So cool…
Check this place out! Battleship Island!
Updates from September, 2009 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts
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Carmen
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Carmen
Another recommendation…
I’ve been reading a lot of articles about the brain lately and in doing so I’ve come across a blog written by a woman who has Asperger’s Syndrome. Her blog is called Asperger’s Diary – its really interesting. Her last article talks about how she learned how to convey herself properly at a very late age. She goes really in depth about her thought process and I find it refreshing. Emily I know you have had your run-ins with Aspergers and now you can finally, truly understand how their brains work!
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Emilily
Okay, first let me say: thanks for carrying the blog this weekend! Right now I am still without internet, but I did buy you a present!
Asperger’s Diary sounds interesting, I would like to learn more about that syndrome. I think maybe we (“we” as a society, not just you and I) should start recognizing mild asperger’s, ADD and ADHD as not simply disorders but very common conditions that more and more people are going to experience, either directly or indirectly, and we should tailor our medical, educational, and professional environments to work with this reality, not against it. Just because someone has asperger’s, ADD, or even mild dyslexia or autism, should not preclude them from making the same contributions as everyone else. Maybe the increasing prevalence of these “disorders” is not the problem, maybe the problem is our too rigid concept of normal learning processes and our black and white approach to functional versus dysfunctional.
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Carmen
Actually, you’re right on the money with that I think. One of her previous articles called “Getting to the Root of It” talks about that. About what a cure really means and I totally agree with her. It doesn’t mean getting rid of the disorder, it means learning to work with what you’ve got. I think everyone who has this disorder has a point in their life (hopefully) where they have to wonder if its really everyone else who has the problem.
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Carmen
kayak angst…
So I’ve been listening to a podcast that I think you will really like. Its called Stuff You Should Know and its a branch off of the website HowStuffWorks. It has all of the requirements needed for our kind of entertainment. It has two funny guys talking to each other and these two guys talk about obscure topics and get really in depth… I think those are the only requirements so far. I’ve learned so much since I started listening to them. For example: Toxoplasmosis, Whale Sharks, Brownfields, Body Dymorphia, Parasites and the list goes on! I’m sure you looked at each one of those words and got a little excited about what you could be learning about in the near future right?! Thats what I thought. And as a teaser check out their blog and learn about kayak angst… fascinating!
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Emilily
Whoa! I did not know there was an official term for it, but I totally have kayak angst! Is that where you are afraid to get in a kayak because it will undoubtedly tip over and you will be stuck and drown trapped underneath? I have that. We took kayak lessons on the Trinity river with my family when I was a kid and I faked sick almost the whole time.
I will definitely check out that podcast, I need to learn some more stuff.
I put the WP app on my phone, but something has to be changed in the admin settings before it gives me access. (you might have to accept this reply also…) Anyways, we’re off to find some coffee and then hit the gym for a bit, then we’re going to Jackson Square to sight see…there are so many great things to post about here, but I’ll pick one this afternoon!
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Carmen
Ok, so kayak angst is NOT where you are afraid to get in a kayak for fear it will tip over, but I can see where you could come to that conclusion without having read the StuffYouShouldKnow blog. Kayak angst is where you are afraid to go fishing for days on end in the endless waters of Alaska in a kayak with no reference point because you’ll end up going in large circles, falling asleep, waking up not knowing where you are and continue going in circles until the end of time! Hows that for a run-on sentence! Yeah!
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Carmen
The crossroads where Japanese history meets deep space…
I read this article a while ago and have been thinking about it ever since. It describes how these researchers, using a variety of telescopes pointing into deep space, found an object that they can’t explain. But they do know some very interesting tidbits about this object that make it very intriguing. For example, they know that it is one of the oldest blobs that they have been able to capture on film. They say that this object existed when the universe was only a little baby – 800 million years old. To state this one assertion, however, brings up a whole host of questions. Like, really? You know how old the universe is? And I know this is a widely accepted theory (that the universe had a beginning) but I’m not on board with this theory just yet. So, they are very surprised to see something so bright at such a stage of the universe. And this is another interesting tidbit – this “stage” of the universe is commonly known as a transition point in the evolution of the universe called the “reionization epoch”. (what!) Yeah. Put that in your long term memory just in case you play a game of Trivial Pursuit – Universe Edition. OH! and here’s where it meets Japanese history – they named this blob Himiko after a mysterious Japanese Queen. And thats all they had to say to get me to look her up. Apparently she ruled her particular kingdom through shamanism and sorcery! Of course, details are kind of spotty because she lived so very long ago (yeah, just like the blob!). And keep in mind the intrigue doesn’t stop there – just imagine that this picture of Himiko is reaching you after travelling across space for 12.9 billion light years! Imagine what it looks like now…woah.
