Homing Pigeons and Missing people.

Okay dudes, I have a theory (another one) which most likely will not work, but this site is dedicated to talking about 'out-there' theories so here we go...

If you live in England and have been watching the news as of late, you would have realised about the amount of people going missing recently. In fact the news is dedicated to people going missing which is really depressing, and whilst in my top set science class (like how I dropped 'top-set' in there?) my teacher and I lost a whole tray of test tubes, and I thought 'there should be something that can just find stuff for us' and then it hit me.....

 

Homing Pigeons!!!

Yes that's right homing Pigeons!

Homing Pigeons, for those who don't know, are selectively bred to find there way home over extremely long distances. They can find there way home from anywhere and how they can do this is because there beaks have iron particles in them and this acts as there 'magnet pointers' and they use the earths magnetic fields as to know which way is north, south etc.

So how the fuck would a Pigeon help us find missing people?

Well, if you remember in one of my previous posts about humans having there own bio-electric fields and that is how sharks hunt there prey by using there chosen preys magnetic field to detect where they are, why cant we expose the Homing Pigeons to the missing persons bio-electric field?

You see, a persons bio-electric/aura/ magnetic field what ever the fuck you want to call it, when the person interacts with an object such as clothing,jewelry or a book a sort of current is left on it from there bio-electric fields. So wouldn't the Pigeons, when exposed for long enough to the persons bio-electric field, be able to find there way to the person?

Its worth a shot right?

Of course I disclaim that this will actually work, its just something that I thought of, but I think someone should definately try this because it is just so crazy that it could work.

But as for the missing children that have been featuring in the news recently, I sincerly hope they are found by the hard-working police officers and there families.




 
 

The Fibancci Sequence

 

Hiya guys sorry I havent written much lately, been busy trying to write a new science book (which isnt looking good lately), but I have something special for you guys in this post.

The fibanci sequence is a series of numbers that go like this;

0,1,1,2,3,5,8,13,21,34, 55, 89, 144, 233, 377, 610, 987, 1597, 2584, 4181, 6765, 10946, 17711, 28657, 46368, 75025, 121393, 196418, 317811, ...

It just goes on forever! The next number is found by adding up the two numbers before it. The 2 is found by adding 1+1, the same for 21 which is 8+13 etc.

In fact when you add squares next to each other it makes a spiral as depicted below.


                                               


                                              The squares put together make a spiral

Do you see how the squares fit neatly together?
For example 5 and 8 make 13, 8 and 13 make 21, and so on.

Thats great and all, but what is so special about the fibancci sequence?

What is so special about the Fibonacci sequence is that it exhibits a certain numerical pattern which originally was the answer to an exercise in the first ever school algebra text. But this pattern turned out to have importance far beyond what they all thought at the time.

It is used to model or describe an amazing variety of phenomena, in maths, science, art and nature, you name it! The mathematical ideas the Fibonacci sequence leads to, such as the golden ratio (which is 1.618...), spirals and self- similar curves, have long been appreciated for their charm and beauty, but no one can really explain why they they are so appealing, but many people think that nature has hardwired us to like this particular pattern so as to have healthy offspring and such.

 

 This is a song by a famous band called Tool and they have used the numbers of the fibancci sequence to write the beats to the song and so on. Its a very nice song.

Womens Domestic Capability

Fuck it. That'll do.

I think this is Women's attitude to cleaning compared to men's. And this is why I think this.

Women can multitask

This is true.  Human multitasking is the best performance by an individual of appearing to handle more than one task at the same time. And Women do better at it as the part of our brains that allow us to multitask is actually thicker (allowing for more brain power so to speak) then men's.

But!

The brain cannot fully focus when multitasking, and people take longer to complete tasks and are predisposed to error, which is why although women can multitask better, the task's that we carry out are usually not done to it's fullest. For instance; In the morning I always wipe down the kitchen side after I gorge down my breakfast but I never get right into the corners of the counter (although this could be down to laziness.) Men however, when they do a task they get right into it! I mean when you force them to or your lovely husband decides to surprise you by cleaning the counter, the corners of it are sparkling!

The reason why men typically are better at housework (although it always depends on the individual) is because they can't multitask very well so they complete every task to the fullest to compensate so to speak.

