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Of Two Minds, One Consciousness

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 11:47:28 GMT

clipped by: Mohir
clipper's remarks: But perhaps even more profound, he explains how, even though split-brain patients have isolated hemispheres, they experience a unified consciousness—that is, feel as though they are of one mind.

Clip Source: www.sciam.com

Studies of split-brain patients provide insight into how we form thoughts?specifically how the left brain will create its own narrative based on information it never received.

We know from neuroscientists that the right brain deals with the immediate moment—the facts and details—whereas the left brain attempts to interpret those facts, events, observations.

Most intriguing is how the left brain, in its need to interpret, will make up stories even without any information.

Michael Gazzaniga of the University of California, Santa Barbara, affected the mood of a split-brain patient. He influenced their right brain with a stimulus to laugh, and then asked why they were cracking up.

The speech center, located in the left brain (which never received the humorous stimuli), had no idea why the patient was laughing—but still, came up with an explanation: "You guys are so funny!"

Tags: mind, brain, consciousness

Is the Universe Actually Made of Math?

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 07:11:18 GMT

clipped by: einbar
clipper's remarks: "he explores not what the laws of nature say but why there are any laws at all."

Clip Source: discovermagazine.com

Is the Universe Actually Made of Math?

Unconventional cosmologist Max Tegmark says mathematical formulas create reality.

he explores not what the laws of nature say but why there are any laws at all.

“there is only mathematics; that is all that exists.” In his theory, the mathematical universe hypothesis, he updates quantum physics and cosmology with the concept of many parallel universes inhabiting multiple levels of space and time. By posing his hypothesis at the crossroads of philosophy and physics, Tegmark is harking back to the ancient Greeks with the oldest of the old questions: What is real?

Tegmark has pursued this work despite some risk to his career. It took four tries before he could get an early version of the mathematical universe hypothesis published,

and when the article finally appeared, an older colleague warned that his “crackpot ideas” could damage his reputation. But propelled by optimism and passion, he pushed on.

Artificial Islands of the Dead Sea

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 12:54:55 GMT

clipped by: Mohir

Clip Source: io9.com

The Dead Sea, a body of water that sits at the nexus of several political hot spots in the Middle East, has been a source of contention for decades. Now a New York City architecture firm called Phu Hoang Office has proposed a way to turn the sea into a thriving center for tourism and eco-research. The firm proposed the creation of artificial islands (pictured) called No Man's Land that would house hotels, create energy, and harvest clean water from the atmosphere. Check out more pictures and a schematic below.

Salinity gradient solar ponds, water purification tanks, and water filtering processes will all be integrated into the designated “water islands” of the chain. The other two island designs will be for tourists and solar energy production, providing self sufficient power as well as creating revenue.

Tags: geo-enginering, architecture, dead sea

Why You Should Download Firefox 3 Right Now

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 11:40:48 GMT

clipped by: wildcat

Clip Source: www.webmonkey.com

Firefox 3 — available for download at 10am PDT Tuesday — is the culmination of a two-year quest to build the best browser ever. And while it’s not perfect, it comes pretty close.

The open-source web browser is the fastest and most secure version of Firefox yet. Significant improvements have been made to the way it uses your computer’s resources, so the memory leaks and other performance problems found in Firefox 2 have been stamped out. Text and image rendering have also been improved, and the underlying code for Gecko, the engine that draws the actual web pages on the screen, has been updated. There are also heaps of useful features that have been added for both power users and newcomers alike.

Here’s why we think Firefox 3 is one of the most kick-ass software releases of 2008.

History, bookmarks and discovery

Speed and performance

Security

Native look and feel

A better fit for your workflow

Tags: firefox3, best, open source

Quadriplegic sailor sets sail... using only her breath to power her boat

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 08:13:43 GMT

clipped by: Fast T friend
clipper's remarks: Mrs Lister's progress will be posted on her website www.hilarylister.com

Clip Source: www.dailymail.co.uk

A record-breaking quadriplegic sailor is set to sail solo round the British Isles using controls powered by her breath after technical problems forced her to postpone her challenge.

Hilary Lister, 36, from Canterbury, Kent, will today embark on her journey sailing clockwise around the British coast from Dover, seven days after she initially hoped.

Despite having no movement below her neck, she will use a sip-and-puff system of straws to control the sails and tiller of her state-of-the-art boat, an Artemis 20, with just her breath.

Mrs Lister, who is only able to move her head, eyes and mouth, first entered the record books in August 2005 when she became the first quadriplegic to sail solo across the English Channel.

In a second record-breaking challenge, she solo circumnavigated the Isle of Wight in July last year, becoming the first female quadriplegic to do so.

Tags: able, quadriplegic, sailing, respect!

Humor Shown To Be Fundamental To Our Success As A Species

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 16:57:26 GMT

clipped by: Mohir

Clip Source: www.sciencedaily.com

First universal theory of humour answers how and why we find things funny. Published June 12, The Pattern Recognition Theory of Humour by Alastair Clarke answers the centuries old question of what is humour. Clarke explains how and why we find things funny and identifies the reason humour is common to all human societies, its fundamental role in the evolution of homo sapiens and its continuing importance in the cognitive development of infants.

“For some time now it’s been assumed that a global theory of humour is impossible. This theory changes thousands of years of incorrect analyses and mini-theories that have applied to only a small proportion of instances of humour. It offers a vital answer as to why humour exists in every human society.”

Humour is not about comedy it is about a fundamental cognitive function.

“An ability to recognize patterns instantly and unconsciously has proved a fundamental weapon in the cognitive arsenal of human beings.

Tags: humor

Lightmark - painting with light.

