May 2010
Posts will be very sporadic for the next week or so. Your humble author happens to be getting married and will therefore be partying and traveling, not Tumbling! Always remember, it’s ok to unplug sometimes.
Keep recommending me to the Science directory! It would make a great wedding gift :) See ya on the flip side!
WatchOctopi using tools!
This a pretty amazing video from the California Academy of Sciences. The octopus is known as the most intelligent member of the invertebrate family. Here we see why. In a never-before seen behavior, these octopi (octopuses?) collect two halves of a coconut shell and make a shelter out of it. Sure, humans took it a step further and turned coconut shells into bikini tops,...
Dopamine System in Highly Creative People Similar... →
rainier:
New research shows a possible explanation for the link between mental health and creativity. By studying receptors in the brain, researchers at Karolinska Institutet have managed to show that the dopamine system in healthy, highly creative people is similar in some respects to that seen in people with schizophrenia. “Thinking outside the box might be facilitated by having a somewhat...
Bacteria Can Make You Smarter? →
Mice that were fed a soil bacterium called Mycobacterium vaccae navigated a maze twice as fast as mice that didn’t eat the bacteria. Ingesting the bacteria stimulated the growth of certain neurons in their brains. So I guess it’s only a matter of time before we have Powerbars filled with bugs? I’ll pass.
Hormone Levels, Trust and Suspicion →
Recent work shows that what we call “trust” may just be the balance of hormones testosterone and oxytocin. Women who were normally easily fooled became far more suspicious when they were given testosterone supplements. Likewise, oxytocin levels influence our level of faith. The balance of the two may control how we experience what we call “trust”.
Recommend me to the Science directory! →
Hey everyone, it’s that day again. I hope you enjoy what I am throwing out there. There’s lots to be fascinated about in the world, and I love to share it! Please recommend me if you like what you see!
Interview with Jeffrey L. Bada, on life and... →
UCSD scientist Jeffrey L. Bada talks about how life may have begun on Earth from simple chemicals and a little bit of lightning, how aliens could make us sick, and whether we are too dirty to go to Mars.
WatchI’m a big fan of high-speed video. I love to watch our perception of “normal time” broken down into its intricate sub-second detail. I especially love watching the biomechanics of flying and other adapted behaviors. These dudes at Harvard created a man-made butterfly to study how they flutter by …
(via WiredScience)
“These reports show that the state of climate-change science is strong.”
– Ralph J. Cicerone, President of the National Academy of Sciences, announcing the release of three reports to Congress calling for U.S. action.
WatchMissed this yesterday, but this is a time-lapse video of satellite images over Mount St. Helens. It shows the power of nature to recover and bounce back from even these horrible disasters. Hopefully the Gulf of Mexico doesn’t take that long.
Hey folks. If you follow me, I can’t guarantee you the love of a movie star or suitcases of money or that you will be the funniest one of your friends. But I can guarantee that you will learn something and see some very cool science. I think that sounds ok.
The Rise of the Super-Weeds →
Rampant use of Monsanto’s RoundUp herbicide and planting of RoundUp resistant crops may have led to the evolution of super-weeds … and an impending crisis of food and farming techniques.
How Do Magnets Work?
Note to ICP …
fakescience:
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