Tag: Science
What if Earth stopped spinning around?
In a word: tragedy.
If earth ceased rotating about its axis but continued revolving around the sun and its axis of rotation maintained the same inclination, the length of a year would remain the same, but a day would last as long as a year. In this fictitious scenario, the sequential disappearance of centrifugal force would cause a catastrophic change in climate and disastrous geologic adjustments (expressed as devastating earthquakes) to the transforming equipotential gravitational state.
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Money doesn’t make us happy
(...) because money allows us to enjoy the best things in life – we can stay at expensive hotels and eat exquisite sushi and buy the nicest gadgets – we actually decrease our ability to enjoy the mundane joys of everyday life. (...) And since most of our joys are mundane – we can’t sleep at the Ritz every night – our ability to splurge actually backfires.
Jonah Lehrer moved his blog in WIRED and started with this great article on why money can’t buy happiness.
Plants “think and remember”
Plants are able to “remember” and “react” to information contained in light, according to researchers.
Now it is scientifically proven.
The power of “Will I?”
Nike shouldn’t have put it the way: “Just do it”. Instead it should have used “Just do it?”.
Richard Feynamn on honors
Richard Feynman must be the person I admire most in my life.
Thanks 37signals for letting us know of this video.
The menu of cyclists
To keep up with the Tour de France, you’d need to cruise at about 25-30 mph (40-48 kph). And, there will be a few mountains along the way – the total distance you’d climb would be equal to climbing Mount Everest a few times.
Quite impressive. So what do these guys eat during a bike ride day?
How pleasure works
The writer of the book “How Pleasure Works: The New Science of Why We Like What We Like”, Paul Bloom, talks to Seed Magazine about pleasure, people and animals, ethics, religion and more. It’s a fascinating interview.
(...) my argument is that pleasure is deep. For instance, sexual desire isn’t just triggered by looking at certain symmetries in the face, or waist-to-hip ratios. It’s triggered by what you really think of the person.
Looking for extraterrestrials
Jill Tarter, the Director of the Center for SETI Research at the SETI Institute is fascinating. Enjoy.
Give and be given love
Even love can be a subject of science. And I think that’s good.
Dr. Stephen Post, director of the Center for Medical Humanities, Compassionate Care, and Bioethics and coauthor of the book “Why Good Things Happen to Good People”:
Giving is the most potent force on the planet and will protect you your whole life.
A short journey to Quantum Theory
What is Quantum Theory and how does it change our lives? Big Think has a relatively short but very insightful relevant aricle on the subject.
Pleasure is often fictional
The marketers know that the easiest way to increase our pleasure isn’t by telling us how pleasurable the product is: It’s by weaving an engaging story about essences.
We have learnt to enjoy what’s more expensive. But sometimes it is just an illusion due to our brain.
A chair inspired by Gaudi
This chair was inspired by the famous architect Antoni GaudÃ. It is so beautiful!
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Intelligence and suicides
There’s this stereotype: smart people are more likely to commit suicide. But is it true?
Seed Magazine takes a good look at the issue.
Science and religion
There seems to be an eternal argument whether people should count on science. Or on religion. Or on both maybe.
Big think has a series of great videos on the subject. A must.
Oh, the universe
Here is a short story of our universe, its past, present and future. No scientific jargon. A beautiful article!
Our genes and travels
When we escape from the place we spend most of our time, the mind is suddenly made aware of all those errant ideas we’d suppressed. We start thinking about obscure possibilities – corn can fuel cars – that never would have occurred to us if we’d stayed back on the farm. Furthermore, this more relaxed sort of cognition comes with practical advantages, especially when we’re trying to solve difficult problems.
Oh, we all love travels.
Playing with maths
“I have two children. One is a boy born on a Tuesday. What is the probability I have two boys?”
That’s a crazy way of thinking. Or maybe not crazy at all. It all comes down to maths. And it’s brilliant.
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The best MacGyver tricks
OK, this is for the 30-something people. You remember MacGyver, don’t you? Here are 5 of his best stunts. The chocolate trick is a classic.
Artificial life comes into ...life
Scientists in the US say they have succeeded in developing the first synthetic living cell.
The researchers constructed a bacterium’s “genetic software” and transplanted it into a host cell.
The resulting microbe then looked and behaved like the species “dictated” by the synthetic DNA.
There could be astonishing progress in many aspects of our lives but also equally dreading consequences.
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