Myranda

(Week 4) The Incredible Internet. Every week I have posted something that has interested me. Something that could keep me intrigued for hours. This week, I couldn't choose what to post as my last post. I just couldn't pick an interesting topic to share. So I sat back in my chair and thought, "Well, I am on the internet for probably 6 hours every day. The internet is something that intrigues me." So, here you go. My last post is about the internet. Now, this is not really an article on the modern technological advances in science since all of us are aware of the the amazing things the internet can do. But, this is, in a way, a tribute to the internet. It has changed our lives, in my opinion, for the better. I was on stumpleupon (again) and I came across these videos: =Eric Whitacre's Virtual Choirs: = media type="youtube" key="D7o7BrlbaDs" width="353" height="294" align="center"

media type="youtube" key="6WhWDCw3Mng" width="353" height="294" align="center"

 Without the internet, something this beautiful would have never been created. It is just mind blowing to me that this many people got together, from all around the world. Just to sing together. The internet has united the world to do such insanely, cool things.  The internet has connected the world in so many ways. Through chat roulette (although, some parts of it may be nasty) people can chat with other people from across the world. Cultures can connect and people that are very different can share a moment together. The possibilities the internet opens up to us weren't even imaginable to past generations. What about internet dating? People that have been brought together through eharmony, match.com, whatever the site may be were brought together through the internet. Therefore, offspring that were created by these couples would not have been created without the existence of the internet. Therefore, maybe the person that will cure cancer was created from internet dating. So without the internet, no cure for cancer. Ok, I'm getting a little ahead of myself. But, hey, it's obvious that the internet has really changed our lives. I think about this a lot: without the internet, I would not have facebook, or tumblr, or twitter, or stumbleupon, or any sort of site that has distracted me from being productive. But, then again, how much less knowledge would I have if the internet was not around? Where would the world be without the internet? -  (week 3)   **S** **y** **n** **e** **s** **t** **h** **e** **s** **i** **a** **:** a condition in which stimulation in one of your senses triggers an experience in a different sense (taste/ color with sound) or when a sensation in one sensory modality triggers another sensation within the same modality (color with letters).

media type="youtube" key="1R_A4tUMOtI" width="382" height="315" align="right" Erica Goode, from the New York Times, wrote in September 1999, "Most people experience the sensory world as a place of orderly segregation. Sight, sound, smell, taste and touch are distinct and separate: A Beethoven symphony is not pink and azure; the name Angela does not taste like creamed spinach. Yet there are those for whom these basic rules of the senses do not seem to apply. They have a rare condition called Synesthesia, in which the customary boundaries between the senses appear to break down, sight mingling with sound, or taste with touch."

Ever since I was really young, this idea of synesthesia interested me like no other. This exact documentary to the right was what first introduced me to the idea. The experience synaesthetes undergo when listening to music or reading is so much different from what regular people experience. And, honestly, I envy the synaesthetes. Most of the time synaesthetes have an extroardinary memory, which is a great asset to have. They also can be extremely creative. Studying this condition informs neuroscientists about sensory perception, cross-modal sensory experiences, brain development, consciousness and much more.

Some famous people with synesthesia: (created by an artist with synesthesia) (http://www.uel.ac.uk/psychology/research/synaesthesia/)
 * The artist Kandinsky [[image:mackay1.jpg width="269" height="201" align="right"]]
 * The author Nabokov
 * Musicians Duke Ellington, Franz Liszt and Olivier Messiaen.
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%; text-decoration: none;">Artist David Hockney
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%; text-decoration: none;">Hip hop producer and musician Pharrell Williams

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">In 2005, it was believed that Synesthesia is maybe not as rare as it was once believed to be. Though synesthesia has been known for the past 300 years, it is only in the last two decades or so that it has been seriously studied by scientists. The use of fMRI scans have launched numerous scientific studies worldwide, and the Internet has permitted synesthetes, for the first time in history, to learn more about their abilities and to be in touch with one another.

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">The America Synthetic Association, Inc (ASA Inc.) is non profit organization created by Carol Steen and Patricia Duffy to provide information to synesthetes and to further research into the area of synesthesia. "The ASA Inc.'s mission is to foster and promote the education and the advancement of knowledge of the phenomena of synesthesia, and to promote and provide a means for the people who experience and/or study synesthesia to be in contact with each other. As part of its educational mission, the ASA will provide information to scientists, health professionals, academicians, researchers, artists, writers, musicians, lay persons and people who experience synesthesia." <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 50%;">(http://www.synesthesia.info/aboutus.html)

___

(Week 2) <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 240%;">A Car that Runs on **AIR**.... W <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 31px; line-height: 46px;">HAT???

media type="youtube" key="ztFDqcu8oJ4" width="425" height="350" align="right"<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">So, I was on stumbleupon (pretty much my obsession) and I came across this video. It could be possible that the air we breathe, could be used to fuel our vehicles. Meaning, our fuel could be free. It just seems too good to be true. [|The Air Car]

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">__Who__: <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">"Moteur Development International" (MDI) has been working for 10 years to develop this car.

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">__What__: <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">The future of fuel is AIR. Well, compressed air.

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">__How__: <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">"90m3 of compressed air is stored in fibre tanks. The expansion of this air pushes the pistons and creates movement. The atmospheric temperature is used to re-heat the engine and increase the road coverage. The air conditioning system makes use of the expelled cold air. Due to the absence of combustion and the fact there is no pollution, the oil change is only necessary every 31.000 miles."

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">Some comments on the youtube video I posted made me think about the selfishness of big oil companies. Someone posted, " What I am thinking is that the united states wont allow this into our country due to big oil. If this comes to the usa it will put the oil companies out of business u know thats why it's so regulated." Are oil companies really that selfish? Are Oil companies really willing to kill the wor <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px;">ld in order to make more money? This new invention has no hazardous emissions, is fueled for free, and is not wasting fossil fuels. This air car is an awesome technological advancement! Oil companies need to think about saving our world for generations to come.

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Mom and Dad, new car please?

(Week 1)

<span style="background-color: #f0ccc1; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: xx-large; font-weight: normal;">Using Pork for (thought to be) Non-Pork Products

<span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 120%;">All my life, I have kept kosher. I have never eaten pig, so I have never looked to pigs as an essential part of my life. But after hearing what Christien Meindertsma had to say, my thoughts on pigs changed. Pigs are actually present in **185 products** that we use on a normal basis. Such products that I, personally, had NO idea had anything to do with pigs. Meindertsma has been researching this idea for 3 years. In her book, __Pig 05049__, she followed the afterlife of one pig, taking note of the different products it created. This idea of using as much of a pig as we can assures me that we are using as much products as we can, and not letting much go to waste.



<span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;"> [|PIG] [|05049] <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">^check out Christien Meinderstsma's website <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">(There are also other really cool projects she has worked on that are there, too)

media type="custom" key="9552652" align="left"

<span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">^ Also check out her talking at Ted! <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 120%;">Not only are pigs, today, used for numerous products, but in a a couple of years, will be useful in saving lives. Lewis Smith discusses the developing new technology, known as xenotransplantation (animal to human transplants). Pig kidneys would be the most useful transplant organ, and hopefully, could be used widespread by 2018. <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 130%;">[|Pig organs ‘available to patients in a decade’]