Sponsor

2011/08/16

Neatorama

Neatorama

The Cingulate Cortex Does Everything

Posted: 16 Aug 2011 05:00 AM PDT

by Gregory J. Gage†, Hirak Parikh†, Timothy C. Marzullo††
† University of Michigan, Department of Biomedical Engineering
†† University of Michigan, Neuroscience Program

Here we explain most of the mysteries concerning the brain.

We report the "Cingular Theory of Uni?cation," which postulates that one brain region— the "cingulate cortex"—is the alpha and omega, responsible for all of humankind's functions. We believe that this theory not only explains the available data, but also prophesizes exponential growth in cingulate research that will dominate all neuroscience research. We provide humble advice on how to avoid such an apocalyptic future.

The History and Mystery of the Cingulate Cortex

Since the discovery of the small strip of brain called the cingulate cortex in the early 19th century, research has progressed from a trickle of studies to a torrent of investigations threatening to flood the field of neuroscience completely. In these ensuing years the cingulate has been found to play a vital role in almost all human emotions and behaviors, from error prediction to pain perception, and from political persuasion to one's feeling of optimism. But with so many functions, it has been difficult to answer this simple question: what exactly is the role of the cingulate?

The Mystery and History of the Cingulate Cortex

The cingulate cortex resides in a ring-like strip of brain tissue in the center fold of the neocortex surrounding the lateral ventricles. The shape of this brain region presumably inspired the German physiologists1 who discovered it to name it the "cingulate," derived from the Latin cingulum, meaning a belt worn by Roman soldiers to protect their groin. But like many great discoveries, it took much time for the cingulate to grab hold of the conservative scientific community. Since the early 1900s, sporadic reports have described the neural correlates of the cingulate cortex. However, compared to flood of motor, visual and auditory papers, the cingulate reports were a mere trickle. The fault was not of the carpenters, but of the tools that they were using.

MRI to the Rescue

The belt had to wait for the invention of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), which would emerge as the savior and restore the cingulate to its throne. In a matter of a few short years, the fundamental role of this brain area became widely discussed. By the early 21st century the cingulate cortex had been found to be involved in loneliness (Eisenberger et al., 2004), religious experiences (Beauregard and Paquette, 2006), political leanings (Amodio et al., 2007), stimulus-reward associations (Takenouchi et al., 1999; Cardinal et al., 2003), motor planning (Shima and Tanji, 1998), error detection (Devinsky et al., 1995), pain perception (Harris et al., 2007), social exclusion (Eisenberger et al., 2004), reward expectancy (Shidara and Richmond, 2002), sleep (Rolls et al., 2003), the placebo effect (Wager et al., 2004), optimism (Sharot et al., 2007), political liberalism (Amodio et al., 2007) and work from our group on neuroprosthetic models (Marzullo et al., 2006a).

The Cingulate Cortex to the Rescue

We do not believe this to be a comprehensive list. Quite to the contrary, we hypothesize that the reason why so many aspects of human behavior appear to have a neural correlate in the cingulate is due to one simple fact:

The cingulate cortex is responsible for everything.

We call this the "Cingular Theory of Unification" which unifies all of the existing discoveries into one simple framework. One implication of this hypothesis is that since more and more researchers will find this brain region attractive, the amount of publications should grow unabated.

Our Triumph, and How We Did It

To test our theory, we retrieved the number of abstracts that referenced the words "cingulate cortex" in a popular scientific paper repository Pubmed and created a histogram of cingulate references by grouping the number of citations by year. We then tested the curve against traditional growth functions and fit the model to the function with the strongest statistical fit. As controls, we also repeated the experiment for the motor cortex and the auditory cortex, two historical heavyweights of brain science research.

Figure 1. Number of abstracts for three cortical areas (1950-2007). The total number of abstracts from 1950 to 2007 which mention one of the three cortical areas are displayed. Note that in 2007, the number of abstracts that mentioned "Cingulate" ?nally overtook the mighty motor cortex. The R2 values of an exponential regression fit were 0.90, 0.97, and 0.54 for the number of motor, cingulate, and auditory papers respectively.

