Does the head remain briefly conscious after decapitation (revisited)? A Straight Dope Classic from Cecil's Storehouse of Human Knowledge June 12, 1998 Dear Cecil: In the answer about the guillotine in your online archive, you say that "the fatal blow induces immediate unconsciousness." In actuality, the human head does remain conscious fifteen to twenty seconds after decapitation. — Joel Brusk, via AOL Dear Joel: Let's see. A lot of people disputed my claim that victims of the guillotine blacked out immediately. Not likely. But let's return to the original question, appalling though it may be: Is a severed head aware of its fate? It doesn't get any better. Is it possible? Then I received a note from a U.S. My friend's head came to rest face up, and (from my angle) upside-down. I've spoken with the author and am satisfied the event occurred as described. — Cecil Adams
3D map of human brain is the most detailed ever - health - 20 June 2013 The folds, creases and intricate internal structures that make up the human brain are being revealed in unprecedented detail. A new three-dimensional map called BigBrain is the most detailed ever constructed, and should lead to a more accurate picture of how the brain's different regions function and interact. Until now, the precise placement of the neurons that make up our brain circuitry has been difficult to map, largely because the human brain's surface is covered with folds and creases. Slicing a brain exposes only two dimensions, so it is often unclear where and how the cells within these folds are organised in three-dimensional space. To make the new map, Katrin Amunts of the Jülich Research Centre in Germany and her colleagues embedded a 65-year old woman's brain in wax, sliced it into more than 7400 sections each 20 micrometres thick – one-fifth of the width of a human hair – and made digital images of the slices, also at a resolution of 20 micrometres. Tour de force
Your Diet Affects Your Grandchildren's DNA, Scientists Say | Epigenetics You are what you eat, the saying goes. And, according to two new genetic studies, you are what your mother, father, grandparents and great-grandparents ate, too. Diet, be it poor or healthy, can so alter the nature of one's DNA that those changes can be passed on to the progeny. While this much has been speculated for years, researchers in two independent studies have found ways in which this likely is happening. The findings, which involve epigenetics, may help explain the increased genetic risk that children face compared to their parents for diseases such as obesity and diabetes. The punch line is that your poor dietary habits may be dooming your progeny, despite how healthy they will try to eat. [10 Worst Hereditary Conditions] Epigenetics Epigenetics refers to changes in gene expression from outside forces. Recent studies have shown how nutrition dramatically alters the health and appearance of otherwise identical mice. Of mice and humans Attack on the DNA
Mind-reading monkey brains look similar to ours - life - 15 June 2013 MONKEYS may have a primitive version of the human ability to put ourselves in another's shoes. Intelligent animals such as apes can intuit others' intentions, suggesting they have some theory of mind capability. To study this difference, Rogier Mars of the University of Oxford and colleagues scanned 36 people's brains. Next, the researchers scanned 12 macaque brains for a similar pattern of connections. That doesn't necessarily mean the structures share a function, Mars says. Laurie Santos of Yale University says the structural differences may one day tell us why non-human primates lack the ability to think about others' beliefs. This article appeared in print under the headline "Monkeys in other monkeys' shoes" New Scientist Not just a website! More From New Scientist Celery power (New Scientist) Did US spy satellites track Malaysia Flight MH370? Star dust casts doubt on recent big bang wave result (New Scientist) Giant solar farm uses molten salt to keep power coming (New Scientist)
BREAKTHROUGH: DMT Found in the Pineal Gland of Live Rats In a major breakthrough in consciousness and psychedelic studies, Cottonwood Research Foundation has published a paper (soon to appear in the Journal Biomedical Chromatography) documenting the presence of DMT in the brains of living rats. For decades researchers have hypothesized that DMT may be one of the neurochemicals responsible for consciousness, dreams and visionary experiences. It’s certainly responsible for these and ever weirder experiences for those who have smoked it or taken Ayahuasca. Now we have clear proof of DMT being manufactured in the living Pineal Glands of rats, and that the genes responsible for this exist in the Pineal Gland and Retina! From the press release: We’re excited to announce the acceptance for publication of a paper documenting the presence of DMT in the pineal glands of live rodents. More info at Cottonwood Research Foundation
Cosmic Rays: 100 Years Of Mystery : 13.7: Cosmos And Culture hide captionAn artist's impression of the quasar 3C 279, about five billion light years away. This quasar contains a black hole with a mass about one billion times that of the sun. M. Kornmesser/ESO An artist's impression of the quasar 3C 279, about five billion light years away. This August, physicists are celebrating the 100th anniversary of the discovery of cosmic rays, showers of particles raining down on us from outer space. Apart from their mysterious acceleration mechanism, cosmic rays also have a very practical impact on our world, producing about 13 percent of the natural background radiation in our environment. And then there is the issue of space travel: radiation exposure remains a serious barrier to longer manned expeditions. In August 1912, the Austrian physicist Victor Hess flew in a balloon to altitudes of 5.3 km, measuring the flux of particles in the sky. In the following decades, cosmic rays became a great tool for exploring the fundamental building blocks of matter.
3D map of human brain is the most detailed ever - health - 20 June 2013 The folds, creases and intricate internal structures that make up the human brain are being revealed in unprecedented detail. A new three-dimensional map called BigBrain is the most detailed ever constructed, and should lead to a more accurate picture of how the brain's different regions function and interact. Until now, the precise placement of the neurons that make up our brain circuitry has been difficult to map, largely because the human brain's surface is covered with folds and creases. Slicing a brain exposes only two dimensions, so it is often unclear where and how the cells within these folds are organised in three-dimensional space. To make the new map, Katrin Amunts of the Jülich Research Centre in Germany and her colleagues embedded a 65-year old woman's brain in wax, sliced it into more than 7400 sections each 20 micrometres thick – one-fifth of the width of a human hair – and made digital images of the slices, also at a resolution of 20 micrometres. Tour de force
Banishing consciousness: the mystery of anaesthesia - health - 29 November 2011 Read full article Continue reading page |1|2|3 I WALK into the operating theatre feeling vulnerable in a draughty gown and surgical stockings. Two anaesthetists in green scrubs tell me to stash my belongings under the trolley and lie down. I smile weakly and ask for a gin and tonic. I have had two operations under general anaesthetic this year. What they didn't tell me was how the drugs would send me into the realms of oblivion. The development of general anaesthesia has transformed surgery from a horrific ordeal into a gentle slumber. That is starting to change, however, with the development of new techniques for imaging the brain or recording its electrical activity during anaesthesia. Consciousness has long been one of the great mysteries of life, the universe and everything. Altered consciousness doesn't only happen under a general anaesthetic of course - it occurs whenever we drop off to sleep, or if we are unlucky enough to be whacked on the head. Lock and key Promoted Stories
OpenROV - The Open Source Underwater Robot by OpenROV Collections Categories On Our Radar Start a projectStart Sign in Explore About Help Hello More from Kickstarter Kickstarter, PBC © 2017