Brain Stuffs

Interesting article trying to settle the concept of cognitive embodiment into a larger framework. Via Mindhacks.

 

A Princeton paper which kicks against the myth of the primacy of rationality. Via Science Daily.

 

Apparently a mild electrical current between the brows alleviates depression. Gizmo to hit the shops soon. Via Torygraph.

 

Another tech breakthrough with the development of a cheap, portable brain scanner that uses infra-red to monitor brain activity. Courtesy of New Scientist.

 

Mindhacks have a nice 48 min Psychology primer video.

 

Actual evidence for the uniqueness of our cortical structures is offered. Science Daily

 

A fine explanation of perceptual bias and it’s rather serious ramifications. Via Reddit.

 

Jump on the split-brain roundabout here. Via Mindhacks.

 

The flash lag illusion gets a couple of nice animations from some Japanese boffin, Hat tip to New Scientist.

Spatial Specials

5 years of Solar X-rays. Reddit.

Hinode snaps Venus in solar transit. Reddit.

Nebula wigglegram from Know Your Meme.

Mental Matters

Interesting excerpt  about the role of placebo/nocebo and Dancing outbreaks. Scientific American.

Seeing sound? Livescience have an article worth reading.

The sense of self seems to lurk behind children’s peekabo behaviours according to Cambridge labcoats.

Mindhacks has a nice article about the psychological lure of puzzly videogames.

Looks like the mechanism behind prosopagnosia has been found. Reddit.

Science Daily has an article about our revealing predilection for monsters in our culture.

Dishonesty is unpicked by a Duke University boffin in an interview with Scientific American.

Investigating the body/brain’s interaction with weight gain. Reddit.

Decoding dreams in Japan? Telegraph.

Artful Factuality

Information is Beautiful has been doling out awards for infographics and there’s some stunning entrants. The Lunar Calendar above and Cover Song river below are some of my friends.
There’s a lovely chart depicting hurricane paths on CoolInfographics.

Scientific Spatters

Jaw dropping pictures by some Russian photographer of the an Icelandic eruption on a river.

Scientists discover a method for repairing defects in crystals by inserting particles. Via Reddit.

Evidence builds for a massive Earth strike 13,000 years ago. DailyGalaxy.

Nice demonstration that your conscious mind isn’t quite as in control as we like to think. Via Reddit.

Interesting story about the discovery of unusual ‘ritual’ tunnels at Baiae. Simthsonian.

Bird brains appear to have cell structures similar to those found in the neocortex – a formerly distinguishing characteristic of mammals. ScienceDaily

Looks like we’ve found an ancient Martian river bed. DailyGalaxy.

Scientific Scintillas

Curiosity takes a lovely self portrait. Via Space.com

Scientists have found photosynthetic cells in aphids. Nature

Parasitic infection may result in depression and suicide. SciDaily

Mutant Butterflies are showing up in Japan. Popsci

Sexually spurned flies turn to booze. Sciencemag

A new type of scan reveals the brain's neuronal structure may be actually quite simple. Singularityhub.

Newly developed titchy ion microthrusters could propel modest satellites. SciDaily

Game designed to alleviate depression more successful than counselling. Atlantic

New family of clawed spiders found in Oregon. BBC

Whirring Cogs

Apparently mean/unpleasant internet comments aren't necessarily a result of anonymity more the lack of eye contact. Scientific American

Misunderstanding statistics isn't confined to students with lecturers failing to appreciate crucial concepts. PDF of the paper here.

'Global' brain connectivity seems to be a powerful new predictor of individual intelligence. ScienceDaily.

There's a nice bit on the psychology of persuasion on Farnum Street.

Kicking back against the so called wisdom of the crowds. Impactlab.

Studying the brains of lucid dreamers is helping to reveal the neurophysiological 'basis' of consciousness. Reddit.

Head injuries big and very small can have a lasting effect on our noggins.

There's a nice list of cognitive biases over here, via Reddit.

Fascinating article about psychosis and insight, via Mindhacks.

