December 13th, 2008
Humans can see into the future, says a cognitive scientist. The mechanism behind that can also explain why we are tricked by optical illusions.
Researcher Mark Changizi of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York, says it’s our visual system that has evolved to compensate for neural delays, generating images of what will occur one-tenth of a second into the future. That foresight keeps our view of the world in the present. It gives you enough heads up to catch a fly ball (instead of getting socked in the face) and maneuver smoothly through a crowd. His research on this topic is detailed in the May/June issue of the journal Cognitive Science.
http://www.livescience.com/strangenews/080602-foresee-future.html
January 17th, 2008
When you squeeze that black paint from the tube, have you assumed that is the limit of blackness?
Well apparently it is not so black after all. Standard black paint still reflects about 5 -10% of the light that falls upon it.
Scientists now have developed a substance that reflects less than 0.1%.
Researchers say the new black could be applied to solar and other technologies. But in that list is also mentioned "defence" (a.k.a. war).
New Material Pushes the Boundries of Blackness – Reuters, Tue 15th Jan 2008
August 2nd, 2006
William Blake memorial, Bunhill Fields, City Road, Finsbury, London. 28 January 2006. Photographer: Fin Fahey.
I recently was wandering around Shoreditch and Central East London. I happened upon an old graveyard that was still intact. A rarity in London as most have been ripped up and turned into parks. While enjoying its cool silence under the green canopy of the trees, away from the hussel of busy London streets, I discovered that Blake was interned there. He and his wife, Catherine, were buried at Bunhill Fields (from “Bone Hill”), a Dissenter’s cemetary. It is unconsecrated ground.
Interestingly, his grave had been lost for some 50 odd years since the end of the WWII and through the slueth work of some locals they located the approximate location and errected a memorial. Many people leave coins on the stone. I assume its because the man died a pauper for his art and visions. There were other famous authors buried there also. William Dafoe, “Robin Carusoe” (very close to Blake’s grave), John Bunyin “Pilgrim’s Progress”.
