Random links
- What Do Spoilers Spoil?
- "In August 2011 two researchers at the University of California at San Diego reported (in the journal Psychological Science) that in a controlled experiment, 'subjects significantly preferred spoiled over unspoiled stories in the case of both … ironic twist stories and … mysteries.'"
- Sharp rise reported in child abuse by women
- "Some 2,142 children told ChildLine last year they had been sexually abused by a woman - nearly a quarter of all calls where the offender's gender could be identified. ... Research for the helpline found that boys were more likely to say they had been abused by a woman (1,722 cases) than by a man (1,651)." That latter bit was a bit surprising. Not too shockingly, though, where the child in question was female, the offender was far more likely to be male.
- How Self-Driving Cars Could Reshape Our Cities
- Interesting at least to think about although I'm a bit skeptical of at least some of it. A lot of the efficiency improvements I can see, but I suspect that people are still likely to want their own cars.
- Enough to make your head swim: World's largest pool which cost $1bn and holds 66m gallons is so big you can even sail boats on it
- Naturally the thing is a few feet next to the ocean. It's cleaner than the ocean water and also apparently 9 degrees warmer which seems a bit nice. Why you'd want the thing to be 115 feet deep in spots I'm not really sure...
- Hayek on Serfdom and Welfare States
- Frederick Hayek seems to have been a bit less libertarian than you might think. "As Matt Yglesias said Monday, lots of people, conservatives and liberals alike, say that Hayek believed that any welfare state inevitably leads to totalitarianism. Then some people who have actually read Hayek reply that he always supported social insurance, safety nets, public goods provision and many forms of regulation. Then confusion ensues."