Mavericks Monographed

Wilhelm Reich, a colleague of Freud & Jung's, was an unusual, grandiose thinker whose theories of sexuality and political freedom have largely been ignored by the scientific community, eclipsed as they were by his later more er, esoteric work but they did find a resonance in the counter culture movement of the 60's and 70's. In 1971 Serbian director Makavejev created W.R. Mysteries of the Organism, a chaotic, kaleidoscopic view of Reich's theories interspersing various documentary pieces with fairly insane narrative sections all mashed lovingly together with a LSD fervour and revolutionary zeal. If you're unaware of Reich I wouldn't start here as it's more of a dialogue about his work than an exposition (and it's 70's styling probably an acquired taste) but it's a surprisingly entertaining watch with a bravado and intellectual ambition seldom seen these days. It's a shame there's not a 'straight' examination of Reich's work but this film succeeds at the very least in matching it's subject's idiosyncrasy.

R Buckminster Fuller, another unique intellect, was successful in a number of scientific fields and is probably most famous for his Geodesic Dome design, however his theorising went well beyond normal disciplines and still seems startling groundbreaking today. The World of Buckminster Fuller initially seems to take a more traditional approach, with Bucky himself explaining his theories straight to camera but 10 mins in and it becomes apparent that the film makers thought a cut and paste approach to the editing equalled style and it suffers badly without a coherent progression to the segments. This scattergun effect combined with the aging Fuller's slightly eccentric manner and speech, made me think, occasionally, of Rowley Birkin from The Fast Show which is a bit of a shame as though it lacks the panache of W.R, if you stick with it, it does offer an interesting, more comprehensive look at another neglected thinker's work.

The Great Antidote

Beautiful art from tinkering with ferrofluids. NewScientist.

Unusual and ancient structure found in Wales, BBC

Casual gaming appears to relieve anxiety and depression, via Reddit.

Interesting experiment into Freudian style unconscious anxieties. SciDaily.

The hunt is on for people with supersight. Discover.

Nice article about the gut over-riding the brain. Scientific American

Believing in Heaven or Hell appears to related to criminality. via Reddit.

Lichen can survive in space apparently, giving further credence to panspermia? SciDaily.

More Moon water evidence found. DailyGalaxy

The Great Antidote

Frickin' giant wasp found on Sulawesi, Indonesia. Impactlab

James Cameron plunged the depths of the Mariana trench, 6.77 miles, in his self funded submersible. SciencDaily.

Some boffins have found a polyurethane eating fungus in the Amazon. Reddit.

Paul Allen, co-founder of Microsoft, donated $300 million to the study of the neurophysiology of perception. WSJ

As our understanding of our noggin deepens there's some serious ethical issues that need discussion, some of which are covered in this brief article. Reddit.

Nice gallery of plane related atmospheric effects. DarkRoasted and Wired have an array of unusual optical images.
Experience might not be everything it's cracked up to be. Farnum St.

The Impact origin theory of the moon comes under strain with new data from the University of Chicago. DailyGalaxy.

The Great Antidote

Some bacteria have "poisoned daggers" Physorg

Flatworms have the potential for immortality apparently, SciDaily, and Israeli scientists hae managed to extend the life span of mice by 15%. Reddit.

Someones found some Buckyballs in Space. Wired

Two new blood types discovered. Impact Lab.

The Sky is actually falling with average cloud height dropping 1% in the last decade, SpaceDaily

Interesting article on the BBC website about the history of sleep, shattering the myth of the 8 hour stretch.

Did the Titanic sink because of an illusion? Reddit.

Perhaps unsurprisingly Obama has slashed NASA's planetary budget, Physorg

Petroglyph found in Brazil appears to be 10,000 years old. Smithsonian.

Teller reveals some of his skills at manipulating our minds, via Farnum Street.

The Psychologist has an interesting example of the differing ideas about the mind from around the world. MindHacks have a snippet.

There's also a study that indicates that the lowest paid workers suffer the most from sleep deprivation, via Impact Lab.

Cornell Uni boffins blast a rocket up into the northern lights. Daily What.

Grey Matters

Having a low IQ seems to correlate with being politically Conservative, racist and homophobic, and though it's quite an obvious result I'm just really glad some scientists made the effort to confirm it. Thank you Brock Uni in Ontario

Nice bit about the under appreciated Abraham Maslow, via Mind Hacks.

