There's also that vision changes are continuous throughout life; I got LASIK two years ago and my vision was great; then I started developing astigmatism in one eye and I'm back to glasses again (oh, how I hate glasses). I could not get LASIK again because the astigmatism has not stabilized yet.
Even without such things, at age 45 or so you'll be back to glasses regardless. LASIK isn't permanent... it's a temporary reprieve. Much like everything else in the universe your eyes are subject to entropy.
It sure was good while it lasted though, and I'll happily do it again if and when my vision stabilizes.
"......if you can penetrate through the zones of the skies and the earth, then penetrate, you will not do so without authority." -Qur'an (55:33) "Do not the Unbelievers see that the heavens and the earth were joined together (as one unit of Creation) before We clove them asunder? And We got every living thing out of the water. Will they then not believe?" -Qur'an (21:30) "Travel through the earth and see how Allah originated creation." -Qur'an (29:20) "We have built the universe with power; verily, we are expanding it." -Qur'an (51:47)
"We will show them our proofs in the horizons, and within themselves, until they realize that this is the truth. Is your Lord not sufficient as a witness of all things?" -Qur'an (41:53) "And He has subjected to you (man), from Him, all that is in the heavens and on earth: behold, in that are signs indeed for those who reflect" -Qur'an (45:13)
No, that is not the Bible, but John Paul II stated repeatedly all Abrahamic faiths (Judism, Christianity, Islam) worship the same God.
Hey, you're not supporting the troops. It's ok for the US to do it, because the US would never use a weapon of mass destruction like a nuke against a civilian population.
Indeed I was the same way-- without treatment I had lots of mental fog, couldn't get stuff done, or even hold conversations with people really.
Adderall/amphetamine is more powerful but be careful, it is neurotoxic even at low doses whereas methylphenidate (Ritalin) is not. (you can query this on PubMed for more information) Still, if it's what works for you, I'm sure the benefits outweigh the risks.
The great irony here is that I can legally be prescribed methamphetamine (Desoxyn) by my doctor for ADHD if he felt it was warranted, as methamphetamine is a schedule II drug, and I would not have to show an ID or fill out anything to get the Desoxyn from the pharmacy. Further, someone else could even pick it up for me. Again, with no ID or signature, merely the prescription.
That is absolutely NOT out of place. The main thing ADHD drugs do is boost dopamine levels in the prefrontal cortex of your brain. Exercise does this too, as short term changes in gene expression result in increased calcium ion transport in the brain, which in turn raises dopamine levels. These changes last for about 56 hours. There is also some evidence of long-term favorable changes to dopamine receptors from exercise in animal models, but to what degree these studies apply to humans is unknown.
Bottomline: exercise absolutely helps concentration and mental function.
Also, meditation has been proven to increase dopamine levels in the prefrontal cortex as well.
However, these on their own were not enough to overcome my ADD and I still had to take drugs. But they help. I would greatly prefer to take nothing at all, but there are limits to "natural" cures.
1. Insulation; titanium is less condutive of heat/electricity. This can be a benefit or detriment depending on the application. 2. Strength; the same amount of Ti/Al alloys to support a specific load can be made with a lighter weight of Ti. An equal volume of Ti is heavier than Al, though. 3. Fatigue life; titanium, like iron, has infinite fatigue life. Aluminum does not. What this means is you can make a spring from Ti but Al will fail if repeatedly stressed. 4. Corrosion; titanium is more corrosion resistant than Al because it oxidizes rapidly in contact with air 5. Social reasons; titanium has significantly more percieved value than Al, moreso than the material differences. Further Ti has a unique color as well.
Sometimes aluminum will still be better; in many applications the relative strength difference doesn't matter and thus a lighter equivalent volume of Al is advantageous. Also, the high conductivity of Al is a good thing in many situations.
The most common Ti alloy, Ti-6Al-4V, actually has 6% Al in it.
This isn't anything new-- quantum theories to explain memory have been around for quite some time; since the 1980s I think. But it's only been lately that there have been studies that have actually quantified and identified this.
You should be able to find a lot more on Google / PubMed.