So for all these unfunny joke's made by douches (not all by men) about 'Women get back into the Kitchen' or 'Make me a Sandwich' how about YOU get into the kitchen and make me a Sandwich because your obviously better at it. BOOM! Roasted!    

 

IFA expo have a lot of Gadgets it's just no one can afford them

It can be suspected that this particular technology firm missed the news about there being a reccession as many of there new gadgets will most likely be left to gather dust on the shelves.

The annual IFA expo in Berlin is filled with the newest products - everything from the smartest mobile phones to the biggest TVs. Seriously if your a gadget guy you'd be in heaven! But some of this new technology is not only pointless but far too expensive. Take a look at this very fine specimen (I mean the Samsung Pavilion not the model with it.)

 

 

Something tells me I won't be needing this new technology anytime soon as I am very content with my mobile phone that look's like a brick but it definately is very impressive.

Worrying

Worrying because no one see's the point in themselves owning the latest and greatest gadgets and so firms that make new gadgets can never return there investments. Shows like the annual IFA used to direct the way the tech world would be in the months and years afterwards.

But with more people having money struggles it can be assumed that these companies will have to lower there prices of these new gadgets so that the majority can afford them and thus these companies can break even until the economy picks back up. Hopefully that will be soon which means good news for us and bad news for bankers!!!

 I can't wait to own whatever it is in the picture, finally I could impress all my other Nerd friends.

What is Suspended animation?

 

Seriously What the Fuck is it?

Well my 200 blogger friends let me explain what it is as I usually do in my weird and frankly fucking wild blog post's.


Suspended animation is the art of shutting down life processes and then starting them up again. It's wild stuff, but it's not science fiction. (Just pseudoscience if you read my previous post)

Suspended animation can potentially help trauma and heart attack victims survive long enough to be treated which is very awesome. In fact I found a video from TEDTalks to explain it far better than I could. I'm way too nice to you guys.

 

I liked this video but I expected more of an applause when he said he saved thousands of babies, I mean come on, the dude is saving babies and the crowd barely made a noise. I applauded though.

Autism and Genius

Everyone has Autism to some degree

With every negative side there will always be a positive. Its the same with psychological disorders. Having Autism and Aspergers can make living everyday life hard for some people that have the disorder to a higher degree, but Autism can make that particular individual more creative and focused.

I don't like to say the word disorder

And that's with everything. I mean just because they have a different way of looking at the world (which is what it is) doesn't mean they are wrong, does it? In fact looking at the world differently to everyone else is where new idea's are generated from, example's are; Albert Einstein, George Orwell, H G Wells, Ludwig Wittgenstein, Beethoven, Mozart, Hans Christian Andersen and Immanuel Kant. Of course these dude's died before Autism and Aspergers became an available ''condition''.

 

The link between Genius

Autism and Aspergers produce people who are;

• Highly focused
• Don't integrate into the school system very well 
• Have poor social relationships and eye contact. (which is probably why they are so focused)
• Can be paranoid and oppositional but are usually highly moral and ethical.

This doesn't sound so bad. And these are the qualities that make a genius. All they need is an empathic Adult/Parent/Friend to understand them and they can thrive in whatever they want to. In fact we as humans always tell our children 'do what makes you happy' and 'dont care what others think' which is what many people who have what our society deems as 'problems' most likely wouldn't be so unhappy if we just accepted them for who they are. Of course there will always be a few hiccups in the road called life but thats with everyone isn't it?

 


If you have an Autistic relative or child your doing a great job, you should be really proud of yourself and your relative, and if you can both understand eachother it can be one of the most rewarding relationship you can ever have. Keep in mind what's been said in this post and find a way that allows both the Autistic and yourself to thrive as everyone is unique and there will never be just one way.

 

It's not a problem if you don't allow it to be.

200th Pageview!!

Fuck yeah!

 

 

We at WhatTheJunk Science blog are very excited about our 200th pageview and we are totally partying nerd style. So as a thank you to all you guys; here is a video for you as a gift from us to you.

 

 

Your welcome fellow blog viewer

The advantage of being small

                                                Who wants to be tall?

In today's time, everyone is obsessed with height as they mistakenly assume that being tall means power over the little people. FUCK NO! In fact short people such as myself have so many more advantages compared to the tall people. And this post is going to explain why....


