YouTube - Gyrowheel by Gyrobike interbike 2009
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Two-Stroke Motion
Two-Stroke Motion: "This new illusion won second place at the recent international 'Illusion of the Year' competition at the annual European Conference on Visual Perception, A Coruna, Spain.
What is it?
The illusion contains two pattern frames depicting a moving image (hence two-stroke) which are displayed using a technique that creates an impression of continuous forward movement. Any two frames from a motion sequence can be used. The two images below show two views of a motorcycle as it advances along the road."
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Fanged frogs among 40 new species in PNG crater
Fanged frogs among 40 new species in PNG crater: "A LOST world populated by fanged frogs, grunting fish and tiny bear-like creatures has been discovered in a remote volcanic crater on Papua New Guinea.
A team of scientists from Britain, the US, Hawaii and Papua New Guinea found more than 40 previously unidentified species when they climbed into the kilometre-deep crater of Mount Bosavi and explored a pristine jungle habitat teeming with life that has evolved in isolation since the volcano last erupted 200,000 years ago."
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Random Thoughts: Cymothoa exigua: Alien!
Random Thoughts: Cymothoa exigua: Alien!: "Cymothoa exigua is a parasitic crustacean of the family Cymothoidae. This parasite attaches itself at the base of the tongue of the Spotted rose snapper, Lutjanus guttatus, with the claws on its front three pairs of legs, and extracts blood. As the parasite grows, less and less blood is able to reach the tongue, and eventually the organ atrophies from lack of blood. The parasite then replaces the fish's tongue with its own body, by attaching to the muscles of the tongue stub."
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Men lose their minds speaking to pretty women
Men lose their minds speaking to pretty women - Telegraph: "The research shows men who spend even a few minutes in the company of an attractive woman perform less well in tests designed to measure brain function than those who chat to someone they do not find attractive.
Researchers who carried out the study, published in the Journal of Experimental and Social Psychology, think the reason may be that men use up so much of their brain function or 'cognitive resources' trying to impress beautiful women, they have little left for other tasks.
The findings have implications for the performance of men who flirt with women in the workplace, or even exam results in mixed-sex schools.
Women, however, were not affected by chatting to a handsome man." more -->
Researchers who carried out the study, published in the Journal of Experimental and Social Psychology, think the reason may be that men use up so much of their brain function or 'cognitive resources' trying to impress beautiful women, they have little left for other tasks.
The findings have implications for the performance of men who flirt with women in the workplace, or even exam results in mixed-sex schools.
Women, however, were not affected by chatting to a handsome man." more -->
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
A One-Way Ticket to Mars
A One-Way Ticket to Mars - NYTimes.com: "The most challenging impediment to human travel to Mars does not seem to involve the complicated launching, propulsion, guidance or landing technologies but something far more mundane: the radiation emanating from the Sun%u2019s cosmic rays. The shielding necessary to ensure the astronauts do not get a lethal dose of solar radiation on a round trip to Mars may very well make the spacecraft so heavy that the amount of fuel needed becomes prohibitive.
There is, however, a way to surmount this problem while reducing the cost and technical requirements, but it demands that we ask this vexing question: Why are we so interested in bringing the Mars astronauts home again?"
Human Size Consistency Baffles Scientists
Human Size Consistency Baffles Scientists | Wired Science | Wired.com: "Crunch the numbers on the animal kingdom%u2019s sizes and shapes, and humans differ from each other far less than most species. The reason why is a mystery.
%u201CWe don%u2019t have an answer. We have this interesting observation, but the explanation is an open hypothesis,%u201D said evolutionary biologist Andrew Hendry of McGill University.
Hendry and Queens University biologist Ann McKellar combed through the scientific literature on body size and length in more than 200 species, from insects to fish to birds and, of course, humans."
Friday, August 28, 2009
New Theory for Why We Cry
New Theory for Why We Cry | LiveScience: "We shed tears when in pain, but what purpose does crying have?
A scientist now proposes a new theory for why crying evolved — tears can act as handicaps to show you have lowered your defenses.
'Crying is a highly evolved behavior,' said researcher Oren Hasson, an evolutionary biologist at Tel Aviv University in Israel. 'My analysis suggests that by blurring vision, tears lower defenses and reliably function as signals of submission, a cry for help, and even in a mutual display of attachment and as a group display of cohesion.'"
A scientist now proposes a new theory for why crying evolved — tears can act as handicaps to show you have lowered your defenses.
'Crying is a highly evolved behavior,' said researcher Oren Hasson, an evolutionary biologist at Tel Aviv University in Israel. 'My analysis suggests that by blurring vision, tears lower defenses and reliably function as signals of submission, a cry for help, and even in a mutual display of attachment and as a group display of cohesion.'"
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