Category: ideas

“How would you go about learning a language that nobody speaks? It depends. A well-documented language would have a dictionary, grammar book, a body of literature (such as folk tales or religious texts), and, in some cases, videos and recordings that a dedicated student could learn from…”

Researchers are working on contact lenses that could display information on it. The lenses “could use the electronic lens as a cell-phone display, to see who is calling and to watch videos during a commute.”

“By mapping every synapse in the brain, researchers hope to create a ‘connectome’ — a diagram that would elucidate the brain’s activity at a level of detail far outstripping today’s most advanced brain-monitoring tools like fMRI.”

Chief executives of big companies and public sector organisations are coping with their stressful positions by drinking the equivalent of almost three bottles of wine a week

“What does it mean to be part of the first generation coming of age steeped in a virtual world seemingly outside parental control?” A new documentary finds some alarming answers, and some reassuring truths.

“Rousseau, the Enlightenment’s party pooper, shocks college students by trashing education and reason, science and art, and the advancement of knowledge in general. Most students have come to college at least partly to “make themselves better.” Rousseau seems to be telling them not to fool themselves. Their real motives, he implies, are vanity and ambition. And nothing fuels those two vices, Rousseau says, like the arts.”

Children have stopped playing outside. It’s a generational change, and it has implications for how our kids interact, play, and show imagination…

“Though baggage screening might seem on the surface like a repetitive and uncomplicated job, it turns out to be devilishly hard. Even well-trained security officers have trouble spotting guns, knives, and plastic explosives amid the tsunami of hair dryers, socks, MP3 players, metal toys, and the occasional cured ham that flows by during a holiday week like this one.”

“The US Army is trying to track down and harness people’s smell of fear. The military has backed a study on the ‘Identification and Isolation of Human Alarm Pheromones,’ which focused on the Preliminary Identification of Steroids of Interest in Human Fear Sweat. The so-called ‘skydiving protocol’ was the researchers’ method of choice.”

Surgeons playing certain Wii games saw big improvement in their coordination. “The fine hand control required to play these games acts as a warm up and hones scalpel skills the Banner Good Samaritan Medical Centre team claim.”