Figure 1 shows the results of our analysis. There is an initial increase during the 1950s for both the auditory and motor cortices, most probably due to the advent and progress of extracellular recording and stimulation methods. Compared to these cortical areas, the cingulate is a late bloomer, only beginning to rapidly increase during the early 1990s.

But this late surge is extremely dramatic. In fact, the cingulate cortex begins to surpass the auditory cortex in the late 1980s and finally overtakes the mighty motor cortex in 2007. These trends were best modeled as exponential fits using least-squares estimation. Of the three, the cingulate cortex had the best fit (R2 = 0.97) and also the most explosive growth. It should be emphasized that such a high R2 value is almost unheard of in the scientific community. With such a strong fit, we three sophomoric prophets can predict the future of neuroscience.

Figure 2. Projected publications for three cortical areas (1970-2027). Using our exponential model, we predict that the number of citations for the cingulate cortex in the year 2027 will be on the order of 13,500! That is a 15-fold increase in publications from the 900 in 2007, whereas the motor and auditory cortices will have a more reasonable and sustainable number of publications.

Using this model, we conservatively attempted to predict the next 20 years of research for these three fields of study. Figure 2 shows our estimates from now to the year 2027.2 We are beginning to see an alarming trend: cingulate cortex publications will increase by a factor of 15, whereas motor and auditory research will only increase by a factor of 1.53. If we extend our model to predict towards the end of the 21st century, though merely a prophetical projection, the cingulate cortex will dominate > 99% of all neuroscience research.

The Cingularity

We predict that between 2050 and 2100, there will be more cingulate publications than there are cells in the cingulate cortex itself. At this point, we fear that the "Cingularity" will be reached, and the cingulate cortex will become self-aware.

This trend does not have to continue! As intelligent, sentient beings we have the power to stop our very own cingulate cortices from taking over America, and indeed, the entire world. If the cingulate decides to use its powers for for evil, future human success may be neither assumed nor assured.3 We hereby pronounce that we should use the best of our energies and skills to determine not what the cingulate does, but how the cingulate does all it does, and indeed, what its true intentions really are.

Even though the original discoverers did not realize that the cingulate cortex was at the apex of the functional hierarchical model of the brain, they could not have chosen a more appropriate name. For it truly lives up to a cingulum by tying together every human's needs, wants, hopes, desires, hates, loves and fears.

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank Dr. Régis Olry and Dr. Stanley Finger for their help in finding historical references on the discovery of the cingulate cortex. as well as Dr. Manfred Spitzer for his encouragement in publication and the translation of the original text into German. Results from this study were previously presented at the 2007 annual Society for Neuroscience meeting in San Diego, California.

Appendix

We wholeheartedly encourage other scientists to investigate this trend against their pet neocortical area. Simply go to pubmed.org, search for a cortical area (e.g. "motor cortex"), save all output to a txt file, and run the following code in Matlab with the following function, for example: fff( '/motorcortex.txt'). A histogram will then be generated for you.

function [ n ] = fff( input_args )
%FFF Summary of this function goes here
% Detailed explanation goes here

file = textread( input_args ,'%s',
'delimiter','/n','whitespace','');
iYear = 1;
for i=1:length(file)
i19 = findstr( file{i}, '19' );
i20 = findstr( file{i}, '20' );

if length(i19) > 0
try
year{ iYear } = file{i}(i19:i19+3);
iYear = iYear + 1;
end
end

if length(i20) > 0
try
year{ iYear } = file{i}(i20:i20+3);
iYear = iYear + 1;
end
end

end
iYear = 1;

for i = 1:length( year )

tm = str2num(year{i} );
if size(tm,1) > 0
try
y( iYear ) = tm;
iYear = iYear + 1;
catch
disp('error'); disp(i);
end
end
end
cingulate = y(y<2008 & y>1949);

edges = [1950:2007];
n = histc( cingulate, edges );

figure;
bar( edges, n );
size( year );

