News.com Extra

As the virtual watercooler remains abuzz about the Eliot Spitzer prostitution scandal, it was a bit of a twist to come across this National Public Radio piece on a Toronto-based Web site that's making millions by helping people have affairs.

AshleyMadison.com is apparently the largest dating service of its kind--its kind being those that hook people up who are already taken, sans the stigma of being a cheater. The site's tagline: "Life is short, have an affair," according to NPR.

It's also worth noting the question NPR put out there for discussion: "Is it more ethical for a married person to find someone to cheat with on a Web site specifically for cheaters or is it all equally despicable?" Interesting times...

Read the full story or follow the link to the radio piece at NPR.org: "Web site makes millions by connecting cheaters"

Finally, someone has come up with the neurological explanation for why we can't resist plunging into the endless stream of minute details available online. For why we can surf Web comics for hours, why some games are more engaging than others, and why we can't keep ourselves from message boards and flame wars.

It turns out there's a biological reason--similar to why cats can't stop chasing a laser pointer. What a relief! This whole time we thought it was lack of self-discipline.

Read the full story at The Wall Street Journal: "Why We're Powerless To Resist Grazing On Endless Web Data"

In a new book, teleportation is categorized as a mere "Type I impossibility"--meaning it doesn't defy the laws of physics and given the state of today's technology, could be realized within 100 years. Want to know what else physicists are saying is "someday possible," "somewhat impossible," and "totally impossible," given current scientific knowledge?

Read the full article on MSNBC: "Mission not-so-impossible"

Just in case there's a robot uprising (like, say, this week), Wired has helpfully posted a guide to defending yourself against the various "Terminator" androids. That's right, from the television series. Taking note of the detailed armor analysis for each model Terminator, you will know which weapon to choose from your at-home arsenal and where, precisely, to strike.

Good hunting! Read the full article on Wired: "How To: Terminate a Terminator (Updated)"

Nanaimo, a smallish city close to Vancouver, Canada, has been feeding Google Earth information from its municipal agencies for five years. The result is that citizens can look up details on real estate, individual businesses, zoning permits, public transit, and fire engine dispatches in real time, using one program. Is this the beginning of a trend toward making public information accessible in a way that doesn't undermine privacy? Or does it give Google too much power?

Read the full story on Time: "How Google Earth Ate Our Town"

Wii aficionados are having a smashing good time these days--at their TVs' expense.

Gamers need to get a grip, literally. It seems quite a few virtual golfers are turning their Wiimotes into Wii projectiles, damaging their beloved plasma and LCD TV screens in the process. Now, Panasonic engineers are coming to the rescue.

The company is working on reinforcing the screens by applying old-style TV tube-making technology, says New Scientist.

In a demonstration, Panasonic hung a steel ball on the end of a cord and let it swing against a screen to simulate an impact equivalent to the Wii remote being hurled at the screen from across a room.

Read the story at New Scientist: "TVs reinforced for those smashing Wii games"

Every so often media blends itself up in a weirdly inspired way to produce a totally new genre. This might be one of those occasions: Czech artist Jeremiah Palecek has made a name for himself painting fine-art renditions of notable Internet video memes. Yes, he's got the dramatic chipmunk, the raver Viking, and the German kid going nuts. Don't see your favorite? He takes requests, too.

Thanks to Boing Boing for the heads-up: "Oil paintings inspired by Internet memes"

You may be surprised to learn that a molecule 2 billionths of a meter across can be programmed to dispatch and command machines. Scientists at Japan's International Center for Young Scientists have created a molecule of duroquinone fitted with "docking stations" where nanomachines can attach and receive instruction from a molecular CPU (central processing unit). It's not the fastest computing molecule, but it's the only one that can act as a dispatcher to 16 other molecules simultaneously.

Read the full story at BBC News:"Chemical brain controls nanobots"

A Kentucky lawmaker is pushing for a Web free of anonymous posts through a bill he filed that would require anyone who contributes to a Web site to register his or her real name, address, and e-mail. Under the proposed law, the site operator would be fined for violations, according to a Kentucky TV news site.

The story is from last week, but it was posted on the Drudge Report on Monday and, as a result, is still creating some noise in the blogosphere, particularly given the related First Amendment issues.

Read more from WTVQ.com: "Kentucky lawmaker wants to make anonymous Internet posting illegal"

Along with all the apparent benefits of electric cars, their possible drawbacks are also gaining attention. In some circles, it's the science that's controversial; in others, it's the funding for the research. On LiveScience the argument is about whether electric cars could strain the water supply due to their use of electricity...Wait, what?

Read the full story, and enjoy a good argument, on LiveScience: "Electric Vehicles Could Strain Water Supplies"