Nine percent of the Western Hemisphere’s mammals—and up to 40 percent in some regions—may not be able to outpace climate change.

“I think it’s important to point out that in the past when climates have changed—between glacial and interglacial periods when species ranges contracted and expanded—the landscape wasn’t covered with agricultural fields, four-lane highways and parking lots, so species could move much more freely across the landscape,” says Joshua Lawler, associate professor of environmental and forest sciences at University of Washington.

Full story at Futurity.

More research news from top universities.

Photo credit: U. Washington

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When considering a patient’s blood vitamin D levels, it may be best to consider a lower threshold for concern, as well as the time of year.

"In evaluating health risk," the University of Washington researchers conclude, "season-specific targets for Vitamin D blood concentration may be more appropriate than a static target when evaluating patients health risk."

Full story at Futurity.

More research news from top universities.

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Marine biology, scharine schiology. Pleated Jeans skips scientific facts for its series of sea life diagrams.

Via Pleated Jeans. (H/T @laughingsquid)

Laughing is good for you.

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When the moon passes in front of sun, as viewed from Earth, the eclipse that occurs is visible from a narrow path on Earth that corresponds to the location of the moon's shadow. During a total solar eclipse, this path is known as the path of totality. WARNING: Never look directly at the sun during an eclipse with a telescope or your unaided eye. Severe eye damage can result and scientists use special filters to safely view the sun.

Via Space.

The view from space.

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Using the 2008 Beijing Olympics as a lab, researchers found evidence that even short-term reduction in air pollution exposure improves a person’s cardiovascular health.

“Beijing is one of the most polluted cities in the world, and the Chinese government had proposed to reduce pollution levels to be comparable to other Olympic host cities,” says USC Professor Junfeng (Jim) Zhang.

“We wanted to take advantage of such a huge intervention and look at what happens to people biologically.”

Full story at Futurity.

More research news from top universities.

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Not all E-rated video games are created equal. New research indicates content matters more than ratings when it comes to effects on kids.

“In the children’s study these were are all very cartoonish games—they were all rated appropriate for everyone—and yet we still show the violent harm aspect, as well as the prosocial, good aspect of some E-rated games,” says Iowa State University psychology professor Craig Anderson.

Full story at Futurity.

More research news from top universities.

Photo credit: Fotolia

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More older, highly-educated women are choosing to have a family, but it remains unclear whether they are having children in addition to—or instead of—careers.

“Women born in the late 1950s are the turning point,” says Qingyan Shang, assistant professor of economics at the University at Buffalo. 

Full story at Futurity.

More research news from top universities.

Photo credit: Fotolia

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Christmas is the time for giving...and making sweet, sweet whoopie. What? That's what science says.

According to birth data compiled from 1973 to 1999, the most common birthday falls on September 16 and September in general is a hot time for popping out children. Do the math and you may notice Mommy was doing a little more than kissing Santa Claus underneath the mistletoe.

Full story at The Daily Viz.

Fun with science.

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NBC reporter Ben Aaron took a trip to the Fair Lawn Senior Center in New Jersey to spend a day gleaning wisdom from old (very old) friends Harvey and Eddie. The delightful duo shared their amusing takes on everything from Facebook to Lindsay Lohan.

Only good news.

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Females and younger athletes take longer to recover from concussions, new research shows.

“We need to raise awareness that yes, female athletes do get concussions. Too often, when we speak with parents and coaches, they overlook the fact that in comparable sports, females are concussed more than males," says study leader Tracey Covassin of the kinesiology department at Michigan State University.

Full story at Futurity.

More research news from top universities.

Photo credit: Fotolia

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Business card one-upmanship comes out to play at booze 'n schmooze events where everyone aims to make a lasting impression, and the employees from a creative agency in France certainly found a way to make an impact. The Caen-based company created concrete business cards that make up for their total impracticality with cool points.

Playing with the notion of scales, Murmure created a set of business cards made of concrete. This material, so characteristic of our environment, was enhanced by using the smallest and most refined communication support. The refinement and the technique required for the typography highlight the harshness and the roughness of the used material.

