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How the Internet Has Changed the World

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From hactivism to the flipped classroom, the Internet has sparked an online revolution with digital tools.

Classified documents on Wikileaks helped spark the Arab Spring, and protestors organized through Facebook. Daily tweets about the Egyptian revolution increased 100% after the overthrow of the country, showcasing the power of trending.

Not only has the World Wide Web assisted in shaping our political persuasions, but also our personal interests. While there are 139,500 professional photographers in the U.S., Instagram rekindled the snap-happy side of everyone, with 90 million active users each month on the social platform.

As the number of Internet users grow, the world changes, as suggested by this infographic from NowSourcing. There were more than 2 billion web users in 2012, which is a 566.4% increase from the year 2000 (we've come a long way from Y2K).

Check out the infographic for more stats about how the Internet has made an impact.



Image via iStockphoto, franckreporter. Infographic courtesy of Best Communication Degrees
































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Girlfriend Leads Man Around the World in Breathtaking Pics

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"Follow Me"

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Murad Osmann and his girlfriend like to travel. And, when they do, they document their journeys in incredible style.

Rather than upload traditional touristy shots, Osmann uses his Instagram account to post photos of his girlfriend leading him, by the hand, through gorgeous landmarks across the world. Some notable spots include London, Singapore, Amsterdam, Hong Kong and Bali. Even the inside of an IKEA store gets a shout-out.

The overall theme of the pics: "Follow Me."

"The first photo happened in Barcelona while we were on vacation. My girlfriend was a bit annoyed that I was always taking pictures of everything, so she grabbed my hand and tried to pull me forward. But it didn't stop me from doing photos," Osmann, an executive producer at Moscow-based Hype Production, told Mashable. "That's how it all started."

Osmann said he snaps the photos with his iPhone and uses the Camera+ app to add some corrections.

"It might seem that I have a lot of free time, but we [Hype] have a lot of shoots away from Moscow — I'm usually always busy at work abroad," he said. "But after we finish shooting, I often ask my girlfriend to come for two or three days and we continue our project."

Regardless, it's an undoubtedly romantic concept — and one that's sure to unleash the travel bug in everyone.

We've compiled 20 of our favorite photos in the gallery above. You can stay up to date with the rest of the stunning shots on Osmann's Instagram page. He'll be traveling to New York in April, where he says he'll take more photos for the project.

Do you have any unique traveling photos? Share them with us below!

[H/T Reddit]
Images courtesy of Murad Osmann














































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Could a Comet Hit Mars in 2014?

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A recently discovered comet will make an uncomfortably close planetary flyby next year — but this time it’s not Earth that’s in the crosshairs.

According to preliminary orbital prediction models, comet C/2013 A1 will buzz by Mars on Oct. 19, 2014. The icy interloper is thought to originate from the Oort Cloud — a hypothetical region surrounding the solar system containing countless billions of cometary nuclei that were outcast from the primordial solar system billions of years ago.

We know that comets have hit the planets before (re: the massive Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9 that crashed into Jupiter in 1994), Mars in particular. It’s also believed that Earth’s oceans were created by water delivered by comets — cometary impacts are an inevitable part of living in this cosmic ecosystem.

C/2013 A1 was discovered by ace comet-hunter Robert McNaught at the Siding Spring Observatory in New South Wales, Australia, on Jan. 3. When the discovery was made, astronomers at the Catalina Sky Survey in Arizona looked back over their observations to find “prerecovery” images of the comet dating back to Dec. 8, 2012. These observations placed the orbital trajectory of comet C/2013 A1 through Mars orbit on Oct. 19, 2014.

Could the Red Planet be in for a potentially huge impact next year? Will Mars rovers Curiosity and Opportunity be in danger of becoming scrap metal?

It seems the likelihood of an awesome planetary impact is low — for now.