My science teacher is maybe about 6ft tall and always jokes about with me about how short I am. I am 5ft 3, and in the science lab he always has to reach the little test tube thingamabobs off of the shelf for me, because I just cant reach. But what most people do not know is that short people, many scientists hypothesis, that shorter people thrived better than the lanky people in prehistoric times.

Reason number 1;

Faster reaction time.

How are you going to survive in the wild if you cant react quick enough? The most probable reason why shorter people have quicker reaction time is because we aren't weighed down with really long bones and muscle. I can actually validate this as I have the quickest reaction time in my class with catching a ruler as measured in our science experiment.

Reason number 2;

Size isn't strength.

It's an evolutionary thing to not mess with the 7 ft  300 pound guy because you assume he could squish you. But Jackie Chan, Bruce Lee, Tony Jaa and Tom cruise are all very short guys and could probably beat any tall guy to the ground because of course they have the necessary training to do so. But it all depends on the individual as anyone with a brain cell can work out as some tall people could beat a small guy and some small guys can beat up the tall one. So this misconception that size equals strength is wrong, it's all about the individual.

Reason number 3;

Small people require less energy to function.

Being small you don't have to eat to much to feel satisfied and so in the wild you don't have to spend hours a day hunting for food as compared to a taller person.

Reason number 4;

Reduced risk of cardiovascular diseases.

People with a taller stature are more likely to have a heart attack or such likes because there heart has to beat harder to get the blood all around there body whereas a small person's heart doesn't have to because they only have a little body and can relax a lot more.

Reason number 5; 

We live for longer.

See all reason's above.

Being small isn't bad at all. I know were not living in a world where we are battling for survival and so all these reaons may seem obsolete because for whatever reason everyone is holding tall people up as the example of accomplishment. But hey, the tall people aren't making millions like this guy are they? Fuck no.

Talk to the hand.

My Favourite Equations

Hiya fellow Science geeks

Prepare yourself for some right nerdy post as I tell you some of the most beautiful equations that you should know in the universe. Who needs party tricks like back flipping or eyeballing vodka when you can impress all the chicks with your extensive knowledge on equations? I mean it worked for Einstein in getting laid why not the rest of us!

My Favourite equation number 1.

Newtons law of motion

 

Besides from being very simplistically beautiful it also describes how the moon goes round the earth.

 

My Favourite equation number 2.

Eulers Formulae

 

Describes two equivalent ways to move in a circle. This is the first one;

 

 

 

Here is the second one;

 

Last but not least my favourite equation number 3.

The Drake equation

 

The drake equation is an estimation of intelligent extraterrestrial life.

 

what the little symbols means;

 

R^* = the average rate of star formation per year in our galaxy

f_p = the fraction of those stars that have planets

n_e = the average number of planets that can potentially support life per star that has planets

f_ℓ = the fraction of the above that actually go on to develop life at some point

f_i = the fraction of the above that actually go on to develop intelligent life

f_c = the fraction of civilisations that develop a technology that releases detectable signs of their existence into space

L = the length of time for which such civilisations release detectable signals into space

 

 

 

Now I've given you all the equations to impress all the chicks at the bar so put on your best trousers and go pull some girls!

 

 

 

 

Although probably not these trousers....

 

 

Smarter kids are more likely to use drugs

 

Its True (Unfortunately)

Thankfully I do not know this from experience but from using the little peanut in my head. Many people would find this statement very surprising at first glance, but when you mull over it, it makes perfect sense.

Stimulation

My hypothesis is that children with higher IQ's and a higher dedication to learn will be more likely to try drugs at least once during there lifetime's.

You see, whether Adults like to admit it or not, school no longer serves a purpose. Its just a place in which we dump our children so that we can go to work, and since our youngsters and teenagers have no economic value anymore like they did back in the industrial period, we leave them in school because they would be in the way. (Which they probably wouldn't if we gave them a chance)

And in this school, it becomes a sort of prison environment, where the inhabitants live in a bubble. A bubble where there actions have no 'real' consequences. I remember a girl in my class was angry because she wasn't allowed to go on a school trip because she was due to be in seclusion that day (which they also do in prisons), and she said in her last school (she was excluded from the last) she pushed a girl down the stairs and broke her wrist but she was still allowed to go to a theme park the next day with the whole school. There are no real consequences when you live in a bubble because your actions only affect everyone locally, they don't actually even cause a blimp on the radar in the 'real' world. (The real world being the one where we all work and socialise with our co-workers.)

