Weak jaws, big brains

A new study suggests humans owe their big brains to a mutation that weakened their jaw muscles. Ironic, since big brains led to speech, which has led to people exercising their jaws over everything under the sun ever since.

Cool technology, lousy headline

Here’s an interesting article about attempts to develop prosthetic devices for humans activated by thought alone. Good idea. But who was the editor that allowed the headline to read “Thought-control system tested on humans”? Guys, a “thought-control system” would be a system that controls people’s thoughts, not a system controlled by people’s thoughts. Although it …

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Brain fingerprinting, the column

It sounds like science fiction: strap a few electrodes onto someone’s head and determine whether his or her brain contains certain information. But in fact “brain fingerprinting” is here today. Brain fingerprinting is based on the “ah-ha” response, an involuntary response by the brain to information it has been exposed to before. Dr. Lawrence Farwell, …

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I wish I’d seen this…

A bright fireball lit the sky over Saskatchewan…and I missed it.

The ancient sea of Mars

Nope, “The Ancient Sea of Mars” is not the title of a lost Barsoomian tale by Edgar Rice Burroughs; it’s where one of the Mars Rovers touched down! Next thing you know they’ll spot a fossil…

Invasion of the giant squid!

First Norway was attacked by Stalinist crabs, then Europe was overrun by Nazi raccoons, and now Chile is under attack by giant squids. Apparently those ’50s sci-fi movie makers were better at predicting the future than we thought.

More big news coming from Mars?

NASA is set to make another announcement of a “major scientific finding” from the Opportunity rover, tomorrow at 2 p.m. EST.

Brain fingerprinting

It sounds like science fiction: strap a few electrodes onto someone’s head and determine whether his or her brain contains certain information. But in fact “brain fingerprinting” is here today. Brain fingerprinting is based on the “ah-ha” response, an involuntary response by the brain to information it has been exposed to before. Dr. Lawrence Farwell, …

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Cool comet image

Check out this image of the Comet Wild 2, combining a detailed photo of its surface with a longer-exposure image that captures the outgassing jets. Cool!

This is good to hear…

Jayson Blair’s book is not exactly, um, burning down the house. Wonder if he’ll have to give back part of the six-figure advance?

Operatic hobbits

They’re small, but boy can they sing! The first operatic adaptation of The Hobbit is announced by the Canadian Children’s Opera Chorus.

I didn’t sign it!

Apparently, a hundred well-known (well, in Canadian terms) Canadian personalities” have demanded that Ottawa withdraw from the U.S. missile-defense shield. Hey, I’m a Canadian personality–and for what it’s worth, I say the 100 signees are all wet.