Clipmarks |

No Moses, no Joshua, no (so-called) monotheism

Mon, 24 Nov 2008 20:11:06 GMT

clipped by: invictus
clipper's remarks:

"In the text you have the story of the Israelites coming from outside, and then besieging the Canaanite cities, destroying them and then becoming a nation in the land of Canaan. Whereas archaeology tells us something which is the opposite. According to archaeology, the rise of early Israel is an outcome of the collapse of Canaanite society, not the reason for that collapse."

* The principle of monotheism (the worship of a single deity), established first by the Jews and later to form the foundation for both Christianity and Islam, took much longer to take root than most people assume. In fact, the archaeological discovery of troves of household idols in ancient Canaanite towns and cities proves that the Israelites practiced polytheism long after they had been thought to have discarded the practice.

Clip Source: www.jewishtucson.org

A new, two-hour edition of "Nova" begins with the pro vocative words, "God is dead," but the documentary is anything but an obituary for the Almighty.

Perhaps not surprisingly to some, the archaeological facts outlined in "The Bible's Buried Secrets" fly in the face of some of the strongest assertions of the Bible.

Among the findings that are likely to produce angry reactions from literal believers in the Bible:

* Though the story of the Hebrew nation's exodus from Egypt under the leadership of Moses is the most oft-mentioned incident in the Old Testament (according to the film), no real evidence of the event has ever been found.

* Archaeological evidence overwhelmingly supports a scenario in direct opposition to the biblical account of Joshua, the story in which the forerunners of the Jews - the Israelites - became established in Canaan

Tags: religion, judaism, monotheism, archaeology, israel

'Wiring' in the brain influences personality

Mon, 24 Nov 2008 11:04:28 GMT

clipped by: wildcat

Clip Source: www.physorg.com

Have you got the new iPhone yet? Do you like changing jobs now and again because you get bored otherwise? Do you go on holiday to different places every year? Then maybe your neural connection between ventral striatum and hippocampus is particularly well developed. Both of them are centres in the brain. The reward system which urges us to take action is located in the striatum, whereas the hippocampus is responsible for specific memory functions.

In innovation-oriented people, both of these centres apparently interact particularly well. At least this is the supposition of the scientists from Bonn, Michael X. Cohen and Dr. Bernd Weber. If the hippocampus identifies an experience as new, it then sends the correspond-ing feedback to the striatum. There certain neurotransmitters are then released which lead to positive feelings. With people who constantly seek new experiences, striatum and hippocampus are evidently wired particularly well.

Tags: brain, wiring, personality

Religion Based Bigotry. End It Now And Forever

Mon, 24 Nov 2008 05:33:55 GMT

clipped by: BartendingBear
clipper's remarks: I think this might be a tall order for most religious... POWER STRUCTURES.

Clip Source: i2.photobucket.com

Rare but Real: People Who Feel, Taste and Hear Color

Mon, 24 Nov 2008 07:40:20 GMT

clipped by: einbar
clipper's remarks: "If you ask synesthetes if they'd wish to be rid of it, they almost always say no. For them, it feels like that's what normal experience is like. To have that taken away would make them feel like they were being deprived of one sense."
-- Simon Baron-Cohen, synesthesia researcher at the University of Cambridge

Clip Source: www.livescience.com

Rare but Real: People Who Feel, Taste and Hear Color

Clip Source: www.livescience.com

Colors in Carey's world have properties that most of us would never dream of: red is solid, powerful and consistent, while yellow is pliable, brilliant and intense. Chocolate is rich purple and makes Carey's breath smell dark blue. Confusion is orange

She can also taste them, and hear them, and smell them

has synesthesia, a rare neurological condition in which two or more of the senses entwine. Numbers and letters, sensations and emotions, days and months are all associated with colors for Carey

According to one idea, irregular sprouting of new neural connections within the brain leads to a breakdown of the boundaries that normally exist between the senses. In this view, synesthesia is the collective chatter of sensory neighbors once confined to isolation

Another theory

suggests all infants may begin life as synesthetes

Connections between different sensory parts of the brain exists that later become pruned or blocked as an organism matures

Do souls matter?

Sun, 23 Nov 2008 09:00:00 GMT

clipped by: balthazarus
clipper's remarks: A fundamental debate.

Clip Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Do souls matter?

Sharp disagreements between the Catholic and secular views of embryo research highlight how difficult it is to define 'human'

I don't know any field of argument where the line between Christian and secular reasoning is so sharp as in embryo research

the scientist proceeds from what can be done to reasoning about the nature of the things it can be done to

the Christian starts with an intuition about the nature of the subject, and then decides what may be done to it.

