The brake override systems allow a driver to stop a car with the footbrake even if the accelerator is depressed and the vehicle is running at full throttle. The systems are an outgrowth of new electronics in cars, specifically in engine control.

Apparently these systems aren't required. Shocking and tragic.

Yet another thing to consider when buying a car. Unbelievable.

-janelane

Toyota did not install brake override systems despite complaints - washingtonpost.com

I hadn't visited the Oatmeal in a while. I'm crying from laughing so hard.

-janelane

Why I'd rather be punched in the testicles than call customer service - The Oatmeal

If you’ve ever worried about not being naturally maternal—as you awkwardly pat cranky babies that other women seem to cradle and soothe effortlessly—a new study might provide some reassurance. Researchers found that virgin female rats that took care of foster pups grew new brain cells that are believed to be associated with nurturing.

Well, that's a relief.

-janelane

How taking care of babies can change your brain

This photo spread is absolutely moving. Also, its depressing...40 years after King and 100 years after women's suffrage we have to convince people to "get out the vote".

-janelane

Today's Pictures: Martin Luther King Jr. Day

U.S. anthropologist and longtime Haiti activist Paul Farmer called the [2008] hurricane season an "unnatural disaster," saying that a "Marshall Plan" was needed to rebuild Haiti's political institutions or the country would "have a hard time surviving the hurricane season." But the damage unleashed this week by a 7.0 magnitude earthquake was probably more than even he could have imagined.

I don't know if I'd go so far as to characterize Haiti as "the unluckiest country", but they've certainly had their fair share of upheavals and natural disasters. At some point, after floods and hurricanes and earthquakes combined with crushing dictatorships and poverty, doesn't relocation look like a pretty good idea? Maybe aid should be directed to that initiative instead of more fruitless government stabilization programs. Judging just from the information in this article, they can't even being to restore the environment to fend off natural disasters, much less revamp their entire government to enforce basic international building codes to plan for the next disaster.

Times like these I'm glad I picked engineering over PoliSci...I just have no idea what the answer is.

-janelane

The Unluckiest Country | Foreign Policy

Hugh H. Hurt Jr., a safety engineer who in 1981 did the first meticulous study of motorcycle accidents, emulating air-crash investigations to zero in on when cycle accidents were likely to occur, died on Sunday in Pomona, Calif. He was 81.

Would that fate was always so self-explanatory.

-janelane

Hugh Hurt Jr., Engineer Who Studied Motorcycle Accidents, Dies at 81 - Obituary (Obit) - NYTimes.com

You can help the victims of countless crises, like the recent earthquake in Haiti, around the world each year by making a financial gift to the American Red Cross International Response Fund, which will provide immediate relief and long-term support through supplies, technical assistance and other support to help those in need.

The death toll is estimated at 100,000, and they haven't even begun cleanup. Donate now, donate anything.

-janelane

American Red Cross: Haiti donations

Sennheiser PX 100 Collapsible Headphones

I'll never, *ever* go back to earbuds. These are seriously comfortable and have awesome sound.

-janelane

Amazon.com: Sennheiser PX 100 Collapsible Headphones: Electronics

In the end, the researchers were able to apply their analysis to only six of the original 2,000-plus trials. These lucky few constitute an idiosyncratic mix: on the one hand, a multi-center NIMH trial, on the other, a study of St. John’s wort and imipramine as used in general medical practice in Germany. By chance, the trials tested only two antidepressants, Paxil and imipramine. (Parenthetically, some overviews have found Paxil to be among the least effective of the antidepressants.) It is this summary of six studies [out of 2,000] of two medications that has led the press to report more or less conclusively that antidepressants do little for minor mood disorders.

This is what's happened to journalism --> regurgitating medical "findings" without critically analyzing them. I shouldn't have to turn to a feminist blog for critical thinking and in-depth reporting.

-janelane

The problem with treating depression isn’t that antidepressants don’t work.

I thought CBS News's story about water scarcity was good considering the short duration (Watch the video here). However, one myth continues to be spread in the popular press. The myth is that 36 states will face water shortages.

I just found this blog and I dig it. Water nerds unite!

-janelane

watercrunch