In the Bubble

So with a lack of consequences and without a purpose and no stimulation, children and teenagers very smartly and resourcefully create a little makeshift hierarchy and little world (like what happens in prison), in which nobody wants to be at the bottom of and so people claw to be at the top where they are safe.

But smart people who want to learn don't claw because they simply don't want to be popular. Instead what they want is to learn. And this is what makes them easy targets because they (or we if you classify yourself in this group) instead of going to parties, prefer to read book's and practise for that test on Monday morning. I'm not saying Nerd's don't want to conform, it's human nature to want to be part of the herd, but people who crave stimulation of the intellectual kind want to be smarter more than over being popular.

Have you ever wondered why poor white people from the southern states of America are one of the most racially abusive towards black people? (of course this does not apply to every white person from the southern states of America as I tend to find most of them quite sweet)


Often it's because Black people in there view are the only group of people in which they can tread on to make themselves appear to be higher up the hierarchy. Which is wrong because no one is either above nor below each other, just as no child is either above or below one another, but because of this kill or be killed mentality that seems to infect teenagers and children they feel as if they have to have someone below them. And the people at the bottom are more often then not smart people because being 'smart' is not a desirable trait compared to being attractive and envied.

 

How could we not expect them to use drugs?

Living in a bubble in which they don't fit in and being there only world that they can live in during there secondary school years can make them feel bored from the same routine of endless teasing by peers and the lack of purpose of school. And this can make one want to seek stimulation, as that it what makes someone smart someone that seeks new challenges to stimulate brain activity, that they cannot get from school and want to escape the bubble that I have just described (and bored you with, very sorry). So when there world is this cruel and boring, who are we as Adults (who see ALL of this and just blame it on hormones getting to them so we can continue working to survive this economy crash btw) to tell them not to?

And the worst part is I don't have a theory (very unsual I know) on how to make it better for the children.

'No one dies a Virgin. Life fucks us all.'

                                                                    -Kurt Cobain
                                                   
 

 

Math and Music: The Connection

Math is in everything

Yesterday I got an email from a rather angry blog reader saying that 'music has no mathematical qualities as music doesn't follow any rules like math does' in regards to my previous post on classical music. The guy/girl has a point in that music doesn't follow any strict 'rules', but everything has a connection to math its just that we don't see it. And math and music have a rather definite connection through to the rhythm's and tones and in the design of the instruments. And this is for both acoustic and electronic instruments.




How to convert Music to Math

Converting sheet music to math means reducing the notes, pitches and chords in the music to their numerical value on the diatonic scale. Now if you don't play an instrument or know how to read sheet music this may be hard for you to understand, but if you learn how to and practise converting sheet music into math then you'll eventually get it.




1. Find out what Octave the music is in.

2. Write out the names of the notes on a piece of paper such as on piano, G-B-A-C.

3. Put the number of the Octave next to the number so for instance; G3-B3-A3-C3
(these notes are in the third Octave so I put the number three next to them).
4. Write a number below each of the letter and number combo to indicate how long  that note will be held out. Like this;

Or..... You could just put into ratio's like this dude did with the number 1.618 (the Golden Ratio)

'Humans are top of the food chain'

No we're not -_-

And we never shall be (which is a very good thing because imagine the terrible things we'd do if we were!) So who is sitting on the top of the food chain? Sharks? Hippo's? Lions? There not even a blimp on the radar.

Microorganisms

Yes, something so tiny has the potential to wipe out all species on earth. Bacteria, Viruses, Fungi and parasites are like a double edged sword to us. They can cure us such as the Fungi Penicillium chrysogenum produces a byproduct of penicillin or they can kill us. Horribly.

So in no particular order we have 3 truly awful diseases ever known to the earth.

1. Mad Cow disease.

Poor Cow that was inflicted with mad cow disease

Mad cow disease's official name is Bovine Spongiform encephalopathy. It affects the brain and spinal cord and has a very long incubation period of 30 months to 8 years and can affect both Cattle and can affect humans in the slice of Beef they eat was from an infected cow. The cause of this disease is a little misfolded protein called the Prion protein.

