Six Degrees of Rumination

One year and counting.  Here's to approximately twelve months of ruminating on science, psychology, technology....and gargoyles.  There's no stopping us now!

http://news.yahoo.com/chicago-church-laments-falling-gargoyle-kills-woman-184400612.html

 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2746321/Jack-Ripper-unmasked-How-amateur-sleuth-used-DNA-breakthrough-identify-Britains-notorious-criminal-126-years-string-terrible-murders.html?ito=social-facebook

 

http://news.yahoo.com/napa-quake-deformed-earth-satellite-photo-195304081.html

 

http://www.cnet.com/news/stephen-hawking-god-particle-may-wipe-out-the-universe/

 

http://www.kurzweilai.net/a-low-cost-water-splitter-that-runs-on-an-ordinary-aaa-battery

 

http://www.iflscience.com/brain/direct-brain-brain-communication-used-humans

 

http://www.kurzweilai.net/in-our-digital-world-are-young-people-losing-the-ability-to-read-emotions

 

http://www.kurzweilai.net/remote-controlled-cyborg-moth-biobots-to-monitor-emergency-response-operations

Interested in seeing a goat/sheep hybrid?  Visit a petting zoo in Arizona to see "Butterfly."  The debate on which came first, the chicken or the egg, is settled once and for all.  Reno, Nina, and Mike also discuss a study on whether being raised religious could impair one's ability to discern fact from fiction, a new device inspired by fly ears, and what might go faster than the speed of light...

http://www.buzzfeed.com/mbvd/geep-geep

http://www.iflscience.com/plants-and-animals/what-came-first-chicken-or-egg

http://www.iflscience.com/brain/religious-children-struggle-separate-fact-fiction

http://www.kurzweilai.net/a-cost-effective-nanotube-based-catalyst-for-producing-hydrogen-fuel

http://www.kurzweilai.net/more-efficient-solar-powered-steam

http://www.kurzweilai.net/study-suggests-probiotics-could-prevent-obesity-and-insulin-resistance

http://www.kurzweilai.net/fly-inspired-sound-detector

http://www.iflscience.com/physics/what-speed-dark 

 

 

Listen to Reno, Nina, and producer Mike debunk 7th myths about the brain, discuss the likelihood of 3D printing options at Kinko's, predict what kind of damage kudzu could do if left completely alone, and what happens when someone has 232 extra teeth.  Also discussed are Lego microscopes, why Mike hates Legos, and how a black hole becomes a white hole.

Lastly, in honor of Six Degrees' 25th Episode, please enjoy 25 of the best Anti-Jokes of all time.

http://www.iflscience.com/brain/seven-myths-about-brain-most-people-believe

http://www.sculptgraphicz.com/

http://arstechnica.com/science/2014/07/invasive-kudzu-drives-carbon-out-of-the-soil-into-the-atmosphere/

http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/health/indian-doctors-remove-232-teeth-teenager-mouth-article-1.1878411

http://www.iflscience.com/technology/lego-microscope-actually-works 

http://www.iflscience.com/space/black-holes-may-collapse-their-exact-opposites-white-holes

http://www.iflscience.com/space/sun-eerily-quiet-and-scientists-arent-sure-why

http://www.tickld.com/x/25-of-the-best-anti-jokes-ever-12-is-gold

Enjoy a mish-mash of articles in episode 24, including more 3D printing antics, how a parasite adds insult to injury, what new nursery rhymes may be emerging about natural selection, and just what an nT might be...

http://www.printing3dtoday.com/news/2014/07/14/002132/japanese-woman-arrested-sending-3d-printer-files-her-genitals

http://www.npr.org/blogs/goatsandsoda/2014/07/16/331729614/dogs-spread-kissing-bug-disease-in-texas-and-latin-america

http://www.iflscience.com/environment/new-study-suggests-world-brink-next-great-extinction

http://www.iflscience.com/physics/earths-electromagnetic-field-weakening

http://www.npr.org/blogs/13.7/2014/07/14/331328580/sex-death-and-evolution-nursery-rhyme-style

http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2014/07/14/330434597/this-is-your-stressed-out-brain-on-scarcity

http://www.iflscience.com/brain/magic-mushrooms-expand-your-mind-and-amplify-your-brain%E2%80%99s-dreaming-areas-%E2%80%93-here%E2%80%99s-how

http://www.iflscience.com/plants-and-animals/plants-can-hear-themselves-being-eaten

Join Nina, Reno, and producer Mike to explore the many faces of salad, as well as what you might consume if you give up food altogether.  Would you eat a colorless, nearly tasteless sludge in the name of efficiency and sustainability? 

What do you think of AI?  Could it ever be so well done that it fools real humans?  

