Science | Fiction | Technology
Stories meander mysteriously – randomly – yet make so much sense after all
So I looked at fear last week and I will examine memory and trauma next. Before that, it will be useful to review how the brain works in a nutshell. The basics aren’t difficult. Here’s a little Brain 101 with a twist: neurons and synapses represented in text symbol pictures. The brain is a network … Continue reading Brain Basics in Text Symbol Pictures
For something so awkward and squishy-looking, the brain is a deliciously complex and efficient thing that commands and controls everything about us. In the spirit of Halloween, I look today at what the brain does when we are afraid (with the help of Ellen Degeneres and her team). When you experience something scary (or stressful), … Continue reading This is Your Brain on Fear
How do lasers work (including an attempt to explain an Einstein theory using the word “tickle”)? What’s the latest on laser weapons? Is it possible to construct a laser forcefield that lets some things pass through but not others (and if they try the get blown up)? In which I continue to build the setting … Continue reading Lasers: Guns and Forcefields
The reserve of the Western world since the early 15th century, the Tallest-Manmade-Thing-in-the-World (TMTW) Baton has been passed around the Eastern Hemisphere for the last 15 years. And these things are getting taller. More generally, the average height of buildings in urban areas is increasing. There are problems with this, especially with respect to environmental … Continue reading Skyscrapers (Part 2 of 2)
I was getting ready to go to my morning ethics class. 9/11/2001 evokes the same question for our generation that the shooting of JFK did for the previous one: where were you? We remember how the Twin Towers went down. I never had the privilege of knowing them intimately when they stood, but as I did … Continue reading Skyscrapers (Part 1 of 2)
Most of us have been in one. Most of us live in one. According to the UN, 54 percent of the world’s population live in urban areas this year. By 2050, 66 percent of people in the world will. But what does that mean, anyway – “city”? It’s not as straightforward as it seems. In … Continue reading Cities
There are seven billion people in the world. Where is everybody, really? Discovering Maps The Population Reference Bureau (PRB) has a great interactive population density map that incorporates information on standards of living, such as life expectancy and income. This PRB map aggregates populations at the country level using data from official census results and multilateral institutions. … Continue reading Where the 7 Billion Are and How Pictures of Nighttime Lights Can Be Useful
