Clipmarks | wildcat's Comments

Hey dude, i'm fighting a bacteria now

Sat, 06 Sep 2008 09:34:44 GMT

clipped by: balthazarus

Marijuana Ingredient May Fight Bacteria

Marijuana may be something of a wonder drug — though perhaps not in the way you might think.

Researchers in Italy and Britain have found that the main active ingredient in marijuana — tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC — and related compounds show promise as antibacterial agents, particularly against microbial strains that are already resistant to several classes of drugs.

It has been known for decades that Cannabis sativa has antibacterial properties. Experiments in the 1950s tested various marijuana preparations against skin and other infections, but researchers at the time had little understanding of marijuana’s chemical makeup.

The researchers say they don’t know how the cannabinoids work, and whether they would be effective as systemic antibiotics would require much more research and trials. But the compounds may prove useful sooner as a topical agent

Tags: biology, bacteria, marijuana

Remember = Reliving

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 10:59:52 GMT

clipped by: balthazarus
clipper's remarks: Very interesting findings.
if it holds true to 'older' memories, then it raises a question; as the neural network molds and reshapes, so does our memories? if so maybe we can only remember who we are, rather than what we were...

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

For the Brain, Remembering Is Like Reliving

Scientists have for the first time recorded individual brain cells in the act of summoning a spontaneous memory, revealing not only where a remembered experience is registered but also, in part, how the brain is able to recreate it.

spontaneous memories reside in some of the same neurons that fired most furiously when the recalled event had been experienced. Researchers had long theorized as much but until now had only indirect evidence.

For the brain, remembering is a lot like doing (at least in the short term, as the research says nothing about more distant memories).

The researchers were even able to identify specific memories in subjects a second or two before the people themselves reported having them.

“This is what I would call a foundational finding,”

when they recalled a specific one — say, a clip of Homer Simpson — the same cells that had been active during the Homer clip reignited

became active a second or two before people were conscious

Tags: neuroscience, memory

Free Speech and the Right to Offend

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 07:49:30 GMT

clipped by: abailart

Clip Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Free speech is indeed precious, but that doesn't mean that we have to defend without qualification every moron who abuses it

Saying that we have a right to offend skips over the question of whether we are right to offend. I have a right to tell random strangers that I think they're ugly, or that they have terrible taste in clothes, but it would be wrong of me to exercise that right,

we don't just utter words, we do things with them, as the Oxford philosopher JL Austin put it. When words belittle or mock, they can reinforce prejudice and hierarchies that have very real effects on people's lives. Mockery of those already on the margins can shore up the very barriers that limit their life chances.

Tags: morons

Cell Division Study Resolves 50-year-old Debate

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 00:49:46 GMT

clipped by: Silkweaver
clipper's remarks: This is a basic biology must know breakthrough.

Clip Source: www.sciencedaily.com

A new study at Oregon State University has finally resolved a controversy that cellular biologists have been arguing over for nearly 50 years, with findings that may aid research on everything from birth defects and genetic diseases to the most classic "cell division" issue of them all – cancer.

The exact mechanism that controls how chromosomes in a cell replicate and then divide into two cells, a process fundamental to life, has never been completely pinned down, researchers say.

Two distinct theories were formed, called polar relaxation and equatorial stimulation, to explain this aspect of cell division – and some scientists have spent much of their careers arguing for one side or the other.

Turns out, Zhang said, that both sides were correct. Nature and evolution have actually created a basic way for a cell to divide with a backup system that can work if the other approach fails.

The findings, Zhang said, add significantly to the basic understanding of cell biology

Tags: biology, cell biology

Google Chrome is here

Tue, 02 Sep 2008 02:15:27 GMT

clipped by: wildcat
clipper's remarks: This is just the beginning -- Google Chrome is far from done. We're releasing this beta for Windows to start the broader discussion and hear from you as quickly as possible. We're hard at work building versions for Mac and Linux too, and will continue to make it even faster and more robust.

We owe a great debt to many open source projects, and we're committed to continuing on their path. We've used components from Apple's WebKit and Mozilla's Firefox, among others -- and in that spirit, we are making all of our code open source as well. We hope to collaborate with the entire community to help drive the web forward.

Clip Source: googleblog.blogspot.com

At Google, we have a saying: “launch early and iterate.” While this approach is usually limited to our engineers, it apparently applies to our mailroom as well! As you may have read in the blogosphere, we hit "send" a bit early on a comic book introducing our new open source browser, Google Chrome. As we believe in access to information for everyone, we've now made the comic publicly available -- you can find it here. We will be launching the beta version of Google Chrome tomorrow in more than 100 countries.