According to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) calculations, close approach data suggests the comet is most likely to make a close pass of 0.0007 AU (that’s approximately 63,000 miles from the Martian surface). However, there’s one huge caveat.

Due to uncertainties in the observations — the comet has only been observed for 74 days (so far), so it’s difficult for astronomers to forecast the comet’s precise location in 20 months time — comet C/2013 A1 may fly past at a very safe distance of 0.008 AU (650,000 miles). But to the other extreme, its orbital pass could put Mars directly in its path. At time of Mars close approach (or impact), the comet will be barreling along at a breakneck speed of 35 miles per second (126,000 miles per hour).

Also, we don’t yet know how big comet C/2013 A1 is, but comets typically aren’t small. If it did hit, the impact could be a huge, global event. But the comet’s likely location in 2014 is also highly uncertain, so this is by no means a “sure thing” for Mars impact (Curiosity, you can relax, for now).

One thing is looking likely, however. Mars could be in for its own “cometary spectacular.”

A flyby of that distance will mean that should C3/2013 A1 erupt with a tail and coma around its nucleus (as it becomes heated by solar radiation), our Mars rovers and orbiting armada of planetary observation satellites will have a very intimate view of this historic moment. It has the potential to be a more impressive sight than Comet ISON’s inner-solar system trek later this year. But understanding the nature of comets is hard to predict; we won’t know if the sun’s heating will be sufficient enough for the comet nucleus to erupt and start out-gassing for some time to come.
Image courtesy of NASA








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Positive TV Improves Kids’ Behavior, Study Says

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It's been debated for ages: Does violent TV lead to violent behavior? That's still an open question, but a new study suggests that watching positive programming can improve kids' behavior.

The research looked at 565 Seattle parents of 3-to-5-year-old kids, who were told to fill out diaries about their children's TV-viewing behaviors over the course of a year. Half the parents were coached for six months leading up to the study on getting their kids to watch more "positive" programming — say, Sesame Street or Dora the Explorer instead of Power Rangers. The other half were coached on getting their kids to eat healthier.

The results were relatively weak. After six months, both groups of kids showed behavior improvement, with the TV-viewing sample slightly above the healthy eating sample. After a year, there was no meaningful difference between the two. Low-income boys had the most short-term benefit, researchers said. Overall, though, the benefits faded over time.

The Associated Press reports the study has some flaws: The parents involved weren't told the purpose of the study, but researchers believe they figured it out after a few months, which might have affected the results.

Before the study, the kids in both samples averaged an hour and a half of TV-watching per day, with 25% being violent content. By the end, both groups had increased their viewing by about 10% per day — those in the TV-coaching sample watched more positive shows, where those in the healthy eating sample watched more violent programming.

The Los Angeles Times reports that preschool-aged kids spend an average of 4.4 hours watching TV every day — above the two-hour maximum recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

A similar study, conducted by the University of Otago in New Zealand, concluded that every extra hour of TV watched by children during the week — regardless of its content — increased their likelihood of having a criminal conviction by early adulthood. The research examined around 1,000 New Zealanders born between 1972 and 1973, and interviewed them regularly until age 26; it additionally reviewed the participants' mental health and criminal records.

The University of Washington study is set to be published in the online medical journal Pediatrics.

How many hours of TV do your kids watch per day? Do you think programming has gotten more or less violent over the years? Tell us below.



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2014 World Cup Will Be First to Use Goal-Line Technology

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FIFA, soccer's global governing body, confirmed this week that goal-line technology will be used at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

That will mark the first time the planet's biggest single-sport event uses the high-tech method of determining whether or not the ball crosses the plane of the goal.

Goal-line technology was used at the Club World Cup in December and will be used again at this summer's Confederations Cup — a World Cup preview of sorts held in the big event's host nation one year before the World Cup.

High profile soccer matches have been beset by a number of did-he-or-didn't-he scoring controversies over the years. Judging controversial goals in soccer is especially difficult, because scoring requires the entire ball to completely cross the goal line. That can make it quite tough for referees to judge an iffy shot unless they have an optimal angle and line of sight.

