watch this...

Click here

Learning by Surprise

This is why I need to learn a foreign language in a foreign country:

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=learning-by-surprise

SciAm MIND: Feb 09

I was reading this on the plane today:

http://www.sciam.com/sciammind/?contents=2009-02

Found these two articles very interesting:

• Placebo Effect: A Cure in the Mind
  
• How to Avoid Choking under Pressure
  

I also read Carrie Fisher's "Wishful Drinking" which was pretty amusing. I like her "laugh at your problems" approach to life. 

I'm this lazy...

I'm not sure this is really that funny, so much as it's just embarrassingly analogous to things we have done ourselves. 

get off your couch people...

"Studies of humans have revealed that exercise can improve the brain’s executive functions (planning, organizing, multitasking, and more). Exercise is also well known for its mood-boosting effects, and people who exercise are less likely to get dementia as they age. Among those who are already aged, athletic senior citizens have better executive function than do those who are sedentary; even seniors who have spent their entire lives on the couch can improve these abilities just by starting to move more in their golden years."

"...Exercise also improves sleep quality, a pile of studies suggests. And immune function. Is there anything it can’t do?"

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=six-ways-to-boost-brainpower

SciAm: A Pictorial Evolution of the White House Web Site

This is actually funny:

http://www.sciam.com/slideshow.cfm?id=white-house-web

They start out with bland and then get worse and worse for several years. As ben said, it looks like something you would have found on geocities.

patterns, language and numbers

Daniel Tammet Interview

This guy is really interesting.  Not only does he see and feel numbers, but he's really good at languages. He learned Icelandic in a week! He says languages are easier for him to learn, in part because he sees patters in things. I can definitely relate to learning things by seeing the patterns in them, but cleary not the way he does. Patterns are cool! I'm going to read his books.

SciAm: Sculpting the Impossible: Solid Renditions of Visual Illusions

more...

can you hear your eyeballs?

"Some people have abnormalities of the inner ear that enhance their sensitivity to this component so much that the sound of their own breathing becomes overwhelming, and they may even hear their eyeballs moving in their sockets."

SciAm.com

That would be so freaky!

And annoying.

SciAm: Tonight's moon will rival last month's massive bright perigee

Exciting! I knew the moon looked brighter last night!

Remember last month's massive moon, the one that dazzled onlookers on December 12? That moon was 14% larger and 30% brighter than a typical full moon.

Well, it's back tonight. NASA says tonight's moon will be the biggest full moon of 2009, "almost identical" to the one on December 12.

Here's what's going on: The moon's orbit of Earth is an ellipse, with one end closer to Earth than the other. Tonight, the moon will be near the closer end of the ellipse, a spot known as the perigee. (Apogee is the more distant end.)

SciAm.com

I hope it's clear out. Last time it was an amazing night. 

SciAm: Inside the Savant Mind: Tips for Thinking from an Extraordinary Thinker

From the article...

In my mind, numbers and words are far more than squiggles of ink on a page. They have form, color, texture and so on. They come alive to me, which is why as a young child I thought of them as my “friends.” I think this is why my memory is very deep, because the information is not static. I say in my book that I do not crunch numbers (like a computer). Rather, I dance with them.

and...

Various studies have long demonstrated that being able to visualize information makes it easier to remember.

Soooooo interesting! Read the article here.

Boy stops pit bull attack with jujitsu choke hold

My mom sent me this link: 

http://www.kval.com/news/37188184.html

minus 90 degrees Fahrenheit

and people live there???????????

Welcome to the Coldest Town on Earth

I'm speachless.

New eyelash-lengthening drug approved

...Seriously?

There's genocide, war, poverty, etc. and you're going to spend $120/month on longer eyelashes???

Ok, I spend an inordinate amount of money on gas to drive nowhere on a regular basis, so we've all got our vices. But eyelashes? I'm never going to understand that. 

If you've got no eyelashes that's one thing. But you know there are going to be people with perfectly functioning eyelashes buying this stuff.

www.sciam.com 

KCRW: Today's Top Tune

This podcast is great. It's one song a day, from all over the place. Today's song is Tahra A Issasnanane by Terakaft, which I really like. I also like this one: School of Seven Bells: iamundernodisguise. There are lots of good ones. It's an easy way to find new music and add a bunch of free songs to your ipod. I've got like 20 on there now... new music is exciting.

The Daily Show: End Times Countdown - Bush Exit Interviews

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

End Times Countdown - Bush Exit Interviews

Barack Obama Interview
John McCain Interview

Sarah Palin Video
Funny Election Video

Embarassinginly dumb. Makes me want to hide.

Fresh Air: The Secret Life Of Baboons

I heard the first part of the baboon story in my car, then I went back today and listened to the rest of it on podcast. The whole thing is pretty interesting but the story about the guy climbing the tree to get away from the pack of lions is pretty funny. Especially when they come back later and try to climb the same tree. 

Fresh Air

The Onion: Either Someone 14th Caller Or Everything On Fire At Spanish Radio Station

SAN JOSE, CA—According to sources, either a listener of local Spanish-language radio program Mañana Gigante con Luis y Moon Dog has just won some sort of promotional contest by being the 14th caller or the entire radio station is currently engulfed in flames. Protracted screams of "aye, aye, aye, muy caliente!" and "en fuego!" could be heard on the broadcast of either the celebratory exultation or out-of-control blaze, and were accompanied by the sounds of loud sirens, breaking glass, and dogs barking...

The Onion

Empty

Happiness Is Contagious

A happy person within a social circle quickly influences those around him or her to be happy, extending to three degrees of separation... 60 second podcast