you don't need dozens of transistors to store a single bit of information, but just two
the imitation of neurons is a very interesting thing though
although I think I've read that some time ago already?
to say it's just an imitation of neurons is to ignore the real insight here
this isn't just trying to imitate neurons, this is reporting a potentially key insight into how neurons result in intelligence beyond just networking
the key thrust of the article is how the memristor properties may be an important key to the power of a brain beyond just the networking of the neurons
and considering this is fairly recent research, I doubt you read specifically about memristor capabilities of neurons and are probably confusing it with something else you read about neural networking
you don't need dozens of transistors to store a single bit of information, but just two
the imitation of neurons is a very interesting thing though
although I think I've read that some time ago already?
to say it's just an imitation of neurons is to ignore the real insight here
this isn't just trying to imitate neurons, this is reporting a potentially key insight into how neurons result in intelligence beyond just networking
the key thrust of the article is how the memristor properties may be an important key to the power of a brain beyond just the networking of the neurons
and considering this is fairly recent research, I doubt you read specifically about memristor capabilities of neurons and are probably confusing it with something else you read about neural networking
i'd been thinking about how the brain stores and transmits information for awhile ive just been too busy to do any real research
now this article comes along and answers my question and starts towards the process i was gonna look into
you don't need dozens of transistors to store a single bit of information, but just two
the imitation of neurons is a very interesting thing though
although I think I've read that some time ago already?
to say it's just an imitation of neurons is to ignore the real insight here
this isn't just trying to imitate neurons, this is reporting a potentially key insight into how neurons result in intelligence beyond just networking
the key thrust of the article is how the memristor properties may be an important key to the power of a brain beyond just the networking of the neurons
and considering this is fairly recent research, I doubt you read specifically about memristor capabilities of neurons and are probably confusing it with something else you read about neural networking
I was listening to an interview with the head writer of Bullshit on the Amateur Scientist podcast, and they were discussing the lack of skeptical shows in modern culture. Obviously there's not an overwhelming amount, but I wanted to try to think of shows or characters who came close to hitting the mark.
There's plenty of shows that just lay on the woo pretty thick without any skeptical presence at all, like Medium (which I've actually heard is pretty good, like her relationship at home is very well written), Ghost Hunters (which is just straight up nonsense), Oprah, etc.
Then there are shows that have a token amount of skepticism but don't let it carry any weight. For example, Scully was a hard line critical thinker at the outset, but the woo was all real so she was always proven wrong, and eventually turned into just straight up accepting everything once the aliens abducted her. Fringe is all nonsense all the time, but they give it credence by having a genius scientist explain bullshit psuedoscience for why it is true. Instead of saying "think critically", it says "just believe it, because there's wacky mad science to explain it!"
There's plenty of shows that are based on the concept of critical examination but manage to still promote the supernatural. CSI, for example, and it's cadre of spin-offs stick to their mantra of evidence-based science until they want to do an episode where they completely misrepresent some subculture like voodoo or gothy vampires. While the characters do their normal routine, the show does every thing it can to glamourize whatever club-dwelling Twilight reject or ancient mystical medicine man they are investigating.
Psych and The Mentalist are both in an odd middle ground where they are openly satirizing or playing off the shows like Medium by placing the role of the supernatural into something based on reality. Psych gets a bit of a pass because it's a detective show crammed into a half hour comedy, and they do a great job of mocking the over the top psychics out there, but at the same time, most of his discoveries come from coincidentally noticing some random clue using a skill he was unexpectedly trained on since being a child. I might be asking too much of the show, and I love it all the same, but I would really like to get more in-depth into how his father learned his observational skills and how he taught Sean.
The Mentalist I haven't seen much of, and I liked the first few episodes. They do a little bit of exposition to explain how he does what he does, but after that, it just seems like he has some gift. They don't do much to explain what techniques he uses to get people to admit to things or do what they do, and that's the brilliance of a mentalist, the how. Otherwise, it's just a psychic detective show with a different name. I'd have to watch more to see if they go into it more.
Obviously Bullshit is in there as a purely skeptical show, and that medical show with Dr. Oz or whatever his name is apparently works to dispel a lot of medical myths, so those are both good. My favorite skeptical show is Mythbusters, which should probably be called "Demonstrating the Scientific Method". They do the best they can to add controls to their experiments and eliminate variables and are always willing to admit that the results of a test might be less conclusive than they hoped for.
