omnibrain | December 10, 2007After all, nearly every aspect of our continued existence relies on science, from climate control, to curing existing diseases and preventing new ones. New advances rely on a great deal of funding from the federal government and support from the public at large. Why is it that at best science is an ignored industry when candidates are running for office? The only time science is brought up is in reaction to public religious pressure (stem cell debate) or corporate pressure (global warming).
Maybe Al Gore screwed us! He was one of the only candidates ever to talk openly about and support…
omnibrain | December 10, 2007
Yeah you heard me right... there is no good reason why Paris Hilton, Britney Spears, or any of the other tabloid celebs are so paid attention to. They contribute nothing to society - and they aren't even that attractive. Dr Torkel Klingberg and Fiona McNab have come up with a potential explanation as to why these celebrity vampires have come to take over the press - inability to filter out irrelevant stimuli. Basically... the U.S. is undergoing a pervasive bout of ADHD.
Here's some of the study details from BBC news (which of course overblows the significance of this research just like I…
omnibrain | December 4, 2007Get this 'Magical Thinking Hat' from the Anatomical Chart Company.
Colorful, anatomically correct brain on the cap - flip up the brim and expose the words,"Think, Think, Think..." when you need extra brainpower. 100% cotton. One size fits all.
omnibrain | December 4, 2007I love science blogs but you know... I really get sick of the acronym filled science talk, the obnoxious politics, and of course the religion sometimes. I just discovered a great new blog that has all the natural curiosity of a science blog but non of the crap. It is wonderfully written by a non-scientist in a 'what I did today' format (which for the first time ever I like!)
The Daily Coyote chronicles, through pictures and stories, the life of Shreve Stockton, her cat, and her coyote friend. Here's the scoop from her:
Charlie is a wild-born coyote who was unexpectedly delivered to my…
omnibrain | December 3, 2007I've always heard that a beard can keep you warmer during the winter months but how can you really know?! After all, if you start with a beard and then shave it off there might be some strange adaptation effect going on. And who knows the memory of cold might be completely inaccurate anyway. That's where Pete Hickey from Canada comes in (of course he lives in Canada).
I had only one choice. Shave half of my beard.
The experiment
I shaved the right half of my beard. The result can be seen in the picture above. I then proceeded to perform my various outdoor activities.
Weight
I…
omnibrain | November 28, 2007According to Jennifer Argo it is possible to get a guy to want to watch a so called 'chick flick', all you need to do is tell him its fictional. According to the press release:
"We looked at fact and fiction stories and found that if people have high empathy - usually women - they will enjoy a story more if it's based on fact," she said. "Conversely, people who are low in empathy, typically males, when you tell them in advance that it's fiction they'll enjoy it more. We think it's because it gives them an excuse to enjoy it. They let down their guards."
Bullshit....
I love all chick flicks…
omnibrain | November 28, 2007Just because animals doing human things are funny I give you an elephant throwing darts:
-via Neatorama-
omnibrain | November 27, 2007Check out this Discussion led by Charlie Rose with guests Eric Kandel, Aaron Beck, Steven Roose & Peter Fonagy:
Here are some interesting home videos of the Freud family as well.
omnibrain | November 27, 2007Whenever I meet someone new and I tell them I'm studying psychology I inevitably get asked the ever annoying question "Are you analyzing me right now?" which of course always leads to the same response from me, "I'm as qualified to analyze or give therapy as an engineering student." Which is not at all.
I'm thinking of changing that response to "English majors are more qualified to do that than any psychology student." After all, the humanities and other social sciences seem to be paying much more attention to the classic analysis of old, namely psychoanalysis than any self-respecting…
omnibrain | November 21, 2007Everyone has been talking about stem cells in the last couple days. Here's something to offend most of you - Christopher Reeve eating fetuses for their Stem Cells. Enjoy ;)
Now that you are probably horribly offended about something or other here's why I'm posting this video now:
Now paralyzed people can eat their own stem cells to become superpeople!
omnibrain | November 21, 2007One of the earliest references to a controlled experiment is from Daniel 1: 1-16 in the Old Testament of the Bible. In this 'experiment' Daniel pits his nutrition regime of "pulse" to eat and water to drink versus the best cuts of meat and the most highly rated wine. Check out the experimental methods and results below:
1:1 In the third yearof the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah came Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon unto Jerusalem, and besieged it.
