1. 524
    28
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    lloydsmith69: Absolutely fantastic. What more can I say, other than click to enlarge, it says it all.

    lloydsmith69:

    Absolutely fantastic.

    What more can I say, other than click to enlarge, it says it all.

    (Source: ju2no3, via mothernaturenetwork)

  2. 163
    26
    Aug

    neuropsy:

    The Memory of ‘Sleep’ Experiment

    Psychological research has shown that memory is not a thing, but a process; it’s not something you have, but rather something you do. Memory is not a video clip of events, but a reconstruction, a story told about events in retrospect; as such, it’s given to various inherent distortions, one of which is demonstrated in the following clip.

    (Source: psychologytoday.com, via poteau)

  3. 9759
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    Aug
  4. 238
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    Aug
    Reflections on the Mind Experiments with a simple mirror setup can reveal much about the workings of the brain You probably look in a mirror every day without thinking about it. But mirrors can reveal a great deal about the brain, with implications for psychology, clinical neurology and even philosophy. They can help us explore the way the brain puts together information from different sensory channels such as vision and somatic sensations (touch, muscle and joint sense). In doing so, they can reveal a lot about our sense of self. Would a person who has never looked at his reflection—even in a pool—ever develop a sophisticated self-representation? Using two bricks, or some duct tape, prop up an 18-inch-square mirror vertically on a table. Sit so that the edge faces you. Now put your left hand on the table at the left side of the mirror (either palm up or down) and match your right-hand position on the right side. If you now look into the right side of the mirror, you will see the right hand’s reflection optically superimposed in the same place where you feel your left hand to be. (You may need to adjust the position of the left hand to achieve this sensation.) It will now look like you are viewing your own left hand, but of course you are not. Now try the following experiments. While continuing to look in the mirror on the right side and keeping your left hand perfectly still, move your right hand, wiggle its fingers or make a fist. The “left hand” in the mirror will appear to move in perfect synchrony with the right but, paradoxically, feel completely still. The conflict creates a slight jolt; it feels spooky, sometimes mildly uncomfortable. The brain abhors discrepancies. Now do the opposite; keep the right hand still and move the left hand. The left hand appears still but feels like it is moving. You will feel the same kind of jarring sensation, but it will be less powerful than in the preceding case. The reason for the asymmetry is not clear. Why the jolt? The answer resides in the right superior and inferior parietal lobules (located above your right ear), where signals from your various senses—visual, somatic—converge to create your internal sense of a body image. Stand up now and close your eyes. Either raise your arms or let them dangle by your side. Obviously you have a vivid sense of being “anchored” in your body except under special circumstances (such as ketamine anesthesia). Now open your eyes, and you have visual confirmation of what your other senses are telling you: you see your hand where you felt it to be. In short, your senses normally blend different sensory inputs to create a vivid dynamic image of your body moving in space and time. Read More

    Reflections on the Mind

    Experiments with a simple mirror setup can reveal much about the workings of the brain

    You probably look in a mirror every day without thinking about it. But mirrors can reveal a great deal about the brain, with implications for psychology, clinical neurology and even philosophy. They can help us explore the way the brain puts together information from different sensory channels such as vision and somatic sensations (touch, muscle and joint sense). In doing so, they can reveal a lot about our sense of self. Would a person who has never looked at his reflection—even in a pool—ever develop a sophisticated self-representation?

    Using two bricks, or some duct tape, prop up an 18-inch-square mirror vertically on a table. Sit so that the edge faces you. Now put your left hand on the table at the left side of the mirror (either palm up or down) and match your right-hand position on the right side. If you now look into the right side of the mirror, you will see the right hand’s reflection optically superimposed in the same place where you feel your left hand to be. (You may need to adjust the position of the left hand to achieve this sensation.) It will now look like you are viewing your own left hand, but of course you are not. Now try the following experiments.

    While continuing to look in the mirror on the right side and keeping your left hand perfectly still, move your right hand, wiggle its fingers or make a fist. The “left hand” in the mirror will appear to move in perfect synchrony with the right but, paradoxically, feel completely still. The conflict creates a slight jolt; it feels spooky, sometimes mildly uncomfortable. The brain abhors discrepancies.

