Google Reader Tells Me This is Interesting

I think it's right.


The US is more energy efficient right now than it was at any time since 1973. One reason might be this new urinal that combines urinal and sink so that the flush water comes when you wash your hands. Saying that provokes a "what?" but see the quite safe for work diagram makes it all clear.

How language affects how we perceive the world:

From an article in the New York Times by Guy Deutscher, ....

For instance, some languages, like Matses in Peru, oblige their speakers, like the finickiest of lawyers, to specify exactly how they came to know about the facts they are reporting. You cannot simply say, as in English, “An animal passed here.” You have to specify, using a different verbal form, whether this was directly experienced (you saw the animal passing), inferred (you saw footprints), conjectured (animals generally pass there that time of day), hearsay or such. If a statement is reported with the incorrect “evidentiality,” it is considered a lie. So if, for instance, you ask a Matses man how many wives he has, unless he can actually see his wives at that very moment, he would have to answer in the past tense and would say something like “There were two last time I checked.” After all, given that the wives are not present, he cannot be absolutely certain that one of them hasn’t died or run off with another man since he last saw them, even if this was only five minutes ago. So he cannot report it as a certain fact in the present tense.

More on mobile slaughterhouses. (Other post here)

Improving nutrition and food appeal in hospitals (a very wordy post to say that a few well-trained chefs in a few hospitals are trying to cook good food (tasty and healthy) using approved ingredients.

Don’t get me wrong, the cafeteria still serves pizza, coke, and other food you don’t expect to find in a facility treating people with heart, kidney, and other health problems. Change comes very slowly, even in institutions allegedly built to keep us well. But I was heartened to find that people could make healthy choices—and plenty of them for lunch or dinner.
... One worker served up small batches of striped ravioli with a tomato sauce; sprigs of watercress and a mix of cheese and herbs would also wind up on the plate.

Speaking of which, did you know that McDonald's hamburgers and fries don't age?

Let's play a game. We'll name off several government stimulus programs, you tell us if they are "Real or Fake?" I'm having trouble finding the externality or multiplier these answer. (HT: Carpe Diem) Video below the fold.