|
|
|
Knowledge Moves
‘Knowledge comes from, and is drawn into, different organisational structures. At the same time, the notion that knowledge travels… Invites one to reconstruct communities in its wake, tracing connections after the fact.’ (Strathern 2004: 15). We...
Misdiagnosing Narcissism - Asperger's Disorder
(The use of gender pronouns in this article reflects the clinical facts: most narcissists and most Asperger's patients are male.) Asperger's Disorder is often misdiagnosed as Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD), though evident as early as age 3...
The Basis of the Mind
Sherlock Holmes had funny ideas. He actually believed that the
brain can get full. So he ignored anything that was not part of
his core business as an Investigative Consultant.
This zany character was invented by Conan-Doyle, as a...
The Finite Element Method: A Four-Article Series - Part 1
The following four-article series was published in a newsletter
of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) .
It serves as an introduction to the recent analysis discipline
known as the finite element method . The author is
an...
Witnesses, Mormons, Schuler, Graham and others
The founding of the United States went along with the formation of many new denominations and cults run by the same people. I will present an argument from a fundamentalist type of site that seems to equate Luciferianism with Satanism. This is a...
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
The Bill Clinton Neuron And The Sweat Neuron
In the world of science, there is excited speculation about recent discoveries of individual neurons in the brain, with striking capabilities. They had discovered a neuron, which fired on recognition of just one special face. Scientists spotted this using microelectrodes, which could identify the firing of a single neuron. Buried deep in the amygdala of a female patient, they discovered the so-called “Bill Clinton” neuron. The cell fired on recognizing three very different images of the former President; a line drawing of a laughing Clinton; a formal painting depicting him; and a photograph of him in a crowd. The cell remained mute when the patient viewed images of other politicians and celebrities. In other patients, scientists found similar cells that responded selectively to actors, including Jennifer Anniston, Brad Pitt, and Halle Berry.
Most neuroscientists had believed that specific nerve cells handled individual pixels as on a television screen. Suddenly, a single neuron could identify Clinton. Could there be a “thinking neuron?” Scientists felt it impossible for an individual cell to be clever enough to make sense of a concept as subtle as Clinton. Even the world’s fastest supercomputers would have difficulty performing that pattern-recognition feat. So, how could a single neuron ever learn to recognize a President? Such speculation on the nature of neurons continued ceaselessly in scientific circles. This was surprising. How could scientists remain blind to the significance of the Nobel Prize awarded in 2004 to Lynda Buck for the discovery of the recognition processes in the olfactory system?
There, Buck had already reported a “Sweat” neuron and an “Orange” neuron. Those experiments concerned the recognition of smells. She reported that octanol smelled like oranges and octanoic acid, like sweat, even though their chemical structures were similar. Yet, different neurons fired for each smell. Was this just more evidence of
thinking neurons? Yet, Buck had a simple explanation. The olfactory system recognized different combinations of firing for different odors. First, a single receptor recognized multiple odorants. Second, a single odorant was recognized by multiple receptors. And third, different odorants were recognized by different combinations of receptors. It was this combinatorial coding system, which enabled the olfactory system to recognize millions of odors. So, there were Sweat neurons, Rose neurons and Orange neurons. And millions more. Could it be that Clinton and Berry neurons were no different?
Was it only the olfactory system, which used combinatorial coding? The mind received kaleidoscopic combinations of millions of sensations. Could instant combinatorial recognition extended beyond the olfactory system? Could it be the essence of the neural system? A new book, The Intuitive Algorithm, suggested just this. The mind used combinatorial coding and pattern recognition to propel recognition through many neural regions like a lightning streak. The mind saw, recognized, interpreted and acted. Data was reported to move from input to output in a bare 20 milliseconds. In the blink of eye. Myriad processes converted light, sound, touch and smell instantly into your nerve impulses. Special regions recognized those combinations as objects and events. The limbic system, another region, interpreted those events to generate emotions. A fourth region responded to those emotions with actions. The mind perceived, identified, evaluated and acted. Pattern recognition and combinatorial coding got you off the hot stove in a fraction of a second.
