Topics pertaining to science and technology, current or future.
Electric shocks help people learn. Well, duh! If I were a neuron getting shocked all the time, I’d certainly be looking for the fastest way to turn it off too! 😉 Seriously, it’s an interesting read for science geeks. And one of several bits of science suggesting that a real “thinking cap” might not be …
Continue reading ‘“Mild brain shocks may improve learning and cognition”’ »
Today the Titanic, tomorrow, the world! Muhuhahahahaha! 😉 (Interesting article though, if you’re into science-geekery.)
In a science fiction story I once read — I can’t for the life of me recall which one — a spaceship’s electronics were overloaded and massively damaged by some kind of energy weapon. The ship got away, but it was crippled. Fortunately, the crew managed to repair enough of systems to limp to an …
Continue reading ‘“Reprogrammable Chips Could Enable Instant Gadget Upgrades”’ »
The first-level explanation for magnets. NSWF in a couple places (for the quoted song lyric that starts it off). I didn’t find the explanation terribly satisfying… it does explain it, but like the hypothetical child in the article, I still want to say “but whyyyy?“. (I know, even Richard Feynman couldn’t explain it to a …
Interesting research, which suggests that parents don’t (and can’t) do much to influence the kind of adult their children will become, and should concentrate more on “just enjoying life together.” It wouldn’t surprise me to see more research in this direction in the future.
Really interesting things going on in vehicular fuel efficiency research. I wonder if our ’96 Corolla will last until these are commonly available?
This could be the first real step toward a direct brain/machine interface. Exciting times. 🙂
This article suggests that acne is simply an unfortunate byproduct of going hairless. While that’s a good explanation for why it originally developed, it’s not a good reason why we still have it. It’s maladaptive, in that people with visible acne are seen as less desirable mates. But fifteen percent of people rarely if ever …
Continue reading ‘“Acne Science: What Makes Pimples So Peculiar To People?”’ »
This is getting ridiculous… in the last three days I’ve gotten two more of those computer scam calls. One woman, one man. Both with strong India accents, but both far more understandable than the first two. Far more annoying too. The novelty has worn off, people, go screw with someone else. For the first one …
It seems that the amount of prenatal testosterone that a person gets in the first trimester influences a laundry list of physical and mental characteristics, including sexual orientation, athletic ability, possibly autism, and (most importantly for this line of questioning), relative finger length. As well as a man’s penis length and chance of getting prostate …
Continue reading ‘“Is Our Fate Written in the Lengths of Our Fingers?”’ »