Scientists may have sketched out how "sacred" beliefs differ from everyday thoughts. SciDaily

Some adventurous attempts to make sense of the Psilocybin experience, Neurophilosophy

Modest pdf article examining the brain differences caused by meditative practice, Reddit

Some boffins are fretting over the recent successes in cognitive enhancement techniques, particular direct noggin stimulation, via Oxford Uni

Another interesting brain boosting experiment using fMRI feedback appears to show learning without any intent.attention at all, TheAtlantic

Ketamine appears, from recent trials. to offer immediate relief from depression, Reddit

Locust's brains are helping us reveal the mechanisms behind our associative memories, SciDaily

Haitian Zombification still engenders study, Mind Hacks

Review of a recent compilation of papers on Panpsychism, Reddit

Star Trekkin' & Other Distractions

Beautiful false dawn captured in India, APOD

Russia's failed Phobos Grunt probe has returned home, somewhere off the coast of Chile. But they're looking to blame the Yanks for it's demise due to it maybe getting zapped by an asteroid radar. NS

The deepest vents yet have been discovered in a Caribbean rift and they're teaming with life, SciDaily

Some German's have built the tiniest storage device ever - an 8 bit magnetic data store made out of 96 atoms. SciDaily.

Umami was the fifth but now tongue-focussed scientists have discovered the sixth taste, fat. ImapctLab.

Interesting article about Octopi & consciousness, Reddit.

NASA refutes ufologist's assertion that a triangular UFO was snapped by Stereo-B, Daily G

Boffins have been noodling about investigating the links between our body clock and schizophrenia, NS

Another stunning video from the ISS, Reddit

Tea Leaf & Magic Bean

For All the Tea in China is a novelisation of the adventures of the Victorian botanist/plant hunter, and my ancestor, Robert Fortune. Covering his second, illegal trip into the Chinese hinterland this time he's is trying to steal the secrets of the coveted Green & Black Teas of China which are still highly prized and, at the time, a cornerstone of the Chinese economy. Fortune's search of seeds, saplings and Tea expertise was at the behest and expense of the East India Company, the very model of a ravenous, brutal corporate monster. The book pads out his dramatic and tense encounters with locals, pirates and warlords with plenty of social and historical background. Fortune comes across as a determined, passionate man who had no shortage of gumption but as much as he seems to admire the Chinese themselves he doesn't appear to understand or acknowledge much awareness (or maybe sympathy) for China's people and their cultural/political situation. There is one moment however, during his trip into the Wu Yi mountains, bowed over by the beauty of the landscape and the generosity of the monks that helped him, that he shows a more humane side. The writing is good, if a little unremarkable, and it's certainly a much easier read than Fortune's own memoirs of the time but it's the events & escapades of the main character that drive this book. I'm obviously a little bias but I really enjoyed it, a nice, interesting slice of history.

The Anatomist is another enjoyable tale of scientific discovery this time set in Renaissance Italy and about a man with a quite different passion. Mateo Colombo was a highly regarded physician of the era and after becoming smitten with a prestigious whore sets about finding a way to codify and manipulate female passions and during the process, stumbles onto a patient that reveals the existence of "Amor Veneris" aka the clitoris. There's less social/cultural scene setting than in For All... and the narrative is considerably more involved, reading almost like a novel but author Frederico Andahazi's light prose dances through the colourful story of Colombo's discovery, imprisonment & subsequent trial. There's a lots of laughs and a little tragedy along the way as well as the expected sex, death and politics and it's a fascinating & thoroughly entertaining read.

Camera Work

The Little Ghost Nebula courtesy of APOD
Infrared Jupiter via Reddit.
Far side of the Moon, NASA

Firmament Foci

Cassini snaps a monstrous storm on the surface of Saturn. ScienceDaily.

That faster than light Neutrino result still stands despite a couple of weeks of further observation. New Scientist.

Shackleton Energy are planning to be the first company to mine the Moon. Wired.

Cygnus X-1 is the first Black Hole to have it's 'history' charted from it's inception 6 million years ago thanks to VLBA. ScienceDaily

Bad Astronomy has a splendid explanation of the optical/cosmological effects behind this stunning pic of the Moon taken from the ISS.

Seems like Europa's peculiar domes/depressions are where liquid water has approached the surface. New Scientist. And there's some new evidence for giant lakes of water under it's surface, Wired.