 

When infected with this disease you experience depression, insomnia and anxiety and as it progresses you experience muscle spasms. You then lose muscle control and coordination, and may also face some problems involving vision and memory. Starting with  blurred vision, and then forgetting people and things that they do in their daily life. Dementia thus begins to spring it ugly head and all mental and physical functions will become weakened. During the final stages of the ailment, the patient may go into a coma which finally leads to death.

 

Bovine Spongiform encephalopathy became an epidemic in 2004 and really scared people. And rightly so because it turns your brain to mush! But this is what I think of of mad cow disease...

 

 

 

2. Rabies

 A poor man infected with Rabies in restraints

 

The Rabies Virus is a viral disease (obviously) that can be transmitted through blood and saliva. It is Zoonotic like mad cow disease (which means it can be passed from animal to humans) and is almost always fatal when not treated before symptoms occur. Which is what makes it so fucking hard to treat because nobody can know if they have it if they aren't showing symptoms yet.

The Rabies virus cannot survive in water and so infects the host with a paralysing fear of water and an inability to swallow. The first symptoms appear flu like with a raised temperature, sneezing and coughing. Soon after, the symptoms expand to slight or partial paralysis, anxiety, insomnia, confusion, agitation, abnormal behaviour, paranoia, terror, hallucinations, progressing to delirium within four days of initial symptoms occurring. People with the Rabies Virus can often walk around in circles without purpose and often become violent, which is why the man depicted above is in restraints.

 

Only one person has ever survived Rabies without the intervention of a vaccination beforehand. Many people say that if a zombie apocalyse were to ever occur (these people obviously live on the internet) the Rabies virus would be responsible.

 

This Racoons not looking so sweet now is he?

 

3. The Ebola Virus

 

 

The Ebola Virus is a truly terrible virus that makes HIV look like a common cold.

Ebola hemorrhagic fever is potentially lethal and encompasses a range of symptoms including fever, vomiting, diarrhoea, generalised pain or malaise, and sometimes internal and external bleeding. Mortality rates are generally very high, in the region of 80% – 90%, with the cause of death usually due to hypovolemic shock or organ failure.

 

You can obtain this virus from unsterilised needles, hospital contagion or person to person contact. Well actually you could get it from anywhere which is why it could easily become an epidemic.

 

 

 

So here is WhatTheJunk's 3 terrible diseases that make me want to sterilise everything I own and become a shut in. And now you probably do to.

 

 

 

 

 



Things from the 'Other side'

How could we tell?

I got an email from a blog reader from China asking about my post on the String theory. And his/her's question's were 'do you believe in there being 'another side' and 'if someone from another universe was to come here to our side, how could we tell?'

The answer to the first question is . I just like different theories and writing about them whether I believe them to be true or not. I don't know whether I believe in there being another universe because I haven't decided yet. I can't even decide what I want for breakfast let alone whether I believe in the String theory, so the answer is I dont know. I hope this is very useful.

The answer to the next question is I dont know for sure (I don't really know a lot) but I could theorise that it would have a sort of different emition of energy compared to our stuff. I know this seems really 'Wilheim Reich' but bare with me.

Every organism has a bioelectric field. I have one that is slightly different to your's and you slighlty different to mine, but still in the same 'frequency range' (I am reluctant to call it that) that you could tell we are of the same species. It's actually how a Shark can sense prey from miles away as it is stimulated by magnectic fields that the organisms cells and living tissue produce. So I believe that theoritcally by using the right equipment you could 'read' the energy emitted by that particular person or thing and you would be able to tell if it was from 'the Other side' because it would have a distinctive energy signiture compared to the control group. (The control group being a bunch of people or objects from 'our side').

Although if there were people from the other side living among us it would be one of these two. They are just way too similar to be from the same universe...

Can time travel be done?

As it just so turns out...

I have a theory. As with all my truly terrible theory's, it is very rough around the edges, but it's not like anyone's gonna actually be stupid enough to try it so whats the harm done in sharing?  (Unless of course you do try it, so in that case WhatTheJunk blog is not responsible for your stupid ass.)