So why are we launching Google Chrome? Because we believe we can add value for users and, at the same time, help drive innovation on the web.

We realized that the web had evolved from mainly simple text pages to rich, interactive applications and that we needed to completely rethink the browser. What we really needed was not just a browser, but also a modern platform for web pages and applications, and that's what we set out to build.

Tags: google chrome, browser, opensource

Please Get Laid

Sat, 23 Aug 2008 13:23:04 GMT

clipped by: debbyski

Clip Source: www.latimes.com

This week, while you were distractedly waiting for one of the presidential candidates to just go ahead and pick Michael Phelps as his running mate, a Manhattan lawyer sued Columbia University for discriminating against men.

Roy Den Hollander, who's best known for suing Manhattan nightclubs because they offered free or discounted Ladies Night drinks to women, claimed the university could not use government money, such as federal financial aid, to fund its Institute for Research on Women and Gender.

Two questions come to mind (and, for the record, I have a degree from Columbia). First, how did an institution that kept its undergraduate women in a separate college across the street (Barnard) until 1983 manage to become a "bastion of bigotry against men" in such a short time? Second, when did women's studies gather enough steam to pose a legitimate threat to men?

Should Spanking Be Illegal?

Sat, 01 Dec 2007 13:36:25 GMT

clipped by: debbyski

Clip Source: abcnews.go.com

Massachusetts lawmakers say a proposed measure that would ban parents from spanking their children, even in their own homes, is a way to protect kids from abuse. But many parents believe it's an example of government run amok.

In all 50 states, parents are legally allowed to spank their children. But in 29 states it's illegal for a teacher to practice corporal punishment, including spanking.

A Massachusetts nurse is hoping to change that and make the state the first in the nation to ban corporal punishment at home.

"I think it's ironic that domestic violence applies to everyone except the most vulnerable — children," said Kathleen Wolf, who wrote the bill.

And one mother echoed the sentiments of many, saying, "I don't want the government telling me how to raise my children."

Nineteen countries have banned corporal punishment, and some child-rearing experts believe one day the United States will do so as well.

Tags: my, parents, would, still, be, in, jail

Going away for a while...

Sun, 24 Aug 2008 16:02:02 GMT

clipped by: Fast T friend
clipper's remarks: Its going to be days on the desert beach for me for a while, somewhere down there
hope to come back with renewed clipping zest, meanwhile cheers you all!

Clip Source: www.seatreker.com

Tags: v a c a t i o n

What is the power of things we hold dear?

Sun, 31 Aug 2008 02:15:47 GMT

clipped by: syncopath
clipper's remarks: "In the interest of enriching these connections, Turkle pairs each autobiographical essay with a text from philosophy, history, literature, or theory, creating juxtapositions at once playful and profound."

Clip Source: mitpress.mit.edu

Evocative Objects

Things We Think With

For Sherry Turkle, "We think with the objects we love; we love the objects we think with." In Evocative Objects, Turkle collects writings by scientists, humanists, artists, and designers that trace the power of everyday things. These essays reveal objects as emotional and intellectual companions that anchor memory, sustain relationships, and provoke new ideas.

This volume's special contribution is its focus on everyday riches: the simplest of objects--an apple, a datebook, a laptop computer--are shown to bring philosophy down to earth. The poet contends, "No ideas but in things." The notion of evocative objects goes further: objects carry both ideas and passions. In our relations to things, thought and feeling are inseparable.

On generosity

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 17:18:57 GMT

clipped by: bignosemousie

Clip Source: thinkexist.com

“The way you get meaning into your life is to devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to your community around you, and devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning.”

Mitch Albom quotes

“What we have done for ourselves alone dies with us; what we have done for others and the world remains and is immortal.”

Albert Pike quotes

“Be an opener of doors for such as come after thee.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson quotes

“Thousands of candles can be lit from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.”

Buddha quotes

Clip Source: thinkexist.com

“The value of a man resides in what he gives and not in what he is capable of receiving.”

Albert Einstein quotes

“Be generous with kindly words, especially about those who are absent.”