"After a successful implementation of Goal-Line Technology (GLT) at the Club World Cup in Japan in December 2012, FIFA has decided to use GLT at the 2013 Confederations Cup in Brazil and the 2014 World Cup in Brazil," a FIFA statement read this week. "The aim is to use GLT in order to support the match officials and to install a system in all stadia, pending the successful installation, and pre-match referee tests.

There are a number of similar products out there, however, and just which one makes it to Brazil remains to be seen. According to the BBC, products called GoalRef and Hawk-Eye, along with additional bids from a pair of unnamed German firms, will be considered. FIFA is expected to make a decision by some time this April.

While GoalRef and Hawk-Eye both achieve the same ends, their respective means of doing so rely on differing technological approaches.

Hawk-Eye, which is owned by Sony, uses high-speed video cameras positioned at different angles to determine the ball's precise location via triangulation. GoalRef, which is produced by the German company Fraunhofer, uses magnetic sensors to determine whether or not a goal was scored.

Do you think goal-line technology should be included in the 2014 World Cup, or is a bit of uncertainty just part of the game? Give us your take in the comments.
































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Sex on Mars: A Dangerous Love Story

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When Jane first met John, she knew that they would spend the rest of their lives together — literally. The pair spent more than eight years in space flight training before leaving Earth without the possibility of return.

As members of the first Mars colony, Jane and John naturally gravitated towards each other because they share the same future of an isolated life on a new planet. And as their mental bond grew, so did a fervent, passionate physical urge for each other. Now they face an obstacle for which they never trained: sex on the Red Planet.

Jane and John are fictional characters. But if a handful of Mars colonization projects have their way, their lives could be a reality in just 10 years.

On the surface, this story sounds like the beginning of a wonderful extraterrestrial romance. However, there's a dark side — having sex on Mars is unexplored and could potentially be life-threatening.

Space Sex: Too Taboo for Study

When it comes to sex in space, federal agencies' lips are sealed. NASA claims that no sexual experiments have ever been carried out, and former astronauts play coy when asked about the topic. But this is partly because sex hasn't been an issue on short-term missions.

However, putting a human on Mars is in our future. If NASA does it first, it will require an extended period of space flight that could stretch two years. If a private colonization venture sends humans to the Red Planet, it will be on a one-way flight without the possibility of return to Earth.

In either case, sex will have to be addressed, especially for a mission with a mixed-gender crew.

Yet even in 2013, both federal agencies and private ventures shy away from the topic like a 1950s sitcom couple that sleeps in separate beds.

This is a huge problem for our future in space.

"There are basic human drives to have shelter, eat and procreate, so to negate not thinking about one of them, you're doing a disservice to space exploration," says Dr. Saralyn Mark, a women's health specialist who consults with agencies including NASA.

The biggest question mark is how our bodies will react to prolonged exposure to 40% gravity on Mars.

The Mars Society, an organization that grew out of the Mars to Stay concept from the early 1990s, advocates for a one-way manned mission to colonize Mars. While members of the group differ on when that will happen, Mars Society regularly carries out mock missions in its Mars Desert Research Station, a structure in Utah that was built to simulate a Martian environment.

Every two weeks, five or six people run through routine tasks similar to the job functions that future members of a Mars colony would conduct every day in order to be self-sufficient, such as growing their own food. Dr. Kris Lehnhardt, chief flight surgeon for MDRS, believes that procreation and women's health should also take top priority when it it comes to preparing for a mission like this.

"If you think about colonies historically, they are at some point supposed to become self-sufficient," he says. "If you didn't allow mating, you are not setting up a colony that would populate over time. And, in theory, they would die on Mars because there wouldn't be a propagation of species."

How Do You 'Do It' on Mars?