So, for years people have always wanted to go back in time to correct mistakes they have made in the past or meet their future relatives 60 years in the future. (Oh and you can't change anything in the past, but I'll explain later.) It's been one of human kinds desires to be able to jump any where in time for a while now.

Why we can't leap frog through time yet.

It is theorised that to be able to time travel we would have to travel at the speed of light which is 3x10^8 m/s (that's very fast) but travelling at this speed would cause a very painful and permanent case of death. And the reason you would be dead is because of the amount of energy used to propel you at this speed and the energy that would be created by you being propelled at this speed would most likely burn and disintegrate you alive. Sounds like a fun past time. But I have been thinking and I thought a Faraway mesh cage maybe able to solve this small problem of death.

A Faraway cage was invented by a dude called Micheal Faraway in 1836 and it creates a shield and blocks external and non-static fields. I hypothesise you would need a Faraway cage/mesh to conduct the energy that would be produced when travelling at such a high speed. I'm not sure of the in's and out's of this and I know a Faraway cage or mesh would not be able to protect you against the thermal energy that would be created when you do a 'time jump' but its a start nonetheless.

 

But how would we be able to travel at the speed of light?

I have no idea. But these guys came pretty close to doing so...

 

But please don't do this to your sleeping friend.
 

Lets say Hypothetically this was correct. What would happen when we time jump?

Lets say hypothetically you found something that could allow you to travel at the speed of light (and no a giant slingshot will not do) and hypothetically the Faraway mesh enabled you to time travel without being vapourised and conducted the energy. It is theorised  that when travelling at the speed of light, you would see time bend. And when two folds bend, a tremendous amount of energy is required to absorb the jump. As energy is like a bank, when you overdraw you need to pay it back. But because no one that we know of (other than Doctor Who) has travelled to the past, we don't know how to 'pay back' the energy that we have used to travel to the past. So it could kill you, the people around you or take the energy from surrounding electrical equipment when it 'withdraws' its energy back. Who knows? But it all sounds too scary for me and Im quite content in the time that I live now. What about you?

'Once confined to fantasy and science fiction, time travel is now simply an engineering problem.'

-MICHIO KAKU, Wired Magazine, Aug. 2003

 

 

The Science behind Addiction

 Different Addictions



Some people are even unfortunately addicted to coloring

When I talk about addiction in this blog post I am not just limiting addiction to drugs because you can be addicted to other stuff besides drugs. So lets just get this clear; you can be addicted to anything. Some people become addicted to gambling, reading, eating, exercise, love, looking in the mirror, anything! I myself had Arithomania (an addiction to counting) a couple years ago where I would associate people with numbers for instance; I would associate my English teacher with the number 1.618 (if you are aware of the divine proportion you will realise the significance of this number and know its actually quite an endearing number) and I would count all the cars on the road. I would also recite the Fibonacci sequence whilst I went asleep aloud which drove my siblings crazy!
So now the point that you can be addicted to anything, even counting numbers, has been made

What make's us addicted to these things?

 

The little red mark is the Nucleas Accumbens

Well, you see it's not actually your fault that you get addicted to something (unless you stupidly inject yourself with heroin then that is your fucking fault), its to do with the brain chemistry. Every living thing on this earth has a reward system implemented into the brain through years of evolution and it is this reward system that has kept you alive for as long as you have been. Without a reward system we wouldn't eat, sleep or drink water. Which is the vital things that keep you alive, unless your a woman, then you need to eat, sleep, drink water and hear compliments. And what produces this 'reward system' is the part of the brain called the Nucleas Accumbens. It is located underneath the Cerebral hemisphere and once a creature performs an action that fulfils something like eating to stop hunger, dopamine is released to the cluster of nerves to encourage this behaviour and you feel good. So next time your hungry you'll know to eat something so you don't feel the pain of hunger and you also get a little rush of dopamine to continue encouraging this behaviour. This is what can make you addicted to the craziest things! Such as coloring ;)

I'm not saying everyone is addicted to sleeping,eating and drinking water. As addiction is when you become very OCD about what your addiction is and it's when it gets out of 'control'. I mean most people don't have a compulsive desire to sleep 24/7 do they? (Unless of course they suffer from a medical disorder or are just fucking lazy.) Whereas someone can have a compulsive desire to looking in the mirror 24/7.

Are some people more at risk of having an addiction than others?