Notes

1. Karl Friedrich Burdach (Vom Baue und Leben des Gehirns und Rückenmarkes. Leipzig: in der Dyck'schen Buchhandlung, 3 vols., 1819–26) or Adolf Pansch (Die Furchen und Wülsche im Grosshirn des Menschen. Zugleich eine Erluterung zu dem Hirnmodell. Berlin, 1879)

2. We also ran the analysis on the visual cortex. In 2007, the visual cortex was still king, with 911 publications to the cingulate's 893. However, the cingulate will not be deterred. For example, in 1970, there were 343 visual cortex publications, compared to only 6 (!) cingulate cortex papers. We predict 2008 will be the year even the mightiest of mighty, the visual cortex, is finally dethroned by the warlike cingulate cortex, the Beowulf of our age. By 2027, the visual cortex will only increase by a mere factor of 3, compared to the cingulate's 15.

3. Such dire predictions are in full agreement with previous work from our group examining the ability of rat brains to control the stock market (Marzullo et al., 2006b).


(YouTube link)

References

"Neurocognitive Correlates of Liberalism and Conservatism," D.M. Amodio, J.T. Jost, S.L. Master and C.M. Yee, Nature Neuroscience, vol. 10, no. 10, October 2007, pp. 1246–7.

"Neural Correlates of a Mystical Experience in Carmelite Nuns," M. Beauregard and V. Paquette, Neuroscience Letters, vol. 405, no. 3, September 25, 2006, pp.186–90.

"Role of the Anterior Cingulate Cortex in the Control over Behavior by Pavlovian Conditioned Stimuli in Rats," R.N. Cardinal, J.A. Parkinson, H.D. Marbini, A.J. Toner, T.J. Bussey, T.W. Robbins and B.J. Everitt, Behavioral Neuroscience, vol. 3, pp. 566–87.

"Contributions of Anterior Cingulate Cortex to Behaviour," O. Devinsky, M. Morrell and B. Vogt, Brain, vol. 118, 1995, pp. 279–306.

"Does Rejection Hurt? An fMRI Study of Social Exclusion," N. Eisenberger, M. Lieberman and K. Williams, Science, vol. 302, 2004, pp. 290–2.

"Decreased Central µ-Opioid Receptor Availability in Fibromyalgia," R. Harris, D. Clauw, D. Scott, S. McLean, R. Gracely and J. Zubieta, Journal of Neuroscience, vol. 37, 2007, pp. 10000–6.

"Suitability of the Cingulate Cortex for Neural Control," T.C. Marzullo, C.R. Miller and D.R. Kipke, IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering, vol. 14, 2006, pp. 401–9.

"Stock Market Behavior Predicted by Rat Neurons," T.C. Marzullo, E. Rantze and G.J. Gage, Annals of Improbable Research, vol. 12, 2006, pp. 22–5.

"Activity of Primate Subgenual Cingulate Cortex Neurons Is Related to Sleep," E.T. Rolls, K. Inoue and A. Browning, Journal of Neurophysiology, vol. 90, no. 1, 2003, pp. 134–42.

"Neural Mechanisms Mediating Optimism Bias," T. Sharot, A. Riccardi, C. Raio and E. Phelps, Nature, vol. 450, 2007, pp.102–5.

"Anterior Cingulate: Single Neuronal Signals Related to Degree of Reward Expectancy," M. Shidara and B.J. Richmond, Science, vol. 296, no. 5573, 2002, pp. 1709–11.

"Role for Cingulate Motor Area Cells in Voluntary Movement Selection Based on Reward," K. Shima and J. Tanji, Science, vol. 282, no. 5392, 1998, pp. 1335–8.