But the guy in the interview pointed out one show that I hadn't even thought of, and it really amazed me when he said it, because it shows how easily you can integrate skepticism into the mainstream and keep it fun. Yeah, I'm looking at you guys:
Scooby Doo was like the X-Files but in reverse. Shaggy and Scooby were Scully, but were the believers, and in the end, rational thought and investigation proved that it was not the scary ghost at all, but just some guy trying to scam someone to steal some pirates gold or something. In hindsight, probably the greatest skeptical entertainment in modern culture. I know that everytime Shaggy and Scooby ran away and hid behind an armoire, I would think "don't be ridiculous, it's probably just the creepy gardener making noises and not really a possessed suit of armor."
And then I would think "man, I could really go for a sandwich right about now."
you don't need dozens of transistors to store a single bit of information, but just two
the imitation of neurons is a very interesting thing though
although I think I've read that some time ago already?
to say it's just an imitation of neurons is to ignore the real insight here
this isn't just trying to imitate neurons, this is reporting a potentially key insight into how neurons result in intelligence beyond just networking
the key thrust of the article is how the memristor properties may be an important key to the power of a brain beyond just the networking of the neurons
and considering this is fairly recent research, I doubt you read specifically about memristor capabilities of neurons and are probably confusing it with something else you read about neural networking
yeah, no
and I didn't mean imitating neurons in software, or as blue brain does it, one neuron per processor, but as in imitating its work process.
I am thoroughly impressed, and will catch up on memristor theory this semester break, for personal fun :P
autono-wally, erotibot300 on
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cadmunkyOne hand on the bottle,The other a shaking fist.Registered Userregular
edited July 2009
that is glorious and unexpected.
i'm going to ask the deli guy today for a shaggy sandwich.
cadmunky on
"Think of it as Evolution in Action"
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Lost Salientblink twiceif you'd like me to mercy kill youRegistered Userregular
edited July 2009
NaC, you are the first person to successfully make me feel bad for disliking Scooby Doo.
So, well done, I suppose?
Now I'm going to devote the rest of my evening to thinking of skeptics/skeptical shows in pop culture.
Lost Salient on
"Sandra has a good solid anti-murderer vibe. My skin felt very secure and sufficiently attached to my body when I met her. Also my organs." HAIL SATAN
Psych's an hour long. But other than that, agreed, NaS.
Oh you're right.
Well, points against Psych then. Then again, when an hour is not enough time to resolve their mysteries in a meaningful way sometimes, I guess I don't want them taking out time for other things.
In addition, in re-reading that hastily-written stream-of-consciousness post, I thought of a few other things to add:
Bullshit is absolutely not a purely skeptical show. It is probably 80% critical thinking and 20% libertarian propaganda.
I didn't mention Bones, because Emily Deschenel's character on that show is a superb hardline skeptic, but she is also sexy as hell and that makes me incredibly biased.
WHO has been informed by health authorities in Denmark, Japan and the Special Administrative Region of Hong Kong, China of the appearance of H1N1 viruses which are resistant to the antiviral drug oseltamivir (known as Tamiflu) based on laboratory testing.
(Note: it isn't actually a huge deal yet, but expect to see it on CNN shortly.)
Therefore, based on current information, these instances of drug resistance appear to represent sporadic cases of resistance. At this time, there is no evidence to indicate the development of widespread antiviral resistance among pandemic H1N1 viruses. Based on this risk assessment, there are no changes in WHO's clinical treatment guidance. Antiviral drugs remain a key component of the public health response when used as recommended.
If a primetime network show was one part Mythbusters, one part Mr. Wizard, one part CSI and one part LOST with a lead like the guy from the Mentalist, I would watch the hell out of the show.
NotASenator on
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Zen VulgarityWhat a lovely day for teaSecret British ThreadRegistered Userregular
edited July 2009
Should I feell bad that basically my whole job is to tell scientists that things are illegal
Tamiflu is derived from another drug that you need to inhale for it to be effective, but people didn't like doing that so they altered it slightly to make it possible to take as a pill. Tamiflu is an ester of that other drug, so I think maybe it could still have an effect on tamiflu-resistant strains, but as I understand it the ester bit gets chopped off once it's in the body, so I think the active form is the same as that other drug and it might not. I dunno.
NAC: I might include House in that list, if only for the bits where he crushes the hopes of patients believing that god or something is going to help them, but then again he's not exactly the most relatable character.
If a primetime network show was one part Mythbusters, one part Mr. Wizard, one part CSI and one part LOST with a lead like the guy from the Mentalist, I would watch the hell out of the show.
I thought Fringe was going to be something like this, since they kept talking about how all the science would be real, etc. Unfortunately, no.
If a primetime network show was one part Mythbusters, one part Mr. Wizard, one part CSI and one part LOST with a lead like the guy from the Mentalist, I would watch the hell out of the show.
I thought Fringe was going to be something like this, since they kept talking about how all the science would be real, etc. Unfortunately, no.
