Phone app shows the way
"A smartphone app may soon guide people through unfamiliar buildings by shining lighted arrows on the ground before them to show the way, U.S. researchers say," United Press International reports. "The Guiding Light app, developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, consists of a wearable badge with magnetic sensors and software that makes use of a projector built into many Samsung smartphones to project the arrows onto the ground. The system relies on a map of the building based on fluctuations in its magnetic field created by the presence of steel in the walls, floor and ceiling, an MIT release said. … The map is created by walking through a building wearing a badge that contains four magnetic sensors, which record changes in the magnetic field at each point in the building. The map is then loaded onto a phone."
Fear and abstract art
"Does abstract art fail to evoke a profound emotional response? Try viewing it while you're terrified," says Miller-McCune.com. "… A newly published study finds people are more likely to be moved and intrigued by abstract paintings if they have just experienced a good scare. This suggests the allure of art may be 'a byproduct of one's tendency to be alarmed by such environmental features as novelty, ambiguity and the fantastic,' argues lead author Kendall Eskine, a research psychologist at Loyola University New Orleans. 'Artists may be tapping into this natural sense when their work takes people's breath away,' he and his colleagues write in the journal Emotion. Their study was inspired by 18th-century philosopher Edmund Burke, who argued there is a strong link between fear and our experience of the sublime."
Beware drunken frat boys
"A West Virginia college student is suing his fraternity, alleging that he fell off a deck when a drunken frat brother fired a bottle rocket out of his own anus," reports The Week. "Louis Helmburg III alleges that Travis Hughes's bottle-rocket stunt so startled him that he jumped back and fell. 'Firing bottle rockets out of one's anus,' the lawsuit states, 'constitutes an 'ultra-hazardous' activity.'"
One dissenting vote
"Naked rambler Nigel Keer, who walked through a popular beauty spot wearing just a backpack, boots and a baseball cap, has been fined £315 [$494]" The Telegraph reports. "Keer, 41, was found guilty at Leeds Magistrates' Court of a public order offence after causing distress to a woman who was walking her dog. The committed naturist kept score of the number of positive reactions versus adverse reactions he received on his naked tea-time stroll at Otley Chevin in Leeds on Oct. 2 last year. The court heard the score was 15-0 in his favour until an off-duty police officer apprehended him after seeing a woman looking at Keer with a 'disgusted frown.'"
Like wow, or dislike it?
"The interjection 'wow,' as 'a natural expression of amazement,' goes back to the 1510s," Ruth Walker writes for The Christian Science Monitor. "Yes, you read that right – early in the 16th century. Wow! That is pretty amazing, isn't it? (Sorry, I couldn't resist.) According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, wow was originally 'a Scottish interjection.'"
Language for success
"A [British]secondary school has instructed its pupils to stop using slang words such as hiya, cheers and ta, to enhance their prospects of landing a top job," The Guardian reports. "Sheffield Springs Academy, which is based in one of the most deprived parts of the city, asks students to use standard English inside the school gates. The United Learning Trust (ULT), a charity that runs the school, said the policy had been introduced so that pupils could recognize what kind of language was acceptable between friends and what would be suitable in more formal situations. The school had an ethos that 'the street stops at the gate,' said Kathy August, ULT's deputy chief executive. … 'We want to make sure that our youngsters are not just leaving school with the necessary A to Cs in [exams] but that they also have a whole range of employability skills,' August said. 'Understanding when it is and is not acceptable to use slang or colloquial language is just one part of this."
In the dark over love
"A Valentine's Day gift is being blamed for a power outage in Southern California," Associated Press reports. "Southern California Edison spokesman David Song says a helium-filled balloon scored a direct hit on the company's Fontana substation Tuesday night, knocking out power to 15,099 customers. Song [told]The Press-Enterprise the balloon was likely a Valentine's gift."
Thought du jour
"Art disturbs, science reassures."
Georges Braque (1882-1963), French painter and sculptor