GENIUS FORUMS

Diebert wrote:It certainly isn't fodder for "anthropological debate", perhaps you meant anthropocentric?

No, you're right, I used the wrong word. I didn't mean "anthropocentric" either, although that would certainly have been closer to what I was trying to get at. I meant "anthropic," which you often encounter with the word "cosmology" as in various anthropic cosmological arguments. You mention that the article might be targeted for a lay readership. That lay readership may come away thinking the cutting edge of science has us alone in the universe again. That would make us special. It goes against my grain, I'm sorry.

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Nuclear Test Sites

From 1945 until 2008, there have been over 2,000 nuclear tests conducted worldwide.

Here's where >> http://www.atomicarchive.com/Almanac/Testing.shtml

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Maps that show racial diversity of biggest cities

Red represents White
Blue is Black
Green is Asian
Orange is Hispanic
Gray is Other
each dot represents 25 people

Maps here >> http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... erica.html

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How Stuxnet virus is scaring the tech world half to death

As the days ticked by, Microsoft realized that Stuxnet was using not one zero-day exploit but four of them. Symantec's Liam O'Murchu
told Computer World, "Using four zero-days, that's really, really crazy. We've never seen that before."

Excellent article >> http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/how ... half-death

Men brought up with women are less sexy

When it came to mating, the male rats brought up in a litter of mainly sisters, spent less time mating than those brought up among male rats or in an equally divided litter.

This was because they were not being invited to do so by the females who signal their availability by wiggling their ears or 'dart hopping' - an established rodent come on!

The article doesn't say anything about the mechanism behind the female selection before attempting to seduce a particular rat. Would he appear less responsive, less of a target?

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Blue Eyes, Long Noses, Fair Hair - SEE PHOTO

The Chinese villagers descended from Roman soldiers >> http://www.lewrockwell.com/spl2/chinese ... omans.html

Brain’s visual circuits edit what we see before we see it

The brain’s visual neurons continually develop predictions of what they will perceive and then correct erroneous assumptions as they take in additional external information, according to new research done at Duke University.

This new mechanism for visual cognition challenges the currently held model of sight and could change the way neuroscientists study the brain. Neurons in the brain predict and edit what we see before we see it, the researchers found.

The new vision model is called predictive coding. It is more complex and adds an extra dimension to the standard model of sight.

Brain’s visual circuits edit what we see before we see it

The brain’s visual neurons continually develop predictions of what they will perceive and then correct erroneous assumptions as they take in additional external information, according to new research done at Duke University.

This new mechanism for visual cognition challenges the currently held model of sight and could change the way neuroscientists study the brain. Neurons in the brain predict and edit what we see before we see it, the researchers found.

The new vision model is called predictive coding. It is more complex and adds an extra dimension to the standard model of sight.

The No-Fear Woman (And What Her Brain Reveals)

In a new study, researchers exposed the unusual woman -- well known to science as SM -- to as many scary situations they could come up with. From an infamously fright-filled haunted house to the spider section of a pet store, SM, who completely lacks a brain structure called the amygdala, failed to show any signs of being afraid.

98.6 Degrees Fahrenheit Ideal Temperature for Keeping Fungi Away and Food at Bay

• ScienceDaily (Dec. 30, 2010) — Two researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have found that our 98.6° F (37° C) body temperature strikes a perfect balance: warm enough to ward off fungal infection but not so hot that we need to eat nonstop to maintain our metabolism.

Well, isn't it wonderful the Lord has created mammals exactly with this temperature which causes fungi to die while we can still afford to shop? Perfect tuning: intelligent design! [/sarcasm]

Stay safe from Cyclone Yasi which is about to scrub out whatever the floods missed in northeast Queensland, AUS.

Genetic tests prove the 'fairer sex' is kinder too

Gary Lewis, a psychologist at the University of Edinburgh wrote:"It seems that there is a general prosocial personality. I wouldn't go as far as to say they are nice people, but they are certainly prosocial people," Mr Lewis said. "We found that in women there was quite a strong genetic influence on this type of prosociality but in men there was less of a genetic influence. There were also environmental influences in both cases that were quite sizeable.

