Don't Buy That House

As a potential first-time home buyer this article on Forbes really made me think about buying vs. renting. A snippet:

Nearly 70% of all Americans own their own homes; only 34% of the Swiss do. Thriving cities like Hamburg, Amsterdam and Berlin have rates of ownership of just 20%, 16% and 11% respectively, according to the United Nations.

Home Inspection Nightmares

Entertaining look at some horrible do-it-yourself fixes.

Can You Survive in Space Without a Spacesuit?

Interesting article on Slate about what would really happen if you were exposed to the hard vacuum of space without a space suit. Some neat snippets:

An astronaut who fell unconscious from lack of oxygen would last for a few minutes more before dying from asphyxiation or the effects of the pressure reduction. Ebullism would result in the formation of bubbles in the moisture found in the eyes, mouth, and skin tissue. One NASA test subject who survived a 1965 accident in which he was exposed to near-vacuum conditions felt the saliva on his tongue begin to boil before he lost consciousness after 14 seconds.

The smarter you are the less sex you get

Interesting study on IQ vs. Sex percentage. From the article:

Depending on the specific age and gender, an adolescent with an IQ of 100 was 1.5 to 5 times more likely to have had intercourse than a teen with a score of 120 or 130. Each additional point of IQ increased the odds of virginity by 2.7% for males and 1.7% for females. But higher IQ had a similar relationship across the entire range of romantic/sexual interactions, decreasing the odds that teens had ever kissed or even held hands with a member of the opposite sex at each age.

Knitting With Dog Hair

Becuase we all know how important it is.

Oscar the cat predicts patients' deaths

Oscar the cat seems to have an uncanny knack for predicting when nursing home patients are going to die, by curling up next to them during their final hours. His accuracy, observed in 25 cases, has led the staff to call family members once he has chosen someone. It usually means they have less than four hours to live.

Color Palette of Top Grossing Movie Posters

Take a look at the color palettes for blockbuster movies as sorted by their rating. NC-17 and rated R movies tend to dark and red while the kids get blue and happy!