Carl Sagan on the Brain
Great old 80′s docu from Carl Sagan. I just love the way he takes so much time over the phrase “100 trillion neuro-connections” (via The Neuro Times)
Can we really judge people from first impressions?
In a recent study, observers viewed full-body photographs of 123 people they had never met before. The targets were viewed either in a controlled pose with a neutral facial expression or in a naturally expressed pose. The accuracy of the judgments was gauged by comparing them to the aggregate of self-ratings and that of three informants who knew the targets well, a criterion now widely regarded as the gold standard in personality research.
Even when viewing the targets in the controlled pose, the observers could accurately judge some major personality traits, including extraversion and self-esteem. But most traits were hard to detect under these conditions. When observers saw naturally expressive behavior (such as a smiling expression or energetic stance), their judgments were accurate for nine of the 10 personality traits. The 10 traits were extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, emotional stability, openness, likability, self-esteem, loneliness, religiosity and political orientation.
“We have long known that people jump to conclusions about others on the basis of very little information,” says Gosling, “but what’s striking about these findings is how many of the impressions have a kernel of truth to them, even on the basis of something as simple a single photograph.”
Full article over at The Situationist
Detectives launch £20,000 murder inquiry after bogus tip-off from mystics
Police spent £20,000 scouring the country for a lion, a horse and a Mr Fox following a tip off they were told had come from the ghost of murdered man. But after spending weeks on the inquiry, detectives discovered that the messages from beyond the grave suggesting that Carlos Assaf had been killed by gangsters were bogus.
Detectives initially suspected that Mr Assaf, a 32-year-old fitness enthusiast, had hanged himself in his flat. However they revised their opinion and began a murder hunt when a tantalising new line of inquiry emerged.
A group of psychics got in touch claiming a spirit has told them that Mr Assaf had been strangled after being forced to drink petrol and bleach, an inquest into the death was told. They reported seeing “a lion, a horse and the name Tony Fox in their visions”.
Telegraph (Thanks Tammy)
Steampunk exhibition at the Museum of the History of Science
This started back in October so we’re a bit late with this one. But it’s on until late Feb. The Museum of the History of Science is in Oxford about 10 minutes walk from the station. Tash has just updated us to tell us you’ve practically have to run to get there in 10 minutes – more like 20.
Film (Thanks Tash)
DBBlog now with better sociable bookmarking just for you
I know this has been keeping some of you awake a night night so we fixed things. The RSS should update a little quicker on some platforms and we’ve added new sociable links at the bottom of each post. So if you see a story you like and want to “Tweet” it – just click the Twitter icon (or facebook, digg ect) and it will be posted to your account and make you look interesting, switched on and down with the kids. 
Doesn’t twitter seem all that less pointless now? 
If you are having any other issues please comment here and we will look in to them. Thank you all lovely people.
Catholic Church withdraws charity to thousands over gay marriage bill
The Catholic Archdiocese of Washington said Wednesday that it will be unable to continue the social service programs it runs for the District if the city doesn’t change a proposed same-sex marriage law, a threat that could affect tens of thousands of people the church helps with adoption, homelessness and health care.
Under the bill, headed for a D.C. Council vote next month, religious organizations would not be required to perform or make space available for same-sex weddings. But they would have to obey city laws prohibiting discrimination against gay men and lesbians.
Fearful that they could be forced, among other things, to extend employee benefits to same-sex married couples, church officials said they would have no choice but to abandon their contracts with the city.
“If the city requires this, we can’t do it,” Susan Gibbs, spokeswoman for the archdiocese, said Wednesday. “The city is saying in order to provide social services, you need to be secular. For us, that’s really a problem.”
Several D.C. Council members said the Catholic Church is trying to erode the city’s long-standing laws protecting gay men and lesbians from discrimination.
In separate interviews Wednesday, council member Mary M. Cheh (D-Ward 3) referred to the church as “somewhat childish.” Another council member, David A. Catania (I-At Large), said he would rather end the city’s relationship with the church than give in to its demands.
