omnibrain
Posts by this author
March 14, 2007
Note from Sandra: Steve posted this as a joke, for being so outrageous as to be self-parody. It's hard to convey irony in text, and Question Technology revealed that some people took it seriously. Omni Brain doesn't endorse the views of the revealed source, psychologist/racist Linda Gottfredson. It…
March 13, 2007
I've always wondered how to bend spoons with my mind (ok I lie...it's never even occurred to me...but whatever). Here are step by step directions on how to accomplish this great feat of mind:
1. Go in your drawer and pick out 10 or so spoons. And lay them out on the table. Use your feeling and…
March 13, 2007
There is an article by John Tierney in the NYT and a post on his blog about the science of humor. Here's a little sampler of the artcle:
So there are these two muffins baking in an oven. One of them yells, "Wow, it's hot in here!"
And the other muffin replies: "Holy cow! A talking muffin!"
Did…
March 12, 2007
Grunt pant exhale grunt uugh grunt exhale. Pump that iron!
That's all you really need to know.
So get with it! Get to the gym and start exercising!
Actually, it seems that aerobic exercise was the beneficial form of physical activity. The researchers next step is to determine what forms of…
March 12, 2007
Chris of Mixing Memory fame has started a bit of a meme with this post and this post. The basic idea is that with just a few pieces of music you can tell what kind of personality (or lack thereof) a person has.
Here's my contribution of some things I listen to a good amount. Links go to examples…
March 12, 2007
It looks like under very controlled circumstances, with rats, you can pick and choose which memory stays and which memory goes with a new drug. Don't worry though - the CIA won't be implanting and removing memories of last Tuesday any time soon. I'm not saying they can't wipe out most of last…
March 11, 2007
This might just be the closest drug free way of experiencing a hallucination.
Check it out here
If you are epileptic you may not want to click the link.
So what causes this effect?
Here's what Wikipedia has to say on the subject.
Neurons coding a particular movement reduce their responses with time…
March 11, 2007
Would you like to join the ScienceBlogs NCAA pool?
Do you want to try to beat your favorite bloggers?!
Email dave--at--wordmunger--dot--com for the login and password.
I don't know if there are any prizes - but perhaps we'll come up with something.
March 11, 2007
There is a great article today in the NYT about the impact neuroscience is having on the field of law. Here's a little snippit:
Carter Snead, a law professor at Notre Dame, drafted a staff working paper on the impact of neuroscientific evidence in criminal law for President Bush's Council on…
March 8, 2007
Uhh... a Nova episode where Einstein's brain 'speaks' - a bit weird.
Especially b/c Einstein admits to being a Bears fan.
The next video is the
Story of Kenji Sugimoto, professor in Math and Science history at Kinki university in Japan on a pilgrimage to find Einstein's brain.
Kenji Sugimoto is a…
March 8, 2007
Well, since everyone else is doing it I guess I'll jump as well.
Do you want to be on the blog roll?? Let us know in the comments section and we might add you if you f'n rock!
One thing I won't add - personal blogs with stuff like, "I met Tommy's family today and boy was I scared at first but by…
March 8, 2007
This weekend is visiting weekend for the accepted graduate students in the Cognitive, Brain and Cognition and Visual Cognition and Human Performance divisions of the Psych department at the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign. This is where a whole bunch of awkward prospective graduate…
March 8, 2007
If you remember from the Simpson's episode, Brother can you spare two dimes, Homer's brother Herb invents a device to translate baby language. Now it looks like some Australian mother is claiming to have figured out baby speech. Shouldn't the Simpson's get a patent or something? Perhaps get a cut…
March 7, 2007
This picture demonstrates how viewpoint matters in perceiving impossible 3d objects.
Check out this site for an explanation on how it is done, the history of and the psychological mechanisms responsible.
And here are some more 3-d impossible structures and animated java demonstrations on how the…
March 7, 2007
From the YouTube description:
Back in April of 2006, there were two not-to-be-missed activities in Pensacola, Florida: a visit to the United States Navy's supremely cool naval aviation museum and watch the Blue Angels practice their high-G maneuvers over the airfield, or a visit to Kent Hovind's…
March 7, 2007
This guys brain is sorta having an out of body experience...
In any case, The March 6 issue of the journal Neurology has an article in it entitled, Out-of-body experience and arousal. where they found
that some people's brains already may be predisposed to these sorts of experiences. They found…
March 7, 2007
Since yesterday I talked about blinking I figured that today I would re-post something from the old blog about another important eye movement that impacts our day to day life as much or more than blinking - The Saccade. Without further ado, here's the old post (with some edits including a…
March 6, 2007
Do you want to read Omni Brain on your cellphone?!?!?!?!?
Yeah I knew you did.
Go to this website for the mobile version:
http://winksite.com/omnibrain/blog
Every mobile site also has a Winksite ID. They are the quickest way to navigate
to a site before you have bookmarked it on your mobile phone.…
March 6, 2007
According to Thomas and Irwin in Perception & Psychophysics 2006, 68 (3), 475-488:
Blinks occur on average once every 4 sec, or 900 times per hour, and the average blink duration is approximately 250 msec; thus, a total of 1 h out of every 16âh waking day is spent blinking.
During this time we…
March 6, 2007
According to the court:
(The) system touted its offering of legal advice and projected an aura of expertise concerning bankruptcy petitions; and, in that context, it offered personalized -- albeit automated -- counsel. ... We find that because this was the conduct of a non-attorney, it constituted…
March 5, 2007
The Visual Cognition laboratory at Harvard is looking for your help!
These aren't the usual ho-hum surveys - these are some pretty cool visual cognition experiments (I'm biased of course since that's what I study).
Head on over and participate in a short study!
From Josh:
Web-based experiments are…
March 5, 2007
There's a funny post over at A Genteman's C today with this great quote from Ann Coulter:
...Professors are the most cosseted, pussified, subsidized group of people in the U.S. workforce. They have concocted a system to preemptively protect themselves for not doing their jobs, known as "tenure."…
March 2, 2007
We all know that the full moon turns you into a werewolf or just plain stark raving mad. Well at least according to this website:
The full moon is credited for a lycanthropic man's moonlight metamorphosis into a dangerous howling beast - the werewolf (in North American cultures, or a horse or goat…
March 2, 2007
F'n hilarious!
MISSOULA, MT--University of Montana wildlife biologist and Herbert R. Braithwaite Foundation research grant recipient Dr. James Neuthom has spent his entire $275,000 grant--intended for the study of whirling disease on rainbow trout--on such items as a 15-foot sailboat, scented…
March 1, 2007
Ahhh the life of the grad students. The Simpsons have it soooo right.
Ok.. I don't actually grade any papers or have a pony tail...but hahahah...
I have a feeling this is going to be more like my entry into teaching:
(HT: Jennifer and David for the video links)
February 28, 2007
I haven't taken my TA orientation program yet - and I'm sure they cover this in that class - but it looks like you can get into a little bit of trouble for cutting a student's tongue out.
An Italian teacher has been suspended by her school in Milan after cutting off the tongue of a lively 7-year-…
February 27, 2007
There's been a bit o' lively chatter around the blogosphere about the present tenure system for teachers. One of the clear arguments is that bad teachers should be able to be fired more easily so our children get a better education. Seems nice right? But would it work? Here's one reaction from…