My conclusion from recent evidence suggests that memories are not stored in the brain, or even in the synapses, but rather accessed through quantum microtubules or neurotubules within the brain. Assuming the regrown brain structures could access the same underlying quantum structure the previous neurotubules were able to, the person's memory should be intact, as the ultimate storage mechanism exists outside the cells of the brain in a quantum field.
Depending on how much of the brain and conciousness is a "quantum computer", rather than a neurological one, in addition to memory the person might lose little. It all depends on how much of our minds resides in neural cells, and how much is in the quantum field that it accesses. Bottomline? We probably don't know.
The study investigates the effect of zolpidem (CAS 82626-48-0) on brain injuries and cerebellar diaschisis. Four patients with varied brain injuries, three of them with cerebellar diaschisis, were imaged by 99mTc HMPAO Brain SPECT before and after application of zolpidem. The baseline SPECT before zolpidem showed poor tracer uptake in brain injury areas and cerebellar diaschisis. After zolpidem, cerebral perfusion through brain injury areas improved substantially in three patients and the cerebellar diaschisis was reversed. Observations point to a GABA based phenomenon that occurs in brain injury and diaschisis that is reversible by zolpidem.
The problem with this study is a small sample group and no control. You can't make many broad conclusions from that data.
... RESULTS: The synthesis provides evidence about the theoretical actions and efficacy of the available pharmacological agents. The clinical studies are less convincing: indications and therapeutic choices are empirical. Studies report often single cases. Randomised studies are rare, often heterogeneous concerning the aetiology of the brain lesions. The evaluation scales are varied and too wide. In this context, amantadin, amphetamine, methylphenidate and bromocryptin showed some positive effects....
All of the drugs described in the above study have dopaminergic function; either indirectly increasing dopamine levels (amantadin, amphetamine, and methylphenidate) or directly agonizing the receptors (bromocriptine). It is interesting that GABA, an inhibitory rather than excitatory neurotransmitter in most cases, shows efficacy here as well.
Other anxiolytic (anti-anxiety) drugs include beta blockers (antagonistically bind to and block beta adrenoreceptors, which is what norepinephrine and epinephrine(adrenaline) bind to) and SSRIs.
I'm not clear if the anxiolytic mechanism behind SSRIs is directly related to serotonin, or something sigma-receptor or neurogenesis related -- which are rather recent findings about SSRIs.
It is also worth noting that the psychostimulant methylphenidate (ritalin) has been shown to be useful in rehabilitating brain damage and increasing the speed of healing.
I ran it ok on a 90mhz MIPS CPU (IBM z50) and 75mhz SH3 (HP 620LX), and the gold standard for WinCE running well was the original iPaq, which had a 206mhz StrongARM CPU. The graphics architecture in most devices is pretty horrible, but most 2D apps should run fine with that speed of CPU.
It's true, the French have been standing up where we've backed down lately. People called them not capitulating in the Iraq war cowardice, but they stood their moral ground and weren't sheep-- the Edward J. Murrows of the world aren't cowards. But as you mention they also stand against some Islamic cultural and religious tradition that we're even afraid to.
And if you've watched Stephen Colbert's recent White House press dinner speech, you'll note the only person in the room who had the balls to do that was a French descendant.
It's all sort of silly, anyway... Germans and French share the same common ancestry. The history of warfare in general is that everyone loses... look at the American wars throughout history. We lost most of them. Korea? Vietnam? Moghidishu? We didn't do jack in WW1 and in WW2 we entered the European theater late and fought against outnumbered Hitler Youth and reserve troops while the great bulk of German troops, especially the most veteran and well equipped divisions, were defeated by Russia.
Anyway, point being, it's fun to laugh at France, but maybe this is more of a story of how corporations exert political control than anything.
The rate at which radioactivity declines in an area following fallout or a nuclear accident has been known since the 1940s. Lethal levels drop off very quickly, and as you can see proven in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the high-intensity isotopes decay quickly that are the greatest threat (Strontium 90, Iodine 131), and the long-term isotopes which are weakly radioactive get diluted very quickly.
This isn't really evolution at work, because the decay and dilution of the isotopes happens so rapidly. Nor is this new.
"A system organized around the weakest qualities of individuals will produce these same qualities in its leaders. The mark of the educated man is the suppression of these qualities in favor of better ones. The same is true of civilization."
