Welcome to PM/AM, Popular Mechanics’ morning briefing on the top science and tech stories for today.View full post on Youtube"So it has come to this.“Yesterday we published a story on popularmechanics.com about the embittered console wars between Nintendo and Sega, and in a fit of nostalgia, we dug up this video from 1991 concerning the psychology of families that are “Nintenpendent.“Read ThisMimicking multitask windows on Samsung tablets, Apple will reportedly add the function in its upcoming iOS update. [via 9to5MacDid an undersea explorer really find Christopher Columbus’ long-lost Santa Maria? [via NPRInternet serivce providers send letter to FCC urging not reclassify ISPs as a telecommunications service and warn of a government-controlled internet. [via Re/codeConsider ThisPopular Mechanics writers wear many hats. Our beats typically range from the entire cosmos to the latest smartphone, but we do dabble in healthcare reporting (especially if there’s a robot involved). Unfortunately, this article in JAMA Internal Medicine says that we’re not very good at it. A team of physicians reviewed 1889 healthcare stories (they wanted a nice, even number) that have appeared in print, online, and broadcast media since 2006. “The reviewers graded most stories unsatisfactory,” according to the paper’s abstract. Bonus finding: “Drugs, medical devices, and other interventions were usually portrayed positively; potential harms were minimized, and costs were ignored.“That is, journalists tend to make drugs sound safe and cheap. It appears that we media folk could afford to brush up on our medical reporting habits.Darren OrfDarren lives in Portland, has a cat, and writes/edits about sci-fi and how our world works. You can find his previous stuff at Gizmodo and Paste if you look hard enough.
