Clipmarks | abailart's clips

Grains of Sand Reveal Possible Fifth State of Matter

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 14:27:21 GMT

clipped by: tabsey
clipper's remarks: 20 sec vid at the source (wouldn't clip) which may help understanding what they are on about.

Clip Source: www.wired.com

In the formation of droplets in a stream of falling sand, scientists have witnessed a dynamic that points beyond the boundaries of traditional physics, and may represent one aspect of a fifth state of matter.

The droplets formed because of instabilities in the subtle atomic forces that attract sand grains to each other. Something similar happens to water falling from a faucet, but the forces acting on those molecules are 100,000 times stronger.

Measurements of this phenomena

overturn the previous explanation for sand droplets — that grains stick to each other after colliding — and quantify what’s called an “ultralow-surface-tension regime.”

It’s entirely new territory for researchers, and just one of many dynamics governing the behavior of granular materials, which for reasons unknown to science act sometimes as solids, or liquids, or gases — or something in-between

You walk on the beach, and the sand supports your weight. Pick up a handful, and it runs through your fingers, like a liquid

Clip Source: www.youtube.com

Tags: science

The Consciousness Conundrum

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 11:32:00 GMT

clipped by: JICWyllie

Clip Source: www.spectrum.ieee.org

In spite of all those advances, neuroscientists still do not understand at all how a brain (the squishy agglomeration of tissue and neurons) makes a conscious mind (the intangible entity that enables you to fall in love, find irony in a novel, and appreciate the elegance of a circuit design). ”No one has the foggiest notion,” says the neuroscientist Eric Kandel of Columbia University Medical Center, in New York City. ”At the moment all you can get are informed, intelligent opinions.”

Adding to the complexity, synaptic connections constantly form, strengthen, weaken, and dissolve. Old neurons die and--evidence now indicates, overturning decades of dogma--new ones are born.

Within a decade or so, computers will surpass the computational power of brains, many singularitarians say.

We've heard such prophesies before.

predicted that computers would exceed human intelligence within a generation.

But even Minsky admits that computers are still idiot savants.

Tags: 1-operation, 1-understanding, 2-lack, 3-research, 3-theory, 4-intl

Existentialism in Literature and Film

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 16:02:50 GMT

clipped by: Fast T friend
clipper's remarks: Haven't checked it out yet, but it seems promising.

Clip Source: webcast.berkeley.edu

Phil 7: Existentialism in Literature and Film - Spring 2006. The course will be organized around various attempts to reinterpret the Judeo/Christian God, and to determine in what sense, if at all, such a God is still a living God. We will study Dostoyevsky's and Kierkegaard's attempts to preserve a non-theological version of the God of Christianity, as well as Nietzche's attempt to save us from belief in any version of God offered by our tradition. We will view and discuss three films that deal with related issues.

Introduction: What is Existentialism?

'Fear and Trembling' - Preamble from Heart I

Discussion of Film 'The Third Man' - Rough audio quality

'Sickness Unto Death' (xeroxed excerpts) I

'Brothers Karamazov', Part I

Film: 'Breathless' - No Lecture

Tags: art, cinema, existentialism, film, literature

Emotional Cartography - Technologies of the Self

Sun, 07 Jun 2009 21:35:36 GMT

clipped by: einbar

Clip Source: www.emotionalcartography.net

Emotional Cartography - Technologies of the Self

Emotional Cartography is a collection of essays from artists, designers, psychogeographers,
cultural researchers, futurologists and neuroscientists, brought together by Christian Nold, to
explore the political, social and cultural implications of visualising intimate biometric data and
emotional experiences using technology.

Clip Source: www.brainpickings.org

From art projects to hi-tech gadgets, the collection looks at emotion in its social context. It’s an experiment in cultural hacking — a way to bridge the individual with the collective through experiential interconnectedness.

Hacking is an idea, as well as a social movement, which is about subverting and reclaiming the tools and metaphors that we’re given. Hacking is a DIY culture of action — a very individualistic community, but still a community with a vision of sha(red) benefits.

Download the book in PDF here, for 53 glorious pages of technology, art and cultural insight.

The Mental Health Bible

Tue, 26 May 2009 22:45:22 GMT

clipped by: debbyski

Clip Source: www.latimes.com

Is the compulsion to hoard things a mental disorder? How about the practice of eating excessively at night?