Via Freshome.

Find design inspiration.

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Toy Story 2 cost $90 million to make, but that price could have ballooned without the accidental heroics of a Pixar employee.

While wrapping up production on the big-budget computer animated film, a crew member accidentally typed in the "RM*" command on the Linux system storing all the movie's data. The systems went into self-destruct mode, erasing all memories of Woody, Buzz, and the rest of the talking toys. Panic gripped Pixar until an employee (and mom) named Galyn remembered something...

Take this story as a friendly reminder to back up your files, kids.

Via Kottke.

The stories behind movies.

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A high-tech timepiece that syncs with your smartphone goes from tiny indie project to internet sensation

Silicon Valley's Eric Migicovsky had a vision for a watch that would seamlessly and wirelessly sync with his smartphone, alerting him to incoming calls, texts, and emails. His idea, eventually dubbed Pebble, attracted the attention of business incubator Y Combinator and raised $375,000 from a few angel investors. "Then he hit a roadblock," says Mark Milian at Bloomberg. "A big one." Pebble couldn't raise any more money, and the project screeched to a halt. So Migicovsky turned to the popular "crowd-funding" website Kickstarter, and suddenly, Pebble had scored an astonishing $10 million investment.

Full story and video at The Week.

Photo: Screen shot

All the top stories from The Week.

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If you run an e-commerce business, you must be aware of Shopping Cart Abandonment Statistics of your website. For those who have never heard of this term before, Shopping cart Abandonment rate is the percentage of shoppers who placed products in the Shopping Cart but did not complete the check-out process.

According to researches, the average Shopping Cart Abandonment Rate of e-commerce websites is 65.23%, which means that shoppers didn’t complete the checkout process 65 times out of 100.

Via invesp.

All the top ecommerce news.

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The influence of Facebook is most definitely an international one, and big brands have taken notice. SocialBakers took a closer look at which brands are most effectively utilizing the vast network to spread their advertising far and wide and where their efforts are being best rewarded.

Via Social Bakers.

Facebook infographics.

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When you think of objects floating through the air without visible means of doing so, the term “poltergeist” probably comes to mind, but now, you can come out from underneath the bed and take a closer look at this amazing project out of MIT Media Lab called ZeroN without fear of supernatural reprisal.

The system tracks the trajectory of a magnetic object that can be controlled manually or by computer, which can then be digitally repeated.

…[Jinha] Lee and [Rehmi] Post created a magnetic control system that can levitate the ZeroN, along with an optical tracking and display setup that projects images onto the floating object. Lee says his creation offers a variety of practical applications, including enhanced simulations of planetary movements, but emphasizes that there's a larger symbolism behind his work. "ZeroN," he writes, "is about liberating materials from the constraints of space and time by blending the physical and digital world."

See, much friendlier than poltergeists.

Full story at MIT via The Verge.

Weird science.

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On the eve of the great IPO, the time has finally come to honor Mark Zuckerberg, all-American entrepreneur, in the most all-American way of all: his own musical.

From his days at Harvard to the advent of the timeline, CollectiveCadenza has captured the essence of Zuckerberg in a four-minute musical extravaganza.

Full story at YouTube via The Daily What.

The soundtrack to Facebook.

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Who needs history class when YouTube exists? This epic time-lapse video shows Europe's shifting borders, alliances, unions, territories, and occupied lands from 1000-2003 AD.

Brush up on history.

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As smartphone adoption has grown, so has app consumption. As a result, businesses are now prioritizing mobile application development. By 2015, mobile application development projects targeting smartphones and tablets will outnumber native PC projects buy a ratio of 4 to 1. Innovation in mobile is imperative, and there’s a need for tools that enable businesses to innovate quickly.

Via Engine Yard.

Learn more about cloud computing.

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While regular folks try to scrape together $35 to buy a single Facebook share, Mark Zuckerberg prepares to fill a swimming pool with cash as the social networking giant's IPO approaches.

Via MBA Online. (H/T @gvoakes)

The scoop on Facebook.

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