Derren Brown's Blog, page 89

New solar energy conversion process discovered

"Stanford engineers have figured out how to simultaneously use the light and heat of the sun to generate electricity in a way that could make solar power production more than twice as efficient as existing methods and potentially cheap enough to compete with oil.

Unlike photovoltaic technology currently used in solar panels – which becomes less efficient as the temperature rises – the new process excels at higher temperatures.

Called "photon enhanced thermionic emission," or PETE, the process p...

Molecular Power Behind Memory Discovered

Neuroscientists have long wondered how individual connections between brain cells remain diverse and "fit" enough for storing new memories. Reported in the science journalNeuron, a new study led by Dr. Inna Slutsky (heh – sorry! – PD) of the Sackler School of Medicine at Tel Aviv University describes what makes some memories stick.

The key is GABA (γ-Aminobutyric acid), a natural molecule that occurs in the brain, which could be the main factor in regulating how many new memories we can...

Metal puzzle sculpture transforms into .45 calibre gun.

The Sarcastic Fringeheads: strange by name strange by nature

Brain On a Chip and other related mind technology

A well-covered recent article in MIT's Technology Review reports that a team of European scientists may have taken the first steps in creating a silicon chip designed to function like a human brain.

The human cortex has about 22 billion neurons and 220 trillion synapses. A supercomputer capable of running a software simulation of the human brain doesn't yet exist. Researchers estimate that it would require at least a machine with a computational capacity of 36.8 petaflops (a petaflop is a...

Sex Boosts Brain Growth, Study Suggests

Sex apparently can help the brain grow, according to new findings in rats. Sexually active rodents also seemed less anxious than virgins, Princeton scientists discovered. Past findings had shown that stressful, unpleasant events could stifle brain cell growth in adults. To see if pleasant albeit stressful experiences could have the opposite effect, researchers studied theeffects of sex in rats.

Scientists played matchmaker by giving adult male rats access to sexually receptive females either o...

SpaceShots: The Best New Photos of Our Universe

A collection of the best space images of the week. Above: June 30: A magnificent view of the region around the star R Coronae Australis, which lies at the heart of a nearby star-forming region and is surrounded by a delicate bluish reflection nebula embedded in a huge dust cloud. The image reveals surprising new details in this dramatic area of sky.

See more at Fox News (Thanks @XxLadyClaireXx)

Study demonstrates sexual attraction to those who resemble our parents, ourselves

"Researchers reporting in the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin last week say people are drawn to others who resemble their parents or themselves. This may explain why incest taboos are found in many cultures – to counter a natural tendency.

University of Illinois psychologist, Chris Fraley, said there had been a century-long debate on whether incest taboos are psychological or cultural adaptations designed to suppress a biological urge. In the early 20th century Sigmund Freud, a...

Neil deGrasse Tyson at UB: What NASA Means to America's Future

Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, a Distinguished Speaker at the University at Buffalo, answered a student's question about federal cutbacks to NASA funding. Tyson is host of the PBS series NOVA scienceNOW and director of New York City's Hayden Planetarium.

Biologists find that red-blooded vertebrates evolved twice, independently

"Through the process of natural selection, it finds new uses for existing features, often resulting in what is known as convergent evolution — the development of similar biological traits in different orders of animals, such as powered flight in birds and bats.

Now, research by University of Nebraska-Lincoln biologists has found convergent evolution of a key physiological innovation that traces back through the two deepest branches of the vertebrate family tree.

A team led by Jay Storz...