Deaths

News

Dennis Ritchie, Co-Creator Of Unix And Founder Of C, Has Died

2:15AM October 14, 2011 | Kelly Hodgkins

In less than a week, the world has lost two tech pioneers. Last week, we mourned the passing of Steve Jobs, and now we say goodbye to computer scientist Dennis Ritchie who also recently died. More »

News

The Man Who Accidentally Invented The Pacemaker Has Died

3:00AM September 29, 2011 | Kelly Hodgkins

Wilson Greatbatch has died at the age of 92. He was a lifelong inventor. And like many inventors, his most notable creation, the implantable cardiac pacemaker, was discovered accidentally. More »

Science

How Spontaneous Human Combustion Works

8:39AM September 27, 2011 | Kristen Philipkoski

Terrifying, isn’t it? To imagine that you could be sitting in your favourite easy chair, happily reading UNIX in a Nutshell, and then your body just COMBUSTS — spontaneously — and you’re a pile of ashes. A coroner in Ireland recently ruled that’s exactly what happened to Michael Faherty, 76, who burned to death last December while minding his own business and collecting his pension. More »

News

1 In 10 Dead Bosses Are Murdered

6:40AM August 31, 2011 | Sam Biddle

The US Bureau of Labour Statistics has its fascinatingly morbid fatality census report out! Are you a manager of some sort? Watch your back, because the study says if you die on the job, there’s a 10 per cent chance it’s murder. More »

Science

The 10 Stupidest Ways To Die In A Hurricane

8:00AM August 27, 2011 | Kristen Philipkoski

Only 3500 Americans have died in hurricanes since the 1940s thanks to improved warning and evacuation systems. So if you end up one of them, you were either in the wrong place at the wrong time, or you were stupid. But you’re not alone! We found a bunch of really dumb ways people met their maker during a hurricane. Let their idiocy be a lesson. More »

Science

In People’s Minds, Being A Zombie Is Better Than Being A Vegetable

3:40AM August 23, 2011 | Kwame Opam

Dead is dead. Except when you’re actually dead, apparently, because a recent study published in Cognition shows that people think a dead person is somehow better at thinking than a human vegetable. Score one for the zombie apocalypse. More »

News

US Troops Die In Largest Loss Of Life In Afghanistan

11:40PM August 6, 2011 | Kwame Opam

The Wall Street Journal reports that a Chinook helicopter carrying 31 US special forces troops and 7 Afghan troops was shot down last night by a Taliban insurgent’s missile. The crash killed everyone on board. More »

News

Man Wakes From Coma In A Morgue Fridge

11:00AM July 26, 2011 | Kwame Opam

An old man dies. Such is life, my son. And for all our sadness, life surely must go on. Except when the old man didn’t actually die, and woke up inside the morgue a day later. Then it’s time for an explanation. More »

News

Segway Company Owner Died Because Of His Politeness

1:30AM July 16, 2011 | Kat Hannaford

The coroner working on the case of Jimi Heselden’s death last year has ruled it was an accident, seemingly due to allowing a dog-walker to pass him on the narrow cliff-path, making him reverse and fall 13m. [BBC]

News

Amtrak Train Collides With Truck Trying To Rush Tracks

4:31AM July 12, 2011 | Kwame Opam

Reuters reports that a garbage-filled dump truck trying to race across the tracks ahead of an Amtrak train this morning simply didn’t make it. Nor did the driver. Downeaster train 681, headed from Boston to Portland, Maine crashed in North Berwick at 11am. Four of the train’s 112 passengers were injured. More »