"Emotional and Behavioral Correlates of the Anterior Cingulate Cortex During Associative Learning in Rats," K. Takenouchi, H. Nishijo, T. Uwano, R. Tamura, M. Takigawa and T. Ono, Neuroscience, vol. 93, 1999, pp. 1271–87.

"Placebo-Induced Changes in fMRI in the Anticipation and Experience of Pain," T.D. Wager, J.K. Rilling, E.E. Smith, A. Sokolik, K.L. Casey, R.J. Davidson, S.M. Kosslyn, R.M. Rose and J.D. Cohen, Science, vol. 303, no. 5661, 2004, pp. 1162–7.

_____________________

This article is republished with permission from the May-June 2008 issue of the Annals of Improbable Research. You can download or purchase back issues of the magazine, or subscribe to receive future issues. Or get a subscription for someone as a gift!

Visit their website for more research that makes people LAUGH and then THINK.

30 Hilarious Ron Swanson Portraits

Posted: 16 Aug 2011 12:35 AM PDT

While not everyone likes Parks & Recreation, practically all of those who do love the character of Ron Swanson.That’s why there’s so many awesome artworks based on him you can find 29 more of them over at BuzzFeed.

Link

Plant Markers That Look Like Gravestones

Posted: 16 Aug 2011 12:29 AM PDT

I love gardening, but I’m not very good at it, which is why I absolutely adore these cute graveyard plant markers. After all, this way you can leave them up after you manage to kill off your poor plants with your not-so-green thumb.

Link Via Craftzine

10 Disturbing Ads Featuring Kids

Posted: 16 Aug 2011 12:24 AM PDT

If you want to make an attention-grabbing ad, you have to do something really outrageous these days. That being said, these 10 ads on Oddee -all featuring kids- are utterly disturbing.

Link

Tokyoflash Treasure Hunt #17 - With Geeks Are Sexy

Posted: 16 Aug 2011 12:23 AM PDT

Hello everyone! We're excited to kick off the Tokyoflash Treasure Hunt #17, in collaboration with our friends over at Geeks Are Sexy.

For those of you who haven't played before, the Tokyoflash Treasure Hunt is an online scavenger hunt with a really neat prize: a Tokyoflash watch of your choice and cool stuff from the NeatoShop.

It's easy to play (and fun to boot!) We'll give you a set of clues, for example:

1. What is the name of Neatorama's baby blog?
2. What is 2+1?
3. What is the name of the top grill listed in our post Top 10 Coolest BBQ Grills?

String the answers together to form a link on Neatorama: http://www.neatorama.com/neatobambino-3-lynx (go ahead, copy and paste to your browser. We'll wait).

Easy, right? Let's get on with the game, then! Here are the Tokyoflash Treasure Hunt #17 clues:

1. Check out Tokyoflash's newest watch shown above. What is the name of the watch ? Hint: Kisai ______ LCD Watch (one word)

2. Visit our treasure hunt partner Geeks Are Sexy and look for the blog post that has these words: "Press right or left to _____ !" (one word). You may have to browse older entries, so don't forget to look at subsequent blog pages, mmkay? (hint: a favorite game of many Neatoramanauts, I'm sure)

3. Lastly, visit the NeatoShop and take a look at our Gifts for Geeks section. Look for the nuttiest item we've got (hint: for your fridge, it'll be on the first page so you won't have to go nuts looking for it). Check out the images: "1. Buy Nuts 2. Get ______ !" (one word)

Got that? Visit Tokyoflash, Geeks Are Sexy and the NeatoShop to find the answers. Then string 'em together to form the URL: http://www.neatorama.com/answer1-answer2-answer3 (all lower case, separated by dash)

We'll reveal the answer shortly. Good luck!

10 Records That Really Shouldn't Exist

Posted: 16 Aug 2011 12:20 AM PDT

While this picture is already enough for most people to realize this is something no one should ever do,the fact that there is actually a record for most rattlesnakes held in the mouth at one time is just plain wrong. For more bizarre records, check out this great article over at All That is Interesting.