It seems that there is a general prosocial personality. I wouldn't go as far as to say they are nice people, but they are certainly prosocial people

Wow, genetic tests proved that?! I couldn't have imagined that this was the case were it not for the genetic tests! Also, it's amazing how the scientists, or at least the author of the article, have concluded that women are the kinder sex based on the awesome genetic tests which say they are pro-social! If it weren't for the lovely genetic tests, I would have thought that women are the crueler sex! Modern science is truly wonderful.

Very true, it's the assumption at work this sociability is of the kind kind. But looking at the questions it revolved more around willingness to pay taxes, being a good citizen at a trial etc. Not everyone will look kindly on those actions and so the "prosocial" being measured is more like in how far one actively supports the system, assuming the system is good and not some faceless, amoral, mass-murdering machine.

I'm far more astonished that people apparently need genetic tests to know and "prove" the fact that women are more "pro-social."

Jesus fucking Christ.

You will be certainly blown away then with this news:

Sex and violence linked in the brain

Sex and violence are intertwined in mice. A tiny patch of cells buried deep within a male's brain determines whether it fights or mates, and there is good reason to believe humans possess a similar circuit.

The same neurons are engaged during both types of behavior, and only the mode of operation is modified. The difference is not always clear cut, as we all probably know. Does this mean that all men do when they're not waging war is to fuck around? And all that women do when not fucking around is to wage war?

Related article: Humans Crave Violence Just Like Sex and an earlier post

It's not like nobody knew. Many insightful and experienced people have said that desire is violence. And even someone like Emma Goldman, a feminist said: "The most violent element in society is ignorance". The Buddha already remarked how ignorance about self, nature and self-nature lies as the root of all evils, suffering and is therefore the greatest violation with the greatest consequences.

jupiviv wrote:I'm far more astonished that people apparently need genetic tests to know and "prove" the fact that women are more "pro-social."

Jesus fucking Christ.

Had to LOL at this reaction, jup!

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Disputing Darwin

Darwin's theories of evolution were quite revolutionary in his time. And since! Even Darwin, had he ever known about magnetic reversals would have had to revise his theories.

See Disputing Darwin >> http://www.evolutionaryleaps.com/Disputing_Darwin.htm

This article on antidepressant effects of semen is in itself not that surprising but the huge backlash against the professor making such light of the "sacred bounds" is somewhat revealing.

Diebert van Rhijn wrote:This article on antidepressant effects of semen is in itself not that surprising but the huge backlash against the professor making such light of the "sacred bounds" is somewhat revealing.

So "gay" really does mean "gay"!

Reason Seen More as Weapon Than Path to Truth
By PATRICIA COHEN

“For centuries thinkers have assumed that the uniquely human capacity for reasoning has existed to let people reach beyond mere perception and reflex in the search for truth. Rationality allowed a solitary thinker to blaze a path to philosophical, moral and scientific enlightenment.

“Now some researchers are suggesting that reason evolved for a completely different purpose: to win arguments. Rationality, by this yardstick (and irrationality too, but we’ll get to that) is nothing more or less than a servant of the hard-wired compulsion to triumph in the debating arena. According to this view, bias, lack of logic and other supposed flaws that pollute the stream of reason are instead social adaptations that enable one group to persuade (and defeat) another. Certitude works, however sharply it may depart from the truth.”

We may have parasites to thank for the existence of sex.

It's interesting to ponder how the never-ending battle between host and parasite appears to drive the game of evolution even more or at least faster than any competition between hosts or species of hosts would.


How Easy Is It To Falsify Memory? It Just Takes A Little Social Pressure

Thus social reinforcement could act on the amygdala to persuade our brains to replace a strong memory with a false one.

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10 Comparisons Between The Jetsons and Modern Technology
http://www.phonetvinternet.com/insider/ ... technology

Holograms replace airline workers in Paris

are more patient than the real thing (story - video)
http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/holograms-r ... 07114.html

What are the odds that you exist, as you, today?

Author Ali Binazir attempts to quantify the probability that you came about and exist as you today, and reveals that the odds of you existing are almost zero.

Great moments in pedantry: The odds of your existence
http://boingboing.net/2011/11/09/great- ... y-the.html

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