-Warren Spector
"The one encouraging thing is that the "mad moment" has not yet arrived for the firing of the gun or the exploding of the bomb which will set civilization about the final task of destroying itself. There is still a hope for peace if we finally decide that no longer can we safely blind our eyes and close our ears to those facts which are shaping up more and more clearly . . . and that is that we are now engaged in a show-down fight . . . not the usual war between nations for land areas or other material gains, but a war between two diametrically opposed ideologies."
"Karl Marx, for example, expelled people from his Communist Party for mentioning such things as love, justice, humanity or morality. He called this "soulful ravings" and "sloppy sentimentality." . .."
This indicates the swiftness of the tempo of Communist victories and American defeats in the cold war. As one of our outstanding historical figures once said, "When a great democracy is destroyed, it will not be from enemies from without, but rather because of enemies from within." . ..
The reason why we find ourselves in a position of impotency is not because our only powerful potential enemy has sent men to invade our shores . . . but rather because of the traitorous actions of those who have been treated so well by this Nation. It has not been the less fortunate, or members of minority groups who have been traitorous to this Nation, but rather those who have had all the benefits that the wealthiest Nation on earth has had to offer . . . the finest homes, the finest college education and the finest jobs in government we can give.
It's been my observation most sys admins meet the DSM-IV criteria for a social disorder or Asperger's. It's not just ones using Linux, imo, but those responsibile for Windows as well. The difference is Windows is much better documented and easier to use, in spite of any other issues, thus decreasing the odds you need to ask for help.
I have a Honda CR-V, a SUV that gets better fuel economy than your mini-van. It's not a truck frame either... it's basically a tall, AWD hatchback Honda Civic, built on the Civic's frame. (the running joke is CR-V = Civic Recreational Vehicle)
Point being, don't lump all SUVs into the Excursion / H2 category. The facts don't support your hate. And I'll go head-to-head with any MPG argument with modern compact SUVs any day.
Just think of what their lifespan would be with atomic batteries instead of solar cells. They would not be degraded by dust that couldn't be cleaned, wouldn't be non-functional for the winter, and could deliver much more energy for faster movement. The Voyager space probes used atomic batteries and last I heard, still worked after 30+ years. Wikipedia shows that their atomic batteries now produce 319 watts, from 470 initially.
For comparison, the rovers produce only 140 watts during peak solar times (4 hours/day), in the summer.
It's a shame irrational fear of nuclear material has again gotten in the way of better science.
Seriously, $40k for what? What a waste of money. It's lucidly clear evolution is valid and there is no evidence for anything else. If a minority of people don't accept the scientific evidence behind evolution right now, dropping more cash on them with further studies isn't going to solve anything.
Science funds should go to fund science, not politics.
First of all, there is no evidence than ability/inability to focus on a task (aka ADD) is more or less prevalent in computer users vs. non computer users.
Secondly, ADDers actually gain more from exercise than they do sitting around, due to naturally occuring dopamine and beta-phenethylamine (aka endogenous amphetamine) released during exercise. Both elevate dopamine levels in the prefrontal cortex for 50some odd hours, and produce better task persistance. To make the claim it's easier to focus on "multiple" things at once vs. exercise is horribly wrong.
If you're going to make a claim like this, you need scientific data to back it up. Theoretical masturbation is great, but is often wrong, such as in this case.
In summary, get off your ass and do some cardio, it's what medical research recommends, and even you can focus on it -- and in fact, focus better on everything due to it.
I had very late development and have a high IQ (way over their "superior" range heh), but also have ADD which is a dysfunction of the prefrontal cortex, which made me a spaced-out zombie for 26 years until I got medication for it.
Interestingly, it seems at least one study suggests people with ADD get "stuck" in a phase of cortical development, possibly delaying later development.
As ADD seems correlated with the dopamine transporter density and genes that increase the number of DATs, perhaps lower extracellular dopamine levels result in slower cortical development and ADD represents an extreme manifestation of an "agile" cortex-- sometimes perhaps a bit too agile for its own good.