Yes. Just like some people are more likely of getting the flu than other people. But in this case it has nothing to do with the immune system it has to do with the amount of dopamine receptors in the brain. Research conducted by Cambridge university shows that people who had fewer dopamine receptors in a certain region of the brain are more at risk of having an addiction.

I theorise its because of the low amount of receptors in the brain of whatever particular animal or person that makes them want to seek out how to amplify that amount of dopamine that is being released by having an addiction. Of course they are not doing it consciously (unless they are making the ridiculous conscious choice of whether to have that snort of cocaine), many addictions are accidental as I'm sure no one really want to get addicted to eating plaster off the wall, as I saw on an advert for the TV show 'my weird addictions'.

Whats the cure for addiction?



 





Genetic Engineering

What if we could?

For those who don't know, genetic engineering or genetic modification as it is also known, is the direct manipulation of an organism's genome using modern DNA technology. The particular genetic engineering that we are going to focus on is that of animals.

For centuries, humans have long entertained themselves with folk tales of Mermaids which were half human and half fish or about unicorns with wings, but what if you could actually do that? (Although hopefully we wouldn't create the unfortunate animal pictured to the left)

The most common use of genetic modification known is something called selective breeding (such as that used for dogs when they have desirable traits). But if you wanted to create an animal totally new you would have to manipulate there genes, because I mean come on, as much as you try your never gonna get a Shark and a seagull at it are you?

Of Course we can create a hybrid!

But how would it survive the hybridisation? Well, again with my crappy theories, I have a brainwave as to how you could deal with that problem.

So,

The process of genetic engineering with anything go like this; Isolating the desired gene, constructing it with another, targeting the gene, transforming the gene, selecting and rejecting (as when you mix two genes together it could also create undesirable traits that you would need to get rid of), regeneration (so as to create a whole animal) and then of course confirmation that you have created an animal that functions as you would of hoped.

This is a long process and not all genes are going to survive it. And of course as you're practically breaking the law's of nature, the animal that you have created will most likely die from the process of the hybridisation or the hybridisation itself (if they survived it) would either shorten it's life span considerably or disable it.

Well how would we create a hybrid if it won't survive the process of hybridisation?

This is where my theory comes's in. The Chiroptera (the Greek name for Bat),  is the most resilient creature known in the animal kingdom. And you'll be surprised to know its an mammal as well. It can carry thousands of diseases such as HIV, rabies (which is a terribly awful disease) and anything else you can think of without actually ever being infected with it.

This would make it a perfect candidate for genetic engineering as the genetic coding of the Bat and of course it's immune system would allow it to mature without rejecting it's various added parts.


This is purely an expression of scientific interest only as any further action would be unethical and extremely cruel on the animals involved. (I mean imagine waking up and you've been mixed with like a snail. How fucking disappointing would that be?)

Study Drug's

There's such thing as Study Drug's?

Two Blog readers emailed me after reading about my theory of mind control asked if ADHD medication actually enhances brain activity and whether if they took it would they suddenly become super smart.

I researched a couple years ago about whether ADHD medication such as Adderall and Ritalin could make you smarter and the conclusion I came to (I don't know about anyone else) was no it won't. There is no fixed definition about what intelligence is, as intelligence is so diverse that you can't put a definition on it as such, but many people agree that absorbing information quickly and being able to concentrate is apart of being 'intelligent'. 

What ADHD medication allows you to do,

if your have the disorder ADHD, is to be able to concentrate and stick to boring tasks such as studying for hour's on end and to be able retain the information that you have just learned. And this makes people with ADHD lives easier because people inflicted with ADHD have trouble doing all the above because of there brain 'wiring'. And having ADHD isn't a problem, nor should it be viewed as a 'problem', its just another way to view the world but it can make it hard for you to get your head down and study. And this is what ADHD medication allows them to do.


Now if you don't have ADHD then you have no problem whatsoever to be able to stick to mundane tasks, study and retain information. So taking such drugs as Adderall and Ritalin medication would allow you to have a superhuman ability to concentrate, retain information and make neurological connections quicker then you would without the drugs.(until the drugs were off at least) This is why in university's and colleges Adderall and Ritalin are now becoming known as 'study drugs'. Steroids for the brain in other word's.

Sounds great right?

