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2020/07/01

Neatorama

Neatorama

Words And Memories

Posted: 30 Jun 2020 11:53 PM PDT

Throughout the course of a lifetime, a person learns thousands of words. But of these many words stored in his tiny brain, some are withdrawn by his brain more frequently than other words. The question is, why? Turns out that it has something to do with that person's memories of past experiences.

In a recent study of epilepsy patients and healthy volunteers, National Institutes of Health researchers found that our brains may withdraw some common words, like "pig," "tank," and "door," much more often than others, including "cat," "street," and "stair." By combining memory tests, brain wave recordings, and surveys of billions of words published in books, news articles and internet encyclopedia pages, the researchers not only showed how our brains may recall words but also memories of our past experiences.
"We found that some words are much more memorable than others. Our results support the idea that our memories are wired into neural networks and that our brains search for these memories, just the way search engines track down information on the internet," said Weizhen (Zane) Xie, Ph.D., a cognitive psychologist and post-doctoral fellow at the NIH's National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), who led the study published in Nature Human Behaviour. "We hope that these results can be used as a roadmap to evaluate the health of a person's memory and brain."

More details about this interesting study over at MedicalXpress.

(Image Credit: geralt/ Pixabay)

This Glove Can Translate Sign Language In Real-Time

Posted: 30 Jun 2020 11:52 PM PDT

Living in this world is a challenge for the mute and the deaf. There are only a few places that can be considered as friendly to them. Human interaction is also difficult, as many do not know sign language. Thankfully, there are people who are committed to making the world a better place. Bioengineers from UCLA have developed a wearable glove that can translate American Sign Language (ASL) into English in real time via a smartphone app.

"Our hope is that this opens up an easy way for people who use sign language to communicate directly with non-signers without needing someone else to translate for them," said Jun Chen, an assistant professor of bioengineering at the UCLA Samueli School of Engineering and the principal investigator on the research. "In addition, we hope it can help more people learn sign language themselves."
[...]
UCLA has filed for a patent on the technology. A commercial model based on this technology would require added vocabulary and an even faster translation time, Chen said.

More details about this over at TechXplore.

(Image Credit: Jun Chen Lab/UCLA/ TechXplore)

This Nanofiber Could Protect A Person From Explosions

Posted: 30 Jun 2020 11:52 PM PDT

Soldiers who go into the battlefield have, at the very least, two things to consider: bullets and explosives. Both could kill a person. Soldiers wear thick and heavy armor to protect their bodies from these things. However,...

... much of their body remains exposed to the indiscriminate aim of explosive fragments and shrapnel.

Not only that, but this heavy armor greatly restricts a soldier's mobility.

Designing equipment to protect extremities against the extreme temperatures and deadly projectiles that accompany an explosion has been difficult because of a fundamental property of materials. Materials that are strong enough to protect against ballistic threats can't protect against extreme temperatures and vice versa. As a result, much of today's protective equipment is composed of multiple layers of different materials, leading to bulky, heavy gear that, if worn on the arms and legs, would severely limit a soldier's mobility.
Now, Harvard University researchers, in collaboration with the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Soldier Center (CCDC SC) and West Point, have developed a lightweight, multifunctional nanofiber material that can protect wearers from both extreme temperatures and ballistic threats.

More details about this over at PHYS.org.

What are your thoughts about this one?

(Image Credit: Grant Gonzalez/Harvard SEAS/ PHYS.org)

How Many Notes Does It Take Before These Guys Play One Out Of Tune?

Posted: 30 Jun 2020 11:51 PM PDT

The violin is a difficult instrument to learn. Unlike other common stringed instruments such as the guitar, the violin doesn't have frets, and so the violin player has to be precise as to where he puts his finger on the fingerboard. Note that precision, or the musical term "intonation", is one of the keys to good violin-playing.

With this thing in mind, how many notes does it take before these guys play one note that is considered out of tune by a digital tuner?

Watch this video to find out.

(Image Credit: TwoSet Violin/ YouTube)

Surviving Unscathed From A Duck’s Belly: A Fish Egg Story

Posted: 30 Jun 2020 11:50 PM PDT

Fish eggs that unfortunately get into a duck's mouth and into its stomach may just one be one of the saddest moments on Earth. These eggs get pummeled by the duck's gizzard and then burned up by the stomach acids, and by the time that they exit the duck's body, most of these eggs can no longer hatch. They don't get to hatch and have a chance at life. With these great odds stacked against these eggs, you wouldn't expect that some will survive unscathed… but some surprisingly do survive.

