omnibrain | January 13, 2008This has to be the coolest face out of art I've ever seen.
-Via Neatorama-
omnibrain | January 12, 2008The memory-evaluation study, headed by Dr. Franklin McCarroll of New York University's School of Psychology, revealed that approximately 47 percent of Jenkins' hippocampus is dedicated to storing notable video-game victories and frustrating last-minute defeats, while 32 percent of his amygdala contains embedded neurological scripts pertaining to game strategies, character back stories, theme songs, and cheat codes. In addition, his entire dorsolateral prefrontal cortex is devoted to remembering the time he did a helicopter dunk from half-court with Shawn Kemp at the buzzer to beat the…
omnibrain | January 10, 2008
This is a good collection of illusions, some of which I haven't seen before. I'm not so sure why they had to include a stupidtramp sound track though.
Here's another collection with some overlap and a techno soundtrack:
omnibrain | January 8, 2008Unsurprisingly the James Randi Educational Foundation has had a problem giving away their million dollar prize to someone who could demonstrate scientifically under controlled circumstances that they could perform some sort of paranormal ability. They aren't even that specific on what kind of paranormal ability it has to be. It could be ESP, telekinesis, talking to ghosts, oh hell even showing the existence of a ghost - no talking needed. Many have stepped up, usually confused individuals, but none have been able to claim the prize. For some strange reason no big name has stepped up to…
omnibrain | January 4, 2008Some scientists seem to think so. Check out this comparison between a sagittal section of a brain and this piece of art:
Pretty striking similarity isn't there?
Partly as a joke to entertain sceptical colleagues, he and the team went on a brain trawl, and found many other examples. The team is convinced the artists were fascinated by the scientific discoveries being made by anatomists, but their theories had to be concealed in the imagery of their paintings, particularly when their clients were so often senior clergy who might see their scientific interests as blasphemous or even heretical…
omnibrain | January 4, 2008The mind is a complicated and a still very much unknown entity. The earliest conceptions of the mind didn't even have it placed in the brain, instead it was very much separate from the body. This is of course all very silly, the only possibility is that the mind wholly and completely resides in the neural system and that system is responsible for every aspect of the mind, from perception, to language, and even for experiencing the presence of a higher power.
With all of these misperceptions of the mind it isn't surprising that people could think that this soul of ours could interact with…
omnibrain | January 2, 2008After reading well over 400 blog submissions for the second edition of the "Open Laboratory" the judges have finally whittled the list to the best 51 to be included in the book. Surprisingly, one of the Omni Brain posts has made it into the anthology - I think perhaps one of the only serious blog posts I've written this year.
The winning list has a great variety of wonderful posts from a great variety of blogs, some of which I have never heard of. So head over to A Blog Around The Clock for the winning list and links to all of the great articles.
omnibrain | December 28, 2007This is one odd video. This French Orangina TV ad has furries wearing kinky lingerie and an octopus giving a lap dance to a bear.
Check it out:
I guess I shouldn't be surprised after this previous post about a French set of ads on safe sex practices.
-Via BoingBoing-
omnibrain | December 27, 2007Title: Brain Juice.
Year: 1996-1997
Summary: A Brain comes to life and tries to take over the world through cable access TV. There are even cameos by Beavis and Butthead and the cast of the Wizard of Oz.
And obviously made in Canada ;)
Weird eh?!
omnibrain | December 23, 2007Why Duck and Cover of course! Check out this great video from the cold war:
omnibrain | December 23, 2007The answer is a resounding sorta. Scientists at Harvard have done that calculations and found that "the aerodynamics of a flexible, rippling sheet moving through a fluid" ... should make it "possible to make one that will stay aloft in air." However,
No such carpet is going to ferry people around, though. The researchers say that to stay afloat in air, a sheet measuring about 10 centimetres long and 0.1 millimetres thick would need to vibrate at about 10 hertz with an amplitude of about 0.25 millimetres. Making a heavier carpet 'fly' is not forbidden by the laws of physics. But the…
omnibrain | December 23, 2007I've entitled this illusion 'The Purple Nurple' Exciting eh? I haven't actually seen this particular one before today so I thought I'd throw it up.... so here it is:
I've finally figured out where the heck this illusion has come from! It is actually called "Sea Sickness" and is by Walt Anthony.
omnibrain | December 23, 2007Celebrate with Omni Brain today - It's a Festivus for the rest of us!
What are your feats of strength going to be this year?
omnibrain | December 21, 2007I've been using google reader for a while now and I figured I'd explore its many options today. There is a neat little feature that allows me to share what I'm reading with other people. So if you'd like to keep up with what I'm reading on the feeds you can check it out on the sidebar right here on Omni Brain, or you can go here or subscribe to the feed here.
If you'd like you can add me as a friend and share what you're reading as well! My email address is j.stephen.higgins-at-gmail-dot-com
Enjoy and let me know what you think!
And don't forget to visit the Omni Brain City!
omnibrain | December 16, 2007I always joke around that I would make the worst therapist since my 'therapy' would consist of something like this:
Surprisingly (well maybe not that surprisingly since the internet appeared) this method seems to be practiced somewhere seriously. The Kadir-Buxton Method involves:
making a fist of both hands, and striking both ears of the patient at exactly the same time and pressure with the soft part of the inner hand which is where the thumb joins the hand.
So let me get this straight... I hit someone hard in the head and it cures things like: Manic depression, eating disorders,…
omnibrain | December 12, 2007Every one of us in acadaemia has had our fair share of blathering idiots come into our labs to work. I just wish I could write a letter like this. It's a shame that the letter is not actually going to go out. Ohhhh well.... check it out:
Dear Admissions Committee,
Mr. Bronze Malheur has asked me to write a letter in support of his application to your graduate program. I am dumbfounded: not only am I astonished that he has asked me to write this letter, but also that he has any intention of going to graduate school or that he believes he could possibly be successful.
I met Mr.…
omnibrain | December 11, 2007Well... it looks like ScienceBlogs is now in German - I really wish I could read it! I'm sure it's very interesting though. So now that we've taken over Germany who should be our next conquest be for global domination? We're attempting to take over the world one language at a time. Head over to the official Sb's blog, 3.14 to weigh in on the next language.
omnibrain | December 11, 2007Check this out:
A Photographic Exhibition from
Pioneering Psychologist
Paul Ekman
The Search for Universals in Human Emotion
Ekman is One of the Most Influential Psychologists of the 20th Century
At the Exploratorium January 22-April 27, 2008
The Exploratorium presents a photographic exhibition, The Search for Universals in Human Emotion, from the internationally acclaimed psychologist Paul Ekman, celebrating the fortieth anniversary of his influential work with the isolated South Fore people of New Guinea. Ekman was named by the American Psychological Association as one of the most…