Clipmarks |

Mind Blowing Pictures

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 16:32:30 GMT

clipped by: rko2007
clipper's remarks: They're so cool!

These pictures are absolutely mind blowingly good.

Water Affecting Lives (17 pictures)

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 21:00:27 GMT

clipped by: constantskeptic
clipper's remarks: What a great post. Captions for each photo provided on the original website.

Clip Source: www.boston.com

Water is having a significant impact on many people's lives around the world right now. From droughts to quake lakes, floods to monsoons, people and animals are dealing with water in many ways. In these recent photos, we can see people play, wash, mourn, survive, escape, celebrate and marvel with something so basic as water. (17 photos total)

Department of Water and Power workers are emptying out bales of plastic balls in the Ivanhoe reservoir in Los Angeles on Monday, June 9, 2008. Department of Water and Power released about 400,000 black plastic 4-inch balls as the first installment of approximately 3 million to form a floating cover over 7 acres of the reservoir to protect the water from sunlight. When sunlight mixes with the bromide and chlorine in Ivanhoe's water, the carcinogen bromate can form. (Irfan Khan/AP)

Lovely Landscapes

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 04:22:00 GMT

clipped by: CrazyRedHead

Clip Source: www.linkinn.com

Tags: photography, photo, nature

Things to love America for

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 20:05:28 GMT

clipped by: bignosemousie
clipper's remarks: From our neighbors across the pond.

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

Things to love America for. Some of your comments so far:

San Francisco. A beautiful city, an artistic and technological powerhouse, and the home of the best gridiron team!
Steve Mansfield, England

Jeans. If it weren't for the Americans, all us British men would be dressed in itchy tweed trousers, or even kilts!
Tim Burke, UK

I love to visit the States. The service and sheer friendliness of the people leaves us far far behind.
Marko, UK

California girls!
Paddy, Liverpool, Britain

They did invent house music, and for that I'm truly greatful.
Richi, UK

The three great social movements of our time - civil rights, taking feminism to the next stage, gay rights. Not having a monarchy.
Teresa Giles, United Kingdom

If America wasn't on this planet, who else would the aliens abduct?
Erik, UK

Tags: america, britain

Why the Brain Follows the Rules

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 16:03:54 GMT

clipped by: Silkweaver
clipper's remarks: Not surprisingly, the threat of punishment made people act more fairly. In the “punishment threat condition” people split the money close to equally. However, when Person B had no recourse, the people given the money acted very differently and gave away, on average, less than 10 percent of the money.

When the researchers looked at the brain activity of people playing this simple game, they found a consistent pattern. One region in the frontal lobes, the orbitofrontal cortex, seemed to be responsible for evaluating the potential for punishment. In other words, it figured out whether or not violating the social norm would get us in trouble. A second brain region, the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, was responsible for inhibiting the natural tendency to keep most of the money (this would be the greedy thing to do) if this action might lead to future punishment. Interestingly, these brain areas only were activated when the threat of punishment came from a real person, and not a compute

Clip Source: www.sciam.com

People are incredibly social beings, and we rely heavily on our interactions with others to thrive, and even survive, in the world.

To avoid chaos in these interactions, humans create social norms. These rules and regulations establish appropriate and acceptable ways for us to act and respond to each other.

But how are social norms maintained? And what makes us comply with social norms? Primarily, the answer is that, if we don’t follow the rules, we might get in trouble. Numerous studies demonstrate that, when the threat of punishment is removed, people tend to disregard social norms. The neat and orderly line disintegrates.

It remains unclear, however, how the brain processes the threat of punishment when deciding whether or not to comply with a social norm.

A recent study conducted by neuroscientist Manfred Spitzer and his colleagues at the University of Ulm in Germany and the University of Zurich in Switzerland tried to shed light on this mystery.

Tags: behavioral science, neuroscience

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

God’s Final Message?