About the Author
Abraham Thomas is the author of The Intuitive Algorithm, a book, which suggests that intuition is a pattern recognition algorithm. The ebook version is available at www.intuition.co.in. The book may be purchased only in India. The website, provides a free movie and a walk through to explain the ideas.
|
|
|
|
|
| Science/AAAS | Scientific research, news and career information |
| International weekly science journal, published by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). |
| www.sciencemag.org |
|
| Science/AAAS | Table of Contents: 1 December 2006; 314 (5804) |
| This Week in Science: Editor summaries of this week's papers. Science 1 December 2006: 1349. ... 2006 American Association for the Advancement of Science. ... |
| www.sciencemag.org |
|
| Science.gov : FirstGov for Science - Government Science Portal |
| Science.gov is a gateway to government science information provided by US Government science agencies, including research and development results. |
| www.science.gov |
|
| ScienceDaily: Your source for the latest research news and science ... |
| ScienceDaily -- the Internet's premier online science magazine and science news web site -- brings you the latest discoveries in science, health & medicine, ... |
| www.sciencedaily.com |
|
| Science News - New York Times |
| Find breaking news, science news & multimedia on biology, space, the environment, health, NASA, weather, drugs, heart disease, cancer, AIDS, mental health ... |
| www.nytimes.com |
|
| Science News Online |
| Weekly magazine offers featured articles from the current issue along with special online-only features. Includes photo collection, archives, ... |
| www.sciencenews.org |
|
| Science in the Yahoo! Directory |
| Explore the fields of astronomy, biology, geology, mathematics, and physics and all of their related disciplines with resources designed for professionals, ... |
| dir.yahoo.com |
|
| Open Directory - Science |
| Agriculture (2454); Anomalies and Alternative Science (525); Astronomy (4208); Biology (20593); Chemistry (4852); Computer Science@ (2358) ... |
| dmoz.org |
|
| BBC - Science & Nature |
| The best of BBC Science and Nature, from TV and radio, to the web and beyond. Take a tour from the smallest atoms, to the largest whales and the most ... |
| www.bbc.co.uk |
|
| Science - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
| Sciences versus Science: the plural of the term is often used but is difficult to ... Science education is also a very vibrant field of study and research. ... |
| en.wikipedia.org |
|
| Popular Science |
| Monthly magazine about current science and technology. |
| www.popsci.com |
|
| Science/AAAS | ScienceNOW: The Latest News Headlines from the ... |
| AAAS web magazine. Some free sample stories, subscription required for full text. |
| sciencenow.sciencemag.org |
|
| ScienceCareers.org | Science Jobs, Funding, Meetings, and Advice ... |
| Searchable database of jobs, sorted by field specialty. Can post resume and curriculum vitae. Includes tips for improving the workplace for employers and ... |
| sciencecareers.sciencemag.org |
|
| American Association for the Advancement of Science |
| Research news, issue papers. Educational programs, science policy (US and international). |
| www.aaas.org |
|
| NASA - Science@NASA |
| News and features about NASA research, aimed at the general public. Includes sections on astronomy, space science, beyond rocketry, living in space, ... |
| science.nasa.gov |
|
| Science NetLinks: Resources for Teaching Science |
| Resources for K-12 science educators. |
| www.sciencenetlinks.com |
|
| Cool Science for Curious Kids |
| Fun and interactive site to help kids appreciate science. Why are snakes like lizards, and monkeys like moose? Find out here. |
| www.hhmi.org |
|
| Welcome to the Science Museum |
| London museum and library of science. Exhibitions cover all areas of science and technology. Includes online exhibits and a learning area. |
| www.sciencemuseum.org.uk |
|
| New Scientist - International News, Ideas, Innovation |
| Weekly science and technology news magazine, considered by some to be the world's best, with diverse subject matter. Articles from current issue and ... |
| www.newscientist.com |
|
| CNN.com - Science and Space |
| Offers news stories related environmental issues, archeology, astronomy, technology, geology and other science topics. |
| www.cnn.com |
|
|