Una espiral de la locura.

sovietpostcards: fuckyeahsovietrussia: Soviet space themed...

Sun, 02 Jun 2013 12:20:44 -0400

fuckyeahsovietrussia:

Soviet space themed Christmas/New years cards. ☭

daniel sinker: Oh my god, don't make things for "Everyone."

Thu, 30 May 2013 09:54:34 -0400

daniel sinker: Oh my god, don't make things for "Everyone.":

From the New York Times, on the end of Karen Berger’s 30-year run at Vertigo Comics.

Mr. DiDio [co-publisher of DC Comics, which owns Vertigo] said it would be “myopic” to believe “that servicing a very small slice of our audience is the way to go ahead.”

“That’s not what we’re in the…

"It turns out that we are only 10 percent human: for every human cell that is intrinsic to our body,..."

Sat, 25 May 2013 18:20:29 -0400

“

It turns out that we are only 10 percent human: for every human cell that is intrinsic to our body, there are about 10 resident microbes — including commensals (generally harmless freeloaders) and mutualists (favor traders) and, in only a tiny number of cases, pathogens. To the extent that we are bearers of genetic information, more than 99 percent of it is microbial. And it appears increasingly likely that this “second genome,” as it is sometimes called, exerts an influence on our health as great and possibly even greater than the genes we inherit from our parents. But while your inherited genes are more or less fixed, it may be possible to reshape, even cultivate, your second genome.

…

Such a paradigm shift comes not a moment too soon, because as a civilization, we’ve just spent the better part of a century doing our unwitting best to wreck the human-associated microbiota with a multifronted war on bacteria and a diet notably detrimental to its well-being. Researchers now speak of an impoverished “Westernized microbiome” and ask whether the time has come to embark on a project of “restoration ecology” — not in the rain forest or on the prairie but right here at home, in the human gut.

”

- http://mobile.nytimes.com/2013/05/19/magazine/say-hello-to-the-100-trillion-bacteria-that-make-up-your-microbiome.html

Bruce Sterling call the human gut the great unexplored rain forest of the 21C.

This would definitely caution against subsisting purely on Soylent… at least until you can start synth-bio’ing up hacks to your microbiota.

(via grinderbot)

"Some neuroscientists now suggest that two methods of brain stimulation might enhance sporting..."

Tue, 21 May 2013 16:51:05 -0400

“

Some neuroscientists now suggest that two methods of brain stimulation might enhance sporting performance, too. The non-invasive techniques are already widely used to modulate brain activity: transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), in which a doctor uses a figure-eight-shaped coil near the scalp to apply magnetic pulses to a specific region of the brain, and transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), in which small electrical currents are applied to the brain via electrodes placed on the scalp. [See: Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation: From Tool to Treatment]

TMS and tDCS are now used by both basic researchers and clinicians. Both techniques can either enhance or inhibit the activity of specific brain regions, depending on the intensity and frequency of stimulation; they have become a valuable tool for researchers investigating how different parts of the brain contribute to behaviors and thought processes. In the clinic, they are used to help doctors diagnose neurological disorders, and monitor and facilitate a person’s rehabilitation following stroke.

“There are two ways that brain stimulation could possibly improve sporting performance,” says neuroscientist Nick Davis of Bangor University in Wales, author of a recent opinion piece on the subject. “One is during or just before the performance. If you’re nervous, a little brain stimulation could damp down your muscle responses, a bit like beta-blockers. Another is during training, when it could help you to focus.”

…

Even so, technological advances will inevitably result, at some point in the not-too-distant future, in wireless and wearable devices that enable brain stimulation to be applied in such situations.

This raises concerns over safety. The popularity of ‘do-it-yourself brain-hacking’ has also increased dramatically in recent years—brain stimulation kits made from cheap, off-the-shelf components are now commercially available, and hobbyists are even building their own kits and zapping themselves in an effort to enhance their mental abilities. It’s therefore possible that they will do the same to attempt to enhance their sporting performance, and that over-zealous parents could try using such kits on their children.

Davis acknowledges that his article and others like it will bring this potential use of brain stimulation technology to a wider audience, but urges caution. “Brain stimulation shouldn’t be taken lightly,” he says. “As a medical procedure it’s fine, but it’s not safe to do ‘in the wild,’ and there might be long-term effects that we still don’t know about.”

While steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs can be detected with blood tests, it is not possible to determine whether someone used brain stimulation during their sports training. Consequently, it would be extremely difficult to regulate the use of brain stimulation in sports.

