Videos
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Invention – How Synthetic Life Works and what it means for the future
by Marshall Brain | November 23, 2010
In this 60 Minutes segment, Craig Venter describes his synthetic organism at the 3:40 point: It’s alive and self-replicating. It can grow and indefinitely make copies of itself. Did you design this to do anything in particular? No. We designed this just to see if we could do this whole experiment using synthetic DNA, and [...]
Have you backed up your hard disk lately? How To Backup Your Hard Disk
by Marshall Brain | November 23, 2010
Last week we had a tragedy in the Brain household. Our “main” hard disk died. We have six people in our family, and a total of seven computers on our network. The hard disk in the “main computer” died. This is a tragedy because the “main computer” is the one that houses all of our [...]
According to this video, there are more than 10 million vegans in the United States: But is a vegan diet really good for the human body? According to this long discussion by a former vegan, it is not: A Vegan No More She points out a long list of problems that resulted from her vegan [...]
The Classic Mini is a tiny car with a big following. In this episode, Scott and Ben discuss the origins, history and evolution of this iconic little car.
Humans have believed in the soul for millennia, and the evolution of science hasn’t stopped the search for ghosts and the soul. In fact, modern scientists still search for proof of life after death. Tune in to learn more about the latest research.
Black Friday @ Amazon – “You shouldn’t have to stand in a long line to get a great deal. We’re searching for the best Black Friday deals everywhere–including deals other stores are planning–so we can meet or beat their prices and bring them to you even earlier. These limited-supply offers will go quickly, but we’ll [...]
Jet Lag Makes You Dumb and Dumber
by Amanda Arnold | November 22, 2010
If you feel stupider when you’re jet lagged, it’s because you are. A recent scientific study presented at the annual Society for Neuroscience meeting showed that chronic jet lag decreases the amount of new neurons created in the brain by about half, making you less smart.
Atheism, Fundamentalism and Possibilianism
by Robert Lamb | November 22, 2010
Is there a God? Did some unimaginable divine hand set the course of human events or does it all boil down to a genetic mandate of propagation? Do you lay your offerings before the strict, atheistic machinations of science or at the feet of a patriarchal deity? I think a lot of us would opt for a third answer, a middle path of open-mindedness between the extremes of religious fundamentalism and strict atheism — and that’s why the concept of possibilianism is so attractive.
It really is hard to classify this video, but it definitely is interesting. It shows mechanical models that are able to behave in semi-intelligent ways. It answers the question: “Can a machine be constructed that makes another exactly like itself?” Automatic Mechanical Self Replication Part 1 shows the initial ideas that led to the more [...]
Starting word count: 40,036
Friday’s word count: 631
Saturday’s word count: 3,167
Sunday’s word count: 6,515
Total word count: 50,349! (Cue the fireworks.)
The product: Everything I had intended to wrap up in the plot, minus some sort of actual conclusion, which means lots of heartbreak and reconciliation. I’m not sure what the last thing that happens is.
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