MDRS hasn't conducted any sex experiments to account for the gravity on Mars. However, Lehnhardt, who also teaches a class on human health and space flight at George Washington University, has an idea about what sex on Mars would be like, based on what we've learned about our bodies in microgravity from missions on the International Space Station.

We've all seen videos of astronauts spinning in microgravity on the ISS, but Mars will be a little different, where there is some gravity. If you're speaking purely in terms of physical pleasure, sex on Mars wouldn't be that different than what we're used to. It would just be a little bumpy at first.

"You could probably just do it like you do it on Earth," says Lehnhardt. "The reality is that you would have to deal with physics."

Just like astronauts on the ISS, colonists wouldn't need to wear space suits inside their stations because the atmosphere would be as it is on Earth.

The trickiest part of having sex in low gravity would be finding the most optimal way to remain in contact because the two bodies would repel.

"It's kind of a misnomer in space because there is no down, Lehnhardt says, noting that astronauts on the ISS sleep in bags attached to the wall. "In terms of positions it would be more about staying in contact with each other. It isn't impossible, but it would be awkward."

Keeping that close connection would be easier on Mars than in orbit because of the 40% gravity. "It's not like the moon where you are bouncing up and down, but it will be lower than Earth," Lehnhardt says.

Birth Control on Another Planet

When it comes to sex on Mars, the bigger issue here is procreation. If the goal is to truly find another planet on which humans can live, sex and pregnancy have to be heavily reviewed.

"Most people will say that it is something we will have to figure out once we permanently live off the planet," says Lehnhardt. "But it is obviously essential. If you're talking about sending a group to Mars and setting up a colony, you have to have procreation."

However, some Mars colonization advocates don't feel that pregnancy will be an issue for the first group of settlers on the Red Planet.

In January, Mashable interviewed Norbert Kraft, medical director for Mars One, a private venture that wants to send a group of colonists — who will be chosen by the public via national television — to Mars in 2023. When asked about how Mars One will prepare its astronauts for sex or possible pregnancy on Mars, Kraft didn't see it as a problem, noting that the organization would try to "make colonists aware of the risks associated with having sex."

In Mars One's ideal situation, the first few waves of colonists — a new group of about 30 people will be sent to the planet every two years — won't procreate at all. Kraft says once the team on Earth has more information about the environment on Mars, "perhaps they will then try sending animals to the planet to breed."

Kraft says the team would pack contraceptive supplies. However, the birth control methods used on Earth may not work on Mars. We have very little knowledge about how a woman's body will adapt to a lower gravity environment, particularly how her hormone levels will be affected. Therefore, it would be hard to develop a contraceptive prior to going to Mars that would actually prevent pregnancy while there.

Some medical experts have proposed inserting an intrauterine device (IUD) before launch. But the problem with even a non-hormonal IUD is the increased risk of movement once in lower gravity, which could puncture the uterus.

"With an IUD, there's a foreign object in your body, and now you're going into a foreign environment. It would be hard to extract in an emergency," says Dr. Mark. "Keeping things as simple as possible is the best way to go."

There is, however, a highly controversial proposed solution to an unexpected pregnancy on Mars: female sterilization.

Mars colony advocates discuss removing inessential organs — such as appendices and tonsils — before flight in order to avoid a very dangerous emergency surgery once on Mars. But when it comes to removing the uterus, the ethical issues divide health experts.

"When you're going to a new world, the last thing you want to think about is bringing an offspring until you're settled," says Mark. "But what's considered an organ that you need? To what extreme do we go? When you remove a uterus, some women have problems because of blood flow. So unless you really have to, I wouldn't recommend it."

The First Human Martian

Perhaps talking about pregnancy prevention on Mars is putting the cart before the horse. Is it even possible for a woman to get pregnant in low gravity?

Before you can discuss a pregnancy on Mars, you have to start with menstruation. "On Earth we have a 28-day cycle, how will you shift to Martian moon cycle with a longer orbit? One day is 26 hours," Mark points out.