Reno, Nina, and Mike discuss.  As Eugene Goostman might say, "Oh, what a fruitful conversation ;-)"

Harvard is reasonably sure their university library houses a book that's bound in human skin.  Arse'ne Houssayee's French treatise, "Des destine'es de l'ame" (On the Destiny of the Soul) 

is an example of anthropodermic bibliopegy.  It came to the library in 1934, and the skin was supposedly taken from a woman's back.

Beware the fungus among us--although it's not humungous.  Ophiocordyceps unliateralis is a parasite that lodges itself inside ants' brains, controlling their movements and turning them into tiny zombies.  

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2014/06/10/320321553/the-salad-frontier-why-astronauts-need-to-grow-lettuce-in-space

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2014/06/25/325189711/kandinsky-on-a-plate-art-inspired-salad-just-tastes-better?sc=tw

http://robrhinehart.com/?p=298

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugene_Goostman 

http://www.scottaaronson.com/blog/?p=1858

http://mobile.nytimes.com/blogs/artsbeat/2014/06/05/harvard-confirms-book-is-bound-in-human-skin/?_php=true&_type=blogs&smid=nytimesarts&_r=0

http://www.sciencechannel.com/tv-shows/through-the-wormhole/videos/this-fungus-turns-victims-into-the-crawling-dead.htm

http://www.npr.org/blogs/alltechconsidered/2014/06/25/325188747/these-bathroom-lights-tell-you-where-its-ok-to-go

*Special edition: Episode 23.5 at the Santa Cruz Mystery Spot!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NglZqExcRQk

Chickens are now taking advantage of virtual reality!  Yes, you read that right.  In an ingenious political move, the inventor of the VR chicken helmets creates a stir around the issue: can we afford to return animals to free-range lives?  

Moving onto current trends, some gamers have begun using trans-cranial direct stimulation, basically with a non FDA approved device that electrically zaps their brains, to better focus and improve their performance.  The question is, what are the long term effects?  These devices may also increase the user's likelihood to lucid dream.  Reno and Nina of course launch into a dialogue on lucid dreaming, trying to convince producer Mike that the experience is worth it.  They both, of course, experience cognitive dissonance.

An Atlanta based video game company called "Moneyhorse" is now developing "Glorious Leader!" which is a pixelated gaming experience featuring a two-dimensional Kim Jong-un attacking various things in America.  He first rides atop a flaming unicorn, then atop a dolphin, to better complete his epic rampage.

Ever wondered if different tears have different molecular structures?  They do.  And the visuals are surprising...

Finally, Nina tells a story of witnessing littering, and how Mary Poppins inspired her to handle it.

http://www.iflscience.com/plants-and-animals/these-virtual-reality-headsets-make-farmed-chickens-believe-they-roam-free

https://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fn.pr%2F1mYeWbV&h=kAQF00Nrg

https://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fn.pr%2F1j2HWvl&h=kAQF00Nrg 

https://news.vice.com/article/glorious-leader-the-video-game-is-coming-soon 

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=767455116628313&id=210238862349944 

http://www.policymic.com/articles/89363/science-shows-how-drummers-brains-are-actually-different-from-everybody-elses

Have you ever wanted to draw RIGHT INTO THE AIR?  Now you can, with a kickstarter product dubbed "the smallest 3D printing pen in the world."  It uses moldable plastic instead of ink, and creates 3D lines with every stroke you make.  Nina's on board, especially since Reno figured out how to "erase" mistakes you might make when drawing your 3D model.  Should you want to hang up your 3D creations when you're finished, maybe you can use "geckskin," a product that uses gecko-inspired characteristics to "maximize stiffness" and adhesion.  

Also discussed are cloaked DNA nanodevices, lasers that create rainstorms, whether or not myelin is an insulator or aides in improved connections.  And for all our scientists/mathematicians out there, our final article explains what happens chemically in your brain when you fall in love.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/lix3d/lix-the-smallest-3d-printing-pen-in-the-world/description

http://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/3d-printed-cast-speeds-bone-recovery-using-ultrasound

http://www.kurzweilai.net/cloaked-dna-nanodevices

http://www.kurzweilai.net/gecko-like-adhesives-now-work-on-real-world-surfaces

http://www.kurzweilai.net/laser-could-trigger-rain-and-lightning

http://www.iflscience.com/plants-and-animals/climbing-plant-ultimate-master-disguise

http://www.kurzweilai.net/less-myelin-found-in-neocortex-the-future-of-the-brain

https://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fn.pr%2FPudu5v&h=2AQGBRBiM

https://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fn.pr%2F1h2fF7Y&h=2AQGBRBiM 

http://www.npr.org/2014/04/25/301824760/what-happens-to-our-brain-when-we-re-in-love?sc=tw 

Jokes aside, the fact that science can grow new vaginas for disease afflicted young women is pretty amazing. 

Jokes not aside, beware of video game controllers that look like bizarre sex toys.  

