Clipmarks | pokkets's 'human' clips

“What is Life?” Evolution of Robots is Causing Scientists to Question

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 10:04:36 GMT

clipped by: wildcat
clipper's remarks: “Robots are not human, but humans aren’t the only things that have emotions,” she said. “The question for robots is not, Will they ever have human emotions? Dogs don’t have human emotions, either, but we all agree they have genuine emotions. The question is, what are the emotions that are genuine for the robot?”

Clip Source: www.dailygalaxy.com

There is ongoing debate about what constitutes life. Synthetic bacteria for example, are created by man and yet also alive. Some go so far as to say that robot “emotions” may already have occurred—that current robots have not only displayed emotions, but in some ways have experienced them.

“We’re all machines,” says Rodney Brooks author of “Flesh and Machines,” and former director of M.I.T.’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, “Robots are made of different sorts of components than we are — we are made of biomaterials; they are silicon and steel — but in principle, even human emotions are mechanistic.” A robot’s level of a feeling like sadness could be set as a number in computer code, he said. But isn’t a human’s level of sadness basically a number, too, just a number of the amounts of various neurochemicals circulating in the brain? Why should a robot’s numbers be any less authentic than a human’s?

Tags: robotics, intelligence, life

Worm-like Marine Animal Providing Fresh Clues About Human Evolution

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 15:47:15 GMT

clipped by: Silkweaver
clipper's remarks: The human genome has only about 25 percent more genes than the amphioxus genome, according to Holland. During evolution, humans have duplicated genes for different functions. Such duplication has given humans and other vertebrates a much larger "toolkit" for making various structures that are absent in amphioxus, including cells for pigment and collagen type II-based cartilage, for example.

Clip Source: www.sciencedaily.com

Research on the genome of a marine creature led by scientists at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego is shedding new light on a key area of the tree of life.

Linda Holland, a research biologist at Scripps Oceanography, and her colleagues from the United States, Europe and Asia, have deciphered and analyzed fundamental elements of the genetic makeup of a small, worm-like marine animal called amphioxus, also known as a lancelet.

Amphioxus is not widely known to the general public, but is gaining interest in scientific circles because of its position as one of the closest living invertebrate relatives of vertebrates.

Although amphioxus split from vertebrates more than 520 million years ago, its genome holds tantalizing clues about evolution.

Because amphioxus is evolving slowly--its body plan remains similar to that of fossils from the Cambrian time--the animal serves as an intriguing comparison point for tracing how vertebrates have evolved and adapted.

Tags: evolution, marine life, genome

6 iconoclastic discoveries about the brain

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 10:02:06 GMT

clipped by: wildcat
clipper's remarks: let go of the dogma

Clip Source: scienceblogs.com

Neuroscience, like all other branches of science, is fraught with dogmatic ideas about its subject matter. A number of principles have emerged, principles that have been regarded as fundamental to our understanding of brain function.

But the human brain is an organ of bewildering complexity - it is often referred to as the most complex object in the known universe - which doesn't give up its secrets easily. After 100 years of scientific investigation, we still know very little about it.

Dogma 1:

The adult human brain is not plastic.

Dogma 2: The adult human brain cannot regenerate

Dogma 3:

Neurons are the functional elements of the nervous system

Dogma 4:

Neurotransmitters are released from the nerve terminal

Dogma 5:

Neurons are binary switches.

Dogma 6:

Neurons communicate with each other by propagating action potentials

Tags: brain, discoveries, neuroscience, clipversity

Will We Recognize The Future?

Sat, 07 Jun 2008 19:18:37 GMT

clipped by: Mohir
clipper's remarks: A talk with Ray Kurzweil.

Clip Source: www.sciencefriday.com

(broadcast Friday, June 6th, 2008)

Technology is ever-changing -- and changing ever faster. But what happens when the rate of technological change becomes so fast that the fundamental nature of what it means to be human changes, too? In this segment, Ira talks with inventor, technologist and futurist Ray Kurzweil about the idea of 'the Singularity' -- what happens when technology advances so much that it's impossible to predict what happens next. Will artificial intelligence, nanotechnology, and biotechnology be able to completely reshape what it means to be human?

more audio options

streaming: RM WM
download: mp3
NPR audio help
podcast (what's this?)

