Just because we’ve got bigger brains doesn’t mean we’ve got a leg up on the rest of the animal kingdom, concludes new research from Queen Mary, University of London, and Cambridge University. Researchers claim that with the aid of computer generated models, they have determined even remarkably small sized brains are capable of consciousness—with as little as a few hundred nerve cells doing the job.
Apparently, size doesn’t matter so much as we’d like to think. The researchers explain:
“In bigger brains we often don’t find more complexity, just an endless repetition of the same neural circuits over and over. This might add detail to remembered images or sounds, but not add any degree of complexity. To use a computer analogy, bigger brains might in many cases be bigger hard drives, not necessarily better processors.”
Brains simply tend to be larger in larger animals, the researchers explain—and further, size does not seem to be a factor in actual intellect. Perhaps this research will finally put to rest the old and incorrect supposition that humans only use 10% of their brain and, therefore, have tons of unlocked potential (so much for that plot arc on Fringe). What the research seems to demonstrate is, really, it’s not the size of the brain that matters, but rather, how we use it and which neurons are present that contribute to complex processes.
So next time you belittle your cat for her brainlessness, consider that she may be mocking you right back… or at least, she could if she wanted to.
One of the worse part of getting a disease that affects you lung is having the mucus accumulate in them. You then have to cough like crazy to get the nasty stuff out, else you won’t be able to breathe properly. Fortunately, thanks to the $40 lung flute, getting the phlegm out of your lungs may soon become an easy task.
Today, doctors in Japan use the $40 Lung Flute as a tool to collect sputum from patients suspected of carrying tuberculosis, and in Europe and Canada it’s used to help test phlegm for lung cancer. Clinical trials in the U.S. have shown that it is at least as effective as current COPD treatments. At press time, Hawkins expected the device to receive FDA approval any day, and says the reusable device could also provide home relief for patients with cystic fibrosis, influenza and asthma.
I’m not sure how this guy did it, but he succeeded in balancing 117 toys on a single, 4 X 2 lego brick. The fun part came later though, when he used little wind-up creatures to knock the whole thing down.
I created this photograph for the Kids Gallery of the Connecticut Science Center in Hartford. It shows 117 objects balancing on a single Lego block. No adhesives, glue or hidden supports were used. The stability of this improbable pile of objects is helped by positioning the center of gravity of each horizontal section directly above the Lego block and by lowering the center of gravity of the entire structure as much as possible through the use of hanging objects.
Apple has applied for a patent on a technology which would effectively embed adverts in its operating systems – and then force the user to pay attention to them.
Under the system described in the patent, the functionality of a device could be frozen, the on-screen content replaced with the advert, and then the functionality only restored once the user had clicked to acknowledge the advert.
The patent, uncovered by the New York Times, says such a system would be used to offer cheap or even free equipment with the ad system built-in. Users could then have the option of paying extra to remove the ads if they found them too annoying (or found a friendly hacker to come up with an unofficial way to disable the feature.)
Of course, while there is certainly an argument about the very principle of using such a system, many will see its merit being a matter of practice. While I couldn’t see it as being acceptable in a computer, and possibly being too intrusive in a phone, I might be willing to put up with some ads in return for a free iPod touch.
However, that would again depend on exactly how it was implemented. If it was a case of an onscreen ad when I started the device and another when I ran an app or went on to the web, I could probably live with it. If I had to fish the device out of my pocket to click on the screen between every song, as is specified as a possibility in the patent, I’d soon be doing more than giving it a gentle prod.
The application for the patent even suggests the system could have time limits to ensure the user clicks quickly enough to make sure they are paying attention. Miss the time limit and the next ad will have a smaller box to click on, meaning you have to pay even closer attention.
And if that’s not creepy enough, the patent suggests the system could even require the user to type the advertiser’s name.
There’s no guarantee that Apple has any intention of developing something like this and using it on its products, though. But the firm, simply having had the idea jars with the whole image of shiny white loveliness.
What is it about remakes that gets geeks so hot under the collar? Sure, there are a lot of terrible remakes that cannot be unseen, and the 2000s seems to be particularly rife with them, to boot. According to Slashfilm, only two of the top 30 films of the decade are original (the two films, consequently, are both animated: Finding Nemo and Kung Fu Panda).
But the whole “Hollywood out of ideas” concept really doesn’t hold water upon closer inspection. Before you get your panties in a wad, consider that the highest grossing film of the decade was, in fact, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King—based on Tolkien’s books but certainly with little resonance whatsoever to the films before it—and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest which was a sequel to a movie that was a remake of a… Disney ride?
Yes, there are a lot of sequels on the list: multiple Potters, hobbits, superheroes. But to say that everything on the list is merely a remake is, first of all, skewing the facts and secondly, well, really not news at all.
Film is not this sacred medium among the arts. No, it’s storytelling, just like the rest. And the stories that resonate with any given culture tend to repeat themselves (arguably, as well, in mythology and religion, too). The thing is, it took a long time for King Arthur to get from the hero of Badon Hill to King of All England, Once and Future. So let’s be patient, shall we? Remakes are not inherently bad.
