"Wow. I had no idea what a meter was derived from, or that the metric system was tied in with the French revolution. But i do remember a teacher at school used to tell us that the term 'Ruler' came about since dimensions were at one stage based on the prevailing monarch's body parts (feet, hands, etc.). I always thought it was a cool anecdote, and this article seems to confirm it. Would definitely be interested to read a deeper dive into the history of units of measurement...  "

"That's a pretty striking similarity. Do we know which came first?"

"Not sure if you're talking about large headphones or earphones, but if it's the latter, you might want to look at some Panasonic RP-HJE 125Es. I been using them for years now. Cheap, decent sound, and supremely comfortable when lying down (no special pillow required)."

"I hadn't seen this clip until after reading the article, and I must say that this accident looks more preventable than I was expecting it to. If a human was driving, I don't think it would a given that they would avoid the collision, but I'd give them at least a 35% chance of doing so. It's absolutely possible that someone would periphally notice some unfamiliar movement in the carriageway that their brain would flag as 'not a vehicle' (even in low light conditions) and could tap the brakes well before she steps into the path of the car. I feel the problem here is that the car is bound to have some sort of programming that stops it from reacting to every vehicle that approaches from the opposite direction, and this may have prevented it from identifying the threat in this case. By the time she stepped out in front of the car, it was too late. That said, if this was dashcam footage from a human driver's accident, I'm fairly certain they would be not be held liable. As for the human 'supervisor', it's a shame they weren't paying attention, but also an entirely predictable situation. I feel that the designers here should have implemented strong measures to restrict operator distraction. Looks more like they were put there for insurance / legal reasons. I wonder how well they were paid?"

"For me the Pentel GraphGear 1000 is still the high water mark of mechanical pencil design. I do keep an eye out for alternatives (many of which far exceed the Pentel's modest price), but I've yet to see anything that (for me) comes close. Admittedly it doesn't have spring protection, but you can retract the end into the body for transport, which is a genuinely useful feature. "

"I can totally buy into this as a concept for mid to long distance travel, where it would kick the ass of an 'optimally flowing' freeway in terms of speed, efficiency, and convenience, but sadly it doesn't convince me as an cure for chronic congestion on roads that are already overwhelmed  - surely bottlenecks on and off at the hubs would be unavoidable?"