WildSpace

"Every human society has had its gods, whether worshiped from Gothic cathedrals or Mayan pyramids. In all cultures, humans pour resources into elaborate religious buildings and rituals. But religion offers no obvious boost to survival and reproduction. So how and why did it arise? In my Origins essay this month, I follow two very different disciplines—archaeology and cognitive psychology—as they attempt to understand this puzzle. To Charles Darwin himself, the origin of belief in gods was no mystery. “As soon as the important faculties of the imagination, wonder, and curiosity, together with some power of reasoning, had become partially developed, man would … have vaguely speculated on his own existence,” he wrote in The Descent of Man. In the past 15 years, a growing number of researchers have followed Darwin’s lead and explored the hypothesis that religion springs naturally from the normal workings of the human mind. This new field, the cognitive science of religion, draws on... more... - Wildcat from Bookmarklet

What kind of cult would we be if we didn't have bumper stickers, Eric? :) - Eivind

"Ever heard of a 'Cyborg Astrobiologist'? Probably not. But I bet you'll want to be one after learning that future exploration of Mars (and other planets, for that matter) may employ the use of artificial intelligence integrated into spacesuits to enhance the ability of astronauts in taking scientific data while exploring. The AI assistance could help future astronauts exploring planets to recognize differences in their surroundings as being due to the presence of life. Does this sound like something from 50 years from now? Well, a prototype model has already been tested, and has shown the principle behind this idea to be sound. University of Chicago geoscientist Patrick McGuire and his team have developed the basic systems needed for such a spacesuit, using mostly off-the shelf technology. The system uses a Hopfield neural network to analyze data taken in by a either a camera phone or a microscope. The AI system employs a 'novelty detection algorithm' which analyzes images from either imaging device, and is able to identify features in images that are out of place." - Wildcat from Bookmarklet

Now this sounds promising-the first inklings of AI. Yet, I don't know if we'll be up to Red Planet or Hal 9000 anytime soon. - Aaron Kendrick

"The annals of science are stuffed full of stories about researchers who were trying to achieve one thing and ended up accomplishing something entirely different. Fortunately for both scientists and science writers, the serendipitous find is a cliché that manages to retain its fascination no matter how many repetitions it goes through. That fascination arises from a fundamental truth about science: the more we think we understand, the more there is to know. Nowhere is this more true than in the field of neuroscience. Over the past few decades, scientists have made great strides in teasing apart the workings of the brain’s structures on a micro level. We now know, to an astonishing degree of detail, how neuronal cell bodies direct basic functions such as breathing, walking, and other motor functions. We can diagram, model, and even predict how the long, thread-like axons projecting from each brain cell carry electrical impulses from one neuron to another. Yet our fundamental grasp of... more... - Wildcat from Bookmarklet

Despite its disquieting name, deep brain stimulation has proven to be a life-changing therapy for thousands of patients who suffer from otherwise intractable disorders. It’s also been an amazingly rich source of accidental discoveries about how the mind works. - Wildcat

"In the second section of Samuel Barber’s exquisitely mournful composition “Adagio for Strings,” the cellos, violas, and violins join together to build to a rising melodic climax, reaching a thrilling, almost keening peak of grief - and then sharply stop. There is a breathtaking silence that lasts several long seconds. Finally, after more than a few thudding heartbeats, the instruments resume their play with a series of soft chords that now seem painfully delicate, carrying the piece to its sighing, fading conclusion. When you listen to “Adagio for Strings,” that brief pause two thirds of the way into the music is anything but empty; in fact, it fairly aches with woe. Of course classical composers, jazz musicians, and pop stars alike have always known the power of the pregnant pause. They carefully insert silence in between their notes, using it like a supple extra voice. It can be full of tension, humor, serenity, or dramatic finality, its character conditioned by the shape of the... more... - Wildcat from Bookmarklet

"The power to resist temptation has been extolled by philosophers, psychologists, teachers, coaches, and mothers. Anyone with advice on how you should live your life has surely spoken to you of its benefits. It is the path to the good life, professional and personal satisfaction, social adjustment and success, performance under pressure, and the best way for any child to avoid a penetrating stare and a cold dinner. Of course, this assumes that our natural urges are a thing to be resisted – that there is a devil inside, luring you to cheat, offend, err, and annoy. New research has begun to question this assumption. A new brain imaging study by Josh Greene and Joe Paxton at Harvard University published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences suggests that what separates the well-behaved from the poorly-behaved might not be the ability to control your temptations but rather what kind of temptations you have. For example, foregoing the opportunity for short-term gain and... more... - Wildcat from Bookmarklet