”

- http://dana.org/news/features/detail.aspx?id=43416 (via grinderbot)

Foreign Words We Could Use in English

Tue, 21 May 2013 16:36:46 -0400

Foreign Words We Could Use in English:

nevver:

Kummerspeck (German)
Excess weight gained from emotional overeating. Literally, grief bacon.
Shemomedjamo (Georgian)
You know when you’re really full, but your meal is just so delicious, you can’t stop eating it?
Tartle (Scots)
The nearly onomatopoeic word for that panicky hesitation just before you have to introduce someone whose name you can’t quite remember.
Mamihlapinatapai (Yaghan language of Tierra del Fuego)
This word captures that special look shared between two people, when both are wishing that the other would do something that they both want, but neither want to do.
Backpfeifengesicht (German)
A face badly in need of a fist.
Iktsuarpok (Inuit)
You know that feeling of anticipation when you’re waiting for someone to show up at your house and you keep going outside to see if they’re there yet?
Pelinti (Buli, Ghana)
Your friend bites into a piece of piping hot pizza, then opens his mouth and sort of tilts his head around while making an “aaaarrrahh” noise. The Ghanaians have a word for that. More specifically, it means “to move hot food around in your mouth.”
Greng-jai (Thai)
That feeling you get when you don’t want someone to do something for you because it would be a pain for them.
Mencolek (Indonesian)
You know that old trick where you tap someone lightly on the opposite shoulder from behind to fool them? The Indonesians have a word for it.
Faamiti (Samoan)
To make a squeaking sound by sucking air past the lips in order to gain the attention of a dog or child.
Gigil (Filipino)
The urge to pinch or squeeze something that is irresistibly cute.
Yuputka (Ulwa)
A word made for walking in the woods at night, it’s the phantom sensation of something crawling on your skin.
Zhaghzhagh (Persian)
The chattering of teeth from the cold or from rage.
Vybafnout (Czech)
A word tailor-made for annoying older brothers—it means to jump out and say boo.
Fremdschämen (German)
; Myötähäpeä (Finnish)
The kindler, gentler cousins of Schadenfreude, both these words mean something akin to “vicarious embarrassment.”
Lagom (Swedish)
Maybe Goldilocks was Swedish? This slippery little word is hard to define, but means something like, “Not too much, and not too little, but juuuuust right.”
Pålegg (Norweigian)
Sandwich Artists unite! The Norwegians have a non-specific descriptor for anything – ham, cheese, jam, Nutella, mustard, herring, pickles, Doritos, you name it – you might consider putting into a sandwich.
Layogenic (Tagalog)
Remember in Clueless when Cher describes someone as “a full-on Monet…from far away, it’s OK, but up close it’s a big old mess”? That’s exactly what this word means.
Bakku-shan (Japanese)
Or there this Japanese slang term, which describes the experience of seeing a woman who appears pretty from behind but not from the front.
Seigneur-terraces (French)
Coffee shop dwellers who sit at tables a long time but spend little money.
Ya’arburnee (Arabic)
This word is the hopeful declaration that you will die before someone you love deeply, because you cannot stand to live without them. Literally, may you bury me.
Pana Po’o (Hawaiian)
“Hmm, now where did I leave those keys?” he said, pana po’oing. It means to scratch your head in order to help you remember something you’ve forgotten.
Slampadato (Italian)
Addicted to the UV glow of tanning salons? This word describes you.
Zeg (Georgian)
It means “the day after tomorrow.” OK, we do have “overmorrow” in English, but when was the last time someone used that?
Cafune (Brazilian Portuguese)
Leave it to the Brazilians to come up with a word for “tenderly running your fingers through your lover’s hair.”
Koi No Yokan (Japanese)
The sense upon first meeting a person that the two of you are going to fall in love.
Kaelling (Danish)
You know that woman who stands on her doorstep (or in line at the supermarket, or at the park, or in a restaurant)
cursing at her children? The Danes know her, too.
Boketto (Japanese)
It’s nice to know that the Japanese think enough of the act of gazing vacantly into the distance without thinking to give it a name.
L’esprit de l’escalier (French)
Literally, stairwell wit—a too-late retort thought of only after departure.
Cotisuelto (Caribbean Spanish)
A word that would aptly describe the prevailing fashion trend among American men under 40, it means one who wears the shirt tail outside of his trousers.
Packesel (German)
The packesel is the person who’s stuck carrying everyone else’s bags on a trip. Literally, a burro.
Hygge (Danish)
Denmark’s mantra, hygge is the pleasant, genial, and intimate feeling associated with sitting around a fire in the winter with close friends.
Cavoli Riscaldati (Italian)
The result of attempting to revive an unworkable relationship. Translates to “reheated cabbage.”
Bilita Mpash (Bantu)
An amazing dream. Not just a “good” dream; the opposite of a nightmare.
Litost (Czech)
Milan Kundera described the emotion as “a state of torment created by the sudden sight of one’s own misery.”
Luftmensch (Yiddish)
There are several Yiddish words to describe social misfits. This one is for an impractical dreamer with no business sense.

bycrom: I’d also like to send a thanks to Broken Pencil for the...

Sat, 04 May 2013 14:13:35 -0400

bycrom:

I’d also like to send a thanks to Broken Pencil for the kind and enthusiastic review of By Crom in their most recent issue! You can check them out here.

reuters: Meet Naki’o. Naki’o is a mixed-breed dog with four...

Fri, 03 May 2013 09:01:05 -0400

reuters:

Meet Naki’o.

Naki’o is a mixed-breed dog with four prosthetic leg devices. Naki’o lost all four feet to frostbite when he was abandoned as a puppy in a foreclosed home.