By and large, even original works are retellings in some ways. Take Star Wars, for instance, which pillages from heroic fantasy and Western traditions like no one’s business. Just because it’s cloaked in a different, unusual setting, doesn’t change the core themes. You can’t tell me that Kung Fu Panda wasn’t derivative!
So, with all that in mind: let’s take a look at the list again. What do we see?
Books. Lots of movies based on books. This is not new for Hollywood and, hopefully, something they’ll keep doing for a long, long time. Between Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, and J.K. Rowling, geek lit is quite prominent over the last decade. Cons will never be the same. (That The DaVinci Code was only 23rd is exceedingly comforting, too.)
Comic Books. It could be called the decade of the graphic novel, as well. Spiderman and Batman, primarily, made the biggest numbers this past decade and some pretty fine films to boot. Gravely (and squeaky) voices aside, these films have exposed audiences to the great geek pastime like never before.
Star Wars. This is a conflicting category, mostly due to the lackluster films themselves. But many of us feel a certain… draw to the Force, and all things Star Wars, in spite of the constant disappointment at the hands of George Lucas. But look at it this way: it’s better than having a bunch of Jonas Brothers and Hannah Montana films in the top 30. Right? I mean, the new Indiana Jones made up for it all right… *cough* *crickets* Moving on!
Computer Animation. Sure there are naysayers out there, but generally geeks are not among them. Pixar and DreamWorks have put together some truly astonishing films over the last decade, classics already in their own rite. And that’s not to mention how amazing the actual animation has become.
No, not many of the films on the list are exactly groundbreaking. Quite a few of them suck. But we’re talking about popularity here, not necessarily film innovation, which would be an entirely different list. And I’d say, all in all, the geeks fared quite well this decade, no matter how you define a remake. Perhaps, instead of complaining about sequels and remakes, we should recognize the list for what it is: a celebration of geek culture hitting the mainstream.
All of this has happened before, and all of it will happen again.
After releasing each part of the movie separately, Ubisoft has finally assembled the whole footage to create one, full-length video of Assassin’s Creed Lineage. Oh, and don’t forget to expand the player in full-screen mode after hitting that play button!
When the Duke of Milan is brutally murdered, Giovanni Auditore an Assassin – is dispatched to investigate the crime. His mission: determine who is responsible and why. The answers he uncovers implicate Italys most powerful families reaching all the way back to the Vatican itself. As Giovanni draws closer to the truth, he becomes hunted himself. He must expose the conspirators before he joins their ever growing list of victims This is the Prequel to the Assassins Creed 2 Story.
You’ve heard it before: parents groups and educators worldwide are growing more and more concerned regarding children and teens using social networking sites.
But while online social networking shows a great deal of promise in respect to reaching out to teenagers, some critics worry that too much focus on the superficiality of sites, especially Facebook, is potentially detrimental to young girls. In today’s BBC Technology section, Jill Berry, president of the Girls’ Schools Association in the UK, however, expressed that parents should look at the bright side: that girls are expressing their shopaholic sensibilities isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Says Ms. Berry:
“Girls can be highly intelligent and interested in being seen to be attractive – the two aren’t mutually exclusive… Caring about physical appearance and fashion and wanting to look good doesn’t have to be a betrayal of some feminist ideal. I love shoes but it doesn’t make me shallow. Girls can have fun and also be taken seriously.”
Sure, I can get behind that a little. I mean, I’m fashion conscious, but I’m smart, and I know plenty of other women who balance both very well. But what’s disconcerting to me is that Facebook has a way of telling a given population what they should or shouldn’t be into. Because it works on a majority rules basis, young girls are acutely aware of what’s going on around them, even above and beyond what they already experience day-in and day-out at school (where in my opinion, peer pressure and social pecking orders are bad enough). So it can be just another layer of peer pressure, in some cases, in a rather creepy Big Brother way.
No, social networks aren’t inherentlybad. I couldn’t disagree more with parents and educators who think they are. I didn’t have Facebook when I was in high school, but during my freshman year of college I was very active on a MUSH (certainly an early kind of social network; I know, I know–not the same thing, but bear with me). And all in all, that was an extremely positive experience because it brought me out of the microcosm of my miserable college existence and introduced me to a variety of geeks from around the globe with common interests. It gave me a well of confidence and taught me to accept myself rather than struggle to be like everyone else. Thank goodness!
But I don’t think Facebook is really good at reinforcing the importance of individuality; at least, that’s not how I see the majority of people using it. Even I have a hard time posting what I really think (unlike with Twitter) because I know everyone’s watching.
Yikes. There are 1,000 reasons I don’t like Facebook, but that’s probably #1. And yes, I realize that part of it is still my problem.
My concern is that Facebook, especially for teens, isn’t exposing them to new ideas. Rather, it’s enforcing old ideas. I mean, I can’t imagine how stressful my already difficult high school years would have been with de-friending and rude wall posts. I know, high school is difficult for everyone; but I sense with the online component it’s getting harder and harder to escape from it at all. And that, indeed, worries me.
Once again it comes down to parents to work with their kids to create boundaries. Because too much internet is never a good thing, no matter what your age. And concerning more impressionable users, I can certainly see how Facebook wouldn’t make life any easier–especially for the ones already struggling to get by.
Apple has applied for a patent on a technology which would effectively embed adverts in its operating systems – and then force the user to pay attention to them.
