— On the limited capacity of the human brain (via explore-blog)
(Source: , via explore-blog)
Heart of Glass: The Art of Medical Models
Obviously in love with this.
Another example of true innovation! The brilliant AmoeBAND is a design concept for a first aid bandage with a clever tear-away adjustable shape and an indicator that changes color if an infection is detected (video). The concept was created by design students at Shih Chien University in Taiwan. Here’s hoping this makes it to market!
(via)
— Truth on science and creativity from 1957 (via explore-blog)
(Source: , via explore-blog)
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Matthew Hutson on inception as “a simple matter of persuasion and cryptomnesia.” Hutson is the author of The 7 Laws of Magical Thinking.
Also see neuroscientist David Eagleman’s Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain, which delves into how our brains synthesize memories, impressions, and other mental resources into what we call “ideas.”
(via explore-blog)
(Source: , via explore-blog)
More spectacular solar eclipse photos continue to surface. Just stunning.
(via)
Fascinating TEDed talk by Mythbuster’s Adam Savage on some of history’s biggest breakthroughs and how they came to be from simple ideas. How these people “were just a little bit more curious…and they changed the world.”
(via)
I guess that’s one way to remember.
I’m ashamed to admit how much I laughed at this.
[W]hen thinking about difficult, exciting, interesting activities, such as investing in a new business, or perhaps buying a $10 million lottery ticket, the brain areas associated with emotion — such as the midbrain dopamine system — become more active.
Images, colours, music, even social discussion means that the midbrain emotional area becomes dominant, and the rational part of the brain finds it hard to resist the temptation. The emotional centres of the brain simply tell the rational part to shape up or ship out.
…
The rational part of the brain agrees, and starts to look for evidence that supports the emotional brain — it becomes an ally in the search for reasons why the emotional choice is a good one.
"— The neuroscience of the constant tug-of-war between rationality and intuition in a world that sees them as a binary divide. (via)
(via theatlantic)
Ancient Galaxy Collision Created Enormous Stellar Swirls
New simulations suggest that enormous swirls of stars surrounding a distant galaxy formed when two equal-sized galaxies collided. The galaxy, named NGC 5907, is located 50 million light-years away in the constellation Draco.
Its loops and currents, containing stars, gas and dust, are 150,000 light-years across. Researchers studying these swirls previously thought they were formed when a relatively small galaxy hit a larger one, getting torn apart in the process.
But in the new study, a massive computer simulation shows that it would have been impossible for a very small galaxy to produce the observed streams. More likely, two roughly equal-sized galaxies crashed into each other 8 or 9 billion years ago. The simulation also showed that the galaxies must have been very gas-rich in order to produce the swirls surrounding NGC 5907.
Most large spiral galaxies are thought to have formed from similar processes. Over the history of the universe, smaller galaxies have collided with one another and merged, producing ever-larger galaxies. Our own Milky Way galaxy is headed on a crash course with the neighboring Andromeda galaxy in 4.5 billion years.
Above: (1) Visible light image of NGC 5907. (2) Simulation of the collisions that produced NGC 5907 (1 Gyr = 1 billion years).
(via inothernews)
Minimal Posters - Five Great Mathematicians And Their Contributions.
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