He now lives in Colorado Springs, happily.

Photos: REUTERS/Rick Wilking

proverbsforparanoids: slow-motion-shadow: bartholomewfromthesun...

Sun, 28 Apr 2013 07:40:41 -0400

proverbsforparanoids:

slow-motion-shadow:

bartholomewfromthesun:

science-junkie:

Singing Sand Dunes

But there is a marvellous thing related of this Desert, which is that when travellers are on the move by night, and one of them chances to lag behind or to fall asleep or the like, when he tries to gain his company again he will hear spirits talking, and will suppose them to be his comrades. Sometimes the spirits will call him by name; and thus shall a traveller ofttimes be led astray so that he never finds his party. And in this way many have perished. [Sometimes the stray travellers will hear as it were the tramp and hum of a great cavalcade of people away from the real line of road, and taking this to be their own company they will follow the sound; and when day breaks they find that a cheat has been put on them and that they are in an ill plight. Even in the day-time one hears those spirits talking. And sometimes you shall hear the sound of a variety of musical instruments, and still more commonly the sound of drums.

The Travels of Marco Polo

Travellers in the desert have long known that shifting sand can make an eerie noise, ranging from a bass boom to a baritone bark and a soprano whistle. The sound occurs when the ridge of a sand dune builds up and eventually topples. This shear effect causes a mini-avalanche of sand in which millions of grains rub against each other as they fall. But different materials and different conditions make different songs.

Lab experiments show that synchronicity plays a vital role. Put simply, enough grains have to be flowing at the same rate in order to create and amplify the oscillation. In turn, the factors behind synchronicity are wind speed, humidity, the size of the sand grain and the smoothness of its coating, too.

Much of the scientific fascination surrounding booming dunes stems from the fact that their properties are so hard to pin down. Booming doesn’t occur on all desert dunes. And on those that do boom, the phenomenon doesn’t occur throughout the entire year or everywhere across the dune. The frequency can vary too – from roughly 65 to 120 Hertz – while the volume can reach 110 decibels — just 20 dB short of the pain threshold.

The sound is not related to the type of dune or its location. And while it’s mostly at a pitch akin to the drone of a low-flying aeroplane, its timbre ranges from a rough brass-like clamour of Oman’s dunes, on the Arabian Peninsula, to the pure vocal sound of Morocco’s. Scientists agree that the noise only arises from a dune’s upper slip face (the leeward side), never from the shallow, windward face. What’s more, booming only happens when conditions are hot and dry and when the sand grains are clean, round and polished.

Despite these clues, the most fundamental question remains: what does make the dunes sing?

Sources: [x] [x] [x]
Image: [x]
Audio: Physicist Simon Dagois-Bohy and his fellow researchers at Paris Diderot University in France recorded two different dunes: one near Al-Askharah, a coastal town in southeastern Oman, and one near Tarfaya, a port town in southwestern Morocco..

Reblogging this again because of how much it freaked me out that time the sand shifted under my feet and it made that didgeridoo sound…

The desert is so creepy and awesome. :D

Holy shit, I would have totally assumed that I was overhearing the conversations of some sand gods and probably cried myself to sleep.

woodendreams: (by Tim Gallivan)

Sun, 28 Apr 2013 07:27:55 -0400

woodendreams:

(by Tim Gallivan)

Photo

Fri, 26 Apr 2013 17:14:49 -0400

sportballsreplacedwithcats: We were asked if any kitten was...

Tue, 23 Apr 2013 22:17:49 -0400

sportballsreplacedwithcats:

We were asked if any kitten was harmed for this blog. We love kittens and we’d never harm one. To prove it, we asked Chelsea’s goalkeeper Cech to take care of one of ours, Puzzilla.

kateoplis: Diamonds Are Bullshit “American males enter...

Fri, 12 Apr 2013 15:04:45 -0400

kateoplis:

Diamonds Are Bullshit

“American males enter adulthood through a peculiar rite of passage - they spend most of their savings on a shiny piece of rock. They could invest the money in assets that will compound over time and someday provide a nest egg. Instead, they trade that money for a diamond ring, which isn’t much of an asset at all. As soon as you leave the jeweler with a diamond, it loses over 50% of its value.

Americans exchange diamond rings as part of the engagement process, because in 1938 De Beers decided that they would like us to. Prior to a stunningly successful marketing campaign 1938, Americans occasionally exchanged engagement rings, but wasn’t a pervasive occurrence. Not only is the demand for diamonds a marketing invention, but diamonds aren’t actually that rare. Only by carefully restricting the supply has De Beers kept the price of a diamond high.

Countless American dudes will attest that the societal obligation to furnish a diamond engagement ring is both stressful and expensive. But here’s the thing - this obligation only exists because the company that stands to profit from it willed it into existence.

So here is a modest proposal: Let’s agree that diamonds are bullshit and reject their role in the marriage process. Let’s admit that as a society we got tricked for about century into coveting sparkling pieces of carbon, but it’s time to end the nonsense.”

Read on.