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Lucky Mutants Need Less Sleep

August 17, 2009 / Klint Finley

Real mutants live among us with real super powers:

No one knows why some lucky folks thrive on five or six hours of sleep per night, while the rest of us suffer if we don’t get eight hours of shut-eye. But now scientists have discovered a genetic mutation that could be responsible for the eternal perkiness of short-sleepers.

Combing through a database of sleep-study volunteers, the researchers found two people who needed far less sleep than average. Both had abnormal copies of a gene called DEC2, which is known to affect circadian rhythms and oxygen regulation in mammals. When the scientists bred mice to have the same mutation, the mice slept less and were more active than their regular rodent peers.

Wired: Lucky Sleep Mutants Need Fewer Zzzzzs

Study: Monkeys share human preference for imitation

August 17, 2009 / Klint Finley

A new study shows capuchin monkeys prefer humans whose behavior mimics theirs, a trait they share with humans, scientists say.

Research conducted by the National Institutes of Health in cooperation with two Italian institutions examined how monkeys reacted to two types of humans — ones who copied their actions and ones who didn’t.

“If one person imitates what a monkey does, and the other person does not imitate, the monkey prefers to spend more time in front of the person that imitated them,” said Dr. Annika Paukner at the National Institutes of Health offices in Poolesville, Maryland.

Research has shown for some time that humans prefer to interact with others who act like them, and people have a subconscious tendency to imitate others. Paukner told CNN the new study shows it is more than just a human trait.

CNN: Study: Monkeys share human preference for imitation

(Thanks Bill!)

iHallucinate: Dream machine app for iPhone

August 5, 2009 / Klint Finley

iHallucinate is a dream machine app for the iPhone and iPod Touch.

(via Joseph Thiebes)

As previously seen here: here’s a web based version of the dream machine.

A Media History of Gray Aliens

July 28, 2009 / Klint Finley

man of year one million

Above is a illustration from the December 23, 1893 edition of the Ottawa Journal‘s reprint of HG Wells’s article ” The Man of the Year Million.” It may be the first visual representation of the famous “Greys.” The first description, however, may belong to Kenneth Folingsby, who wrote about a race of evolved beings in Meda: A Tale of the Future.

Iron Skeptic: A Media History of Gray Aliens

This makes an excellent companion to my Evolution of the Mutant in Popular Culture.

I will echo the comment from the bottom of that page that points out that there were many other representations of aliens in popular culture. The Grey-esque images the author links to sound relatively obscure compared to other portrayals by the time Grey sitings became popular.

A few questions:

1. Are there any older portrayals of “Grey-esque” creatures – in, for example, ancient tribal art?

2. When did accounts of Greys become particularly popular?

3. What is the likelihood that the earliest reporters of Greys had seen stuff like Amazing Tales covers?

FWIW, I like Douglas Rushkoff’s hypothesis from Playing the Future: the archetypal image of the Greys comes from the human fetus, and both their appearance and alien abduction phenomena correlate with the increased public debate over abortion.

The next hacking frontier: your brain?

July 15, 2009 / Klint Finley

WiredScience writes: Hackers who commandeer your computer are bad enough. Now scientists worry that someday, they’ll try to take over your brain.

In the past year, researchers have developed technology that makes it possible to use thoughts to operate a computer, maneuver a wheelchair or even use Twitter — all without lifting a finger. But as neural devices become more complicated — and go wireless — some scientists say the risks of “brain hacking” should be taken seriously.

“Neural devices are innovating at an extremely rapid rate and hold tremendous promise for the future,” said computer security expert Tadayoshi Kohno of the University of Washington. “But if we don’t start paying attention to security, we’re worried that we might find ourselves in five or 10 years saying we’ve made a big mistake.”

