Weekly Science Headlines

[Telarus]

http://science.slashdot.org/story/11/10/24/2047240/10-centimeter-single-celled-organisms-photographed-6-miles-underwater

http://science.slashdot.org/story/11/10/22/2049258/german-paleontologists-find-a-near-perfect-dinosaur-fossil

[Telarus]

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120209172603.htm

"I want to help people to notice things consciously that they might not otherwise see, and remain open to the possibilities. Noticing is one thing, and building on it or connecting it to other things is the next step. Some of this can be learned and we now have a discipline for it." He is already looking at other obstacles and plans to publish a series of innovation-enhancing techniques to address as many as two dozen distinct creativity blocks caused by the normal function of our perceptual and cognitive systems.

The one technique described in the article has striking similarities to Jainist/Buddhist mental exercises for "releasing/letting go of karma".

[minuspace]

ThepositivebraiN.com
On reconstructing thoughts with fMRI scans.

The idea of seeing life through someone else's eyes has long been a theme in our fiction and our fascination. The opportunity to access the inner world of another human was accounted famously in the cult classic, Being John Malcovich. Variations on the theme have been showcased in a lengthy roster of Hollywood productions, such as, Freaky Friday, The Change Up, and an unfortunate number of Look Who's Talking productions, to name a few.

Currently a few weeks old, still, it might be time to practice thinking with the other side of my brain, again...

[Telarus]

http://science.slashdot.org/story/12/04/24/212221/how-nearby-supernovae-affected-life-on-earth



"Every man and woman is a star." -A:. C:.

[Junkenstein]

Cross post from Aneristic Illusions

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-17894176

File-sharing site The Pirate Bay must be blocked by UK internet service providers, the High Court has ruled.

The Swedish website hosts links to download mostly-pirated free music and video.

Sky, Everything Everywhere, TalkTalk, O2 and Virgin Media must all prevent their users from accessing the site.

I'll let you read through the article, but be warned. You may wish to hold your sides now as the ineffectiveness of this is going to make them rather sore.

[Precious Moments Zalgo]

http://www.nature.com/news/human-brain-shaped-by-duplicate-genes-1.10584

Apparently, a large part of the difference between human brains and chimpanzee brains is due to two successive duplication errors of a single gene.  Also, they put the human form of this gene in mice, so it turns out that the "Pinky and the Brain" cartoon was prophecy.  Narf!

Surprisingly, the SRGAP2C protein blocks the action of the ancestral protein, Polleux's team discovered, effectively rendering humans as 'knockouts' for the ancestral SRGAP2 gene. The team then expressed the human form of SRGAP2C in the neurons of developing mice. The change didn't cause the mice brains to enlarge, but their neurons produced denser arrays of brain cell structures, called dendritic spines, that forge connections with neighbouring neurons.

"If you're increasing the total number of connections, you're probably increasing the ability of this network to handle information," Polleux says. "It's like increasing the number of processors in a computer."

In mice, the gene also increased the migration speed of neurons across the developing brain. Polleux's team speculates that this trait could also have helped neurons to travel long distances in the enlarged brains of human ancestors.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

http://www.nature.com/news/human-brain-shaped-by-duplicate-genes-1.10584

Apparently, a large part of the difference between human brains and chimpanzee brains is due to two successive duplication errors of a single gene.  Also, they put the human form of this gene in mice, so it turns out that the "Pinky and the Brain" cartoon was prophecy.  Narf!

Surprisingly, the SRGAP2C protein blocks the action of the ancestral protein, Polleux's team discovered, effectively rendering humans as 'knockouts' for the ancestral SRGAP2 gene. The team then expressed the human form of SRGAP2C in the neurons of developing mice. The change didn't cause the mice brains to enlarge, but their neurons produced denser arrays of brain cell structures, called dendritic spines, that forge connections with neighbouring neurons.

"If you're increasing the total number of connections, you're probably increasing the ability of this network to handle information," Polleux says. "It's like increasing the number of processors in a computer."

In mice, the gene also increased the migration speed of neurons across the developing brain. Polleux's team speculates that this trait could also have helped neurons to travel long distances in the enlarged brains of human ancestors.

I am a little concerned about the creation of genius mice.

[Nephew Twiddleton]

Nah. Mice are nice. Except for pogo. Pog was rather neurotic and frequently bit me though i was saddened and a little disturbed by her death since i witnessed it.

Twid
used to have pet mice

[Nephew Twiddleton]

Oh. And male mice. Male mice do not like other male mice and will try to kill each other.

[Telarus]

16 Year old kid solves 300 year old physics riddle

The Brain May Disassemble Itself in Sleep

[Bebek Sincap Ratatosk]

http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/340900/title/DNA_used_as_rewritable_data_storage_in_cells

Cloning is the new data piracy!

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

16 Year old kid solves 300 year old physics riddle

The Brain May Disassemble Itself in Sleep

It's bumming me out that I can't get that first link to load...maybe later today.

The second one is fascinating, and I also wonder if there's any connection with the fact that I often wake up understanding math problems that I was struggling with when I went to bed.

[Doktor Howl]

16 Year old kid solves 300 year old physics riddle

The Brain May Disassemble Itself in Sleep

It's bumming me out that I can't get that first link to load...maybe later today.

The second one is fascinating, and I also wonder if there's any connection with the fact that I often wake up understanding math problems that I was struggling with when I went to bed.

No, that's just the Math Fairy.  You DID leave a small animal under the pillow, I hope.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

16 Year old kid solves 300 year old physics riddle

The Brain May Disassemble Itself in Sleep

It's bumming me out that I can't get that first link to load...maybe later today.

The second one is fascinating, and I also wonder if there's any connection with the fact that I often wake up understanding math problems that I was struggling with when I went to bed.

No, that's just the Math Fairy.  You DID leave a small animal under the pillow, I hope.

Oh shit! I wondered where all my pillow-lizards were disappearing to.

[Anna Mae Bollocks]

16 Year old kid solves 300 year old physics riddle

The Brain May Disassemble Itself in Sleep

It's bumming me out that I can't get that first link to load...maybe later today.

The second one is fascinating, and I also wonder if there's any connection with the fact that I often wake up understanding math problems that I was struggling with when I went to bed.

Re: first link: Try googling "Shouryya Ray".