Jones split the interesting hair that that Catholic church has never formally defined abortion as murder, or homicide

Nonetheless, there was a sense in which these two debaters, in many ways the furthest apart of any on the panel, agreed on something entirely vital: whatever it is that makes a human being valuable, and worthy of respect, that cannot be a simple matter of being capable of independent life

there is something absurd, as Harris put it, in supposing that something crucial happens in the birth canal

Tags: religion, atheism, life, embryo

I Write Dead People

Sun, 23 Nov 2008 21:09:19 GMT

clipped by: Sheroug
clipper's remarks:

Clip Source: www.37signals.com

This gets a 10 for creepy and a 10 for clever.

The creepy part

This is a 240 pencil set made from the carbon of a cremated human. Each pencil is foil stamped with the name of the deceased.

The clever part

Only one pencil can be removed at a time. You sharpen the pencil by putting it back in the box. The shavings then occupy the space of the used pencils. Over time the pencil box fills with sharpenings — turning the box into a new urn (it’s filled with the shavings which are made from the cremation).

The Unexplained mystery of The Taos Hum...

Mon, 24 Nov 2008 07:39:24 GMT

clipped by: einbar
clipper's remarks: "Some possible explanations
Man-made noises
As sound moves through the atmosphere or ground, the high frequencies decrease in amplitude more rapidly than the low frequency ones, which subsequently travel greater distances. The low-frequency sounds can be focused by walls and structural geometry, and sound like ambiguous rumblings or hums. Industrial machinery such as compressors, pumps and fans can also produce similar types of sounds. Although this is one of the explanations that first come to mind, ordinary microphones have failed to detect the Hum and investigations have failed to convincingly trace the Hum to such sources. Studies in the UK have addressed this issue".

infrasound made by geological events

Infrasound from different possible sources, possibly geologic or plate tectonic in nature.

Clip Source: www.livescience.com

Top Ten Unexplained Phenomena

The Taos Hum

Some residents and visitors in the small city of Taos, New Mexico, have for years been annoyed and puzzled by a mysterious and faint low-frequency hum in the desert air. Oddly, only about 2 percent of Taos residents report hearing the sound. Some believe it is caused by unusual acoustics; others suspect mass hysteria or some secret, sinister purpose. Whether described as a whir, hum, or buzz and whether psychological, natural, or supernatural no one has yet been able to locate the sound's origin.

Clip Source: www.youtube.com

Taos Hum

[Video]

Scientists from the state's national laboratories and several universities descended on Taos to measure everything from seismic and electro-magnetic vibrations to the sensitivity of the human ear

Clip Source: www.youtube.com

Taos Hum

[Video]

Guide To Smoking Pot Around The World

Sun, 23 Nov 2008 23:47:32 GMT

clipped by: Spiritualmonkey
clipper's remarks: Note: Scandinavian countries take a hard line on the herb and it is not recommended to get caught toking there.

Plus, it's hella cold a lot of the time and you freeze your ass off.

Clip Source: matadornights.com

Guide to Smoking Pot Around the World

Having said all that, these are the nations in which cannabis is legal for consumption and where you should be able to smoke in peace:

BELGIUM: Up to 5 grams.

CZECH REPUBLIC: Personal use.

GERMANY: Up to 5 grams.

INDIA: All good.

MACEDONIA: Up to 5 grams.

NETHERLANDS: Coffee shops and parks, personal use.

PAKISTAN: Ummm… All good, but as a tourist I would watch my back and smoke with Pakistani friends in their homes.

PERU: Personal use, up to 5 grams.

RUSSIA: Personal use, up to 5 grams If you are caught, you will have to pay low fines as possession of small amounts is still illegal

VENEZUELA: Personal use, up to 5 grams.

AUSTRALIA: Up to 50grams! (Certain states of Australia have decriminalized marijuana possession. In Tasmania, Victoria and Queensland one can be simply ticketed for up to 50 grams. If found in possession with intent to supply, convictions apply)

Tags: cannabis, travel, law-enforcement, reference

Einstein's Relativity Theory Proven

Sun, 23 Nov 2008 14:24:40 GMT

clipped by: Mohir
clipper's remarks: So far so good, but here's where things get odd. Gluons have absolutely no mass, while the total mass of the quarks only represents 5% of the mass of the protons and neutrons. So, an explanation for the missing 95% of the mass had to be found. The experts discovered that the missing percentage of the mass derives from the energy resulting from the interactions and movements of the quarks and gluons.

This basically states that mass and energy are equivalent, just like Einstein's theory indicated, and, even more: mass can be transmuted into energy and vice versa. Extrapolating on the basis of this equation, it can be calculated how much energy is obtained while converting specific amounts of mass. Sadly, this was also used as a ground for building the atomic bomb.
"Until now, this has been a hypothesis," shared the National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) in France in a press release, cited by Discovery. "It has now been corroborated for the first time."

Clip Source: news.softpedia.com

Perhaps one of the most famous equations in the world, in all scientific fields, is Albert Einstein's theory of relativity, E=mc². This means that the energy is equal to the mass multiplied by the square speed of light. Recently, an international team whose members come from Germany, France and Hungary, led by Laurent Lellouch from the Center for Theoretical Physics in France, managed to prove that the theory is actually right from a subatomic perspective.