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 20:54:48 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman

Clip Source: asymptotia.com

“According to So Long, and Thanks For All the Fish, God’s Final Message To His Creation is written in fire in letters thirty feet high on the far side of the Quentulus Quazgar Mountains in the land of Sevorbeupstry on the planet of Preliumtarn, which orbits the star Zarss, which is located in the Grey Binding Fiefdoms of Saxaquine. The long path to the message is lined with souvenir stands at spaced-out intervals.
When Marvin reads the message, it says, “We apologise for the inconvenience.” However, Fenchurch’s reaction suggests that the message she saw was the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything (and that presumably, therefore, the Message is personalized to each viewer).”

–Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.

Or perhaps this* is God’s Final Message:

(Part of the Carina Nebula (not far from the Keyhole Nebula detail). Image from the Hubble Space Telescope’s Wide Field Planetary Camera 2. See GRIN for some more information.)

Arabic Loanwords In English

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 12:03:58 GMT

clipped by: Deepti

Clip Source: www.dailywritingtips.com

admiral

adobe

alchemy

alcohol

alcove

algebra

almanac

amber

apricot

arsenal

assassin

artichoke

aubergine

burnoose

caliber

carat

checkmate

coffee

cotton

divan

elixir

gauze

gazelle

genie

giraffe

harem

hashish

henna

jasmine

kohl

lilac

lime

loofah

lute

magazine

mocha

monsoon

mummy

muslin

nadir

orange

safari

saffron

sequin

sugar

tamarind

tariff

typhoon

zenith

zero

Tags: arabic, english, language, words

How to love the United States

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 20:02:44 GMT

clipped by: bignosemousie
clipper's remarks: by Ryan Dilley, BBC News

Nice descriptions of the US's positive contributions at the source.

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

With the United States the target of anti-war demonstrators' anger, France's President Chirac has declared that despite his differences with the US, he still loves the country. And when you look at it, there are hundreds of things the US has done for us.

With London peace protesters toting effigies of President George Bush and placards lambasting the United States, Prime Minister Tony Blair has warned of the dangers of anti-Americanism.

Even France's Jacques Chirac - a one-time Harvard student and forklift driver at a US brewery - has said his fierce criticism of Washington does not lessen his fond regard for America as a nation.

Has the current tide of anti-Americanism blinded many to the United States' many positive contributions?

THE SPACE PROGRAMME

MILITARY MIGHT

THE INTERNET

You wouldn't be reading this if it weren't for America. And there are plenty of good things on the internet, too.

IN-FLIGHT ENTERTAINMENT

THE ZIP

HELMETS FOR FOOTBALLERS

Tags: america, britain, contributions

Gorgeous Images of the Sky, From 200+ Miles Above it

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 05:18:46 GMT

clipped by: gilbertogalea
clipper's remarks: Great pictures take from the sky with the space shuttle discovery.

Clip Source: www.boston.com

The Space Shuttle Discovery successfully launched last week, becoming the 154th manned US space mission. It flew to the International Space Station, delivering (among other things) a Japanese module called Kibo, repair parts for a broken toilet, a Buzz Lightyear action figure, one of Lance Armstrong's yellow jerseys, and 18 sesame seed bagels - the first bagels ever to reach Earth orbit. Completion of this mission will leave only eight flights remaining in the Space Shuttle program until its end in 2010.

One of the best features of the space program has always been astronaut photography, and I will take this opportunity to share some of the best photographs of Earth's skies, taken from above - way above (over 200 miles to be more exact). (15 photos total)

Tags: space pict

The Singularity Frankenstein

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 09:56:15 GMT

clipped by: wildcat
clipper's remarks: Singularity defender George Dvorsky is spot-on when he calls for the singularity-aware to “frame the issue as a scientific endeavor and pitch the various scenarios as hypotheses” and in that “we need to keep the language within the scientific vernacular”. And that’s exactly what’s NOT happening.

Clip Source: www.memebox.com

When exploring the possible futures ahead of us one sooner or later encounters The Singularity memeplex, a concept with multiple meanings that people now generally associate with exponentialist Ray Kurzweil’s definition, “technological change so rapid and profound it represents a rupture in the fabric of human history”. He and others argue this will come about as the result of human-trumping or super-human-enabling artificial intelligence that fundamentally transforms our system and ourselves.

