanding the economy forever. This narrative may seem reasonable enough at first glance, but there are good reasons to think twice about it. One of them has to do with clean energy itself.

How A Single Mom Created A Plastic Food-Storage Empire

How A Single Mom Created A Plastic Food-Storage Empire

Business, History, Long Reads

The story of Tupperware is a story of innovation and reinvention: how a new kind of plastic, made from industrial waste material, ended up a symbol of female empowerment. The product ushered women into the workforce, encouraging them to make their own money, better their families, and win accolades and prizes.

Did The Advent Of The First Desktop Computer Lead To Murder?

Did The Advent Of The First Desktop Computer Lead To Murder?

Crime, History, Tech

In the summer of 1965, the Olivetti P101 made it to the New York World’s Fair but only just. It was hidden away in a small room behind the main stand. If anyone found it, it was supposed to be an accident. But a few people did. Soon more and more began to squeeze their way in.

Korvaa Is The World’s First Headphones “Grown” From Bio-based Materials

Korvaa Is The World’s First Headphones “Grown” From Bio-based Materials

Design, Innovation, Science, Tech

Helsinki-based multidisciplinary design studio Aivan recently unveiled Korvaa, the world’s first headphones made exclusively from microbially grown materials. Created using synbio, Korvaa is the first physical implementation of the technology and marks a potential shift away from a fossil fuel-based economy.

How A Long-lost Indian Disco Record Won Over Crate Diggers And Cracked The YouTube Algorithm

How A Long-lost Indian Disco Record Won Over Crate Diggers And Cracked The YouTube Algorithm

Media, Tech

1982’s Disco Jazz has been reissued. “Aaj Shanibar,” one of its four tracks, has also started to spread through the strange rabbithole that is YouTube’s recommendation algorithm. With the benefit of time and technology, “lost” songs reach a new generation of listeners halfway around the world.

3D Printing Homes For The Homeless In Austin

3D Printing Homes For The Homeless In Austin

Cities, Innovation, Tech, Videos

ICON, the 3D-printing construction company, has partnered with Mobile Loaves & Fishes (MLF) to build 3D-printed homes in Austin. The only neighborhood of its kind in the nation, Community First! Village provides affordable, permanent housing and a supportive community for men and women coming out of chronic homelessness.

The Real Reason The Sound Of Your Own Voice Makes You Cringe

The Real Reason The Sound Of Your Own Voice Makes You Cringe

Psychology, Science

A common explanation is that because we normally hear our own voice while talking, we receive both sound transferred to our ears externally by air conduction and sound transferred internally through our bones. This bone conduction of sound delivers rich low frequencies that are not included in air-conducted vocal sound.

The Curse Of America’s Illogical School-Day Schedule

The Curse Of America’s Illogical School-Day Schedule

Business, Life

The average start time for public high schools, 7:59, requires teens to get up earlier than is ideal for their biological clocks, meaning many teens disrupt their natural sleep patterns every school day. The world, apparently, does not revolve around parents either. Their lives also tend to be mismatched with school-day schedules.

We use cookies on this website to analyse your use of our products and services, provide content from third parties and assist with our marketing efforts. Learn more about our use of cookies and available controls: cookie policy. Please be aware that your experience may be disrupted until you accept cookies.