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 20:21:53 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman
clipper's remarks: Very cool images

Clip Source: www.lightmark.de

why you should carry a camera

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 12:28:54 GMT

clipped by: boozich

Clip Source: gizmodo.com

Last Tuesday, Lori Mehmen looked out her front door in Orchard, Iowa and this is what she saw. She had a digital camera handy, and somehow managed to take this photo before crapping her pants and taking cover. This, my friends, is why always having a camera nearby is helpful. Oh, and no one was injured during this tornado, fortunately

Earth Erotica

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 21:53:48 GMT

clipped by: arifsali

Clip Source: www.linkinn.com

Tags: photography, earth

The Web Time Forgot

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 12:58:17 GMT

clipped by: Djiezes
clipper's remarks: NYT article on Paul Otlet

see source for the full article.

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

The Web Time Forgot

Graphic

Index Cards and Electric Telescopes

Enlarge This Image

Mundaneum

PAPER TRAIL The telegraph room at the original Mundaneum in Brussels.

In 1934, Otlet sketched out plans for a global network of computers (or “electric telescopes,” as he called them) that would allow people to search and browse through millions of interlinked documents, images, audio and video files. He described how people would use the devices to send messages to one another, share files and even congregate in online social networks. He called the whole thing a “réseau,” which might be translated as “network” — or arguably, “web.”

Although Otlet’s proto-Web relied on a patchwork of analog technologies like index cards and telegraph machines, it nonetheless anticipated the hyperlinked structure of today’s Web. “This was a Steampunk version of hypertext,”

Tags: web, internet, www, information, otlet, paul otlet

Extreme Music: Top 15 Free Music Websites That You Will Want to Visit

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 19:21:27 GMT

clipped by: Silkweaver
clipper's remarks: It need no words, just explore and listen

Clip Source: www.musicouch.com

Music is a powerful creation. By its very design, it invokes a storm of stirred emotions, moving seas of unbridled passion within the core of our very soul.

Connecting to the world on a global scale.
Seeking the journey into the mysterious unexplored.
Unearthing a trove of treasures that are unlike anything known before.

The Sixtyone

Spinjay

Songza

Grooveshark

It Breaks

MP3 4U

New Grounds

Ruckus

Musicovery

Live Music Archive

My Bloop

Deezer

Tagoo

Jamwave

Last.FM

Tags: music, web

The web that time forgot

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 16:56:56 GMT

clipped by: iskandar
clipper's remarks: "Today, Otlet and his work have been largely forgotten, even in his native Belgium. Although Otlet enjoyed considerable fame during his lifetime, his legacy fell victim to a series of historical misfortunes — not least of which involved the Nazis marching into Belgium and destroying much of his life's work.

But in recent years, a small group of researchers has begun to resurrect Otlet's reputation, republishing some of his writing and raising money to establish the museum and archive in Mons."

Clip Source: www.iht.com

The web that time forgot

In 1934, Otlet sketched out plans for a global network of computers (or "electric telescopes," as he called them) that would allow people to search and browse through millions of interlinked documents, images, audio and video files. He described how people would use the devices to send messages to one another, share files and even congregate in online social networks. He called the whole thing a "réseau," which might be translated as "network" — or arguably, "web."

Historians typically trace the origins of the World Wide Web through a lineage of Anglo-American inventors like Vannevar Bush, Doug Engelbart and Ted Nelson. But more than half a century before Tim Berners-Lee released the first Web browser in 1991, Otlet (pronounced ot-LAY) described a networked world where "anyone in his armchair would be able to contemplate the whole of creation."

Tags: web, history, paul otle

Science: why we scream ???

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 05:23:26 GMT

clipped by: einbar
clipper's remarks: "there are up to 19 muscles present in the face, and many people do not possess all of them

Clip Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Apes play a key role in human evolution. But our facial muscles also have a story to tell,

making a particular face contributes to feeling the related emotion

Moving your face into certain configurations changes the blood flow to the brain and the way you feel

But in another recent study

We all have a core set of five facial muscles that control our ability to produce standard expressions which convey anger, happiness, surprise, fear, sadness and disgust. But there are up to 19 muscles present in the face, and many people do not possess all of them

.The risorius muscle, which controls expressions of extreme fear, is found in only two thirds of people.

Everyone communicates using a set of common signals,"

"so we would expect to find that the muscles do not vary. The results are surprising. Some less common facial expressions may be unique to certain people."

In the Art of a DNA Graph, the Colors of Uniqueness

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 06:37:07 GMT

clipped by: einbar

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

In the Art of a DNA Graph, the Colors of Uniqueness

Being biologists and doctors, red is our blood, red is our fluid

All people have in common more than 99 percent of our gene sequences. Yet the type of sequence variation portrayed here, caused by a single altered nucleotide, accounts for most of the genetic differences among humans.

The colors show the DNA type inherited from a father, mother or both parents. Red signals a “genetic mosaic” of the parents, with different sequence variants from each. Black and white rectangles show that a person inherited the same sequence variant from both parents.

“We wanted to synthesize variability into a clear pattern,” said Dr. Ruaño, who is president of Genomas Inc., which is developing genomics-based tools for diagnosis and drug prescription. “The eye is the most important pattern recognition instrument that humans have.”

If there was any doubt about alternative energy

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 22:00:59 GMT

clipped by: egoldstein
clipper's remarks: This sector is picking up momentum at an incredible pace. Feel like i have front row sites to the most exciting game in town - watching the world evolve to new, clean, renewable sources of energy is awesome!

Clip Source: biz.yahoo.com

Chip maker Intel Corp. said Monday it is spinning off assets to create a company, to be known as SpectraWatt Inc., that will make solar cells.

Tags: alternative energy, solar, intel