    Now do the opposite; keep the right hand still and move the left hand. The left hand appears still but feels like it is moving. You will feel the same kind of jarring sensation, but it will be less powerful than in the preceding case. The reason for the asymmetry is not clear.

    Why the jolt? The answer resides in the right superior and inferior parietal lobules (located above your right ear), where signals from your various senses—visual, somatic—converge to create your internal sense of a body image. Stand up now and close your eyes. Either raise your arms or let them dangle by your side. Obviously you have a vivid sense of being “anchored” in your body except under special circumstances (such as ketamine anesthesia). Now open your eyes, and you have visual confirmation of what your other senses are telling you: you see your hand where you felt it to be. In short, your senses normally blend different sensory inputs to create a vivid dynamic image of your body moving in space and time.

    Read More

    (via scinerds)

  5. 112
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  6. 102
    25
    Aug
    jtotheizzoe: Are We Still a Nation of Science? “We once had a group of brilliant, influential and politically engaged leaders who were fascinated by science, wanted the country to be the world leader in the pursuit of new knowledge about the natural world, and in some cases even made original contributions. They were called the founding fathers.” Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, John Hancock and James Bowdoin, Abraham Lincoln … the list goes on. If you want to support the ideals of the Founding Fathers, you must support science. Let’s be very clear about that. (via Science Progress, emphasis mine)

    jtotheizzoe:

    Are We Still a Nation of Science?

    “We once had a group of brilliant, influential and politically engaged leaders who were fascinated by science, wanted the country to be the world leader in the pursuit of new knowledge about the natural world, and in some cases even made original contributions.

    They were called the founding fathers.”

    Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, John Hancock and James Bowdoin, Abraham Lincoln … the list goes on. If you want to support the ideals of the Founding Fathers, you must support science. Let’s be very clear about that.

    (via Science Progress, emphasis mine)

    (via jtotheizzoe)

  7. 9
    25
    Aug

    30 Day Book Challenge: Day 4

    A Book the Reminds You of Home

    I read this book over and over and over again growing up. So it spans many years that I  lived at “home”. When I think of AWIT I think of book reports, sitting on the porch, running around outside, digging through my backpack, my parents interrupting my reading to do chores…

    those things remind me of home

  8. 131
    25
    Aug

    8bitfuture:

    Video of the day: Girl gets bionic fingers.

    A 15 year old British schoolgirl has become the youngest person in Britain to be fitted with bionic fingers.  Chloe Holmes lost her fingers after contracting blood poisoning as a result of chickenpox, as an infant.

    The family paid £38,000 for the hand.

    (Source: BBC, via 8bitfuture)

  9. 141
    25
    Aug
    animalworld: FRILLED COQUETTELophornis magnificus©jarbas mattos The Frilled Coquette (Lophornis magnificus) is a species of hummingbird in the Trochilidae family. It is found only in Brazil. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and heavily degraded former forest. At 6.8 cm (2.7 in) and a weight under 3 grams [NOTE: Anonymous pointed out that this is about the weight of a penny], this is one of the smallest birds alive. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frilled_Coquette Other posts: Antillian Crested Hummingbird Long-tailed Sylph Indigo-capped Hummingbird

    animalworld:

    FRILLED COQUETTE
    Lophornis magnificus
    ©    jarbas mattos

    The Frilled Coquette (Lophornis magnificus) is a species of hummingbird in the Trochilidae family. It is found only in Brazil. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and heavily degraded former forest. At 6.8 cm (2.7 in) and a weight under 3 grams [NOTE: Anonymous pointed out that this is about the weight of a penny], this is one of the smallest birds alive.

    Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frilled_Coquette

    Other posts:

    Antillian Crested Hummingbird

    Long-tailed Sylph

    Indigo-capped Hummingbird

  10. 1
    24
    Aug

    30 Day Book Challenge: Day 3

    A Book That Completey Surprised You (I did a bad/good example)

    The Bad…

    I just couldn’t get into it and I heard such good things.

    The Good…

    It was really long but worth it. I actually stopped reading it before the end because I didn’t want the book to end. I enjoyed the sequel too (World Without End)

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