science
You're glowing today...
People Emit Visible Light: "An Anonymous Reader writes 'The human body literally glows, emitting a visible light in extremely small quantities at levels that rise and fall with the day, scientists now reveal. Japanese researchers have shown that the body emits visible light, 1,000 times less intense than the levels to which our naked eyes are sensitive. In fact, virtually all living creatures emit very weak light, which is thought to be a byproduct of biochemical reactions involving free radicals.'
Via Slashdot
Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor on TED
Amazing video of brain scientist Dr. Jill Bolte recounting the details of her stroke as she lived through it.
Via TED | TED Blog
"Dark Flow" Outside Observable Universe
Been hearing a lot about "Dark Flow" lately...
"Dark Flow" Outside Observable Universe: "DynaSoar writes 'NASA astrophysicists have discovered what they claim is something outside the observable universe exerting an effect on the observable. The material is pulling clusters of galaxies towards a region of space known not to contain sufficient matter to create the effect. They can only speculate on what the material is and how space might differ there: 'In these regions, space-time might be very different, and likely doesn't contain stars and galaxies (which only formed because of the particular density pattern of mass in our bubble). It could include giant, massive structures much larger than anything in our own observable universe. These structures are what researchers suspect are tugging on the galaxy clusters, causing the dark flow.''
Via Slashdot
The brain and sleep
Interesting article on Scientific American about how beneficial sleep is to the brain. Amongst the examples cited in the article is the story of Friedrich August Kekulé whose dream about a snake eating its tail helped him discover the ring structure of Benzene.
Sleep on It: How Snoozing Makes You Smarter Via Scientific American