If a primetime network show was one part Mythbusters, one part Mr. Wizard, one part CSI and one part LOST with a lead like the guy from the Mentalist, I would watch the hell out of the show.
I thought Fringe was going to be something like this, since they kept talking about how all the science would be real, etc. Unfortunately, no.
Fringe lost me about 30 minutes into the first episode.
First off, I was promised a mad scientist, and instead I get a crazy person. Not the same thing.
Secondly, there's so much awesome REAL fringe science and emerging concepts that might get people interested in stuff. One of the benefits of the West Wing was that they used real world issues as fodder for the political issues in the show, so that you might get interested in actually learning about how the census works or shit like that.
And just on another TV science note, I've found this neat website: Polite Dissent
While it mainly focuses on comic books, it also looks at TV medicine. It's pretty interesting, and I've learned some cool medical facts.
* 3. You Cannot Shock A Flatline
When the heart goes into asystole (a term for when it stops beating and has no electrical activity), the treatment is NOT defibrillation. To restart a non-beating heart, the recommended treatments are CPR, epinephrine, atropine, and transcutaneous pacing. Defibrillation does more harm than good.
Notable bad examples: Iron Man #7, Action Comics #817, Superman #175, X-treme X-Men #18, and a certain superhero movie in theaters now.
One of the fluffiest breeds of monkey, Cotton-top tamarin monkeys, has apparently displayed a high level of intelligence related to language skills. A study reported in Royal Society Biology Letters states that the monkeys can tell the difference between prefixes and suffixes.
Prefixes and suffixes are essential to language. They are involved in tense—walk-ing as opposed to walk-ed. They tell indicate time—pre-1900s or post-1900s. Sticking on a prefix or suffix onto a word (or affix) entirely changes the meaning of a word. Recognizing their purpose is an important step to understanding language.
House is a great show and should absolutely be on the list, if only for the episodes where the kid think he's being abducted, the young faith healer, ones like that.
Compare that to the brain tumor causing psychic visions in Grey's Anatomy (they removed the tumor and he still had a psychic vision for Meredith at the end)
Grey's anatomy is so fucking awful, ugh. I don't get why it's popular, all the actresses are pretty ugly by tv show standards. I didn't think the male ones were attractive either, are they?
Posts
this isn't just trying to imitate neurons, this is reporting a potentially key insight into how neurons result in intelligence beyond just networking
the key thrust of the article is how the memristor properties may be an important key to the power of a brain beyond just the networking of the neurons
and considering this is fairly recent research, I doubt you read specifically about memristor capabilities of neurons and are probably confusing it with something else you read about neural networking
i'd been thinking about how the brain stores and transmits information for awhile ive just been too busy to do any real research
now this article comes along and answers my question and starts towards the process i was gonna look into
STEAM!
Fuckin' sweet.
Maybe he's a memristor bot from the future?
...but seriously, I am, um, not good at dancing. So it is okay with me if guys ain't got the dance moves.
"Sandra has a good solid anti-murderer vibe. My skin felt very secure and sufficiently attached to my body when I met her. Also my organs." HAIL SATAN
a)stick butt out
b)shake dat azz
Don't forget jiggle the boobies and maybe put her arms above her head.
Secret Satan 2013 Wishlist
"Sandra has a good solid anti-murderer vibe. My skin felt very secure and sufficiently attached to my body when I met her. Also my organs." HAIL SATAN
Notice how they only used heterosexual males, as putting gay men in would totally skew the balance against the straight guys who can't dance.
I would, but I'd much rather use up my daily quota of euphemism and innuendos at the expense of others
"Sandra has a good solid anti-murderer vibe. My skin felt very secure and sufficiently attached to my body when I met her. Also my organs." HAIL SATAN
There's plenty of shows that just lay on the woo pretty thick without any skeptical presence at all, like Medium (which I've actually heard is pretty good, like her relationship at home is very well written), Ghost Hunters (which is just straight up nonsense), Oprah, etc.
Then there are shows that have a token amount of skepticism but don't let it carry any weight. For example, Scully was a hard line critical thinker at the outset, but the woo was all real so she was always proven wrong, and eventually turned into just straight up accepting everything once the aliens abducted her. Fringe is all nonsense all the time, but they give it credence by having a genius scientist explain bullshit psuedoscience for why it is true. Instead of saying "think critically", it says "just believe it, because there's wacky mad science to explain it!"
There's plenty of shows that are based on the concept of critical examination but manage to still promote the supernatural. CSI, for example, and it's cadre of spin-offs stick to their mantra of evidence-based science until they want to do an episode where they completely misrepresent some subculture like voodoo or gothy vampires. While the characters do their normal routine, the show does every thing it can to glamourize whatever club-dwelling Twilight reject or ancient mystical medicine man they are investigating.