Murderer with ‘aggression genes’ gets sentence cut
A judge’s decision to reduce a killer’s sentence because he has genetic mutations linked to violence raises a thorny question – can your genes ever absolve you of responsibility for a particular act?
In 2007, Abdelmalek Bayout admitted to stabbing and killing a man and received a sentenced of 9 years and 2 months. Last week, Nature reported that Pier Valerio Reinotti, an appeal court judge in Trieste, Italy, cut Bayout’s sentence by a year after finding out he has gene variants linked to aggression. Leaving aside the question of whether this link is well enough understood to justify Reinotti’s decision, should genes ever be considered a legitimate defence?
No, says Nita Farahany, a legal scholar at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, who tracks the use of behavioural genetics in the courtroom. She says genes may provide a guide as to how someone is likely to behave, but they will never tell us why they committed a specific act. “It doesn’t tell us why they did the thing they did and that’s what criminal cases are ultimately interested in.”
What’s more, the gene argument seems to cut both ways. Reinotti viewed Bayout’s genes as mitigating his crime, but Farahany has noticed that US courts are increasingly using genes in evidence for the prosecution. “It’s just as likely to be used against a criminal defendant as for,” she says. “People don’t recognise the double-edged potential of this evidence.”
New Scientist (Thanks Eliza)
10 Extraordinary Child Prodigies
Cleopatra Stratan: a 3 year old singer who earns 1000€ per song
Clepotra was born October 6, 2002 in Chisinau, Moldova and is the daughter of Moldovan-Romanian singer, Pavel Stratan. She is the youngest person ever to score commercial success as a singer, with her 2006 album La vârsta de trei ani (“At the age of 3″). She holds the record for being the youngest artist that performed live for two hours in front of a large audience, the highest paid young artist, the youngest artist to receive an MTV award and the youngest artist to score a #1 hit in a country (“Ghita” in Romanian Singles Chart).
Kim Ung-Yong: Attended University at age 4, Ph.D at age 15; world’s highest IQ
This Korean super-genius was born in 1962 and might just be the smartest guy alive today (he’s recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as having the highest IQ of anyone on the planet). By the age of four he was already able to read in Japanese, Korean, German, and English. At his fifth birthday, he solved complicated differential and integral calculus problems. Later, on Japanese television, he demonstrated his proficiency in Chinese, Spanish, Vietnamese, Tagalog, German, English, Japanese, and Korean. Kim was listed in the Guinness Book of World Records under “Highest IQ”; the book estimated the boy’s score at over 210.
Kim was a guest student of physics at Hanyang University from the age of 3 until he was 6. At the age of 7 he was invited to America by NASA. He finished his university studies, eventually getting a Ph.D. in physics at Colorado State University before he was 15. In 1974, during his university studies, he began his research work at NASA and continued this work until his return to Korea in 1978 where he decided to switch from physics to civil engineering and eventually received a doctorate in that field. Kim was offered the chance to study at the most prestigious universities in Korea, but instead chose to attend a provincial university. As of 2007 he also serves as adjunct faculty at Chungbuk National University.
Read more at Oddee.com (Thanks SuZi)
The true story of the girl who fell asleep for nine years
A Ninteenth Century Mystery. On may 15, 1859, a child was born, She was the tenth child from a family of twelve. Her name was Ellen Sadler. there was nothing particularly remarkable about her, or any of the other children. Until Thursday, march 29, 1871, Ellen went to bed as usual. And did’nt wake up.
And just like a sleeping beauty, she didn’t wake for nearly ten years.
A Dr. Hayman, from nearby Stockenchurch, rushed in his pony and trap, as quickly as he could , but by the time he got there, she couldn’t be roused. as she lay there, apparently dead, her almost imperceptible breathing was the only thing showed she still had life in her body.
So began what even the great paper, The Times, called , ‘one of the most astounding, inexplicable, physiological phenomena ever known’.
Hubpages (Thanks Eliza)