And what of Internet addiction: Should it be diagnosed and treated?

The answers will determine how Americans' mental health is assessed, diagnosed and treated.

Over the next 18 months, psychiatrists will hammer out a draft of the fifth edition of the American Psychiatric Assn.'s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, more commonly called DSM-V.

For health insurance companies, it has become a basis for decisions on paying for care.

Over the last two decades more medications have become available to treat mental disorders, and some doctors worry that the text may be written in a way that expands the market for drug therapies.

Clip Source: www.latimes.com

Leaders of the APA acknowledge the controversial nature of some of their discussions and have posted recent progress reports on the association's website, www.dsm5.org

The Psychology of Attention

Sat, 23 May 2009 07:11:57 GMT

clipped by: einbar

Clip Source: www.spring.org.uk

The Psychology of Attention

› How attention works, what happens when it fails and how it can be improved.

Attention is one of the most fascinating and highly researched areas in psychology. Psychologists have found that with training we can perform impressive feats of multitasking, we can divide our visual attention (without moving our eyes) and we are surprisingly effective at picking out just one voice from a multitude.

This series of posts looks at how attention works, how it fails and what we can do to improve it.

1. The Cocktail Party Effect

2. The Attentional Spotlight

3. Learning to Multitask: Simultaneous Reading and Writing

4. Can Visual Attention Truly Be Divided?

5. 18 Ways Attention Goes Wrong

6. Attentional Blink and the Stream of Consciousness

7. How Meditation Improves Attention

Why, when we want to get rid of a thought does it come back stronger?

Sat, 23 May 2009 07:00:00 GMT

clipped by: einbar
clipper's remarks: Professor Daniel Wegner provides a neat explanation called 'ironic processes theory'. This argues that the post-suppression rebound effect isn't just some random consequence of how the brain is wired, but an integral part of the process of suppression itself

Clip Source: www.spring.org.uk

How pushing a thought out of consciousness can bring it back with a vengeance

'ironic processes theory'

when I want to stop a recurrent thought in its tracks: First I distract myself by intentionally thinking about something else. Secondly, and here comes the irony, my mind starts an unconscious monitoring process to check if I'm still thinking about the thing I'm not supposed to be thinking about

to check if the conscious process is working or not

The trouble comes when I consciously stop trying to distract myself and the unconscious process carries on looking out for the thing I was trying to suppress

Anything it sees that looks vaguely like the target triggers the thought again and round I go in another loop of thinking the same thought I was desperately trying to forget about

The irony of thought suppression

hat actively trying to manage our own minds can sometimes do more harm than good

The more we try and push intrusive thoughts down, the more they pop back up, stronger than ever

Some More Religious Music

Sat, 23 May 2009 00:19:21 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman

Clip Source: www.youtube.com

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Some Religious Music

Fri, 22 May 2009 22:32:22 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman
clipper's remarks: Bob Marley, The Blind Boys of Alabama, Les Troubadours du Roi Baudouin, George Harrison, and Sonseed.

Clip Source: www.youtube.com

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25 Outstanding Examples Of Black And White Photography

Fri, 22 May 2009 16:10:58 GMT

clipped by: clip-on-tie
clipper's remarks: Love the one of the Statue of Liberty

Clip Source: newzonfire.com

Today, we have a collection of 25 Outstanding Examples Of Black And White Photography. We hope you all will enjoy it and will get some inspiration. Don’t forget to drop your comments.

Clipmarks | abailart's clips

Grains of Sand Reveal Possible Fifth State of Matter

The Consciousness Conundrum

Existentialism in Literature and Film

Emotional Cartography - Technologies of the Self

The Mental Health Bible

The Psychology of Attention

The Psychology of Attention

Why, when we want to get rid of a thought does it come back stronger?

Some More Religious Music

Some Religious Music

25 Outstanding Examples Of Black And White Photography

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In Defense of Distraction

Twitter, Adderall, lifehacking, mindful jogging, power browsing, Obama’s BlackBerry, and the benefits of overstimulation.

The most important telescopes in history

the day the universe froze:new model for dark energy

The Day The Universe Froze: New Model For Dark Energy

A Cultural Law of Gravity

american journeys