Dec 072011
 
A Human Soul: Gift from Spooky Father Figure Above, or Just a Complex Recursive Pattern?

Soul? Electrical Pattern? Are we monumentally arrogant to even wonder if we are anything other than an inevitability of chemistry and physics? [author shrugs] Let’s see what Sebastian Seung, author of “Connectome,” has to say.

Dec 062011
 
Leaping Across Mori’s Uncanny Valley: Androids Probably Won’t Creep Us Out

We WANT to see human traits in other entities. Androids aren’t going to reach that point where they’re just human enough to be creepy, yet not quite human enough to accept – they’re going to leap past it.

Nov 222011
 
The Brain During Orgasm: fMRI Knows Exactly How Women Feel

What are people thinking in the lead-up to an orgasm? Could be a fascinating, lucrative, or a potentially horrifying reveal on human nature. A PhD candidate at Rutgers climbed into an MRI machine an rubbed one out for science. Go science, go!

Nov 172011
 
Digital Privacy, Facial Recognition, and Streamlined Bar Hopping in the Windy City

Anyone who moans and complains about Facebook privacy has got to be partially brain damaged. But faces are not something we can share selectively – well, unless we go all hijab on ourselves or something…

Nov 152011
 
Google: Bettering Humanity for Fun and Profit?

Google’s broad-spectrum tech development efforts & investment probably excede that of any other private entity. That’s great, but what’s up here? Is cutting-edge technological innovation shifting away from governmental entities? Is that good or evil?