…a few eggs can exit unscathed in a duck's excrement, possibly helping to spread those fish, including invasive species, to different places, a new study finds.
It's been an "open question for centuries how these isolated water bodies can be populated by fish," says fish biologist Patricia Burkhardt-Holm of the University of Basel in Switzerland, who was not involved with the work. This study shows one way that water birds may disperse fish, she says.

More details about this over at ScienceNews.

(Image Credit: ArtTower/ Pixabay)

Fat Bear Transformation

Posted: 30 Jun 2020 11:49 PM PDT

Katmai National Park and Preserve's Fat Bear tournament last fall was won by a fabulously rotund female brown bear named Holly. You can see her at her chonkiest here. But soon after winning the competition, Holly went into hibernation, and now she has emerged a changed bear.

After online voters crowned Holly the fattest of the fat bears in October 2019, she went into hibernation during the long winter famine, subsisting on her ample fat reserves. What's more, Holly also gave birth and nursed a cub during hibernation (female bears are the only animals known to give birth and lactate while hibernating, noted Fitz).

"All that fat paid off," Naomi Boak, the media ranger at Katmai National Park and Preserve, told Mashable. "She's one-third the bear she was," Boak, who's currently stationed at the Brooks River in Katmai, added.

Giving birth to a cub is all the more remarkable because Holly is 20 years old, which is the expected lifespan of a brown bear. She probably won't be in the running this fall, because this summer she is fishing for two. Read more about Holly at Mashable. You can follow the bears of Katmai on a webcam through the summer.

(Image credit: National Park Service)

An Honest Trailer For <i>The NeverEnding Story</i>

Posted: 30 Jun 2020 11:49 PM PDT



I have never seen The NeverEnding Story, but according to this Honest Trailer, it was full of doom, gloom, misery, and sadness. In other words, it was a German kids' movie. It was a big hit in West Germany, which was still a country in 1984, and managed to make money in the US, although it was not what we'd normally think of as a blockbuster. However, people who were children in 1984 now run the internet, so The NeverEnding Story is a fondly remembered shared experience among them.

Why a Single Little Spot Makes Driving Across "America" Impossible

Posted: 30 Jun 2020 02:30 PM PDT



You might look at a map and think about how wonderful a road trip it would be to drive from the top of North America down to the bottom of South America (or vice-versa) on the Pan-American Highway. The problem is that the Pan-American Highway doesn't go all the way- there's a relatively short route that connects the two continents that has never been paved -and might never be. It's called the Darién Gap, and RealLifeLore explains why it's so difficult to build a road through it. -via Digg

Sailor Moon Wedding Dresses

Posted: 30 Jun 2020 11:54 AM PDT

Still looking for a Jim for your Pam? Instead, you should look for a Tuxedo Mask for your Sailor Moon. Sora News 24 tells us that Japanese bridal wear company Mariarosa now offers a line of six dresses and two tuxedos modeled from the anime and manga franchise Sailor Moon. For now they can only be rented, not purchased, so they're not available for everyday cosplay.

An Introduction to Tactile Paving

Posted: 30 Jun 2020 11:54 AM PDT

Amy Kavanagh is visually impaired, and navigates London with a cane. She writes about her experiences and disability issues at her blog Cane Adventures. Kavanagh explains the nuts and bolts of tactile paving, which is a guidance system in city streets for those who cannot see what's ahead. Textured blocks denote road crossings, rail platforms, stairs, ramps, and other hazards. The pattern of raised bumps signal what is ahead, which can be felt by feet or a cane. The shape of these blocks help to orient direction. Kavanagh gives us a short tour of the different ways tactile paving helps her navigate city streets in this Twitter thread.

Kavanagh describes tactile paving as it exists in British cities. The system varies slightly slightly by country, which you can read about at Wikipedia.

-via Bored Panda

Exquisite Pop-Up Cards Designed by Peter Dahmen

Posted: 30 Jun 2020 08:55 AM PDT



German paper designer Peter Dahmen shows us some of the commissioned pop-up cards he has created. You won't find these in your local drug store! If you want to see how it's done, he has a few tutorials for beginners. -via Geeks Are Sexy
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