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The Boy With The Incredible Brain

Sat, 22 Nov 2008 06:21:59 GMT

clipped by: einbar
clipper's remarks: This is the breathtaking story of Daniel Tammet. A twenty-something with extraordinary mental abilities, Daniel is one of the world’s few savants. He can do calculations to 100 decimal places in his head, and learn a language in a week. This documentary follows Daniel as he travels to America to meet the scientists who are convinced he may hold the key to unlocking similar abilities in everyone.

Clip Source: content3.clipmarks.com

This is the breathtaking story of Daniel Tammet. A twenty-something with extraordinary mental abilities, Daniel is one of the world’s few savants. He can do calculations to 100 decimal places in his head, and learn a language in a week. This documentary follows Daniel as he travels to America to meet the scientists who are convinced he may hold the key to unlocking similar abilities in everyone.

Daniel Tammet - The Boy With The Incredible Brain [1/5]

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Daniel Tammet - The Boy With The Incredible Brain [2/5]

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Daniel Tammet - The Boy With The Incredible Brain [3/5]

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Daniel Tammet - The Boy With The Incredible Brain [4/5]

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Daniel Tammet - The Boy With The Incredible Brain [5/5]

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1,800-year-old chariot found in Bulgaria

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 20:42:38 GMT

clipped by: arifsali

Clip Source: news.yahoo.com

A part of a 1,800-year-old bronze chariot, seen, at an ancient Thracian tomb near the village of Karanovo, east of the Bulgarian capital Sofia, Friday, Nov. 21, 2008. Archaeologists have unearthed a well-preserved 1,800-year-old bronze chariot at an ancient Thracian tomb in southeastern Bulgaria, the head of the excavation said Friday. Along with the chariot, which was decorated with scenes from mythology, the team unearthed well-preserved wooden and leather objects, some of which the archaeologists believe were horse harnesses.

Clip Source: news.yahoo.com

Tags: tomb, bulgaria, chariot, archaeology

Fantastic clip of meteorite falling

Sat, 22 Nov 2008 02:13:14 GMT

clipped by: boozich

Clip Source: muzich.blogspot.com

A SPECTACULAR and almost blindingly bright meteor sparked a flurry of emergency calls to the police after it lit up the skies over western Canada.

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Onlookers across the province of Alberta watched in awe, describing a kaleidoscope of colours as the rock rapidly descended.

More meteorites, fragments of rocks or metals that survive the fall from space to Earth, have been found in Alberta than any other Canadian province.

Worlds Most Bizarre and Intriguing Hot Air Balloons

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 16:57:50 GMT

clipped by: valann 47

Clip Source: www.lifeinthefastlane.ca

As the oldest successful form of human-carrying flight technology, the ingenious application of basic scientific principles for hot air balloons have transcended from the centuries-old creations to use for recreation and sport today. Festivals and competitions have spawned a wide array of contraptions from inventive forms of advertising to some of the most bizarre and crazy designs in the form of hot dogs, funky animals, weird monsters, ‘fearsome’ dragons, and even space shuttles.

The first clearly recorded instance of balloon passengers were not humans, but a sheep, a duck and a chicken on an 8-minute flight over France on September 19 1783, in the Montgolfier brothers’ first demonstration flight for King Louis XVI, proving that humans would be able to breathe at these higher elevations.

Inside of the US Bank balloon. Photo Chris Breeze

Under the Canadian flag. Photo Heidiwholeness

Harrison Park, London. Photo Ian Duke

Tags: hot air balloons, funny, photos

Most Beautiful Homeless Hostel in the World

Sat, 22 Nov 2008 08:57:10 GMT

clipped by: abailart
clipper's remarks: Beautiful idea.

Clip Source: www.spiegel.de

With chandeliers instead of neon lighting and designer furnishings instead of springless sofas, a newly revamped homeless hostel in south Berlin looks more like a hip hotel -- and aims to give some dignity to those worn out by life on the streets.

Clip Source: www.spiegel.de

With its exterior daubed in sunshine yellow and sky blue, the new homeless hostel stands out in its row of pale buildings. And its interior is equally exceptional. As well as glitzy chandeliers, there are wooden floorboards, a gold border encircles the walls and the furniture looks plucked straight from a design catalogue.

But this is no hip new Berlin hotel. It is a revamped homeless hostel named Reichtum 2, or "wealth", the work of Berlin-based artist Miriam Kilali. And wealth is something sorely lacking in the lives of the 21 men who now live in the hostel.

Her next project will be in New York where she is working towards creating Reichtum 3.

Tags: compassion

The weakening of Rome...similarities to the U.S. today

Sat, 22 Nov 2008 02:30:14 GMT

clipped by: egoldstein
clipper's remarks: This description of the years preceeding the fall of Rome reminds me a lot of the culture of the United States these days. The pride, hard work, humility and dedication of generation's past seems gone. We watch shows like Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, Biggest Loser, Dancing with the Stars and don't want to be bothered by real issues, real concerns, real challenges. We drive SUVs that eat up tremendous amounts of gas, despite knowing the political and environmental side effects of doing so. And our smartest go straight to wall street to manage hedge funds that get in and out of stocks with indifference...without any output or benefit to the world other than to squeeze money out of the system (more money that actually exists it turns out). I hope that we are somehow strong and honest enough to recognize the errors of our ways and get so that we can someday get back to better days.