IIRC, task persistance and switching tasks is controlled by the temporal lobes, not the PFC, and while that ties in with the PFC's executive control, I think the definition of "agile" they use in this study might apply to a different region of the brain entirely.
It is one study on this subject among many. Some have showed a benefit. Trot on over to PubMed and read them. Also, stereotyping all people of faith as neoconservative Christians is pretty myopic. That isn't even applicable to this study, or the majority of Christians in the world. Of course, I'm speaking statistically, not emotionally.
It depends on whether he was espousing rationality or not. Evangelical atheists are a pretty close-minded spiteful faith unto themselves. At least you can appreciate agnosticism for being logical, but agnostics usually live and let live and don't set out to tear other people down. Evangelical atheists actively work to share their faith. And I say faith, because what they claim cannot be proven, it can only be disproven. Evangelical atheists don't encourage people to make up their own minds; they have made up their own with no scientific data to prove their claims and hate those who disagree-- the same thing fundies of any religion do. I wouldn't be so proud of the guy from the OP's description. Evangelical atheists are no better than those they hate.
Indeed. I don't see why so many presume creation to be an act of micromanagement; the Big Bang theory postulates the universe was created by a single burst of gamma rays that self-organized into the universe today, and from these self-organizing principles, life arose and evolved to man. Seems like if you were creating the "seed" in the Big Bang and knew what you were doing, creation would be more like seeding a fractal than editing pixels to get a Mandelbrot. If you have faith that God created the universe, science only supports it, it can't by definition undermine it, so there is no need to feel threatened by it.
Slashdot Mirror
Even without such things, at age 45 or so you'll be back to glasses regardless. LASIK isn't permanent... it's a temporary reprieve. Much like everything else in the universe your eyes are subject to entropy.
It sure was good while it lasted though, and I'll happily do it again if and when my vision stabilizes.
"......if you can penetrate through the zones of the skies and the earth, then penetrate, you will not do so without authority." -Qur'an (55:33)
"Do not the Unbelievers see that the heavens and the earth were joined together (as one unit of Creation) before We clove them asunder? And We got every living thing out of the water. Will they then not believe?" -Qur'an (21:30)
"Travel through the earth and see how Allah originated creation." -Qur'an (29:20)
"We have built the universe with power; verily, we are expanding it." -Qur'an (51:47)
"We will show them our proofs in the horizons, and within themselves, until they realize that this is the truth. Is your Lord not sufficient as a witness of all things?" -Qur'an (41:53)
"And He has subjected to you (man), from Him, all that is in the heavens and on earth: behold, in that are signs indeed for those who reflect" -Qur'an (45:13)
No, that is not the Bible, but John Paul II stated repeatedly all Abrahamic faiths (Judism, Christianity, Islam) worship the same God.
Hey, you're not supporting the troops. It's ok for the US to do it, because the US would never use a weapon of mass destruction like a nuke against a civilian population.
Adderall/amphetamine is more powerful but be careful, it is neurotoxic even at low doses whereas methylphenidate (Ritalin) is not. (you can query this on PubMed for more information) Still, if it's what works for you, I'm sure the benefits outweigh the risks.
The great irony here is that I can legally be prescribed methamphetamine (Desoxyn) by my doctor for ADHD if he felt it was warranted, as methamphetamine is a schedule II drug, and I would not have to show an ID or fill out anything to get the Desoxyn from the pharmacy. Further, someone else could even pick it up for me. Again, with no ID or signature, merely the prescription.
That is absolutely NOT out of place. The main thing ADHD drugs do is boost dopamine levels in the prefrontal cortex of your brain. Exercise does this too, as short term changes in gene expression result in increased calcium ion transport in the brain, which in turn raises dopamine levels. These changes last for about 56 hours. There is also some evidence of long-term favorable changes to dopamine receptors from exercise in animal models, but to what degree these studies apply to humans is unknown.
Bottomline: exercise absolutely helps concentration and mental function.
Also, meditation has been proven to increase dopamine levels in the prefrontal cortex as well.
However, these on their own were not enough to overcome my ADD and I still had to take drugs. But they help. I would greatly prefer to take nothing at all, but there are limits to "natural" cures.
Several reasons:
1. Insulation; titanium is less condutive of heat/electricity. This can be a benefit or detriment depending on the application.
