Mark Petursson

8 Of Google’s Craziest Offices

Google is known for its zany office designs, from stroopwafel ceilings to slides to scooters. And you thought your office’s foosball table was cool.<p>While most of us 9-to-5ers hunch over in boxy, fluorescent-lit cubicles, feeling lucky if our office has a snack machine, the Google employees of the …

How It Works: The Inner Earth

Know your planet!<p>Plate tectonics—the theory that explains the sinking, spreading, and slip-sliding of big chunks of Earth’s surface—is a bedrock of geology. But it can’t explain what happens to plates once they sink, or account for the forces that drive many of the planet’s volcanic hotspots. …

A Mars Mission for Budget Travelers

Twenty years and $100 billion could get us there, panel says.<p>Sending astronauts to Mars could be done at a small fraction of the cost of developing and flying the F-35 fighter jet, according to a rough estimate put forward by a panel of NASA, industry, and academic experts. The panel will present …

The Invention Of The Solar Cell

60 years ago this week, the modern solar cell came into being. Here's how.<p>The great Scottish scientist James Clerk Maxwell wrote in 1874 to a colleague: “I saw conductivity of Selenium as affected by light. It is most sudden. Effect of a copper heater insensible. That of the sun great.”<p>Maxwell was …

10 Contemporary Photographers Who Are Pushing The Boundaries Of Their Medium

Photography is everywhere, with diluted and dispersed forms of the art medium popping up at your family reunions, your museum visits and your attempts to brunch in peace. Yet regardless of the form's omnipresence, a truly great photograph still has the ability to captivate your entire being, like a …

Stick-On Circuit Could Put Your Phone On Your Finger For Pocket Change

Stand aside wristbands. The latest wave of stick-on circuits could make cheap, flexible electronics mainstream.<p>About a year ago, University of Illinois researcher John Rogers revealed a pretty amazing creation: a circuit that, rather than living on an inflexible board, could stick to and move with …

Rare Beatles Pictures

Early photographs of the Beatles from 1964<p>On February 11, 1964 over eight thousand frenzied Beatles fans packed themselves into the Washington …

Google’s Chromecast finally comes to Canada

Canadian Netflix and YouTube users looking for a cheap and easy way to stream content on their big screen TVs will finally be able to buy Google's Chromecast device starting on Wednesday.<p>Originally launched in the U.S. last July, the small $39 gadget plugs into a TV's HDMI port and is powered …

San Jose Sharks Bring Fan to Tears After Fulfilling His Lifelong Dream

It doesn't get much better than this.<p>Sam Tageson, a lifelong San Jose Sharks fan, was able to fulfill his dream Tuesday, as he signed a one-day contract with the team. The 17-year-old practiced with the team and skated through the shark head before San Jose's game with the Florida …

This woman stripped her dress off while onstage in the name of feminism. Point well made.

Big Bang's "Smoking Gun" Confirms Early Universe's Exponential Growth

Observations confirm "inflation" of early universe to cosmological sizes in early instant.<p>Surprisingly strong gravitational waves rippled through the fiery aftermath of the Big Bang, astronomers announced Monday, a finding that confirms the cosmos grew to a stunningly vast size in its very first …

Big Pic: The World's Largest Solar Power Tower Field

Shining in the desert<p>The Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating system is the largest solar plant of its kind in the world. By "its kind," we mean a solar power tower system, which uses an array of mirrors to focus sunlight on single towers. So those thin concentric circles you see in this photo are …

Winner announced in our Google Chromecast Contest

<b>Update:</b> This contest is now over. We are happy to announce that Damon Rose has taken home all the Chromecast brings. NO worries if this isn’t you as …

Los Angeles subway dig finds prehistoric objects

An exploratory subway shaft dug just down the street from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art has uncovered a treasure trove of fossils in the land …

Canadian, World, Politics and Business News & Analysis

Do Small Satellites Make For More Space Junk?

It depends on how they're deployed.<p>Over the past 15 years, we've been sprinkling space with eensy satellites. Universities, startups and national space programs have all launched fit-in-your-hand satellites that, variously, study life in space, flash Morse code and snap smartphone photos. This …

Big Pic: A Hypergiant Star And Its Clingy Companion

This enormous star is a million times brighter than the sun.<p>The astronomer who discovered the size of this star says it's shaped like a peanut, but we disagree; that one "lobe" is much too large. Perhaps that's because the larger star is, in fact, one of the 10 largest stars ever discovered. Its …

Deep Earth has oceans' worth of water, $10 diamond reveals

University of Alberta researchers find 'meteorite mineral' that formed naturally on our planet<p>A dirty, $10 diamond with a prize inside has helped …

CBC News

A new Facebook group called "Creature Sightings" that mocks Calgary street people has drawn the attention of the city's police. …