 Join Reno, Nina, producer Mike, and guest podcaster Annie Armanino as they navigate through over an hour of science, psychology, technology, and miscellaneous articles.  Spoiler alert: puns abound. 

Scientists have found life on tilted exoplanets, certain hospitals open their doors to mummies after hours so they can CT scan their remains, and a new moon has been discovered orbiting Saturn.  Also, children's brains form memories much earlier than you might think, and what's the deal with that 19th century clothed mathematician?

http://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/laboratory-grown-vaginas-succesfully-transplanted-patients

http://www.npr.org/2014/04/10/301467163/a-peek-beneath-a-mummys-wrappers-powered-by-ct-scanners?sc=tw 

http://phys.org/news/2014-04-nasa-unprecedented-twin.html

http://www.kurzweilai.net/the-cosmic-web-unveiled-observing-dim-matter-in-3d

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?release=2014-112

http://physicsworld.com/cws/article/news/2014/apr/24/pivoting-exoplanets-could-harbour-life 

http://www.kurzweilai.net/a-video-game-controller-that-can-sense-players-emotions 

http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/39647/title/Telomeres-Show-Signs-of-Early-Life-Stress/ 

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/04/14040815610.htm

http://www.cracked.com/article_19042_6-terrifying-ways-crows-are-smarter-than-you-think_p2.html

http://www.kurzweilai.net/navy-researchers-demonstrate-flight-powered-by-fuel-created-from-seawater 

http://www.npr.org/blogs/the two-way/2014/04/12/302344054/in-australia-a-minute-of-silence-is-sold-to-help-vets?sc=twhttp://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2014/04/08/299189442/the-forgotten-childhood-why-early-memories-fade?sc=tw   

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/04/140408213358.htmhttp://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2014/04/09/300991364/gut-eating-amoeba-caught-on-film?sc=tw

http://www.npr.org/2014/04/12/301809660/making-math-and-microscopes-more-accessible?sc=tw

Have a listen to discover a few things you didn't know, and probably didn't want to know, about animals.  Spoiler alert, you might not view beavers and whales the same way again.  And, another spoiler alert, Reno still has the hots for dolphins.  

If you fear robots may take over the world, you could be right: but first, they're getting better at Pacman.  Perhaps making an invisibility cloak out of nano materials will save you...

Next time you're on a date, whether it's with someone brand new or a spouse of several years, see if he or she yawns when you do.  It could change your whole perspective on your relationship.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2014/03/26/293406191/does-beaver-tush-flavor-your-strawberry-shortcake-we-go-myth-busting?sc=17&f=1001

http://www.npr.org/blogs/krulwich/2014/04/03/298778615/the-power-of-poop-a-whale-story?sc=17&f=1001

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg22129624.300-dolphin-whistle-instantly-translated-by-computer.html#.UzQ4O3lUOdx 

http://www.kurzweilai.net/virtual-robots-teach-each-other-pac-man-and-starcraft-video-games 

http://www.kurzweilai.net/how-to-create-a-large-area-visible-light-invisibility-cloak

http://www.npr.org/blogs/krulwich/2014/03/25/294222535/you-yawn-she-doesn-t-yawn-back-uh-oh?utm_medium=facebook&utm_source=npr&utm_campaign=nprnews&utm_content=03032014

http://m.939myfm.com/articles/workday-watercooler-421220/dad-designs-special-shoes-for-paralyzed-12223800

http://www.kurzweilai.net/nanoparticles-that-cause-cancer-cells-to-self-destruct

http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2014/03/27/295260600/custom-chromo-first-yeast-chromosome-built-from-scratch?sc=17&f=1001

http://touch.latimes.com/#section/-1/article/p2p-78971408/

http://nationalreport.net/kansas-black-cosmos-show-controversies/

(http://www.snopes.com/politics/satire/cosmos.asp)

Learn why our society is going down like the Roman Empire, what to do if you don't like your wife's mitochondria, how water drops can run uphill, and why people's eyes are even more important than you think.

http://www.iflscience.com/environment/according-nasa-funded-study-were-pretty-much-screwed


http://www.iflscience.com/environment/what-do-when-youre-dead-science-edition

http://www.kurzweilai.net/are-three-person-designer-babies-ethical

http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2014/03/17/289042381/doctors-use-3-d-printing-to-help-a-baby-breathe?sc=17&f=1019

http://bit.ly/1gvM3yr

http://www.iflscience.com/plants-and-animals/narwhals-tusks-act-sensors


http://www.kurzweilai.net/introducing-project-morpheus


http://mobile.theverge.com/2014/3/25/5547456/facebook-buying-oculus-for-2-billion


http://www.kurzweilai.net/electric-thinking-cap-controls-learning-speed


http://m.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2014/03/24/what-women-want-on-the-dance-floor-according-to-science/


http://mobile.nytimes.com/blogs/well/2013/10/03/i-know-how-youre-feeling-i-read-chekhov/

ep18