China's Shenzhou probe successfully returns to Earth after docking with it's minilab, another step towards the goal of an orbiting manned space station. BBC

While Russia's failed Phobos-Grunt probe is, according to scientists, due to fall into our atmosphere sometime in January. It's payload of toxic fuel is still a concern apparently. New Scientist.

The problem of orphan supernovae may just be because their surrounding galaxies are not visible. Physorg.

NASA have released their most accurate relief map of the Moon yet. BBC

The Great Antidote

A brain parasite found in 10-20% of the UK population has been shown to effect dopamine levels. ScienceDaily.

Hubble has snapped the disc of gas & dirt being slurped down by a Black Hole. Wired.

The multitude of the brain's subconscious activity is addressed in this DiscoverMagazine article.

There's an area of sunspots roughly the size of Jupiter now facing in our direction. Discovery.

Russia's Phobos-Grunt mission launches this week and hopefully will return with a bucketful of the Martian moon's soil. ScientificAmerican.

Scientists have discovered a strange spiral structure Sun in the Lupus constellation. Gizmodo

Interesting article about the influence of our physicality on consciousness. ScientificAmerican.

The Great Antidote

4 moons of Saturn caught in this very lovely image by Cassini. APOD

Evidence for the link between DNA activity & early childhood environmental conditions. Scienceblog.

The patient known as "Sybil" has admitted her multiple personalities were fake. Reddit.

Hong Kong researchers Kwok & Zhang have discovered complex organic compounds in space created without the presence of "life". Reddit.

The long disputed reality of hypnosis may be finally coming to an end with some interesting eye-movement research which seems to support the existence of a distinct hypnotic modality of consciousness. MedicalXpress.

New evidence shows there's little between ourselves and chimps but our so called "junk", DNA that is. DailyG.

Another study, this time of Orangutan societies, demonstrates that "culture" isn't exclusive to humans. SciDaily.

Linguists have cracked the Copiale code - turns out the mysterious manuscript details the rituals of a German ophthalmology cult. NYT

Has the worm finally turned? Psychologists line up to object to the forthcoming publication of DSM5, which is bound to be another example of idiocy and psychiatric propaganda. PsychToday.

Evidence has been uncovered for the earliest oxygen breathing lifeform - a mineral chomping bacteria about 2.5 billion years old. LiveSci.

Stunning pic of a N Atlantic giant Octopus. Via NS

Undergound Overground

An intact Viking burial ship, complete with grave goods, has been discovered near Ardnamurchan. BBC

NASA software has enabled archaeologists to reveal the sophisticated Lunar calendar surrounding a Black Forest Royal Tomb. Past Horizons.

Seems someone was treating his dog to a juicy Mammoth bone 25,000 years ago, after a find in the Czech Republic. Reddit.

Melting Norwegian glaciers are exposing Roman era garments & textiles. Reddit.

Chinese Archaeologists are digging into the society that flourished along the Silk Road. Reddit.

Remote sensing appears to have found a submerged henge near the edge of the Loch of Stenness in Orkney. Past Horizons.

An Aztec cremation platform has been unearthed at the Templo Mayor r uins near Mexico City.

The mysteries surrounding Gobekli Tepe, one of the oldest temples ever found, are slowly being unraveled. Reddit.

The Great Antidote

This isn't some scifi critter from a pulpy novel but an actual insect, the Brazillian Treehopper. DarkRoasted.

Is Alzheimer's transmissible? ScienceDaily.

Unravelling the myth of the male mid-life crisis. ScientificAmerican

Amazing 3D printer that constructs glass objects using only sand and the power of the Sun. Popsci.

The discovery of a quasicrystalline structure has won an Israeli scientist the Nobel prize for Chemistry.

We're a step closer to detecting gravitational waves apparently. Impactlab.


The Bolshoi simulation of dark matter in our universe took one of the world's largest supercomputer 6 million CPU hours to create. APOD.

Photographic evidence of the triple rainbows. ScienceDaily.

The molecular interaction between air and water is finally being explained. ScienceDaily.

Nikon's annual Small World contest coughs up some amazing snaps, my favourite but not the winner, below, is of a blade of grass.