Tags: singularity, ray kurzweil, future

Scientists probe the memory of bees

Wed, 04 Jun 2008 02:19:12 GMT

clipped by: pokkets
clipper's remarks: The clip suggests that bees brain wiring is divided in a way that is reminiscent of the hemispheres in the human brain. From what I remember, bees had brains long before humans, so perhaps it is the other way around

Clip Source: www.abc.net.au

Stephen Pincock

Honey bees are able to remember the scent of the flowers they visit by allocating different types of memory to their tiny brains, new research suggests.

Bees can do extraordinarily complex things with their pinsized brains

Emeritus Professor Lesley Rogers of the University of New England in Armidale, Australia and Professor Giorgio Vallortigara, of the University of Trento in Italy report their findings this week in the journal PLoS ONE.

The researchers show that bee brains are divided into two halves with different functions in a way that is reminiscent of the hemispheres of the human brain.

"When we asked the bee to recall with its left antenna coated, it could recall the memory of the two scents for up to about three hours, but it wasn't as good thereafter," Rogers says.

"On the other hand, if we coated the right antenna and tested its recall, then initially it didn't do well, but after six hours it could recall."

Obviously they're wired up very efficientl

New evidence from oldest human settlement in the Americas

Thu, 08 May 2008 20:45:47 GMT

clipped by: arifsali

Clip Source: www.vanderbilt.edu

N ew evidence from the Monte Verde archaeological site in southern Chile confirms its status as the earliest known human settlement in the Americas and provides additional support for the theory that one migration route followed the Pacific Coast more than 14,000 years ago.

The study was conducted by a team of anthropologists, geologists and botanists headed by Vanderbilt University's Distinguished Professor of Anthropology Tom Dillehay and is reported in the May 9 issue of the journal Science.

The paper, which includes the first new data reported from the site in 10 years, includes the identification of nine species of seaweed and marine algae recovered from hearths and other areas in the ancient settlement. The seaweed samples were directly dated between 14,220 to 13,980 years ago, confirming that the upper layer of the site, labeled Monte Verde II, was occupied more than 1,000 years earlier than any other reliably dated human settlements in the Americas.

Tags: america, archealogy, discovery

Wrangle With CIA Over ‘Ghost Prisoners’get disappeared--what then

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 11:30:49 GMT

clipped by: papananook
clipper's remarks: And when you or I get disappeared, what then...when will we stop this shit?

Clip Source: www.commondreams.org

NEW YORK — The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency has refused to release more than 7,000 documents related to its programs of secret detentions, renditions, and torture, and is asking a federal judge to dismiss a Freedom of Information lawsuit demanding disclosure.

The refusal came last week in the CIA’s response to a lawsuit brought by three human rights groups, Amnesty International USA (AIUSA), the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) and the International Human Rights Clinic at New York University School of Law (NYU IHRC).

The CIA filed a motion with the court for a summary judgment to end the lawsuit and avoid turning over more than 7,000 documents related to its secret “ghost” detention and extraordinary rendition programs.

The CIA claimed that it did not have to release the documents because many consist of correspondence with the White House or top George W. Bush administration officials, or because they are between parties seeking legal advice on the programs

Earth's hum more mysterious than ever

Tue, 22 Apr 2008 22:18:42 GMT

clipped by: kkcapricorn
clipper's remarks: Everything in the universe is connected and has it's own unique form of communication.

Clip Source: www.unexplained-mysteries.com

Earth gives off a relentless hum of countless notes completely imperceptible to the human ear, like a giant, exceptionally quiet symphony, but the origin of this sound remains a mystery.

unexpected powerful tunes have been discovered in this hum

The planet emanates a constant rumble far below the limits of human hearing, even when the ground isn't shaking from an earthquake.

discovered a decade ago, is one that only scientific instruments - seismometers - can detect

his murmur could originate from the churning ocean, or

the roiling atmosphere

In the past, the oscillations that researchers found made up this hum were "spheroidal"

oscillations have been discovered

that, oddly, are shaped roughly like rings

spheroidal oscillations might be caused by forces squeezing down on the planet - say, pressure from ocean or atmospheric waves - the twisting ring-like phenomena might be caused by forces shearing across the world's surface, from the oceans, atmosphere or possibly even the sun

Tags: earth, hum, unknown

European Values - The Ideology of Fortress Europe?