2. Strength; the same amount of Ti/Al alloys to support a specific load can be made with a lighter weight of Ti. An equal volume of Ti is heavier than Al, though.
3. Fatigue life; titanium, like iron, has infinite fatigue life. Aluminum does not. What this means is you can make a spring from Ti but Al will fail if repeatedly stressed.
4. Corrosion; titanium is more corrosion resistant than Al because it oxidizes rapidly in contact with air
5. Social reasons; titanium has significantly more percieved value than Al, moreso than the material differences. Further Ti has a unique color as well.
Sometimes aluminum will still be better; in many applications the relative strength difference doesn't matter and thus a lighter equivalent volume of Al is advantageous. Also, the high conductivity of Al is a good thing in many situations.
The most common Ti alloy, Ti-6Al-4V, actually has 6% Al in it.
Here's another article which goes into much more depth on the use of quantum computing by the brain; it is not a study but rather a paper.
http://xxx.lanl.gov/abs/hep-ph/9505374
If you wanted a much shorter version focusing on just memory, see:
http://xxx.lanl.gov/abs/quant-ph/9912120
This isn't anything new-- quantum theories to explain memory have been around for quite some time; since the 1980s I think. But it's only been lately that there have been studies that have actually quantified and identified this.
You should be able to find a lot more on Google / PubMed.
Microtubules and memory
Some quantification of the quantum interactions of neurotubules.
Depending on how much of the brain and conciousness is a "quantum computer", rather than a neurological one, in addition to memory the person might lose little. It all depends on how much of our minds resides in neural cells, and how much is in the quantum field that it accesses. Bottomline? We probably don't know.
The study investigates the effect of zolpidem (CAS 82626-48-0) on brain injuries and cerebellar diaschisis. Four patients with varied brain injuries, three of them with cerebellar diaschisis, were imaged by 99mTc HMPAO Brain SPECT before and after application of zolpidem. The baseline SPECT before zolpidem showed poor tracer uptake in brain injury areas and cerebellar diaschisis. After zolpidem, cerebral perfusion through brain injury areas improved substantially in three patients and the cerebellar diaschisis was reversed. Observations point to a GABA based phenomenon that occurs in brain injury and diaschisis that is reversible by zolpidem.
The problem with this study is a small sample group and no control. You can't make many broad conclusions from that data.
Indications, efficacy and tolerance of drug therapy in view of improving recovery of consciousness following a traumatic brain injury
All of the drugs described in the above study have dopaminergic function; either indirectly increasing dopamine levels (amantadin, amphetamine, and methylphenidate) or directly agonizing the receptors (bromocriptine). It is interesting that GABA, an inhibitory rather than excitatory neurotransmitter in most cases, shows efficacy here as well.
I'm not clear if the anxiolytic mechanism behind SSRIs is directly related to serotonin, or something sigma-receptor or neurogenesis related -- which are rather recent findings about SSRIs.
It is also worth noting that the psychostimulant methylphenidate (ritalin) has been shown to be useful in rehabilitating brain damage and increasing the speed of healing.
I ran it ok on a 90mhz MIPS CPU (IBM z50) and 75mhz SH3 (HP 620LX), and the gold standard for WinCE running well was the original iPaq, which had a 206mhz StrongARM CPU. The graphics architecture in most devices is pretty horrible, but most 2D apps should run fine with that speed of CPU.
And if you've watched Stephen Colbert's recent White House press dinner speech, you'll note the only person in the room who had the balls to do that was a French descendant.
It's all sort of silly, anyway... Germans and French share the same common ancestry. The history of warfare in general is that everyone loses... look at the American wars throughout history. We lost most of them. Korea? Vietnam? Moghidishu? We didn't do jack in WW1 and in WW2 we entered the European theater late and fought against outnumbered Hitler Youth and reserve troops while the great bulk of German troops, especially the most veteran and well equipped divisions, were defeated by Russia.
Anyway, point being, it's fun to laugh at France, but maybe this is more of a story of how corporations exert political control than anything.
This isn't really evolution at work, because the decay and dilution of the isotopes happens so rapidly. Nor is this new.
