MIT researchers have explained why two mutations in the H1N1 avian flu virus were critical for viral transmission in humans during the 1918 pandemic outbreak that killed at least 50 million people -believed more than that taken by the Black Death, and higher than the number killed in World War I. The 1918 flu pandemic -commonly known as the Spanish flu- was an influenza pandemic that started in the United States, appeared in West Africa and France and then spread to nearly every part of the globe [...]

Chris Harwick at wired.com just published a hilarious spoof admissions letter   (posted below) to the new Singularity University founded by Ray Kurzweil (The Singularity Is Near) and Peter Diamandis (X Prize). Go here to read the rest:  Admissions to Singularity U -The World’s Most Difficult?