"From their very first days, newborns' cries already bear the mark of the language their parents speak, reveals a new study published online on November 5th in Current Biology, a Cell Press publication. The findings suggest that infants begin picking up elements of what will be their first language in the womb, and certainly long before their first babble or coo." - Wildcat from Bookmarklet

Wermke's team recorded and analyzed the cries of 60 healthy newborns, 30 born into French-speaking families and 30 born into German-speaking families, when they were three to five days old. That analysis revealed clear differences in the shape of the newborns' cry melodies, based on their mother tongue. Specifically, French newborns tend to cry with a rising melody contour, whereas... more... - Wildcat

"The cost of three nights on the Galactic Suite Space Resort (plus a two-month training course on a Caribbean island beforehand) will be $4.4 million US. At least 43 people have already reserved their place, with over 200 expressing an interest. The Galactic Suite Space Resort plans to start with one pod holding four passengers and two astronaut pilots. The pod would orbit 280 miles (450 km) above the earth and travel at 18,640 mph (30,000 kph). Passengers would take a day and a half to reach the pod by Russian-built rocket, after blasting off from a spaceport on a Caribbean island. The rocket would dock with the pod for their entire stay to give the guests a sense of security. At the end of their stay the passengers would return to the rocket for the trip back to earth. Claramunt said the project had received an anonymous grant of $3 billion given to the company by a space enthusiast billionaire." - Wildcat from Bookmarklet

"A robot powered by recorded rodent brain impulses may help researchers understand how people recognize and adapt to change. Findings from the work could advance robotic design as well as knowledge of human behavior. “Little is known about the areas of the brain involved in making decisions when faced with uncertainty,” says Jeffrey Krichmar, a University of California, Irvine, cognitive scientist and one of the study’s lead researchers. The joint project between UC Irvine and University of California, San Diego, is expected to provide neuron-level insight about the specific brain areas responsible for decision-making and attention." - Wildcat from Bookmarklet

"Although humans and chimpanzees genetically vary by just 1.2 percent, that small percentage makes a world of difference in the mental and linguistic capabilities between the two species. A study shows that a certain form of neuropsin, a protein that plays a role in learning and memory, is expressed only in the central nervous systems of humans. The scientists conclude that this critical difference originated less than 5 million years ago." - Wildcat from Bookmarklet

Headline is a bit sensationalist, but ya an important finding. - Sandeep Gautam

"By building thin, flexible silicon electronics on silk substrates, researchers have made electronics that almost completely dissolve inside the body. So far the research group has demonstrated arrays of transistors made on thin films of silk. While electronics must usually be encased to protect them from the body, these electronics don't need protection, and the silk means the electronics conform to biological tissue. The silk melts away over time and the thin silicon circuits left behind don't cause irritation because they are just nanometers thick." - Wildcat from Bookmarklet

"Current medical devices are very limited by the fact that the active electronics have to be 'canned,' or isolated from the body, and are on rigid silicon," says Brian Litt, associate professor of neurology and bioengineering at the University of Pennsylvania. Litt, who is working with the silk-silicon group to develop medical applications for the new devices, says they could interact... more... - Wildcat

"Tiny leaf beetles that flit among the maple and willow trees in a Vermont town have provided some of the clearest evidence yet that environmental factors play a major role in the formation of new species. At Vanderbilt University, graduate student Scott Egan and his adviser Daniel Funk, associate professor of biological sciences, obtained this new evidence from an experimental study published online in the early edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Funk has investigated this odd group of leaf beetles (which resemble unappetizing caterpillar pellets) for 15 years. In recent years he and Egan have used Vermont populations that associate with red maples and Bebbs willows to investigate how divergent ecological habits promote speciation. Their past observations have suggested that such “maple leaf beetles” and “willow leaf beetles” may be in the process of dividing into two new species: Each prefers to feed and lay eggs on their own “host plant,” where they... more... - Wildcat from Bookmarklet

"As we get closer and closer to developing artificial general intelligence, I feel it is necessary to highlight an important limitation of our anthropocentric perspective. While we sometimes have the capacity to treat other species of life in humane ways, we often stumble when it comes to categorizing non-human intelligence. We cannot help but ascribe anthropomorphic qualities to that which we view to be intelligent, and we are virtually unable to imagine intelligence that lacks such qualities. In the relatively near future, however, we're going to live in a world with intelligent robots, uploaded minds, and other transhumans; it will be necessary to alter our perceptions of what those entities represent." - Wildcat from Bookmarklet