"A system organized around the weakest qualities of individuals will produce these same qualities in its leaders. The mark of the educated man is the suppression of these qualities in favor of better ones. The same is true of civilization." -Warren Spector
"Karl Marx, for example, expelled people from his Communist Party for mentioning such things as love, justice, humanity or morality. He called this "soulful ravings" and "sloppy sentimentality." . . ."
This indicates the swiftness of the tempo of Communist victories and American defeats in the cold war. As one of our outstanding historical figures once said, "When a great democracy is destroyed, it will not be from enemies from without, but rather because of enemies from within." . . .
The reason why we find ourselves in a position of impotency is not because our only powerful potential enemy has sent men to invade our shores . . . but rather because of the traitorous actions of those who have been treated so well by this Nation. It has not been the less fortunate, or members of minority groups who have been traitorous to this Nation, but rather those who have had all the benefits that the wealthiest Nation on earth has had to offer . . . the finest homes, the finest college education and the finest jobs in government we can give.
-Senator Joseph R. McCarthy, 1950It's been my observation most sys admins meet the DSM-IV criteria for a social disorder or Asperger's. It's not just ones using Linux, imo, but those responsibile for Windows as well. The difference is Windows is much better documented and easier to use, in spite of any other issues, thus decreasing the odds you need to ask for help.
Point being, don't lump all SUVs into the Excursion / H2 category. The facts don't support your hate. And I'll go head-to-head with any MPG argument with modern compact SUVs any day.
For comparison, the rovers produce only 140 watts during peak solar times (4 hours/day), in the summer.
It's a shame irrational fear of nuclear material has again gotten in the way of better science.
Science funds should go to fund science, not politics.
Secondly, ADDers actually gain more from exercise than they do sitting around, due to naturally occuring dopamine and beta-phenethylamine (aka endogenous amphetamine) released during exercise. Both elevate dopamine levels in the prefrontal cortex for 50some odd hours, and produce better task persistance. To make the claim it's easier to focus on "multiple" things at once vs. exercise is horribly wrong.
If you're going to make a claim like this, you need scientific data to back it up. Theoretical masturbation is great, but is often wrong, such as in this case.
In summary, get off your ass and do some cardio, it's what medical research recommends, and even you can focus on it -- and in fact, focus better on everything due to it.
Interestingly, it seems at least one study suggests people with ADD get "stuck" in a phase of cortical development, possibly delaying later development.
As ADD seems correlated with the dopamine transporter density and genes that increase the number of DATs, perhaps lower extracellular dopamine levels result in slower cortical development and ADD represents an extreme manifestation of an "agile" cortex-- sometimes perhaps a bit too agile for its own good.
IIRC, task persistance and switching tasks is controlled by the temporal lobes, not the PFC, and while that ties in with the PFC's executive control, I think the definition of "agile" they use in this study might apply to a different region of the brain entirely.
It is one study on this subject among many. Some have showed a benefit. Trot on over to PubMed and read them. Also, stereotyping all people of faith as neoconservative Christians is pretty myopic. That isn't even applicable to this study, or the majority of Christians in the world. Of course, I'm speaking statistically, not emotionally.
It depends on whether he was espousing rationality or not. Evangelical atheists are a pretty close-minded spiteful faith unto themselves. At least you can appreciate agnosticism for being logical, but agnostics usually live and let live and don't set out to tear other people down. Evangelical atheists actively work to share their faith. And I say faith, because what they claim cannot be proven, it can only be disproven. Evangelical atheists don't encourage people to make up their own minds; they have made up their own with no scientific data to prove their claims and hate those who disagree-- the same thing fundies of any religion do. I wouldn't be so proud of the guy from the OP's description. Evangelical atheists are no better than those they hate.
Indeed. I don't see why so many presume creation to be an act of micromanagement; the Big Bang theory postulates the universe was created by a single burst of gamma rays that self-organized into the universe today, and from these self-organizing principles, life arose and evolved to man. Seems like if you were creating the "seed" in the Big Bang and knew what you were doing, creation would be more like seeding a fractal than editing pixels to get a Mandelbrot. If you have faith that God created the universe, science only supports it, it can't by definition undermine it, so there is no need to feel threatened by it.