James Randi at TED
James Randi discussing cold reading and homeopathy.
UPDATE: The video was removed so we have this one instead:
Extreme Breath-Holding: How It’s Possible
“A Swiss freediver held his breath underwater for 19 minutes and 21 seconds, according to news reports this week. The gasp-inducing feat beat the previous world record by 19 seconds, and blew away the record of 17 minutes and four seconds that magician David Blaine set on Oprah Winfrey’s talk show in 2008.
For most ordinary humans, all that breath-holding can be hard to fathom. The feat might also bring up some basic questions about biology. For example: Is it really possible to survive without inhaling for that long? And is it healthy?
“It is, as a matter of fact, possible — with certain tricks,” explained Claes Lundgren, a physiologist at the University of Buffalo School of Medicine in New York.
It is probably not, however, good for you, and consequences can be deadly.”
Read how it’s possible at Discovery News (thanks, DG)
Volcano Chaser Braves Eruptions For Stunning Pictures
“Most people would think themselves unlucky if they passed a volcano as it erupted, but this counts as a good day at the office for one photographer.
Martin Rietze is part of a select group of volcano-chasers who seek out the exploding phenomena, and braves huge electric storms and boiling lava to get the perfect shots.
The 45-year-old travels around the world’s volcano hotspots, from Costa Rica to Italy, in his pursuit of Earth’s greatest fiery spectacle.”
Read more at the Daily Mail (thanks, KirstyJ)
School ‘Spied On Pupils At Home Through Webcams’?
“Administrators of a wealthy suburban school district have been spying on students and their families at home after giving them laptops fitted with webcams, according to a lawsuit filed by parents.
The Lower Merion School District, which administers a Philadelphia suburb that is one of the wealthiest parts of Pennsylvania, issued all 1,800 students at its two high schools with laptops so they could access school materials at home.
However, according to a civil action filed in the local US district court, neither parents nor their children were ever warned that the access worked both ways.
Michael and Holly Robbins claim they were alerted to the snooping when an assistant principal at Harriton High School warned their son, Blake, in November last year that he was “engaged in improper behaviour in his home”, citing a photo taken on his laptop webcam as evidence.”
Read more at The Telegraph
In Darwin’s Shadow
Relatively few peple are aware that alongside Charles Darwin, another Scientist was busily working with the idea of natural selection. Alfred Russell Wallace not only spent even ore time than Charles Darwin collecting specimens, but pushed Darwin into publishing his Theory of Evolution by writing up his own findings on natural selection.
While Darwin has become a posthumous champion of skeptics, Wallace dabbled in spiritualism and pseudoscience. His ideas of natural selection also differed quite a bit from Darwin’s, as this biography shows.
Moscow Ice Disk a rarity of nature
“Tim Weston recently sent us this picture of what appears to be a extremely rare river phenomenon known as an ice disk.
They form near outside bends of rivers, and the turning motion of the water spins pieces of ice into these smooth, weird disks.
They’ve been seen in scattered northern locals on rare occasions, turning up in Canada this year, as reported here. The article does a nice job of explaining how they form, too.
Another ice disc caused a stir in Britain last year.”
Read more at Burlington Free Press
Bright, Clean Rooms Promote Good Behaviour
“The smell of citrus promotes generosity, while dim rooms increase dishonesty and selfish behaviour, psychology researchers suggest in recent studies.
Chen-Bo Zhong, a psychologist at the University of Toronto, and his colleagues in the U.S. have conducted a series of small experiments designed to test how changes in an environment — differences in lighting or smell — can affect human behaviour.
In one experiment, participants were given $10 in change and 20 mathematical problems, and sent into either a room brightly lit with florescent lights or one with a third as many lights on.
The subjects were asked to complete as many of the problems as they could in five minutes and to keep 50 cents for each problem they solved. They were asked to put the rest of the change in an envelope when they were done.”
Read more at CBC News (thanks, Tammy)
Sarah The Talking Ram
First debauched video of the tour. This was late in Torquay, and features Sarah, a ram (?) bought from the Marble Museum gift shop, showing off her talking skills. This followed a gigglesome evening in front of YouTube, watching the talking cats and dogs compilation you’ll be no doubt familiar with (if not, watch first, otherwise this will be even more pointless). Iain donned Sarah, hid behind the chair and is doing the voice.
This may be a waste of valuable minutes for you in the cold light of day, but at the time we nigh on wat ourselves.
Mental Health Clinic Filled With Optical Illusions
“Japanese designers Nendo have completed the interior of a mental health clinic in Akasaka, Tokyo, where none of the doors open and patients and staff instead move around the building by opening sections of the walls.”
Read more at Dezeen Magazine (thanks, SonOfSam)