Tue, 22 Apr 2008 15:36:52 GMT

clipped by: Johanna_G
clipper's remarks:

Are the values of human rights specific to European civilisation, marking the continent off from other regions of the world? Traugott Schoefthaler takes a critical look at the positions of European think tanks and foundations.

↗"Europäische Werte"-Debatte - Ideologie der Festung Europa?

Clip Source: www.qantara.de

Many had hoped that the use of human rights as an ideological weapon during the Cold War would have come to an end with the UN Human Rights Conference in Vienna in 1993, solemnly declaring all human rights as "a coherent whole".

The recent debate about "European values" highlights two alternative options – a substantive option, insisting in deeply rooted cultural differences between Europe and other regions, and a commitment option, focusing on Europe's commitment to the implementation of universal values which are – at least on paper – shared by the international community.

The first option guides the new European values network, established by Czech, Polish and German civil society organizations. It insists in the specificity of "European values" vis-à-vis other regions and, especially, vis-à-vis Islam.

Clip Source: www.qantara.de

An alternative option

promotes intercultural dialogue as a key dimension of co-development of Europe and "all regions with which Europe maintains relations".

Tags: europe, european union, turkey, islam, european values

Human rights education (international)

Thu, 17 Apr 2008 14:25:58 GMT

clipped by: GeDeGe
clipper's remarks: In deutscher Sprache:
Menschenrechte (internationale Perspektive)

Clip Source: www.eduserver.de

Declarations on Human Rights

Know Your Rights 2008 campaign - United Nations

http://www.knowyourrights2008.org/

Details

Universal Declaration of Human Rights

http://www.un.org/Overview/rights.html

Details

European Convention on Human Rights (Council of Europe)- pdf

http://www.echr.coe.int/ECHR/EN/Header/Basic+Texts/Basic+Texts/The+European+Convention+on+Human+Rights+and+its+Protocols/

Details

Human Rights Policy -Federal Foreign Office Germany

http://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/diplo/en/Aussenpolitik/Menschenrechte/uebersicht.html

Details

Education - A human right

http://www.bmz.de/en/issues/Education/index.html

Details

Council of Europe: Human rights web

http://www.coe.int/T/E/Human_rights/

Details

European Union: Human Rights

http://europa.eu/pol/rights/index_en.htm

Details

UNHCR Deutschland (UNHCR) / UNHCR: United Nations Refugees Agenncy

http://www.unhcr.og

Details

Human Rights: Finding Help at the UN

http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,2996840,00.html?maca=en-bulletin-433-html

Details

Tags: human rights, menschenrechte, unterrichtsmaterialien

natural history

Fri, 11 Apr 2008 23:08:11 GMT

clipped by: fabro
clipper's remarks: science

Clip Source: mail.google.com

Natural history is a very valuable thing,

as centuries of human study will attest,

but it should never be confounded

with science.

Science is about testing hypotheses,

and in our business these hypotheses

are about evolutionary history.”

(David A. Morrison, 2007)

Human-cow hybrid embryos made in lab

Thu, 03 Apr 2008 13:39:01 GMT

clipped by: pokkets
clipper's remarks: I noticed the was presented in Israel, perhaps a legal issue. They say one of these embryos is just human DNA wrapped up in a cow egg 'skin', but that is all a human egg is. The egg 'skin' just happens to be human.
If a cow was growing donor organs, would it get human rights?

Clip Source: www.abc.net.au

Maggie Fox

UK researchers say they have created embryos and stem cells using human cells and the egg cells of cows. But they say such experiments will not lead to hybrid human-animal babies, or even to direct medical therapies.

can the formation of such human-cow hybrid embryos be justified ethically? Not everyone agrees

Dr Lyle Armstrong of Newcastle University presented preliminary data on his work to Israel's parliament last week.

It has not been reviewed by other experts in the field, the university says, but the researchers intend to have their work peer-reviewed.

researchers say they have hollowed out the egg cells of cattle, inserted human DNA to create a growing embryo, and then taken it apart to get embryonic stem cells

There is no possibility of creating a human that is part-animal

They say the animal egg only acts as a shell for the human DNA.

the hybrid embryos will not be implanted and by law that any that are created have to be destroyed at 14 days.