Link

10 Characters Based On Real People

Posted: 16 Aug 2011 12:10 AM PDT

Did you know that Shrek was partially based on a pro-wrestler named Maurice Tillet? Or that Sonic’s rival, Eggman, was based on a combination of Theodore Roosevelt and an egg? Learn more weird inspirations for fictional characters over at BuzzFeed.

Link

Narwhal Finger Puppet

Posted: 15 Aug 2011 09:01 PM PDT

Narwhal Finger Puppet – $0.95

Was your favorite childhood pastime pretending to be a Narwhal? Now you can relive your youth with the fabulous Narwhal Finger Puppet from the NeatoShop.  Pop a couple onto your hand and let these magical unicorns of the sea transport you to simpler times.

Narwhal Finger Puppets are sold per piece. Be sure to buy 5 to get a complete hand’s worth.

Make sure to check out the NeatoShop for more fantastic Gag Gifts & Pranks.

Link

Man Arrested for Drunk Driving on a Motorized Beer Cooler

Posted: 15 Aug 2011 07:17 PM PDT

A man in Noosa, Australia was arrested for driving down a road on a motorized beer cooler while intoxicated. The defendant:

[...] faces charges of driving under the influence and driving without a license after police caught him on the makeshift vehicle, which was powered by a 50cc engine.

The defendant’s lawyers are currently challenging the notion that the cooler constitutes a vehicle.

Link -via MArooned | Photo (unrelated) via eBay seller williesnoop

What's Your Favorite Love Song From '80s Movies?

Posted: 15 Aug 2011 06:58 PM PDT

Quick
– what’s your favorite love song from ’80s movie? Can’t pick just one?
Well, neither can Emily Temple. She’s crafted this Top 10 list of Best
Love Songs from ’80s Movies over at Flavorwire.

(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life by Bill Medley & Jennifer Warnes (from Dirty Dancing, of course) came
in at number 3. See if your pick is there: Link 
– Thanks Russ!

Taxonomy of Professional Wrestlers's Names

Posted: 15 Aug 2011 06:04 PM PDT

The crack research team at Pop Chart Lab has created an detailed chart depicting the different types of names by professional wrestlers are known. Pictured above is only a small selection; go to the link to view the entire chart. Bonus points if you can find out the name that Alex used when he was working the LA circuit in the late 90s. Link -via Geekosystem

This Playhouse is a Blast!

Posted: 15 Aug 2011 05:47 PM PDT

Dietrich Wegner made this 20-foot tall children’s playhouse out of polyfill, rope, wood, and steel. It’s entitled Homeland and is a convincing imitation of a nuclear detonation. Remember: your kids are never too young to start learning post-nuclear apocalypse survival skills. Link -via reddit | Photo: Alice F. and Harris K. Weston Art Gallery

Cable Not Working? Blame A Squirrel

Posted: 15 Aug 2011 05:46 PM PDT

I don’t know about you guys, but I am always having issues with my cable signal. While I always assumed it was the old wiring in my home, it turns out it might be caused by squirrels who apparently love the taste of fiber optic goodness.

A recent study has shown that around 17% of all damage done to fiber optic cables is done by the adorable little brats. So next time you see a squirrel climbing up a telephone wire, maybe you should coax him down with a few peanuts before he munches away at your precious TV signal.

Link Via Consumerist Image Via ingridtaylar [Flickr]

5 Most Expensive Beers In The World

Posted: 15 Aug 2011 05:42 PM PDT

Would you pay $100 for a Sam Adams? (You might have to if you go to one of those fancy downtown hipster bars.) This high priced Sam Adams “Utopia” and several other beers will run you over $100 a bottle including the $800 Antarctic Nail Ale. How much would you pay for a high end beer?

Link

The Best of Scumbag Brain Meme

Posted: 15 Aug 2011 05:40 PM PDT

While there are always tons of memes floating around the net, most of them are mediocre at best. Scumbag brain, on the other hand, is something all of us can relate to, whether it involves keeping us up at night or replaying the same catchy son over and over. Catch more of the meme over at BuzzFeed.