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe quotes

The American Solitary

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 09:44:54 GMT

clipped by: abailart
clipper's remarks: <<<Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) is the most representative non-religious Westerner to comprehend solitude and the hermit life. His philosophy of transcendentalism, which paralleled romanticism but was free of its excesses and defects, combined with his scholarly attitude and astute observations on society, politics, and nature, make Thoreau's writings essential to a contemporary application of solitude and the eremitic life. Add to this his willingness to experience this life, his natural curiosity into nature and human psychology, and his very readable style, as reflected by this series of aphorisms from his various writings, and Thoreau offers a perennial voice.>>>

Clip Source: www.hermitary.com

I am tired of frivolous society, in which silence is forever the most natural and the best manners. I would fain walk on the deep waters, but my companions will only walk on shallows and puddles

I feel the necessity of deepening the stream of my life: I must cultivate privacy. It is very dissipating to be with people too much.

I do not know if I am singular when I say that I believe there is no man with whom I can associate who will not, comparatively speaking, spoil my afternoon

If I have had a companion only one day in a week, unless it were one or two I could name, I find that the value of the week to me has been seriously affected. It dissipates my days, and often it takes me another week to get over it.

Not till we are lost, in other words, not till we have lost the world, do we begin to find ourselves, and realize where we are and the infinite extent of our relations.

Tags: thoreau, solitude

Miracle Fruit: The Psychedelic Berry That (Legally) Rewires Your Senses

Tue, 03 Jun 2008 09:36:39 GMT

clipped by: wildcat

Clip Source: www.dailygalaxy.com

Imagine drinking Tabasco sauce and thinking it tasted like a sugary glaze, or drinking a bitter beer that your taste buds are certain is chocolate. Imagine having a magic pill that could turn lemons into candy. Well, you don’t have to imagine. Like a magical treat straight out of Willy Wonka’s candy factory, the berry known as “miracle fruit” has the odd ability to rewire the way the tongue perceives bitter and sour flavors for up to two hours after consumption. The fruit has been growing in popularity in the US as the guest of honor at bizarre soirees known as "flavor tripping parties" where tasters eat the strange little fruit and then consume sour and bitter foods to experience the oddity of how their tongue transforms the flavors in a reality-defying fashion.

While miracle fruit is practically unheard of in the US, it is quite common in other countries

Tags: berry, miracle fruit, flavor

Why the World Still Needs Philosophy

Sat, 02 Aug 2008 18:35:21 GMT

clipped by: wildcat

Clip Source: www.oycf.org

This new century has the potential to be either the worst or the best of times for humanity. The worst of times because there is no end in sight to the struggle between a dehumanizing global economy and the irrational forces (sexism, racism, and superstition) threatened by its hegemony. Unlike any other time in history, ours has sufficient stupidity, power and hatred to destroy the conditions for the possibility of life on this planet before they may be preserved anywhere else; the destructive powers at our disposal far exceed our present capacity to express love or altruism. Yet, it could very easily be the best of times because we finally have technological resources sufficient to provide a good life for the entire
population of the earth.

While the desires of human beings are at least potentially finite, most of us, with varying degrees of comprehension, allow our lives to run by insatiable institutions

artificial entities have no motive other than profit and unlimited accumulation

Tags: perspectives

The Role of Meaning in Human Thinking

Fri, 01 Aug 2008 12:50:56 GMT

clipped by: wildcat

Clip Source: jetpress.org

The creation of meaning to interpret and communicate perceived phenomena is a fundamental trait of human intelligence. This article explains some major ways in which this is achieved, focusing on language and the perception of embodiment. It examines the representational aspects of natural language, which account for the ambiguity of linguistic signs, and describes how these manifest in metaphor, connotation and emotive expression. The article argues that the human propensity to create meaning lies largely in this representational ambiguity, which underlies all forms of symbolism. However, the ambiguity of natural language has a paradoxical side, since it is also at fault in many shortcomings of human communication, such as misunderstanding and prejudicial stereotyping. This article argues that any attempt to emulate human ways of thinking, for example in Artificial Intelligence research, should take this paradoxical factor into account.

Tags: ai, ambiguity, language

Extinguishing the Fear at the Roots of Anxiety

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 14:52:12 GMT

clipped by: Bluewhale

Clip Source: health.nytimes.com

The study of anxiety is fast merging with the science of memory. No longer focused just on symptoms like social isolation and depressed mood, scientists are turning to the disorder’s neural roots, to how the brain records and consolidates in memory the frightening events that set off long-term anxiety. And they are finding that it may be possible to blunt the emotional impact of even the worst memories and fears.

Genetics and the environment play roles in the development of anxiety disorders, but the point where these influences intersect is clearly the brain. The biology of anxiety has been very difficult to untangle in part because it is so familiar, so integral to our survival.

The brain’s anticipation of threats is an invaluable survival tool. The question for scientists is: Why can’t some people turn down the voltage?

Tags: anxiety, memory