Month: April 2011

Posted in Articles and Links

The Nature of REALity

Posted on by Marjorie Kaye Noble

FROM: Pharnygula

Evolution, development, and random biological ejaculations from a godless liberal

The Nature of Existence

Posted on: February 3, 2011 9:40 AM, by PZ Myers

I forgot to mention that I did attend the local screening of The Nature of Existence, the new movie from Roger Nygard in which he traveled the world asking various people grand questions about the meaning of life, etc. It was entertaining, and it is subtly subversive of religious views, so I will recommend it. But I do have a few reservations that I was also able to bring up in the Q&A after the movie.

One thing that was alarmingly obvious when watching it is that almost all the gurus and authorities and religious figures that he interviewed were male. There were exceptions — the 12 year old daughter of his neighbor (who was an unrepentant atheist, and I thought the most sensible voice in the whole movie), a lesbian priest, the wife of a pastor — but otherwise, this show is one long sausage-fest. When I pointed this out, Nygard was apologetic and recognized that this is a significant omission, but explained that he simply hadn’t noticed when he was filming the material. Isn’t that the whole problem, that we’re oblivious to these omissions of half the population of the planet? Article: http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2011/02/the_nature_of_existence.php

Posted on: February 3, 2011 9:40 AM, by PZ Myers

 

 

Posted in Articles and Links

How Virtual Reality Will Change Who We Are

Posted on by Marjorie Kaye Noble

FROM BIG THINK

Parag and Ayesha Khanna on April 5, 2011, 7:22 PM

Today marked the publication of the new book Infinite Reality: Avatars, Eternal Life, New Worlds, and the Dawn of the Virtual Revolution by Jeremy Bailenson and Jim Blasocovich.

Infinite Reality gets inside all of the technologies and animation that we now take from granted, from Wii video games to movies like the Matrix and Avatar, and explains how this virtual reality is changing our reality.

In this video on the book’s website, the authors discuss how the human mind perceives interaction with digital avatars as real, opening a whole new world of possibilities for shaping the mind outside of normal social contexts:

Jeremy is the director of Stanford’s Virtual Human Interaction Lab (VHIL), and Jim, one of the original pioneers of virtual reality, teaches at the University of California in Santa Barbara. Very much related to the scope of this book, Jeremy’s recent research has shown the surprising ways in which just a few minutes spent in the virtual environments he has constructed change how we view ourselves and each other once we step back into the real world.

Unafraid to forecast decades into the future, Bailenson and Blascovich are at the forefront of showing how the lines between physical and virtual are blurring in our emerging hybrid reality. The book is a must-read for anyone interested in how the next generation of the Web – 3D immersive reality – will shape and transform us as we engage with it.

Posted in Articles and Links

DaVinci Surgical Robot Plays ‘Operation’ Board Game, Saves Cardboard Life (Video)

Posted on by Marjorie Kaye Noble

FROM: SINGULARITY HUB

by Aaron Saenz April 7th, 2011

Modern life teaches us funny lessons like: if you can’t win at a child’s board game, use a multimillion dollar robot to cheat. PhD students at John Hopkins University’s Lab for Computational Sensing and Robotics (LCSR) ran into some trouble playing the classic board game Operation which requires you to remove tiny plastic organs from ‘Cavity Sam’ without triggering his electric alarm system and killing him. Their failure is a little daunting considering these guys are the next generation of surgical innovators. To overcome their limitations, those students hooked ‘Sam’ up to the da Vinci robot system from Intuitive Surgical. The video below shows the results. While this was all just a good natured joke, I’m glad the da Vinci robot and LCSR are getting some decent publicity from it. These robots, and the surgeons who use them, are saving thousands of lives each year and pushing us towards the future of medicine.

Posted in Articles and Links

Transhumanism for Children

Posted on by Marjorie Kaye Noble

FROM SINGULARITY

by Nikki Olson on March 31, 2011

It is often pointed out that Transhumanism shares many features with religion. It answers questions regarding the nature of the world and humanity’s place in it, it offers guidance on how to live, and inspires hope. However, there are a number of important things distinguishing it from a religion, such as the lack of belief in a Deity and its emphasis on the empirical method and reason. Another distinguishing feature relates to the obstacles associated with teaching Transhumanism to children.

Although being religious as an adult entails contemplation of many of life’s more difficult questions, following a religion can and does occur at very young ages. Children are able to contemplate God to some extent, usually via the anthropomorphized metaphor of ‘the father’, they are able to associate simple moral behaviors with ideas of reward and punishment, and they become enthralled in the ‘magic like’ elements of religious miracle.

Are children capable of contemplating Transhumanism?

Article: http://singularityblog.singularitysymposium.com/transhumanism-for-children/

Posted in Articles and Links

Giant Squid Eye, 2008

Posted on by Marjorie Kaye Noble

From the Smithsonian: http://newsdesk.si.edu/snapshot/giant-squid-eye

Giant squid have the largest eyes in the animal kingdom—at up to 10 inches in diameter, they are the size of a dinner plate. These massive organs allow giant squid to detect objects in the lightless depths where most other animals would see nothing.

The giant squid is among the largest invertebrates on Earth—with lengths measuring nearly 60 feet. Giant squid can descend to 6,500 feet and are known to be aggressive hunters.

The eyes, on either side of the head, each contain a hard lens. An image is focused by changing the position of the lens, as in a camera or telescope, rather than changing the shape of the lens, as in the human eye.

This item is one of 137 million artifacts, works of art and specimens in the Smithsonian’s collection. It is not currently on display.

More information at http://ocean.si.edu/ocean-life-ecosystems/giant-squid

Posted in Articles and Links

Scared of heights? Take this pill

Posted on by Marjorie Kaye Noble

From: THE TELEGRAPH

A pill could help people cure themselves of a fear of heights, a study suggests.

By Richard Alleyne, Science Correspondent

28 Mar 2011

Scientists have discovered that giving people a tablet of the stress hormone cortisol can help reduce their phobia.

The hormone, which is part of the body’s “fight or flight” reaction to danger, appears to open the brain up to being reprogrammed and to permanently remove anxieties.

Tests on 40 patients with acrophobia – a fear of high places and edges – found those given cortisol in combination with behavioural therapy dramatically reduced their aversion.

The researchers said their findings, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, could lead to the development of effective treatments for a host of anxiety disorders.

Half the participants were given the drug and the others a placebo an hour before being subjected to a virtual-reality outdoor elevator ride.

Their fear was measured three to five days and one month after the last exposure session through an established acrophobia questionnaire and by sensors that picked up their sweat known as skin conductance examinations.

Compared with those given the dummy pill participants who took cortisol suffered significantly less anxiety and a smaller increase in skin conductance during follow-up.

The effect also lasted a lot longer and still apparent a month later.

Article Link:  http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/8411753/Scared-of-heights-Take-this-pill.html