Link

6 Companies That Rigged The Game

Posted: 15 Aug 2011 05:34 PM PDT

If you thought that diamonds are rare or that halitosis is a real disease, then congratulations, you’ve bought in to some of the most manipulative business practices of the last hundred years. Cracked has even more on these practices and the companies that instituted them and the article is simply fascinating.

Link

This Jack Russell Knows Some Useful Tricks

Posted: 15 Aug 2011 05:30 PM PDT

(Video Link)

Sure if you want something done in life you should probably just do it yourself, but not many dogs have been willing to take this advice to heart…until Jesse the Jack Russell.

Via I Has A Hot Dog

All HTML Tags Assembled on One Page

Posted: 15 Aug 2011 05:25 PM PDT

If you just look at the link, it won’t make much sense. But if you view the coding (listed as View Source on most browsers), you’ll see what designer Evan Roth has wrought. The webpage consists of a single sentence nested inside every HTML tag in alphabetical order. And that sentence is, appropriately “One sentence contained within every HTML tag in alphabetical order.”

Link -via Kottke | Photo by Flickr user cogdogblog used under Creative Commons license

Previously by Evan Roth: Graffiti Taxonomy

Harry Potter & The Steamy Slow Jam

Posted: 15 Aug 2011 05:16 PM PDT

(Video Link)

A lot has been made about all the actors in Harry Potter growing up, but what about the characters? This video explains what happens now that the evil has been wiped away. Warning: you probably shouldn’t watch this one at work.

The Baatara Gorge

Posted: 15 Aug 2011 05:15 PM PDT

Near Tannourine, Lebanon, you can find a beautiful underground waterfall that plunges down 837 feet. Three natural bridges stretch across the gorge of Jurassic limestone. Kuriositas has more photos at the link of this amazing natural wonder. Link | Photo by Flickr user FlickrJunkie used under Creative Commons license

The 25 Greatest Unscripted Movie Scenes

Posted: 15 Aug 2011 05:03 PM PDT


(Video Link)

“Take the cannoli”, a signature line from The Godfather, wasn’t in the original script. R. Lee Ermey’s rant from Full Metal Jacket was something that he made up from his experiences in the Marine Corps. Mewlists compiled these and other wonderful unscripted moments from famous movies in the above video. Warning: foul language. -via The Mary Sue

I Am Maru, the Book

Posted: 15 Aug 2011 03:39 PM PDT

Maru, the Scottish fold YouTube star who lives with his human, mugumogu, in Japan, is getting his own book. Published by HarperCollins, I am Maru promises a little insight to the cat’s “low-key” lifestyle.

“This…cat may be an internet sensation, but he knows how to keep his celebrity status from going to his fluffy head…mostly…See all his favorite hiding places—trash cans, cupboards, cereal boxes…if it's cozy, he's there—meet his treasured toys, and learn what it means to wield just the right amount of cat-titude.”

I am Maru will be available August 23, 2011, but if you can’t wait until then, his blog of the same name updates frequently.

Link

Nintendo Lunchbox (Made From Old NES)

Posted: 15 Aug 2011 02:59 PM PDT

While many of us may have had Nintendo themed lunch pales we took to school  as young gamers, most of us probably didn’t actually go this far with our Nintendo love. One 8 bit  fan took his broken old Nintendo and converted it into a lunch box, complete with a controller for a handle.

Link

Bill VS Betty

Posted: 15 Aug 2011 02:33 PM PDT

Bill VS Betty features mash ups of Bill Murray’s face over Betty White’s face and Betty White’s face over Bill Murray’s. While some of them are kind of creepy, you will be surprised that for some, both of these beloved comic icons are even more intriguing morphed together.

