I hope all the mothers had a wonderful day yesterday! My daughters 3 all gave me something beautiful"
Here is what I am reading today:
“Scientists at Weill Cornell Medical College have discovered that the single protein — alpha 2 delta — exerts a spigot-like function, controlling the volume of neurotransmitters and other chemicals that flow between the synapses of brain neurons. The study, published online in Nature, shows how brain cells talk to each other through these signals, relaying thoughts, feelings and action, and this powerful molecule plays a crucial role in regulating effective communication.”
“Free will—or rather the question of whether it exists—has been the topic of heated debate among philosophers for millennia. For many neuroscientists too, the idea of freedom poses a dilemma: if what we do is caused by brain processes—which follow the laws of nature—our behaviour is determined by those laws and is not free.”
“Online communities enable people to talk, share experiences and recognize that they are not alone, says Dr Tim Anstiss”
“Excavations of the bodies have been going on for many years, you can find out more from the Easter Island Statue Project. It’s generally accepted that the statues were made sometime between 1250 and 1500 AD. There is controversy surrounding why the bodies are buried. Was it time and erosion, or were they buried on purpose? Aliens? The soil surrounding the bodies for so long has preserved interesting carvings (petroglyphs, or rock markings)..”
“The development of retinal implants has been dogged by problems of unwieldiness since the first implantable stimulator for vision restoration was developed in 1968. Sticking a mess of electronics, with wires, cables and inductive coils, into the human visual system was always going to be a tricky business.
James Loudin and his colleagues at Stanford University in California have developed a solution that overcomes many of these problems by the use of special glasses that fire infrared signals into the eye and onto an implanted array of silicon photodiodes. The system simplifies what needs to be implanted and both transmits visual data and power directly to the implants, eliminating the need for any bulky external power source. Their work is published today in Nature Photonics1.”
“Our enchanted cookie cutters make it easy for little fairytale fans to bake these very same treats in their own kitchen. These spring-loaded tools create cookies in the shapes of four legendary storybook characters: Snow White, Grumpy, Dopey and the Wicked Queen.”
7 Comments
Amir Tadros · May 14, 2012 at 3:19 pm
“Restroring Sight with Wireless implants”
If that techonology is truly functional, then that is absolutely amazing. I thought sight restoration was something out of sci-fiction and that we’re never going to see during our lifetimes.
I wonder what the lag time is between the sending of the visual information from the goggles and the processing of it by the brain. I also wonder if there are any harmful effects to having silicon in such close proxemity to the brain. Nonetheless, this technology sounds very promising.
mapplebaum · May 15, 2012 at 12:21 pm
I read the article “supporting people who have depression with social media”. After reading it, there is a good amount I agree with, but a substantial portion of her article seems flawed. She talked a lot about how specific social websites (designed for people with depression to congregrate) as a source of help and healing by sharing each other’s experiences. This does seem like a good outlet, although in my opinion not going to do nearly enough to cure someone of their depression without legitimate therapy and proper medication (as depression is defined as a chemical imbalance). I strrrrooongggllly disagreed with her support of facebook/twitter as sources of help for people dealing with depression. I have read countless articles describing how facebook is directly contributing to depression in many countries. People come onto facebook expecting 10 messages and updates every day, and when this doesn’t happen they feel perpretually lonely and their depression worsens. In addition, many people who respond anonymously on websites such as these are much more likely to be rude, unhelpful, and mean because there is no direct repercussions for their comments.
mapplebaum · May 15, 2012 at 12:29 pm
I read the article “Eastern Island Heads have BODIES.” Although I have read recent articles lately about this new discovery, I still found this article very interesting. For centuries people have wondered the true nature of the demise of the population of Easter Island and the only strong remnant of their presence has been these head statues. I find it so hard to believe that people have been researching this island, this population, and these prevalent heads to only now discover the true enormity of what lies below the ground. In my opinion this is a huge, ground-breaking discovery that should soon shed lots of light on the true nature of what happened to the population that once lived there and created this stone statues. The heiroglyphics found will hopefully provide a story of their history, helping to fill in the gaps that researchers could not for so long. I also really liked this article because it provided a lot more pictures of these discoveries that I had not seen before. I still can’t believe that researchers have been looking at these statues for so long and have JUST NOW realized that there is so much more below the surface.
corrieesmon · May 15, 2012 at 7:51 pm
I read the article about supporting people with depression with social media. I truly loved this article and I am glad that I am not the only one who believes that sometimes medicine is not the answer and maybe talking to others is the best medicine out there. I was diagnosed severely depressed and the medicine I was put on did not help but made me feel worse to the point of trying to commit suicide. It was talking with others and having people around that understood me that made me better.
mpakele · May 15, 2012 at 8:46 pm
I read “supporting people who have depression with social media” and really agree with a lot of what the article says. Establishing community ties is what is important in dealing with depression, and in our technological world this can include online communities. An exclusive community where people can share personal experiences would be very beneficial because they would not be alone, and can have the option of remaining private while still connecting and interacting with others. It seems similar to group therapy to me, it is just hosted in a virtual world. I agree with mapplebaum in the fact that social sites like facebook may risk having a counter effect and potentially increase depression if their social interaction needs are not met. However, I do feel that an exclusive site would not be subject to such risks because it would be more about bonding over a common experience. I also agree with the idea that this doctor focuses on health rather than sickness, and believe this is an approach in psychology we should embrace more often.
Aaron Sisneros · May 17, 2012 at 10:37 am
The article “Supporting People who have Depression with Social Media” was very interesting and agree with Dr. Anstiss’ approach on depression. The fact that he believes more in the psychotherapy aspect of treating depression instead of simply prescribing medication I think is very important. Having depressive episodes in high school, it really was the lack of social connection I had with fellow classmates and the feeling that I did not have anybody around when I was going through hard times, which I think exacerbated the depression. Having social media sites where people can talk without being ridiculed or judged and have a sense of belonging I think can really help people with their depression, more so in some cases than a biological approach.
Aaron Sisneros · May 17, 2012 at 10:55 am
I read the article “Restoring Sight” and as previous commenter mentioned, I also wondered regarding the time delay with the goggles stimulating the retinal neurons. This would be ground breaking and out of this world though if they are able to make retinal implants possible. If the technology does manage to work, I wonder if there will be any differences at all as far as vision goes for people with implants vs. people without them
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