Psych and The Mentalist are both in an odd middle ground where they are openly satirizing or playing off the shows like Medium by placing the role of the supernatural into something based on reality. Psych gets a bit of a pass because it's a detective show crammed into a half hour comedy, and they do a great job of mocking the over the top psychics out there, but at the same time, most of his discoveries come from coincidentally noticing some random clue using a skill he was unexpectedly trained on since being a child. I might be asking too much of the show, and I love it all the same, but I would really like to get more in-depth into how his father learned his observational skills and how he taught Sean.
The Mentalist I haven't seen much of, and I liked the first few episodes. They do a little bit of exposition to explain how he does what he does, but after that, it just seems like he has some gift. They don't do much to explain what techniques he uses to get people to admit to things or do what they do, and that's the brilliance of a mentalist, the how. Otherwise, it's just a psychic detective show with a different name. I'd have to watch more to see if they go into it more.
Obviously Bullshit is in there as a purely skeptical show, and that medical show with Dr. Oz or whatever his name is apparently works to dispel a lot of medical myths, so those are both good. My favorite skeptical show is Mythbusters, which should probably be called "Demonstrating the Scientific Method". They do the best they can to add controls to their experiments and eliminate variables and are always willing to admit that the results of a test might be less conclusive than they hoped for.
But the guy in the interview pointed out one show that I hadn't even thought of, and it really amazed me when he said it, because it shows how easily you can integrate skepticism into the mainstream and keep it fun. Yeah, I'm looking at you guys:
Scooby Doo was like the X-Files but in reverse. Shaggy and Scooby were Scully, but were the believers, and in the end, rational thought and investigation proved that it was not the scary ghost at all, but just some guy trying to scam someone to steal some pirates gold or something. In hindsight, probably the greatest skeptical entertainment in modern culture. I know that everytime Shaggy and Scooby ran away and hid behind an armoire, I would think "don't be ridiculous, it's probably just the creepy gardener making noises and not really a possessed suit of armor."
And then I would think "man, I could really go for a sandwich right about now."
yeah, no
and I didn't mean imitating neurons in software, or as blue brain does it, one neuron per processor, but as in imitating its work process.
I am thoroughly impressed, and will catch up on memristor theory this semester break, for personal fun :P
i'm going to ask the deli guy today for a shaggy sandwich.
"Think of it as Evolution in Action"
So, well done, I suppose?
Now I'm going to devote the rest of my evening to thinking of skeptics/skeptical shows in pop culture.
"Sandra has a good solid anti-murderer vibe. My skin felt very secure and sufficiently attached to my body when I met her. Also my organs." HAIL SATAN
But what if I refuse to dance, ever. Then they will never know how awful I am!
If scooby doo has taught me anything, it's that all haunted places are related to evil property developers.
kpop appreciation station i also like to tweet some
Oh you're right.
Well, points against Psych then. Then again, when an hour is not enough time to resolve their mysteries in a meaningful way sometimes, I guess I don't want them taking out time for other things.
In addition, in re-reading that hastily-written stream-of-consciousness post, I thought of a few other things to add:
Bullshit is absolutely not a purely skeptical show. It is probably 80% critical thinking and 20% libertarian propaganda.
I didn't mention Bones, because Emily Deschenel's character on that show is a superb hardline skeptic, but she is also sexy as hell and that makes me incredibly biased.
Viruses resistant to oseltamivir (Tamiflu) identified
(Note: it isn't actually a huge deal yet, but expect to see it on CNN shortly.)
NAC: I might include House in that list, if only for the bits where he crushes the hopes of patients believing that god or something is going to help them, but then again he's not exactly the most relatable character.
kpop appreciation station i also like to tweet some
I thought Fringe was going to be something like this, since they kept talking about how all the science would be real, etc. Unfortunately, no.
you should know better
i say this as someone who really digs Fringe
Fringe lost me about 30 minutes into the first episode.
First off, I was promised a mad scientist, and instead I get a crazy person. Not the same thing.
Secondly, there's so much awesome REAL fringe science and emerging concepts that might get people interested in stuff. One of the benefits of the West Wing was that they used real world issues as fodder for the political issues in the show, so that you might get interested in actually learning about how the census works or shit like that.
you are stifling creativity!
While it mainly focuses on comic books, it also looks at TV medicine. It's pretty interesting, and I've learned some cool medical facts.
kpop appreciation station i also like to tweet some
Everybody's always in favor of saving Hitler's brain, but when you put it in the body of a great white shark - suddenly you've gone too far!
Monkeys show language recognition
Compare that to the brain tumor causing psychic visions in Grey's Anatomy (they removed the tumor and he still had a psychic vision for Meredith at the end)
kpop appreciation station i also like to tweet some