"Cognitive enhancers, also known as nootropics, are a category of drugs with the ability to increase mental performance. Many rave about such “smart drugs” helping them to study, take tests, or increase work performance. Ginkgo biloba, piracetam, and vinpocetine are some popular cognitive enhancers, all with varying mechanisms of action in the human brain. For example, Ginko biloba increases blood circulation; the simple idea regarding its effect is that increased blood circulation results in a more energized brain. Still, the FDA has not yet confirmed how effective any of these “smart drugs” are; as a result, cognitive enhancers are presently deemed supplements." - Wildcat from Bookmarklet

"Science of Consciousness (David Chalmers)" - Wildcat from Bookmarklet

"Michael Pollan’s best-selling book, Botany of Desire, is now a film, and you can watch it online, courtesy of PBS. (Click to watch complete film.) The film takes you inside our relationship with the plant world, and shows “how four familiar species — the apple, the tulip, cannabis and the potato — evolved to satisfy our yearnings for sweetness, beauty, intoxication and control.” According to a piece in The San Francisco Chronicle, it took eight years to pull together the funding for the film, and that’s simply because marijuana was in the mix. The film runs close to two hours. The preview is above, the full film is here." - Wildcat from Bookmarklet

"Men have a infamous tendency to let their phallic tendencies dictate what they create. It is perhaps why some of the most famous builds like the Great Pyramids, Taj Majal and the Washington monument were made. So, it didn’t surprise me when I recently read about an effort to create the world’s first male organ controlled computer. So now that men have brought the inevitable to the realm of technology, I wonder how else humans of the future might interact with their computers? With the recent (or not so recent) popularity of Nintendo Wii and its gyroscopic features, the rest of the human-computer interface market seems to have entered an innovative period. It looks rather likely that we’ll soon be playing games through VR googles, gesturing in the air to perform fluid dynamics calculations and maybe even writing Dear-John letters by thought alone. Best of all, we won’t have wait decades for many of these advances as some amazing new products are already in prototype and will be market-ready in the very near-term. Here are some of the particularly interesting interface candidates:" - Wildcat from Bookmarklet

quite amazing - Spaceweaver

Wow. Computing power sure kicked in a difference in perception... - ILLA

Over the last 100 years, the way we visualize and understand the complexity of the brain has evolved. - Spaceweaver from Bookmarklet

"It's not your average confession show: a panel of leading physicists spilling the beans about what keeps them tossing and turning in the wee hours. That was the scene a few days ago in front of a packed auditorium at the Perimeter Institute, in Waterloo, Canada, when a panel of physicists was asked to respond to a single question: "What keeps you awake at night?" The discussion was part of "Quantum to Cosmos", a 10-day physics extravaganza, which ends on Sunday. While most panelists professed to sleep very soundly, here are seven key conundrums that emerged during the session, which can be viewed here." - Spaceweaver from Bookmarklet

Recommended food for thought - Spaceweaver

"Ever wish you had someone to accompany you on a long drive -- a companion that knows you well, can help you avoid traffic jams, maybe even help find the cheapest gas along the route home from work? If so, a research team at MIT may be developing something for you. The university today announced that MIT scientists are working to develop a robot dubbed the Affective Intelligent Driving Agent (AIDA) that's designed to sit in motor vehicles. According to MIT, the team hopes the robot can help change the way people interact with their vehicle. "With the ubiquity of sensors and mobile computers, information about our surroundings is ever abundant," said Professor Carlo Ratti, director of MIT's SENSEable City Lab, in a statement. "AIDA embodies a new effort to make sense of these great amounts of data, harnessing our personal electronic devices as tools for behavioral support. In developing AIDA, we asked ourselves how we could design a system that would offer the same kind of guidance as an informed and friendly companion."" - Wildcat from Bookmarklet

"In an effort to build a nanoscale DNA sequencer, IBM scientists are drilling nano-sized holes in computer-like chips and passing DNA strands through them in order to read the information contained within their genetic code." - Alexander Kruel from Bookmarklet

"The future is already here. It's just not very evenly distributed -- William Gibson For many years when you went to the checkout till in the supermarket an employee punched the price of every item into a cash register. Today they use barcode scanning equipment and some supermarkets operate self-service checkouts where shoppers scan their own goods. Tesco (LSE: TSCO) recently went one step further by opening a store which does not employ any checkout staff, forcing every shopper to use the scanners. "Roboshop" is raising concerns because it requires fewer workers but far worse is in store for supermarket employees. Already some warehouses use robots to remove goods from shelves so it's just a matter of time before supermarkets are using robot shelf-stackers. Ultimately the humans working in a supermarket will mostly be robot supervisors and mechanics. Whatever your job is there's a good chance that you could be replaced by a robot within the next decade or two. Developments in... more... - Wildcat from Bookmarklet

