I asked myself: »Is it deception or is it perception?« Or is it just brain functions beyond our daily routines of cognition.
Magician Keith Barry on TED Talk. Think of Keith Barry as a hacker of the human brain - writing routines that exploit its bugs and loopholes, and offering a revealing look at the software between our ears. Quoted from TED.
My post from yesterday cited Hugh McLeod who pinpoints so perfectly well the bubble, the hype, the controversies, the scourge and advantages the world wide web brings about. Compared to the web Wade Davis is talking about this web seems flat and futile. His presentations is wonderful. It gives a deep insight into the various concepts and visions of life of our globe’s cultures. Davis so brilliantly outlines the difference and sameness among all of us. It is a weekend, perhaps you find the the time to listen. I think it is worthwile.
Anthropologist Wade Davis is perhaps the most articulate and influential western advocate for the world’s indigenous cultures. His stunning photographs and evocative stories capture the viewer’s imagination. He argues, in the most beautiful terms, that language isn’t just a collection of vocabulary and grammatical rules. In fact, “Every language is an old-growth forest of the mind.”
Recently a study was published by Stanford University in Washington that advises us to starve on our long distance holiday trips, if we want avoid jet lag or at least dampen the effects of the time lag on our body. The study was performed in mice. The researchers found out that not only light, the rhythm of day and night is timing our gene clock, but also hunger. While chronobiology is a compex thing the Stanford experiment is looking for a simple way out. Genetically modified mice that lack the major clock gene seem that they are steered primarily by hunger. If they that are kept hungry stay up longer than their wild breed controls. Thus, they suggest that hunger is the second meter pulsing our body’s clock. If there is any shortage in food, the scientists state the shortened day-night-cycle increases their chance of surivival. At least this is the conclusion they draw from their experiments in mice.
A longer time awake makes survival more likely. Do you agree? And the next conclusion, and that seems rather rigorous and arbitrary to me, is: Hunger is a concept against jet lag. Give it a try. If it does not help your jet lag symptoms, it may help you to loose wait 
Norbert war kürzlich in Hamburg und hat ein russisches U-Boot besucht. Das erinnerte mich natürlich wieder an Umberto Maturana und seine Geschichte vom U-Boot-Kapitän. 
Es war für mich eines der Beispiele, das so schnell und einfach deutlich macht, wie Sichtweisen vom Standpunkt des Beobachters abhängen. Die Geschichte erzählt sich in etwa so: Ein Beobachter steht am Ufer eines Fjords, das zerklüftet und gefährlich durch seine Untiefen das Durchqueren schier unmöglich erscheinen lässt. Nun beobachtet unser Beobachter aber ein U-Boot, das äußerst wendig und geschickt alle Hindernisse der Natur problemlos wendig um- und durchschifft. Unser Beobachter hat das Glück den Kapitän des Schiffes nach seiner beeindruckenden Fahrt durch das Fjord zu treffen.
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The key question of sport sciences is the one concerning fatigue. What are the factors that limit performance? (more…)
Since we work on the development and marketing of our new product: the BIEST//BOOSTER we are paying a lot more attention to subjects like doping. Doping is not only an issue among athletes. The specific about sports is as a matter of fact that cheating adds on doping. As biestmilch is a substance used in high performance athletes we are well aware of this perspective of the problem. At this point I don’t want to go into this highly political and controversial subject. I would like to draw your attention to a breaking news published in Nature. The journal cites a poll they had performed among 1400 scientists in 60 countries asking whether they took already once substances known as braindoping like Ritalin or Modasamil. Yes, indeed, one in five admitted the use of these drugs to increase concentration and performance. One quarter of the interviewees takes drugs once a week. Half of them already suffers form withdrawal symptoms like headaches, lack of concentration, panic attacks or trembling. Even though they are not ready to refrain from using these addictive substances. To their opinion it should be on them to decide. Only for kids they recommend prohibition.
Recently, I read about the fact that a high number of students as well is addicted to such performance enhancers. It is not mine to judge, but definitely, we would be happy to see those guys to try our booster, magic stuff and all nature. The Biest//Booster contains the strength and long lasting effectiveness of Biestmilch and a slight boost of the natural caffeine-extract Guarana.
A few days ago I noticed a strange objects clinging to a tree. It reminded very much of a pollen, an aggressive one… must be art, I thought, a metaphor for pollen allergies and spring, a rather ridiculous one, I dare to say… It is up to you to judge.
We are not yet sure whether this object is part of an art exhibition, because this lady sex pollen is not the only bizarre thing clinging to a tree in our fuddy-duddy city
I have always been fascinated by quantum theory. I love its versatility and volatility, its uncertainty, and the fact that the observer is introduced as part of the observed system himself influencing the state of the system and its measured parameters. As there is a lot of talking and speculating about the future of computers, here is a short and comprehensible presentation about the quantum computer.
Next post will be from Mallorca, where we are going to confront a bunch of triathletes with the advantages of biestmilch for endurance performance.
Science in Action: How to Follow Scientists and Engineers Through Society
The Body Multiple: Ontology in Medical Practice (Science and Cultural Theory)
Entstehung und Entwicklung einer wissenschaftlichen Tatsache: Einführung in die Lehre vom Denkstil und Denkkollektiv
Making Things Public: Atmospheres of Democracy
Chris Ware (Monographics)
They Called Her Styrene, Etc
Public & Its Problems
Der Baum der Erkenntnis. Die biologischen Wurzeln des menschlichen Erkennens.