Might Alien Life Evolve Like the Incredible Octopus? by Natalie Shoemaker Consider the octopus: a creepy skeleton-less creature with limbs that have regenerative properties and a mind of their own. Its structure — inside and out — makes it like no other animal on earth. As a part of the Mollusca phylum, the octopus seems so far removed from its clam cousin. Neurobiologist Benny Hochner, from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Israel, talked about this oddity in an interview with Alison Abbott from Nature: “Very simple molluscs like the clam — they just sit in the mud, filtering food. Scientists have marveled at the octopus for years, and now they've taken the time to delve deeper into its biology by decoding its genome. "The octopus appears so utterly different from all other animals, even ones it's related to, that the British zoologist Martin Wells famously called it an alien. “It’s important for us to know the genome, because it gives us insights into how the sophisticated cognitive skills of octopuses evolved.”
Innovative Brain Imaging Combines Sound And Light Lihong Wang uses light and sound to create highly detailed images of the living brain. Chris Nickels for NPR hide caption toggle caption Chris Nickels for NPR Lihong Wang uses light and sound to create highly detailed images of the living brain. Chris Nickels for NPR Lihong Wang creates the sort of medical technology you'd expect to find on the starship Enterprise. Wang, a professor of biomedical engineering at Washington University in St. "It's really about turning some of these ideas that we thought were science fiction into fact," says Richard Conroy, who directs the Division of Applied Science & Technology at the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering. Wang's ultimate goal is to use a combination of light and sound to solve the mysteries of the human brain. Wang describes himself as a toolmaker. "We want to conquer the brain," Wang says. Current brain-imaging techniques such as functional MRI or PET scans all have drawbacks. Wang's initial idea was to use light.
NOVA | The Pursuit of Immortality What Drives Vaccination Rates? Each state sets its own policies for vaccination requirements and exemptions, and they vary widely across the U.S. Preventing HPV-Caused Cancers What are human papilloma viruses, why do they cause cervical cancer, and how well does the HPV vaccine work? Pluto’s misbehaving moons Isaac Newton was hardly used to failure. The moon beat him, though. In 1695, Newton attacked what has since become known as the “three-body problem,” trying to predict the moon’s motion using his new universal law of gravitation. Misbehaving moons are with us still. Continue reading below Even if you knew the current position and all the forces acting on them, no combination of precision observation and rigorous calculation will be able to tell you which side of Hydra or Nix will face Pluto past some defined and very finite amount of time into the future. These two chaotic moons engage a mystery as old as human fascination with the motions of the heavens: Will tomorrow reveal the same order as we see today? In the case of Nix and Hydra, the answer is not much. Continue reading it below Most important, there’s nothing special about this pattern of behavior. This unpredictability leads to a bigger question, one that at least implicitly is behind Newton’s misery. Isaac Newton wasn’t sure.
3 Ways You Are Unknowingly Stressing Your Back In most cases of back pain, poor posture is to blame. For those who maintain good posture while standing, it’s important to remember that you need to maintain good posture in any position you put your body into for extended (or frequent) periods of time. By being mindful of how you are holding your body in these common but overlooked body positions, you will not only reduce your level of pain but also maintain a healthy back for life. Driving Between commuting, traffic and short jaunts around town, the time you spend in the car really adds up. The default car posture for most folks is a curling position where their lumbar-pelvic area tucks forward and their upper back and head lean forward. Yes! Couch Computing In this era of laptops, tablets and smartphones it’s easier than ever to curl up on the couch and start surfing the interwebs for hours on end. No! ….Better. Text Neck Text Neck is insidious and pervasive.
US Scientists Developing Brain Implants That Can Connect Human Brain to Digital World In Brief A human brain that speaks in binary? It could be a reality. DARPA is looking into creating an interface that can connect the human brain and modern technology seamlessly. Welcome to the World of Neural Engineering A new DARPA program called Neural Engineering System Design (NESD) is seeking to bridge the gap between the human brain and our ever-advancing digital worlds. Essentially, the interface serves as a translator that switches from the electrochemical language that neurons use in human brains and the binary language composed of ones and zeroes used in information technology. The researchers are now looking into achieving this link through the development of a biocompatible device. “Today’s best brain-computer interface systems are like two supercomputers trying to talk to each other using an old 300-baud modem,” said Phillip Alvelda, the NESD program manager, in the press release. Potential Applications DARPA published a synopsis of the program on their website:
Galactic perspective The human species is great, but its tendency to claim superiority may be its affliction. View these photos and challenge your perspective. The human race has an affliction of assumed superiority. What didn’t happen with this ‘so-called’ jump in evolution, however, was the capability to live from a space of compassion, commune with nature, and respect (or easily perceive) the innate force that ties all together. While human beings continue to transcend previous levels of innovation, intellect, and comprehension in self and the ‘Spirit’ of life, as a collective their air of superiority still reins supreme. Which is why we suggest everyone take a good, long look at the photos gathered by diply below and really size up their existence in proportion to the majesty which exists in the rest of the universe. First, let’s start off with YOU. Credit: Diply At 30,000 feet, this is what you look like: Credit: Flickr / Benjy At 100,000 feet, this is you: Credit: Wikipedia Credit: Gen Beta Credit: Iz / Smile
Dr Weil's Anti-Inflammatory Diet Food Pyramid HEALTHY SWEETS How much: Sparingly Healthy choices: Unsweetened dried fruit, dark chocolate, fruit sorbet Why: Dark chocolate provides polyphenols with antioxidant activity. Choose dark chocolate with at least 70 percent pure cocoa and have an ounce a few times a week. Fruit sorbet is a better option than other frozen desserts. RED WINE How much: Optional, no more than 1-2 glasses per day Healthy choices: Organic red wine Why: Red wine has beneficial antioxidant activity. Limit intake to no more than 1-2 servings per day. If you do not drink alcohol, do not start. SUPPLEMENTS How much: Daily Healthy choices: High quality multivitamin/multimineral that includes key antioxidants (vitamin C, vitamin E, mixed carotenoids, and selenium); co-enzyme Q10; 2-3 grams of a molecularly distilled fish oil; 2,000 IU of vitamin D3 Why: Supplements help fill any gaps in your diet when you are unable to get your daily requirement of micronutrients. Additional Item:
"Can We Achieve Immortality?" Although the speed of light still remains sacrosanct, are we at least making progress toward profaning time? In fact, breaking out of the shackles of the here and now can be done—but it's not terribly feasible. That's because, as Einstein instructed us, the passage of time is relative. This phenomenon of time dilation can, however, start to pay dividends for an astronaut standing on a neutron star—the compact, super-massive remnant of a giant star. Speed also makes time fly: Stationary clocks (relative to, say, an earthbound observer) tick faster than clocks in motion. Despite the considerable caveats, "going forward in time is just a matter of money and engineering," Davies says, "so big leaps could become a reality one day." Yet in the quantum-mechanical sandbox Tollaksen plays in, the future can mind-bogglingly influence what comes before it. There does remain a wild card for time (and faster-than-light travel): wormholes, or hypothetical tunnels through space–time.