In Pictures: The 31 weirdest, wackiest and coolest sci/tech stories of 2012

In one of the more interesting annual measurement of society the Beloit College Mindset List offers a snapshot of what the entering college class of 2016 likes and dislikes. This year's report - the 14th annual version -- starts out: The Class of 2016 has "come to political consciousness during a time of increasing doubts about America's future, and are entering college bombarded by questions about jobs and the value of a college degree. They have never needed an actual airline "ticket," a set of bound encyclopedias, or Romper Room. Members of this year's freshman class, most of them born in 1994, prefer to watch television everywhere except on a television."