December 2010
229 posts
“I say let the world go to hell, but I should always have my tea.”
– Fyodor Dostoyevsky (Notes from the Underground)
Pigeons outperform humans at the Monty Hall... →
The size of your brain's visual cortex determines... →
via m1ck
“If you think education is expensive, try ignorance.”
– Derek Bok (via ageofreason)
Watchfuckyeahnervoussystem:
I think that our brain is the answer…the answer for every question (even philosophical and ethical ones).
For this reason, Neuroscience is the most important and interesting subject in science.
Henry Markram is director of Blue Brain, a supercomputing project that can model components of the mammalian brain to precise cellular detail — and simulate their activity in...
Creativity vies with language in brain
virtualconcept:
GREAT ideas can feel like they come out of nowhere. Now we’re a step closer to understanding where they do originate. The thinking is that areas for language and creativity compete in the brain, which might explain why some people with brain damage suddenly become artistic.
Originality - or the ability to think up novel ideas that don’t occur to many other people - is a key...
Brain's Amygdala Size May Correlate with Richness... →
canisfamiliaris:
Scientists have learned that the amygdala, a small almond shaped structure deep within the temporal lobe, is important to a rich and varied social life among humans. The finding was published this week in a new study in Nature Neuroscience and is similar to previous findings in other primate species, which compared the size and complexity of social groups across those species....
Full Employment Theorem
1thingtoday:
The Full Employment Theorem is a (humorously named) theory in mathematics and computer science. It says that since Gödel’s incompleteness theorems in math and the halting problem in computer science show that there is never ending possible improvement in how certain problems are solved algorithmically, but never a completely perfect algorithmic solution, then if you are employed as...
Top 10 Discoveries of 2010 →
outori:
Fish with hands, universes in black holes, lizards evolving for live birth, sea scrolls and stolen hours
No 'magic' element just yet →
virtualconcept:
Our calculation suggests we won’t reach the fabled “island of stability” at the far depths of the periodic table until 2042
Elements occupying the far depths of the periodic table are so exotic and ephemeral it seems as if they are only barely there. In early 2010, when physicists announced the creation of the superheavy element ununseptium, even the handful of atoms that were...
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dozennebulae:
“… A quantum field is a sort of framework within which particles play out their existences. And, rather than assigning an electron to one position in space at one particular time, you instead talk about all the different places the electron could possibly be. You can loosely refer to this collection of all possible locations as a ‘field’ smeared out across space and time. If...
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Scientists find evidence for 'chronesthesia,' or...
metaconscious:
The ability to remember the past and imagine the future can significantly affect a person’s decisions in life. Scientists refer to the brain’s ability to think about the past, present, and future as “chronesthesia,” or mental time travel, although little is known about which parts of the brain are responsible for these conscious experiences. In a new study, researchers have used...
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Dopamine Looks As Beautiful As It Feels.
flatacre:
via newscientist.com
This beautiful micrograph shows crystals of dopamine – the chemical released when we do naturally rewarding things like eating and having sex. Dopamine also affects brain processes involved in controlling movement, mood and memory.
Posted via email from Flatacre | Comment »
BioFuel Cell Uses Glucose in the Body to Produce... →
Researchers at Joseph Fourier University in France have created a new biofuel cell that harnesses oxygen and glucose from the body to produce electricity. Glucose biofuel cells (GBFCs) were placed inside the bodies of rats, and displayed peak energy densities of 24.4 microwatts per milliliter – better than many pacemaker batteries.
“Inability to tolerate empty space limits the amount of space available.”
– W.R. Bion (via ahmedsalman)
The forgotten genius who discovered black holes... →
When John Mitchell concieved of black holes in 1783, very few scientists in the world were mentally equipped to understand what he was talking about. It is not surprising that the concept sank into complete obscurity and had to be rediscovered in the twentieth century.
