How does our brain organize the visual information that our eyes capture? Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, used computational models of brain imaging data to answer this question and arrived at what they call “continuous semantic space” – a notion which serves as the basis for the first interactive maps showing how the brain categorizes what we see.

The data on which the maps are based was collected while the subjects watched movie clips. Brain activity was recorded via functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI), a type of MRI that measures brain activity … Read More → "Maps provide “most detailed look ever” at how the brain organizes visual information"

While on his death bed, the brilliant Indian mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan cryptically wrote down functions he said came to him in dreams, with a hunch about how they behaved. Now 100 years later, researchers say they’ve proved he was right.

“We’ve solved the problems from his last mysterious letters. For people who work in this area of … Read More → "Mathematician’s century-old secrets unlocked"

At the moment it is a faint object, visible only in sophisticated telescopes as a point of light moving slowly against the background stars. It doesn’t seem much – a frozen chunk of rock and ice – one of many moving in the depths of space. But this one is being tracked with eager anticipation by astronomers from around the world, and in a year everyone could know its name.

Comet Ison could draw millions out into the … Read More → "‘Brighter than a full moon’: The biggest star of 2013… could be Ison – the comet of the century"

We’ve all dreamed of having superpowers at some point (today), but the majority of us have to accept the sobering reality that preternatural abilities simply aren’t possible. That is, except for some rare cases of real, actual people with bona fide powers that defy explanation (and in some cases practical application).

For instance …

#6. Ma Xiangang Is Impervious to Electric Shock

Read More → "6 real people with mind-blowing mutant superpowers"

Solar panels that can be integrated right into rooftops and the walls of buildings is a new market that is set to grow dramatically over the next five years, according to a new report from Pike Research, a part of Navigant. The report says that the energy capacity of solar panels that are built into the structures of buildings will grow from 400 MW in 2012 to 2.25 GW in 2017, or a five-fold increase worldwide.</ … Read More → "Building integrated solar panels set to boom over the next 5 years"

Whenever I see one of those massive public aquariums, I wonder just how thick that glass has to be. Apparently, someone at a shopping mall in China didn’t work out the answer to that question accurately enough, because the giant front window of a huge tank holding recently gave way, flooding the onlookers with a 33 ton wave of water and sharks.
via Read More → "Giant shark tank breaks open, flooding mall and injuring shoppers"

Since 2004 England-based Simon Beck has strapped on a pair of snowshoes and lumbered out into the the freshly fallen snow at the Les Arcs ski resort in France to trample out his distinctly geometric patterns, footprint by footprint. Each work takes the 54 … Read More → "New trampled snow art from Simon Beck"

Chris Goodroe doesn’t do Facebook, and he doesn’t do Twitter. Online socializing isn’t his thing. But after watching his neighbors use the internet to bust a pair of burglars earlier this year, the Oakland attorney decided to make an exception for Nextdoor, a neighborhood social network that is increasingly being used to fight crime.

“This collective mentality that Nextdoor allows us from a crime and … Read More → "Become a crime-fighting superhero in your spare time"

High-speed rail has hit another milestone, this time in China, with the opening of the world’s longest bullet train line.

The 1,425-mile high-speed rail system runs from Beijing to Guangzhou, reducing the time travelers would spend commuting between the capital and the manufacturing city from 22 hours to a scant 8 hours.

Traveling at an average speed of 186 mph, the line stops in Shijiazhuang, Zhengzhou, Wuhan and Changsha before arriving at … Read More → "World’s longest bullet train line opens in China"

It’s not really surprising but over half of Americans don’t have or use a land line, according to data published late last week by the Centers for Disease Control. The study tracks the demographics of land line telephone use and was designed to help the CDC adapt its data collection programs, which relied heavily on calling land lines. While the pitfalls of relying on landlines for surveys is well known, the report has some worthwhile stats on the demographics of landline telephone use.

The survey found that more … Read More → "Over half of American homes don’t have or use their landline"