Read this and you'll look smart. You don't have to be intelligent to impress people -- you just have to fake it. Here's a daily list of fascinating articles that will wow your friends, surprise your co-workers and make you seem sharp at a cocktail party or over the lunch counter....
- Kiss rush-hour traffic good-bye! For a price, the makers of a flying car claim that they could have the 'Autovolantor' in the air within two years. The car is based on the Ferrari 599 GTB and allows drivers to reach 150 mph in the air.
- Many farmers in India had been promised bountiful harvests if they switched from traditional seeds to planting genetically modified crops but have been left instead with spiraling debt. As a result, scores of farmers have committed suicide.
- The tiny plastic or metal tube at the end of a shoelace is called an aglet. A contrail in the trail left behind by an aircraft when its exhaust vapor turns into ice crystals. Here's more from a list of everyday items with forgettable names.
- Last week was one of the worst ever for print -- capped off by the Christian Science Monitor's announcement that it would halt all print operations and focus online. It may not be the end of print but after all the bloodletting, who will still be kicking around?
- Kindle had been doing fine on it's own. But then it received one of the most coveted endorsements ever. The day Oprah said the electronic reader launched by Amazon last year was her "new favorite thing in the world" visits to the site was up 6 percent -- the same day (!).
- The Air Force is enlisting live falcons to patrol the Bagram air base in Afghanistan in an effort to fight off smaller birds that keep striking aircrafts upon take-off.