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Emilily
That was an awesome article. There are SO MANY concepts there I could ponder on for hours! My favorite was when the guy said “The farther out we look into space, the farther we go back in time.” What a great way to conceptualize the fourth dimension (time still is considered the fourth dimension, right?) It just makes sense! A one dimensional line increases into a two dimensional plane, which then increases into a three dimensional shape, and if you increase three dimensions far enough, you get closer and closer to a four dimensional space…although I guess we are always moving in the fourth dimension…but in a straight line, maybe traveling through deep space is like traveling through the fourth dimension in something other than a straight line…whoa. That makes a telescope the closest thing we have to a time machine.
Or, wait, maybe this one is my favorite “…according to the concordance model of Big Bang cosmology, small objects form first and then merge to produce larger systems…” Okay, for lack of my knowledge of any alternative, I can go along with that, but what if this Himiko blob IS a small object? What if it only looks large to us because we only have the things within our current reach to compare it to, maybe on the scale of the rest of the universe, the Himiko blob is a brand spankin’ new teeny tiny speck?!
I’m going to go read that article again.
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Carmen
Yeah! Thats what i’m saying! Maybe we should get this book about the TEN dimensions so we really know what we’re talking about. http://www.tenthdimension.com/flash2.php
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Emilily
I think we’ve looked at this book before. According to the psychobiologist who reviewed, we should read this, and I am inclined to agree with psychobiologists. We should read it at the same time so we can discuss it.
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Carmen
I want one.
Yes please! Is there some way I can volunteer for this?? Sounds like Sci-Fi but researchers are trying to insert a third strand of DNA into our standard double-helix. I totally want one. (warning: you might have to read this article slowly to understand what they are talking about)
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Emilily
Whoa. That was interesting. I made the mistake of reading the Scientific American article it was based on, and now my head hurts. I kind of got lost around page 4, but I do know a lot more about genes now – what a fascinating field of study! In conclusion – I’m sold, let the human experiments commence!
This just goes to show that Science Fiction really should be renamed Science That Just Hasn’t Happened Yet, or Future Science.
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Carmen
Whole body nervous system scan…
I thought this article was pretty fascinating. Not necessarily because they have figured out how to do something never before done – map the entire nervous system of the body – but more because it describes in detail how an MRI machine works! What an amazing invention.
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Emilily
I would very much like to read about how an MRI works, but first let me say OH THANK GOD THAT SCROLL BAR IS GONE.
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Carmen
Your learning for today…
So, I know how much you like to learn new stuff. And my endeavor in life is to make you super smart so…
In my reading today I’ve come across some good stuff. Did you know there is some crazy research being done these days on Cetaceans?
Also, apparently the Rorschach tests have been let out in the public and a bunch of people are up in arms about it. I think its pretty ridiculous, but I love Rorschach tests even though they are almost complete bullshit. I think they are still accurate in telling if someone is super duper crazy rather than just a little crazy.
I like this guy’s art.
And lastly, Mars! Astroids destroyed its magnetic flows man!
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Carmen
I think I like where this is going… then again it makes me wonder if Minority Report is in our near future.
Mind Reading Article -
Carmen
What I’ve learned today…
This is what I’ve been reading about today, I thought you might be interested.
First! Wtf?! Babies can talk dog language! At first I was wondering how this kind of research will benefit the human race but in the end I think its just an example of how our brains develop. It would make sense that our brains would recognize tone differences before anything else. http://bit.ly/1K0X9Z
Here is some more good brain stuff! I can imagine in the future they will look back on this article the way we look back on 8 tracks. New York Times brain article
And I learned this recipe which I will be making shortly. I like the way this guy talks.
http://epicureanzealot.com/2009/07/21/its-a-hit-green-beans-and-farro/
Emilily is discussing. 
Carmen, and 
Emilily 2:12 pm on September 9, 2009 Permalink
That place does look cool – I want to visit! (The Vice website is pretty interesting, too, although I just wasted an hour reading about some freakshow who thinks he is Jesus the Second and now I am thoroughly annoyed with both the people who join cults, and the people who leave fanatical comments on blogs featuring interviews with said cult leaders.)