1:2 And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with part of the vessels of the house of God: which he carried into the land of…
omnibrain | November 18, 2007A Flickr user took the all the U.S. currencies with buildings on them and lined them up to the real ones in Washington D.C. Pretty cool!
Omni Brain loves these tricks of vision. Check out some more here.
-via Neatorama-
omnibrain | November 18, 2007I'm sure this comes as no surprise to my readers but this blog has been rated as having a Junior High Reading level. You know what though?! I'm proud of that. I'm happy that I'm not a scientist who can only write bland big worded journal articles and use words like affinage, nugatory, pukka, or bouleversement. Now that I've ruined the readability of the blog by using the previously mentioned words I have to admit that I would get angry if I were reading a journal article and found big words as well. In any case... here's the official rating (before I added the big words):
Get a Cash…
omnibrain | November 15, 2007The one... the only... Jesus made from Sushi and Chopsticks!
Actually... that's a cucumber for the head, ginger for the body, and shrimp fins (or whatever they're called) for the legs. I tried to make a crown out of onion but it didn't work too well.
I ate the body of Christ afterwards. That makes me religious right?!
omnibrain | November 14, 2007David Ng from The World's Fair has decided to start another meme.... Here's the lowdown:
Anyway, this meme asks that you come up with your own scientific eponym. What's that exactly? Well, first read this excellent primer by Samuel Arbesman, which basically provides a step by step description of how to do this effectively. Then have a go at your own blog. If all goes well, I'd like to create a page at the Science Creative Quarterly, that collects (and links to) the good ones.
So onto the Higgins-Levinthal Dictum:
Also known as "the why fat smoking republicans are responsible for 9/11 number…
omnibrain | November 14, 2007An entertaining posting on craigslist:
Survival Of The Fittest
Date: 2007-08-30, 2:03PM EDT
Whenever I get a package of plain M&Ms, I make it my duty to continue the strength and robustness of the candy as a species. To this end, I hold M&M duels.
Taking two candies between my thumb and forefinger, I apply pressure, squeezing them together until one of them cracks and splinters. That is the "loser," and I eat the inferior one immediately. The winner gets to go another round.
I have found that, in general, the brown and red M&Ms are tougher, and the newer blue ones are genetically…
omnibrain | November 13, 2007If you're a regular reader of this blog I'm sure you've realized by now that we never post on global warming. It's not because we don't care.. we do! I promise. It's just that I really don't know anything about the debate at all. Someone could tell me that we had an ice age 29 years ago and I would believe them (well maybe not believe them - but I couldn't refute their argument). I tend to support my fellow bloggers here at Sb's against the global warming denialists but that isn't because I know anything - I just trust their judgment. So when I saw a special report from BBC about the top…
omnibrain | November 13, 2007Just about every election cycle and Superbowl Marco Iacoboni and his lab do some sort of neuroimaging study to determine what people are actually thinking about the political candidates or their teams. Every time these studies come out you can hear the popular press cheering and smiling while you can hear scientists and bloggers cringing in disgust. The most recent study, instead of being published in a peer review journal, was published in the NYTimes. Head over there to give it a read before you continue on.
People cite many reasons to be doubtful of these studies, some complete nonsense…
omnibrain | November 7, 2007If you had control of the crowd behind a free throw shooter at a basketball game and you wanted him to miss what would you do?
Here's one highly entertaining way:
Help us come up with some others!
omnibrain | November 2, 2007Animal rights activists are horrible. I don't like the idea of belittling peoples opinions and treating them like crap but sometimes they really deserve it. Check out this hilarious video of a really stupid animal rights supporter who's ridiculous opinions are used against him to scare the crap out of him.
On a more serious note... head over to The Denialism Blog for the disturbing story of an attack on a scientist by animal rights activists.