While the notion of a big-ass capital-S singularity is a very important concept, especially for future interested noobs attempting to comprehend the general ramifications of runaway technology growth, I agree with the likes of Eliezer Yudkowsky that it’s become a most un-scientific mash-up of several different schools of little-s singularity thought, something he appropriately calls “Singularity paste”.

Tags: singularity, frankenstein, paste, mishmash

The Galactic Internet

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 16:24:32 GMT

clipped by: wildcat

Clip Source: superconcepts.blogspot.com

We all know how the internet has changed our lives. It's not souly because of the information it can fill our minds with, but because of the applications that it brings us. We can go shopping, check flights, make money, network with people, form movements, archive entertainment, connect businesses, and lots more.

There's no knowing where the internet will take us in the next 10-20 years. What if, we were to look far further into the future?

This century we are closer than we have ever been to discovering alien life. If it exists, we may well discover it in the next few decades. Far more significant however, will be the discovery of intelligent life. The implications of discovering an extra terrestrial concious life form are immense. It will shake the entire foundations of our society. It will give us new perspectives on both the problems and pleasures of human life.

Tags: internet, alien, life, intelligent

Powerful Earthquake Hits Greece

Mon, 09 Jun 2008 19:18:37 GMT

clipped by: abailart

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

At least two people have been killed as an earthquake rocked southern Greece, collapsing buildings and causing panic.

"The earthquake was terrifying," Patras resident Anna Tsokana told the BBC.

"The duration was about 60 seconds... Buildings have fallen or been damaged and roads have been destroyed."

The earthquake was one of the most powerful to hit Greece in modern times, says the BBC's Malcolm Brabant in Athens.

Greece is one of Europe's most earthquake-prone countries.

Tags: greek earthquake

UK to give waterless washing machine a spin

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 09:18:45 GMT

clipped by: iskandar

Clip Source: news.yahoo.com

UK to give waterless washing machine a spin

LONDON (Reuters) - A washing machine using as little as a cup of water for each washing cycle could go on sale to environmentally conscious Britons next year.

Xeros Ltd, which has been spun out of the University of Leeds to commercialize the technology, said on Monday the new machines would use less than 2 percent of the water and energy of a conventional washing machine.

Plastic chips are used to remove dirt and stains from clothes, leaving them dry and reducing energy consumption as there is no need to use a dryer after the washing cycle, Xeros said in a statement.

A typical washing machine uses about 35 kilograms of water for every kilogram of clothes, in addition to the power needed to heat the water and dry the clothes

There are more than two million washing machines sold in Britain annually, with a value of about 1 billion pounds, Xeros said.

Tags: washing machine, environmentally conscious

What Will Happen to Biodiversity When the World Becomes A Giant City?

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 15:33:55 GMT

clipped by: Silkweaver
clipper's remarks: “As a species we have lived in wild nature for hundreds of thousands of years, and now suddenly most of us live in cities—the ultimate escape from nature,” says Kareiva. “If we do not learn to build, expand and design our cities with a respect for nature, we will have no nature left anywhere.”

Indeed, biocide is occurring at an alarming rate. Experts project that at least half of the world’s current animal species will be completely gone by the end of the century. Wild plant-life is also disappearing. Most biologists say that we are in the midst of an anthropogenic mass extinction that is at least partially caused by human encroachment on more and more areas of the planet. Numerous scientific studies confirm that this phenomenon needs to be addressed quickly.

Clip Source: www.dailygalaxy.com

A new study outlines the uncomfortable question of what happens to the planet’s biodiversity when cities take over the world.

Cities are growing, and they’re growing fast. It is projected that urban growth will create an additional 350,000 square miles of cities roads, buildings and parking lots—covering a combined area the size of Texas—by 2030.

Every week humans create the equivalent of a city the size of Vancouver. What will this staggering growth mean for both nature and people?

it means significant species loss and a further decline of natural resources like fresh water. They say we need to prepare—now.

“While the effects of urbanization are very localized, cumulatively it is a big threat to biodiversity,

According to the United Nations, humans officially became an urban species in 2007 when a milestone was reached. Over half of the world’s population now live in cities.

Tags: biodiversity, urbanization