Why you can smell rain, explained by science

When those first fat drops of summer rain fall to the hot, dry ground, have you ever noticed a distinctive odor? I have childhood memories of family members who were farmers describing how they could always “smell rain” right before a storm. Of course rain itself has no scent. But moments before a rain event, an “earthy” smell known as petrichor does permeate the air. People call it musky, fresh – generally pleasant. This smell actually comes from the moistening of the ground. Australian scientists first documented the process of petrichor formation in 1964 and scientists from the Massachusetts Institute…

This story continues at The Next Web

from The Next Web http://bit.ly/2SidsiB

Comments

TNW Podcast: Boris comes over to co-host; Slack’s Cal Henderson talks European tech

Welcome to the new episode of the TNW Podcast — the show where we discuss the latest developments in the European technology ecosystem and feature interviews with some of the most interesting people in the industry. In today’s episode, Andrii is joined by Boris Veldhuijzen van Zanten, co-founder, member of the board, and former CEO of TNW. The topics discussed include the jobs created by Dutch startups, giant state funding for energy projects, translations of the word ‘computer’, and a bunch of other things in between. In the interview section, we’re featuring a conversation with Cal Henderson, co-founder and… This story continues at The Next Web from The Next Web https://ift.tt/jUgcNFD

NotJordanPeterson lets you generate uncannily realistic Jordan Peterson sound bites

Love him or hate him, Canadian psychologist Jordan Peterson has undeniably captivated the interest of supporters and critics alike, earning a reputation as a “rock star” academic – similarly to his colleague and debate rival Slavoj Zizek. Now he’s being replicated, by AI. While you can easily find hours of footage with Peterson, none of what you hear in this piece comes from his mouth. Instead, it’s been produced by a neural network – called NotJordanPeterson – which has been trained to mimic the voice of the psychologist. And the resemblance is… absolutely uncanny. Check out these examples we generated… This story continues at The Next Web from The Next Web https://ift.tt/306hAGA

A massive cache of stolen OnlyFans videos have been dumped online

Someone has leaked terabytes of content stolen from OnlyFans, a subscription site popular among influencers, sex workers, and pornographic actors. Photos and videos of specific users and performers is now out from behind the site’s paywall, meaning content creators are no longer able to profit from their work. And it doesn’t seem like there’s anything they can do. If you’re unfamiliar with OnlyFans (be honest with me now), it’s a site where viewers can pay a fee to view photos and videos put up by content creators. Ostensibly it would allow the latter to profit from their work, but it’s… This story continues at The Next Web from The Next Web https://ift.tt/2PvNCIG

Technology News Era

Search This Blog