Clip Source: www.financialsense.com

What led to Rome’s weakening? In describing the city of Rome in the middle of the fourth century, Ammianus Marcellinus wrote of the vanity and materialism of his contemporaries. Rome became great through virtue, he argued, and virtue had given way to vice. Decades before the barbarians broke into the empire, causing the economy to unravel, the Romans were focused on entertainment and self-gratification. “In this state of things,” wrote Marcellinus, “the few houses which once had the reputation of being centers of serious culture are now given over to the trivial pursuits of passive idleness…

Tags: rome

Vatican: Homosexuality is a "grave sin"

Sat, 22 Nov 2008 08:40:07 GMT

clipped by: abailart

Clip Source: www.guardian.co.uk

The Vatican has announced the "psychological screening" of all new applicants for the priesthood, in a bid to weed out men who are deemed to be psychologically flawed. It has taken this initiative following the widespread sexual abuse of children by its clerics.

In a diversionary tactic to deflect attention from the child sex abuse scandal, one of the main aims of these psychological tests is to weed out gay men, not paedophiles.

The Vatican identifies homosexuality as a deep-seated personality disorder and psychological flaw; condemning same-sex acts as "grave sins", "objectively disordered", "intrinsically immoral" and "contrary to natural law". Even men who have a gay orientation but abstain totally from sex are condemned by the Pope as possessing a "tendency towards an intrinsic moral evil".

Tags: homophobia

Marijuana improves memory

Sat, 22 Nov 2008 09:45:46 GMT

clipped by: balthazarus
clipper's remarks: cheers..

Clip Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Marijuana may improve memory and help fight Alzheimer's

Contrary to the common belief that smoking the drug destroys memory, researchers have found that it could actually keep the brain young.

The team at Ohio State University found that specific elements of marijuana can be good for the ageing brain by reducing inflammation there and possibly even stimulating the formation of new brain cells.

Any new drug's properties would resemble those of tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, the main psychoactive substance in the cannabis plant, but would not share its capability to produce a "high".

giving rats a constant dose of a cannabis derivative for three weeks.

A control group of rats received no intervention. In follow-up memory tests, in which rats were placed in a small swimming pool to determine how well they use visual cues to find a platform hidden under the surface of the water, the treated rats did better than the control rats in learning and remembering how to find the hidden platform

Tags: marijuana, memory, drugs

why did people believe it was reall ? Can it happen today?

Sat, 22 Nov 2008 07:00:09 GMT

clipped by: einbar
clipper's remarks: Orson Wells terrified all of America in 1938 with his Halloween radio play of War Of The Worlds.
In honor of the 70th anniversary of the classic Orson Welles radio play about martians invading New Jersey, Radio Lab asks: why did people believe it was really happening? And why has this stunt continued to fool people since?

Clip Source: www.youtube.com

War Of The Worlds radio spoof by Orson Wells

Orson Wells terrified all of America in 1938 with his Halloween radio play of War Of The Worlds. Even though he was well known for his radio theatre, people thought it was real and it caused national panic. They were already nervous with war about to break out. What convinced them was the way it was broadcast like a news report.
Orson Wells was all innocent at the time, but 20 years later he admitted it actually was done to scare people, because he didn't like the fact that people believed everything that came out of this 'new magic box' called the radio

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Clip Source: www.youtube.com

'Attack By Mars' Panic; Orson Wells Speaks 1938/10/31

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Clip Source: content4.clipmarks.com

RadioLab make the most beautiful, compelling programmes. They recently broadcast a truly excellent edition on the War of the Worlds radio broadcast, which has sparked mass panics, not once, not twice, but three times, over a period of more than two decades.

Uh-oh-look-out! Repubs send a TELEGRAM!

Sat, 22 Nov 2008 03:18:23 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: Must be URGENT! And 30 YEARS OLD!

"Our voters don't use the internet," says GOP strategist.

Forget the elephant. This is the party of the woolly mammoth.

Clip Source: www.thedailybeast.com

Just how far has the GOP fallen behind the Democrats in terms of technology? Well, they sent a telegram.

There are many ways to measure how screwed Republicans are after the last election.

You can look at the avalanche of swing states that broke big for Barack. You can look at the demographic shifts that left McCain-Palin with decisive wins only among voters over age 60 and towns with populations under 50,000. Or you can look at my emergency telegram from John McCain.

For the uninitiated—and that would be anyone under 60—telegrams were the instant-message of the horse and buggy era, the Internet boom of the 1850s.

How quickly the Republicans recognize their need to modernize will depend on how much they like losing. It’s not an impossible task to catch the Democrats, but it will require a cultural revolution inside the GOP.

Either way, it illustrates a comment made to me by a top GOP strategist during the campaign: “Our voters don’t use the Internet.”

Tags: telegram