Writing-fashion-and-random-bull

WHAT IS YOUR EARLIEST HUMAN MEMORY?

Sat, 18 Jun 2011 20:45:55 -0400

Being fertilised as an egg

Photo

Sat, 18 Jun 2011 20:39:57 -0400

jtotheizzoe: “Sexually frustrated dolphins committing violent...

Sat, 18 Jun 2011 13:33:37 -0400

“Sexually frustrated dolphins committing violent assault on porpoises” is pretty much all I need to say to describe this one.

(via New Scientist)

jtotheizzoe: Tiny water insect makes record-breaking song with...

Sat, 18 Jun 2011 13:23:35 -0400

jtotheizzoe:

Tiny water insect makes record-breaking song with his penis

The tiny Micronecta scholtzi, or lesser water boatman, is a water-dwelling insect with a unique claim to fame. Despite only being the size of a letter on this screen, it can generate a mating song of up to 105 decibels, about the strength of a car horn. That’s not the loudest thing in nature, but definitely the record for sound/size ratio.

But it gets better!!

I’ll leave it to Ed Yong to tell you why, with what might be my favorite sentence ever written in a science article:

“It seems to do so by rubbing its ribbed penis against ridges on its belly, playing its genitals like a miniature fiddler”

And thus did Mother Nature show us her lulz.

(via Discover Magazine)

BBC News - Inside the brain of a beatboxer

Sat, 18 Jun 2011 13:19:31 -0400

BBC News - Inside the brain of a beatboxer:

fuckyeahneuroscience:

Brain scans of a professional beatboxer, who performs by imitating electronic instruments vocally, suggest the skill is an expert behaviour.

Scientists compared the brain activity of UK champion, Reeps One, with that of a novice, while they both beatboxed.

Reeps One mostly used two brain areas, including the cerebellum - responsible for learning complicated movements.

The novice used many more brain areas, suggesting a need to plan each sound and a lack of automatic processing.

Dr McGettigan says: “At the very early stages of this study we have some indication that here we have an expert.

“We have someone who has learned a motor skill, who has practised it for every day, over many years. We can see this reflected in the very clean focal activation of the primary motor cortex and cerebellum.

“What we have at the moment is a demonstration that being an expert doesn’t mean you activate more of your brain. The phrase ‘less is more’ is sort of appropriate here.”

Japanese Scientists Make Meat Out of Shit

Sat, 18 Jun 2011 12:58:14 -0400

Well, the inevitable happened. They gave us Manga, Toyota cars that get recalled, Takeshi’s Castle, plus gave millions of gamers and phone addicts a reason to exist, now they are contributing to the food industry. Loved the taste and texture of Soylent Green? Then you’ll die for meat created from shit. Yes, you heard me, it’s made out of shit. Now you really can say ‘I ain’t eating that shit’ and mean it. If you threw it into a portable piece of cooling equipment, you can actually say ‘the shit’s hit the fan’. If this had happened in Marie Antoinette’s time, she would have said ‘let them eat shit’.

Ok, less exploiting of cliches, how is it actually made? Well, arising from a concern over the huge amount of sewage, some bright spark tore himself away from his PS3 and decided to make something useful out of it, the shit that is, not the PS3. Human excrement contains a lot of protein, and it’s these proteins that are used to make artificial steaks. At least it can still be included in the Atkin’s diet. The poo meat is then dyed with food colouring that you can’t pronounce the name of and will probably give you cancer and cause you to be labelled ADHD. The flavour is enhanced with soy protein, which contains oestrogen-like substances so as well as making your breath smell like a cow took a dump in your mouth, you’ll grow some fantastic tits too.

There’s a lot of soy protein in Pot Noodles too, so maybe the faecal meat can find another use too and as a further environmental testament, they can recycle intestinal worms to make the noodles.

I guess the final question would be, what goes on the food label? Like it often says ‘contains nuts’, might we see ‘contains shit’? Answers on a postcard but not written in recycled blood.

Book Blurb

Thu, 02 Jun 2011 11:51:04 -0400

Seven Point Eight:

The most powerful number in the universe.

The number that connects everything.

A physicist begins a quest to measure the soul but soon finds himself drawn into the world of the enigmatic Max Richardson, where research is sold to the military at the highest bid. However, he soon discovers another purpose when an extremely talented young psychic enters his life. He devises a project and builds a team to stretch the frontiers of exploration, only to make a reality-shattering discovery…

The First Chronicle is the beginning of a 5 part epic which follows the spiritual and emotional journey of five people; their quest to understand the universe and our place within it. Along the way, they address the fundamental questions we all seek answers to: why are we here? What is the purpose of the universe? Is there a God?

Quantum physics meets spirituality in a tale which begins in the 1940s, unfolds during the 1960s; an era of social and spiritual transformation and reaches its conclusion in the modern age.

It interweaves the human dramas of love, betrayal, bitterness and above all, courage in a world where everyone must face their own dark shadow.

The finished product!

Thu, 02 Jun 2011 11:48:18 -0400

The finished product!