The group used a lot of computational power provided by some of the mightiest supercomputers out there in order to prove that results based on proton and neutron (the particles that make up the atomic nuclei) behavior concur with the relativity theory. Practically, the standard model of quantum physics states that neutrons and protons are themselves made up of even smaller particles, called quarks, which are bound together by particles named gluons (glue-on, pretty logical).

Tags: einstein, physics, relativity, energy, atom

Oil is Finite But Information Is Infinite

Sun, 23 Nov 2008 09:24:04 GMT

clipped by: balthazarus
clipper's remarks: Interesting concepts.

Clip Source: money.cnn.com

Google’s (GOOG) CEO Eric Schmidt has said several times that he’s not interested in the position of Chief Technology Officer in the next administration

“Oil is finite, but information is infinite,”

“almost all of the world’s people will have access to almost all of the world’s information.”

can create both transparency — helping to deliver the truth in a wisdom-of-the-crowds type of way — as well as “engagement” and a two-way dialogue over important issues like energy

given that the Internet was founded on an openness that spurred innovation, why, wondered Schmidt, don’t we apply that model to the energy grid?

the Internet was created to let any devices connect to it, and any applications to run over it — as long they play by the rules

So it should be used to design the power grid to allow for distributed power generation, a smart two-way connection, and distributed energy storage in plug-in vehicles

The only reason the grid is not this way now is because of “a design problem

a matter of will

Clip Source: www.youtube.com

[Video]

Tags: information, energy, oil, google

On line Bedtime stories

Sun, 23 Nov 2008 09:10:58 GMT

clipped by: balthazarus

Clip Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Bedtime stories go online as Noddy signs up to Windows Live Messenger

Bedtime stories may never be the same after the launch of an online tool to let parents and children who cannot be together share classic tales.

Built by entertainment company Chorion for the Noddy stories, Time for a Story lets parents and grandparents contact a child through Windows Live Messenger and lead them through a digital version of stories about the character.

Parents control the speed of the story by clicking through pages, while the child can interact with pictures and words on screen for each part of the story.

"There's no way we're saying this should replace that one-to-one contact or reading to a child while you are there, but we are trying to create a tool that allows parents or grandparents to interact with the child in a meaningful way when they can't be there."

was from a producer who was working late a lot and not getting home to speak to his child, and ended up talking to them through IM

Tags: internet, family, story

Why Women Hate Men - The Blog

Sun, 23 Nov 2008 01:05:16 GMT

clipped by: Lexica
clipper's remarks: Simultaneously funny and horrific. Men, if you've ever wondered why a woman seemed to recoil in horror from your advances, wonder no more: some of your fellow males are out working overtime to turn het women asexual, bi women gay, and make lesbians absolutely confident they're not missing a thing.

Clip Source: whywomenhatemen.blogspot.com

Why Women Hate Men - The Blog

Actual internet personal ads posted on public dating boards by men who have absolutely no clue how to attract a woman. With immature, inappropriate commentary. Please send ideas, submissions and personal ads to weaselworden@yahoo.com. Please note this website is produced and written by a MALE!

WWHM Hall of Shame

Tags: funny, men, women, romance, relationships, advertising

The "Design" of the universe

Sun, 23 Nov 2008 18:04:16 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman
clipper's remarks: TED talk by George Smoot

Clip Source: www.ted.com

George Smoot on the design of the universe
19:00 Nov 2008

Clip Source: www.ted.com

At Serious Play 2008, astrophysicist George Smoot shows stunning new images from deep-space surveys, and prods us to ponder how the cosmos -- with its giant webs of dark matter and mysterious gaping voids -- got built this way.

About George Smoot

Astrophysicist, cosmologist and Nobel Prize winner George Smoot studies the cosmic microwave background radiation -- the afterglow of the Big Bang. His pioneering research into deep space and… Full bio and more links

Clipmarks |

No Moses, no Joshua, no (so-called) monotheism

'Wiring' in the brain influences personality

Religion Based Bigotry. End It Now And Forever

Rare but Real: People Who Feel, Taste and Hear Color

Rare but Real: People Who Feel, Taste and Hear Color

Do souls matter?

Do souls matter?

Sharp disagreements between the Catholic and secular views of embryo research highlight how difficult it is to define 'human'

I Write Dead People

The creepy part

The clever part

The Unexplained mystery of The Taos Hum...

Top Ten Unexplained Phenomena

The Taos Hum

Taos Hum

Taos Hum

Guide To Smoking Pot Around The World

Guide to Smoking Pot Around the World

Einstein's Relativity Theory Proven

Oil is Finite But Information Is Infinite

On line Bedtime stories

Bedtime stories go online as Noddy signs up to Windows Live Messenger

Why Women Hate Men - The Blog

Why Women Hate Men - The Blog

WWHM Hall of Shame

About Me

The "Design" of the universe

George Smoot on the design of the universe

About George Smoot