"Andrew Koob received his Ph.D. in neuroscience from Purdue University in 2005, and has held research positions at Dartmouth College, the University of California, San Diego, and the University of Munich, Germany. He's also the author of The Root of Thought, which explores the purpose and function of glial cells, the most abundant cell type in the brain. Mind Matters editor Jonah Lehrer chats with Koob about why glia have been overlooked for centuries, and how new experiments with glial cells shed light on some of the most mysterious aspects of the mind. LEHRER: Your new book, The Root of Thought, is all about the power of glial cells, which actually make up nearly 90 percent of cells in the brain. What do glial cells do? And why do we have so many inside our head?" - Wildcat from Bookmarklet

KOOB: Originally, scientists didn't think they did anything. Until the last 20 years, brain scientists believed neurons communicated to each other, represented our thoughts, and that glia were kind of like stucco and mortar holding the house together. They were considered simple insulators for neuron communication. There are a few types of glial cells, but recently scientists have begun... more... - Wildcat

http://xixidu.net/2009... - Alexander Kruel

"Modern humans and Neanderthals had sex across the species barrier, according to a leading geneticist who is overseeing a project to compare their genomes. Professor Svante Paabo, director of genetics at the renowned Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, will shortly publish his analysis of the entire Neanderthal genome, using DNA retrieved from fossils. He aims to compare it with the genomes of modern humans and chimpanzees to work out the ancestry of all three species. Modern humans arrived in Europe from Africa about 40,000 years ago to find Neanderthals already living there. The two species then co-existed for 10,000-12,000 years before Neanderthals died out — a fact that has caused endless academic speculation about whether they interbred. Paabo recently told a conference at the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory near New York that he was now sure the two species had had sex — but a question remained about how “productive” it had been. “What I’m really... more... - Wildcat from Bookmarklet

Behind the rodent’s fatal case of ennui is a severe deficit of dopamine, one of the essential signaling molecules in the brain. Dopamine has lately become quite fashionable, today’s “it” neurotransmitter, just as serotonin was “it” in the Prozac-laced ’90s. People talk of getting their “dopamine rush” from chocolate, music, the stock market, the BlackBerry buzz on the thigh — anything that imparts a small, pleasurable thrill. Familiar agents of vice like cocaine, methamphetamine, alcohol and nicotine are known to stimulate the brain’s dopamine circuits, as do increasingly popular stimulants like Adderall and Ritalin. - Wildcat

In the communal imagination, dopamine is about rewards, and feeling good, and wanting to feel good again, and if you don’t watch out, you’ll be hooked, a slave to the pleasure lines cruising through your brain. Hey, why do you think they call it dopamine? Yet as new research on dopamine-deficient mice and other studies reveal, the image of dopamine as our little Bacchus in the brain is misleading, just as was the previous caricature of serotonin as a neural happy face - Wildcat

"At the beginning of the month, Stephen Hawking retired from the prestigious position of Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge, after 30 years in the chair once occupied by Sir Isaac Newton. His could scarcely been a harder act to follow, and the person to take on that challenge has now been named. The next Lucasian Professor is to be Michael Green, currently the John Humphrey Plummer Professor of Theoretical Physics at Cambridge." - Wildcat from Bookmarklet

"Last month two men and their teenage sons tackled one of the world's most unforgiving summertime hikes: the Grand Canyon's parched and searing Royal Arch Loop. Along with bedrolls and freeze-dried food, the inexperienced backpackers carried a personal locator beacon — just in case. In the span of three days, the group pushed the panic button three times, mobilizing helicopters for dangerous, lifesaving rescues inside the steep canyon walls. What was that emergency? The water they had found to quench their thirst "tasted salty."" - Alexander Kruel from Bookmarklet

"Technology has made calling for help instantaneous even in the most remote places. Because would-be adventurers can send GPS coordinates to rescuers with the touch of a button, some are exploring terrain they do not have the experience, knowledge or endurance to tackle." - Alexander Kruel

"A research collaboration led by biologists and neuroscientists at the University of Pennsylvania has found a molecular pathway in the brain that is the cause of cognitive impairment due to sleep deprivation. Just as important, the team believes that the cognitive deficits caused by sleep deprivation, such as an inability to focus, learn or memorize, may be reversible by reducing the concentration of a specific enzyme that builds up in the hippocampus of the brain." - Spaceweaver from Bookmarklet