Hackers tap into personal computers all the time — but what would happen if they focused their nefarious energy on neural devices, such as the deep-brain stimulators currently used to treat Parkinson’s and depression, or electrode systems for controlling prosthetic limbs? According to Kohno and his colleagues, who published their concerns July 1 in Neurosurgical Focus, most current devices carry few security risks. But as neural engineering becomes more complex and more widespread, the potential for security breaches will mushroom.

Next Nature: The next hacking frontier: your brain?

(Thanks Nova!)

I warned people to stenograph their thoughts years ago. I later read (at the prompting of one Dr. Menlo Haruki Murakami’s Hardboiled Wonderland and the End of the World, in which neuro-encryption plays a great role.

“Mirror neurons” – real or not?

July 8, 2009 / Klint Finley

Oliver Morin at the International Cognition and Culture Institute sheds some light on the history of the science of “mirror neurons” and the recent study that found no evidence that they exist in humans. Long story short: the evidence has always been sketchy but played up to stimulate interest in science journals.

Oliver’s Blog: “No evidence of Human Mirror Neurons”

(Hat tip to Matthew Godwin, whose link to lead me to find the above link)

Excerpt from Antero Alli’s new book The Eight-Circuit Brain: Navigational Strategies for the Energetic Body

June 28, 2009 / Klint Finley

You can check out an excerpt from Antero’s new book, The Eight-Circuit Brain: Navigational Strategies for the Energetic Body at Reality Sandwhich:

Antero Alli: Eight-Circuit Brain excerpt

You can buy a DVD of Antero Alli’s talk from Esozone: The Other Tomorrow from Original Falcon:

The 8-Circuit Brain DVD

(note: this is not an official Esozone product, and Esozone does not benefit financially from sales of this product).

At the Bridge Table, Clues to a Lucid Old Age

May 26, 2009 / Klint Finley

So far, scientists here have found little evidence that diet or exercise affects the risk of dementia in people over 90. But some researchers argue that mental engagement — doing crossword puzzles, reading books — may delay the arrival of symptoms. And social connections, including interaction with friends, may be very important, some suspect. In isolation, a healthy human mind can go blank and quickly become disoriented, psychologists have found.

“There is quite a bit of evidence now suggesting that the more people you have contact with, in your own home or outside, the better you do” mentally and physically, Dr. Kawas said. “Interacting with people regularly, even strangers, uses easily as much brain power as doing puzzles, and it wouldn’t surprise me if this is what it’s all about.”

New York Times: At the Bridge Table, Clues to a Lucid Old Age

An article about Red Bull drinking 92 year old bridge players is a good compliment to this New Yorker article about 20 and 30 somethings trying to squeeze as much performance out of their brains as possible.

Who’s who in contemporary mad science

May 11, 2009 / Klint Finley

mad scientists

Wired’s overview of contemporary mad scientists:

Daryl Bem – Precognition
Edward Kelly – Disembodied consciousness (“Remote Viewing”?)
Eric Lerner – Origin of the cosmos
Rollin McCraty – Atmospheric effects on physiology
Garret Moddel – Telekinesis
Peter Sturrock – UFOs

Wired: The Truth Is Out There, and the Nation’s Maddest Scientists Are After It

Happiness: It Really Is Contagious

May 9, 2009 / Klint Finley

Turns out, misery may not love company — but happiness does, research suggests.

A new study by researchers at Harvard University and the University of California, San Diego documents how happiness spreads through social networks.

They found that when a person becomes happy, a friend living close by has a 25 percent higher chance of becoming happy themselves. A spouse experiences an 8 percent increased chance and for next-door neighbors, it’s 34 percent.

“Everyday interactions we have with other people are definitely contagious, in terms of happiness,” says Nicholas Christakis, a professor at Harvard Medical School and an author of the study.

Perhaps more surprising, Christakis says, is that the effect extends beyond the people we come into contact with. When one person becomes happy, the social network effect can spread up to 3 degrees — reaching friends of friends.

NPR: Happiness: It Really Is Contagious

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