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Kim Peek, aka Rain Man Focus of NASA Study

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the check-out-the-big-brain-on-brad dept.

Bob Vila's Hammer writes "Kim Peek - an autistic man who has been deemed a "mega-savant" for his astonishing knowledge of 15 grand subjects ranging from history and literature, geography and numbers, to sports, music and dates - is a part of a new NASA study to explore the changes in his brain since MRI images were originally taken in 1988. Not only was he the basis of the main character in the movie Rain Man, but he apparently is getting smarter in his specialty areas as he gets older. The study has scientists hoping that technology used to study the effects of space travel on the brain will help explain his mental capabilities."

10 of 366 comments (clear)

  1. LOL BUSH CHENEY TILL JAN. 2009 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    SUCK IT LIBERALS! hahaha hahaha hahahahahaha

  2. What would be more interesting to see is to by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    point him to Slashdot (and see how quickly his brain implodes).

  3. But.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    Aye, but can he install Gentoo?

  4. The real question is... by NarrMaster · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    ...how many queens are there?

    --
    That's right. All your base.
  5. I Get All My Boxers at K-Mart by The-Bus · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    I, for one, welcome our new 97X, bam! The future of rock 'n' roll! overlords.

    In Soviet Russia, overlords welcomed you on January 12, 1965. Very snowy that day. 12.2 inches of snow that day.

    --

    Small potatoes make the steak look bigger.

    1. Re:I Get All My Boxers at K-Mart by nearlygod · · Score: 0, Offtopic

      That is a great station and it still broadcasts online: http://www.woxy.com/

      --
      The Tools Of Ignorance wanna be a tool?
  6. Re:Kim Peek not "autistic" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    He can recall about 8000 books.

    Does anyone know his other superpowers, er, abilities?

  7. Maybe? by Braingoo · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    NASA is hard up for money and will take Kim on a road trip to vegas, Nah that would never work

  8. His homepage by OpCode42 · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    Visit his homepage at 97x.baaaam.thefutureofrockandroll.com ;)

  9. Re:compare to Bush's brain by stonecypher · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Actually, I'm modding it down because it's totally offtopic, not because I disagree. (Though, he's only actually won one election...)

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    StoneCypher is Full of BS