Found ! Oldest recording of human voice

Sat, 29 Mar 2008 00:13:36 GMT

clipped by: pokkets
clipper's remarks: The inventor 'recorded' the song 17 years before Edison, but he was never able to play it back. He wanted to study it. The recording was played by getting high resolution digital scans, and converting them into sound at the Lawrence Berkley, National Lab using equipment used to preserve, and gain access to a wide variety of early recordings.

Clip Source: www.abc.net.au

The oldest recording of the human voice - made 17 years before Thomas Edison invented the phonograph - has been discovered and played back by audio researchers.

The recording was made onto a sheet of paper blackened by the smoke of an oil lamp

The 10-second recording is of a person singing a snippet of a French folk song, 'Au clair de la lune', and was recorded on April 9, 1860 by Parisian inventor Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville, the historians say.

Scott de Martinville used a gadget he called a "phonautograph" that scratched sound waves onto a sheet of paper blackened by the smoke of an oil lamp,

"It's magic," says David Giovannoni of First Sounds, a group of audio historians, recording engineers, sound archivists, scientists, others dedicated to preserving humankind's earliest sound recordings.

"It's like a ghost singing to you," he says. "It's like discovering the world's oldest photograph and learning that the photograph was taken 17 years before the invention of the camera."

DEET messes with mosquito 'nose'

Fri, 14 Mar 2008 15:00:21 GMT

clipped by: pokkets
clipper's remarks: Known as an insect repellent, Scientists were not sure how it worked until now. DEET does not so much repel mosquitoes and ticks which are attracted to carbon dioxide, and other human odors which give a signal that there is a blood supply somewhere, It masks these signals so the mosquitoes go and look for their blood supply somewhere else.
DEET has been available to the to the public,for over 50 years and is an active ingredient in many insect repellents, but adverse health effects have been noted such as rashes and seizures, is toxic to some marine species. The risk of DEET side effects are generally rare and must be matched with the risk of mosquito borne disease. Advice is given to avoid using on broken skin, and to wash off if no longer needed.
The standard warning on an insect repellent can. I've always found that any itch or sting from an insect repellent is better than the itch of a mosquito bite.

Clip Source: www.abc.net.au

Will Dunham

The insect repellent DEET works by making mosquitoes and their brethren unable to smell the sweet aroma of human sweat that alerts them that a meal of blood is nearby, scientists say.

This knowledge may help guide the creation of new repellents based on the same principle but without possible health worries, they say.

US scientists report their research today online in the journal Science.

Government scientists first produced DEET or N,N-diethyl-meta-toluamide in 1946 after the tropical warfare of World War II emphasised the need to prevent bites from mosquitoes and other insects.

It has been available to the public since 1957 and is the world's most widely-used topical agent against mosquitoes and other blood-eating insects.

Until now scientists have not grasped exactly how it works.

In experiments on mosquitoes and fruit flies, her team determined that DEET serves as a sort of chemical cloak, masking certain human odours.

"You become invisible to them," Vosshall says.

Farm smells can cause real stink

Wed, 12 Mar 2008 04:20:44 GMT

clipped by: pokkets
clipper's remarks: They have qualified the amount gases from farm animals can irritate the human respiratory system. It is curious that they have decided to qualify farm animals now, when humans have been farming for thousands of years. Still many humans live in a bubble known as civilization, where all farm produce is processed and packaged, so the closest they get to a farm is the organic grocery section of the supermarket. With all of the artificial noxious chemicals introduced into the environment over the past few hundred years, I'd say farm animals are the least of our worries. particularly when many animals these days are born into and never leave a processing plant unless they're pre-packaged.

Clip Source: www.abc.net.au

Jennifer Viegas

Gassy ammonia and other smelly gases from farm animals can attach to dust particles, forming an unpleasant and unhealthy mix for humans, according to new research.

Smelly farm gases can bond to dust then be released far away, irritating human airways

The study, published in the March issue of the journal Biosystems Engineering, is among the first to quantify such dust gas emissions.

The researchers studied dust from sheds housing cattle, chickens and pigs, with dust mainly coming from feed, manure, bedding, soil and the animals' dry skin.

Co-author Jongmin Lee says weak van der Waals forces cause gas and dust molecules to bond.

The resulting attraction is weaker than most chemical bonds, but it's enough to keep the gas stuck to the dust.

The gas can also separate, or desorb, from the dust.

"The reverse of adsorption, desorption, is the transfer of gas from dust particles to the surrounding air

He adds that heat can permit the gases to become volatile and desorb.