A nice home made Biscotti makes the afternoon perfect!
Here is what I am reading today:
“Stroke and Parkinson’s Disease patients may benefit from a controversial experiment that implanted microchips into lab rats. Scientists say the tests produced effective results in brain damage research.
Rats showed motor function in formerly damaged gray matter after a neural microchip was implanted under the rat’s skull and electrodes were transferred to the rat’s brain. Without the microchip, rats with damaged brain tissue did not have motor function. Both strokes and Parkinson’s can cause permanent neurological damage to brain tissue, so this scientific research brings hope.”
“”Gossip gets a bad rap, but we’re finding evidence that it plays a critical role in the maintenance of social order,” said UC Berkeley social psychologist Robb Willer, a coauthor of the study published in this month’s online issue of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.
The study also found that gossip can be therapeutic. Volunteers’ heart rates increased when they witnessed someone behaving badly, but this increase was tempered when they were able to pass on the information to alert others.”
“A chance discovery has yielded a “treasure trove” of fossils, including specimens collected by Charles Darwin. The collection, marked “unregistered fossil plants”, has been gathering dust in a gloomy corner of the British Geological Survey for more than 150 years.”
“You won’t see a blank page at Google.com on Wednesday, but the company will use its homepage to register its opposition to SOPA.
A Google spokesperson told Mashable that its homepage will include a link where users can learn more about SOPA, confirming a Bloomberg report.”
“Two bills before Congress, known as the Protect IP Act (PIPA) in the Senate and the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) in the House, would censor the Web and impose harmful regulations on American business. Millions of Internet users and entrepreneurs already oppose SOPA and PIPA. “
“I had an epiphany today. The Stop Online Piracy Act, or SOPA, was not written by people who fundamentally misunderstand how the web works. They understand all too well, and want to change it forever.”
5 Comments
astiers · January 20, 2012 at 9:26 pm
There has been a huge response to the new bills to censor the internet, but piracy is obviously an important issue in today’s society. I agree that the bills are too severe, but i do believe that internet companies like google, Yahoo, facebook, etc have a responsibility for the content on their servers. A google search results in millions of hits off of one word and many are inappropriate pictures and insignificant sources. Internet companies need to promote responsibility even if that means that posts and uploads must first be approved by the company. I think that this would be an acceptable intermediate between total censorship and piracy free will.
astiers · January 20, 2012 at 9:33 pm
I am not surprised by the results in ” gossiping has benefits” article about prosocial gossip. However, these participants may not have known each other so their “gossip” might not have been as malicious or severe if they had know the other participants. In real life one gossips about a uncooperative coworker in more than just one particular instance. The gossip may be motivated by a specific event but the content of the message between people involves more than just that day’s speculation. I think that people embellish their gossip with previous events or gossip to make validate their gossip and to make themselves feel better about gossiping about another person.
shelby_fisher · February 1, 2012 at 7:20 pm
The article on SOPA interested me because that’s all I’ve been hearing about on Facebook and talk with friends. I agree that the internet should not be censored. It’s interesting to me that everyone is so against the censorship of the internet when most of us don’t use sites that would be blocked on a daily basis. It’s not about getting content that we wouldn’t be able to have if censorship passed in the senate, it’s the idea. We don’t want to feel restricted by the government. Our idea of freedom includes free speech (as it should). My first thought when I heard the SOPA proposal was China.
shelby_fisher · February 7, 2012 at 4:10 pm
The “Ritalin Gone Wrong” article sparked my interest. I’m not at all surprised that evidence shows that Ritalin and other ADD/ ADHD drugs aren’t beneficial in the long run. I know people who think that they need it, but they show no signs of ADD or ADHD. Sure, some kids need it, but many parents use ADD/ADHD as an excuse for their kids being out of control. I think the best thing for children is to not prescribe the drug on a whim but do many tests and evaluations before administering the drug.
shelby_fisher · February 8, 2012 at 3:06 pm
The enhancing cognition article was amazing! I have always heard that doing crossword puzzles, being social, and active would help keep your brain “sharp” when you start getting older. The fact that challenging your cognition can change your personality is very different. In my opinion, I think that it’s good to be open to new experiences, especially when we get to retirement age because that’s when many people get into ruts and with the rate that culture is changing, you have to be open to new ideas and experiences if you want to be “current”.
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