Another issue is the gravity's effects on bones and organ development. In space, astronaut bone loss varies from 1% to 5% per month, and that lower bone density would affect menstruation, therefore ovulation. Mark cites eating disorders as an example — women who suffer from extreme cases of bulimia or anorexia experience bone loss, leading to lower hormone levels and eventually halting their periods.

However, on previous short-term missions to the ISS, women were able to have their periods while in orbit.

"In theory, if a woman menstruates and ovulates, there's the possibility of getting pregnant in space," Lehnhardt says. "If you're able to [physically have sex], then the issue is sperm motility. Will it function in order for fertilization to occur? If it does, can an egg implant properly in the uterus, and can the embryo develop normally?"

The best example we have to draw from is a study that sent rodent embryos into space. When they came back down to Earth's gravity, they were born as normal. A 2009 study that examined mice's embryo fertilization found that implantation at normal gravity yielded healthy mice, but fertilization rates were lower for the embryos fertilized in microgravity.

However, no mice or rats have fully developed while in microgravity throughout the entire developmental cycle. Lehnhardt says there hasn't been a stronger push for rodent birth in space because of a lack of support and rules allowing that research to happen.

"It's triaged as a lower priority research topic compared to other risks astronauts face right now," he says. "But if we truly want to become more than a one-planet species, we are going to have start doing more research into every step along the way."

So will Jane and John's love story ever find its happy ending? Marital bliss isn't a guarantee, but one thing is for sure — sex on Mars will eventually happen.

"We are biological creatures. We are animals," says Lehnhardt. "We try to fight [the urge to have sex] all the time. But most of the time, biology wins."

































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Ever Imagined a World Without Internet? [INFOGRAPHIC]

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Steve Carrell may be seeking a friend for the end of the world, but here at Mashable, we’re more concerned with the end of the Internet.


Can you imagine it? Instead of an iPad, you’d be clutching a weighty $1,200 Encyclopedia Brittanica as you rock yourself to sleep. And instead of tweeting with pals halfway around the world, we’d be licking stamps that would total $6.3 trillion in the United States alone. We’re cringing at the thought.

Online Education created this graphic detailing the nightmare that would be the world without Internet. Sure, we’re grateful to the World Wide Web for giving us all the joy of narcoleptic cats and the controversy of @Sweden. But evidently, what we really have to be thankful for is how many jobs the Internet has created. Facebook alone has created 450,000 jobs, and the Internet establishes 2.6 jobs for every job it renders obsolete. And we all know that cat videos are that much more enjoyable to watch when you’re supposed to be working.

What would be your biggest nightmare in a world without Internet? Let us know in the comments.











































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Facebook Names the Most-Social Landmarks in the World [INFOGRAPHIC]

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Planning to check in at New York’s American Museum of Natural History or Rome’s Trevi Fountain this summer? You’re not alone.


Facebook has pored over its check-in data and isolated the “most-social” spots in 25 cities. Among the patterns that Facebook has uncovered:

Malls and outdoor markets like Melbourne’s Queen Victoria market, Sao Paolo’s Mercado Municipal and Seoul’s Dongdaeum appear within the top 10 landmarks for 19 of 25 cities.Amusement parks like Moscow’s Gorky Park, Seoul’s Lotte World appear, Johannesburg’s Gold Reef City and Copenhagen’s Tivoli Gardens also score high.Chain restaurants like the Hard Rock Cafes in Buenos Aires, Delhi and Barcelona, TGI Fridays in Norway, and Bella Paulista Casa de Paes in Sao Paulo also appeared on the list.Not surprisingly, cities with warmer climates had more check-ins to outdoor spots, while indoor spots scored higher for colder cities.

The list of the top landmarks in all the cities can be found here.

Meanwhile, the infographic below highlights the most-social landmarks in eight top cities:










































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