Category: ideas

“The Human Brain Atlas is an interactive research tool that will help scientists to understand how the brain works and aid new discoveries in disease and treatments. The information used to build it comes from the analysis of two human brains, using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and a variation of MRI called diffusion tensor imaging.”

“[C]ommon sense was invented by scientists, philosophers, and politicians. It only seems self-evident now because the idea of common sense presents itself as common-sensical, as though everyone, were he not disabused of the notion by experts, would know that he possessed it.”

“Since the invention of the printed book, some Catholics have turned to manuals of confession to help them get the most out of what’s called, officially, the Sacrament of Penance. Now … Confession: A Roman Catholic App is an application for the iPhone that lets you keep track of your sins in anticipation of a meeting with your priest.”

It happened to a 30-year-old crystal meth user in Iran: “He developed odd behaviors such as boiling animal statues. He was hearing the voices of colors, which were in the carpet. Colors moved around and talked to each other about the patient.”

“Employers liked mandatory retirement because it allowed for an orderly and predictable departure from the payroll. But that certainty is gone at a time that, more than ever, older workers need to find new jobs.”

Dan Ariely: “If you think about the environment we live in [today], you will notice how it is essentially designed to challenge every grain of our self-control. … It is in this very environment that it’s particularly important to understand what’s going on behind the mysterious force of self-control.”

“Ants can perform simple arithmetic operations with small numbers. We suggest that applying ideas of information theory and using the natural communication systems of highly social animals can open new horizons in studying numerical cognition.”

How? Context, context, context. Alva Noë explains.

“Research from (where else?) France, just published in the journal Social Influence, found females were considerably more likely to accept an invitation for a date if they had just been sitting in a flower-festooned room.”

“The new techniques work a treat, typically increasing memory span by around 15 per cent over a training course of five weeks. In practice that could mean expanding your working memory from seven to eight items. What this means for intelligence, though, is hotly contested.”