Link

T-800 Twitter Feed

Posted: 15 Aug 2011 01:50 PM PDT

If you thought that The Terminator was destroyed by molten steel and an illegitimate baby scandal and it wouldn’t “be back” you are wrong. The Terminator is apparently taken to social media in its never ending quest to find Sarah Conner. The Twitter user @111001001101010 is posting updates tweeting at different persons named Sarah still in search of the elusive Conner.

Link

Made of Vegetables, Yoda Is

Posted: 15 Aug 2011 12:43 PM PDT

And you thought carrot Darth Vader was impressive – check out the rest of Chef Okitsugu Kado’s creations. Using white radish, sweet potato, pumpkin and more, the sushi chef has created everything from an AT-AT Walker to Yoda. And here I was all pleased with myself for making Star Wars pancakes a few weeks ago…

Link via Dorkly

Spaghetti Western Orchestra

Posted: 15 Aug 2011 10:44 AM PDT

Ennio Morricone, composer of music for A Fistful of Dollars, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, amongst others, is probably either smiling or tearing what remains of his hair when he hears about the Spaghetti Western Orchestra.

The group of 5 musicians specialize in playing Spaghetti Western musics using some unconventional musical instruments, including "asthma inhalers, rubber bands, tree branches, rubber gloves and even a box of cornflakes."

Hit play or go to Link [YouTube] - via Weird Universe

Bacon Statue

Posted: 15 Aug 2011 10:43 AM PDT


Photo via J&D's Food

Sonoma State University is not only an institute of higher learning, it's also an institute for those with highly refined taste as this Bacon Statue clearly shows.

Let the pilgrimage begin to the school where BYOB surely stands for "Bring Your Own Bacon." - via Worley Gig

Don't miss: Bacon Store at the NeatoShop

Is The Internet Killing "Big Ideas?"

Posted: 15 Aug 2011 10:40 AM PDT

Is information overload via the internet and social media killing our thirst for new “big ideas?” Some say we no longer have great thinkers like Freud and Einstein since we are all so distracted by the hoard of information at our fingertips that is less qualitative and more quantitative. I was struck by the grand profunditiy of this idea, but then remembered I had a few more posts to do. Do you think the web is a distraction from thinking about big ideas?
It is certainly no accident that the post-idea world has sprung up alongside the social networking world. Even though there are sites and blogs dedicated to ideas, Twitter, Facebook, Myspace, Flickr, etc., the most popular sites on the Web, are basically information exchanges, designed to feed the insatiable information hunger, though this is hardly the kind of information that generates ideas. It is largely useless except insofar as it makes the possessor of the information feel, well, informed. Of course, one could argue that these sites are no different than conversation was for previous generations, and that conversation seldom generated big ideas either, and one would be right.

What a falling star looks like… from space!

Posted: 15 Aug 2011 09:02 AM PDT

This photograph of a meteor burning up in our atmosphere was taken by astronaut Ron Garan from the International Space Station. Dr. Phil Plait brings us the picture and a little math to explain how many more meteors you could see from the ISS than from the planet’s surface, which leads to the question of meteors hitting the ISS. What are the odds? Find out at Bad Astronomy Blog. Link
@

No comments:

Post a Comment

Keep a civil tongue.

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

Label Cloud

Technology (1464) News (793) Military (646) Microsoft (542) Business (487) Software (394) Developer (382) Music (360) Books (357) Audio (316) Government (308) Security (300) Love (262) Apple (242) Storage (236) Dungeons and Dragons (228) Funny (209) Google (194) Cooking (187) Yahoo (186) Mobile (179) Adobe (177) Wishlist (159) AMD (155) Education (151) Drugs (145) Astrology (139) Local (137) Art (134) Investing (127) Shopping (124) Hardware (120) Movies (119) Sports (109) Neatorama (94) Blogger (93) Christian (67) Mozilla (61) Dictionary (59) Science (59) Entertainment (50) Jewelry (50) Pharmacy (50) Weather (48) Video Games (44) Television (36) VoIP (25) meta (23) Holidays (14)