Dreaded_Anomaly

Article at io9. The paper is available here. The researchers showed monkeys specific images and then trained them to select those images out of a larger set after a time delay. They recorded the monkeys' brain function to determine which signals were important. The experiment tests the monkey's performance on...

A dialogue discussing how thermodynamics limits future growth in energy usage, and that in turn limits GDP growth, from the blog Do the Math. > Physicist: Hi, I’m Tom. I’m a physicist. > > Economist: Hi Tom, I’m [ahem..cough]. I’m an economist. > > Physicist: Hey, that’s great. I’ve been...

A new article looking at the jury system rationally and scientifically. Excerpt: > Courtroom dramas accurately portray the suspense that hangs in the air when the jury returns and delivers its verdict. All, including the lawyers on both sides and the judge, are on tenterhooks and hold their breath while...

A great column by Chris Sims at the Comics Alliance. Excerpt: > Because that's the thing about Scooby-Doo: The bad guys in every episode aren't monsters, they're liars. > > I can't imagine how scandalized those critics who were relieved to have something that was mild enough to not excite...

Uri Bram, a recent Princeton graduate, has just published an ebook called Thinking Statistically. The book is aimed at conveying a few important statistical concepts (selection bias, endogeneity and correlation vs. causation, Bayes theorem and base rate neglect) to a general audience. The official product description: > This book will...

Restoring Memory, Repairing Damaged Brains (article @ PR Newswire) > Using an electronic system that duplicates the neural signals associated with memory, they managed to replicate the brain function in rats associated with long-term learned behavior, even when the rats had been drugged to forget. This series of experiments, as...

Functioning Synapse Created Using Carbon Nanotubes: Devices Might Be Used in Brain Prostheses or Synthetic Brains (article @ ScienceDaily) > Engineering researchers the University of Southern California have made a significant breakthrough in the use of nanotechnologies for the construction of a synthetic brain. They have built a carbon nanotube...