Because I find all kinds of boob technology interesting, I'm posting this link to Maidenform's new Breakthrough Backless Bra. But the real story is how Elaine Cato set about making it because she wanted to look good in a sexy, backless dress.

Michael Moore is telling people to vote for a Democrat in the election. He also says some bad things about Clinton and some nice things about Obama:

There are those who say Obama isn't ready, or he's voted wrong on this or that. But that's looking at the trees and not the forest. What we are witnessing is not just a candidate but a profound, massive public movement for change. My endorsement is more for Obama The Movement than it is for Obama the candidate.

That is not to take anything away from this exceptional man. But what's going on is bigger than him at this point, and that's a good thing for the country. Because, when he wins in November, that Obama Movement is going to have to stay alert and active. Corporate America is not going to give up their hold on our government just because we say so. President Obama is going to need a nation of millions to stand behind him.

The Toronto Star reports on a Canadian and Japanese team that has successfully removed gas from methane hydrate. This by itself isn't news -- the gas releases itself at room temperature. What is news is how the team has managed to get a sustained flow of gas from the material, making it usable.

Heat or unsqueeze the hydrate and gas is released. Hold a core sample to your ear and it hisses.

More significant is the fact that gas hydrates concentrate 164 times the energy of the same amount of natural gas.

And gas hydrate fields are found in abundance under the coastal waters of every continent. Calculations suggest there's more energy in gas hydrates than in coal, oil and conventional gas combined.

I'm reminded of Curtis Rist's Discover article in 1999 about how we'll never run out of oil. Hilariously, oil is now more than $100 a barrel.

Yet more reasons to hate Coke:

Dangerous levels of the known carcinogen cadmium have been found in the sludge produced from the plant in the southern state of Kerala.

The chemicals were traced in an investigation by BBC Radio 4's Face The Facts programme and prompted scientists to call for the practice to be halted immediately.

However, Vice-President of Coca-Cola in India, Sunil Gupta, denied the fertiliser posed any risk.

"We have scientific evidence to prove it is absolutely safe and we have never had any complaints," Mr Gupta said.

The BBC did their own analysis of the "fertilizer", and found out it was worthless.

Virgins! If you support internet neutrality, Tania Derveaux wants to sleep with YOU! Furthermore, she'll do it on her own dime, and she's got a pretty nice rack. The terms of service are pretty good, too. Adobe, you should think about adopting them.

(P.S. - You should support internet neutrality anyway, even if you're not getting laid.)

Flickr user Sean (Ajka_Hungary) posts a very powerful request from his step-father to please stop smoking.

Wired reports that brain scanners can now detect your free will. Freaky.

In a study published Sunday in Nature Neuroscience, researchers using brain scanners could predict people's decisions seven seconds before the test subjects were even aware of making them.

The decision studied -- whether to hit a button with one's left or right hand -- may not be representative of complicated choices that are more integrally tied to our sense of self-direction. Regardless, the findings raise profound questions about the nature of self and autonomy: How free is our will? Is conscious choice just an illusion?

Here's a fun little game that has you naming as many elements of the periodic table as you can in 15 minutes. An even better game, in my opinion, involved US presidents.
(Via Kottke)

Accelerating Future has ten futuristic materials that seem more suited to science fiction than science fact. #9 on the list reminded me of this while my jaw was dropping:

"Transparent Aluminum?"

"That's the ticket laddie."

"Oh, it'd take years to figure out the dynamics of this matrix."

"But you'd be rich beyond the dreams of averice."

"So. Is it worth something ta ya...or should I just...punch up clear?"
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home

Broken wall + Sense of humour = This