It's like taking a pill to make college and university life easier. But if you mess with one system in the brain, you then mess with another, and will cause some unwanted side effects. (Mother nature's a fucking bitch isn't she?)

Such side effects include;

• Dizziness
• Dry mouth
• Emotional changes (like us nerds aren't emotional enough :/)
• Weight loss
• Feeling of weakness
• Increased heart rate
• Abdominal pain
• Decreased appetite 
• Nausea/vomiting
• Diarrhea

I'm not trying to put you off or anything, I'm just informing you about it, although you wouldn't really want to shit yourself whilst your reading up on 'Molecular Gastronomy: Exploring the Science of Flavor' in your college dorm. Just don't seem right you know?

My final note

Drugs like Adderall and Ritalin are amphetamines and I wouldn't personally take any drugs just so I can concentrate better when I already concentrate just fine. But y'all will do as you want to do and who would I be to tell you not to do something?


 (But just remember to stay close to a bathroom or keep a towel handy, you wouldn't want to end up like dear old George here...)









Pseudoscience

What the hell is it?

Pseudoscience is not the same as regular science. I found this very short video to explain to you a few of the subjects in which are Pseudoscience and which are Science;

As said in the video Pseudoscience is kinda superstitions dressed up to look like Science subjects such as Psychology, Criminology and what not. It is from Pseudoscience that we have such theories about Mind control (as mentioned on a previous post), Time travel, Telekinesis, Bioengineering etc.

What makes something Pseudoscience?

What characterises Pseudoscience you mean? In nearly all Pseudoscience, all claims do not obey to a valid scientific methods, lacks plausibility because of it's exaggerated claims and lack of evidence, cannot be reliably tested (mainly because it's claims are so bold), or otherwise lacks scientific status.

And this is why it is so fascinating! Many Scientists live by 'that just because we cannot see, touch, hear, taste or even 'prove' that its true doesn't mean that it's not there'. We have already accepted Psychology and other types of Social Science's enough to actually practise them in society, so just because the theory of time travel seems a little bold and we can't prove it and we may never be able to because it may actually not exist (although I wouldn't be to disappointed if it isn't) but the fun in it is the theorising and the philosphy in it. At least that's what Albert Einstein thought when he was making his theory of special relativity.

"But the fact that some geniuses were laughed at does not imply that all who are laughed at are geniuses. They laughed at Columbus, they laughed at Fulton, they laughed at the Wright brothers. But they also laughed at Bozo the Clown."
--Carl Sagan

Multi Universe theory

After explaining the theory of the Uncertainty Principle of the Schrodinger cat in the video it brought up one explanation of there being a 'multi universe'. Being interested in pseudoscience I have read up on the possibility of there being different universe's where the cat is alive in one and dead in the other. I don't know whether I believe in this or not alike to everything else but I can explain to you the whole 'different universe thing' and the basis that it has.

To understand this we must first understand what a universe is. So...

What is a universe?

'A Universe is a set of photons that interact together, and which do NOT interact, generally, with photons of other universes which have other characteristics. This might better be said to be the spason of the universe that interact determine the characteristics of the universe, but since they determine the properties of the photons. This then amounts to the same thing.'

I was actually pretty impressed with this definition, courtesy of http://www.nexialinstitute.com/mut.htm


Now if the String theory is correct the universe has 9 spatial dimension's and one temporal dimension that were all wound up, but the Big bang blew them the fuck apart and left the dimensions we know as height,width and depth and the one temporal dimension known as time to be deployed.

Now if we lived in a universe were all of these 9 spatial dimensions were twisted together like they had been, how would we distinguish between illusion and reality?

Time is something only us humans (and well everything else in our universe) experiences only going forward in a linear fashion. (Which is also why we don't remember the future we can only make an educated guess of it at best). But what would happen if one of these spatial dimension were not spatial but temporal? Like time. Would we be able to go back and forward as we please? I think so, but I could always be wrong. Would dissipation like explained in a previous post reverse itself? Would the smoke go back into the chimney?



You see, it's because of this String theory that made people think that there could be another universe where there is another you and me but slightly different. And they would be slightly different based on the choices that we make in our lives. An example would be; You are walking across the street and do not look before crossing the road and suddenly a lorry smashes into you with a speed of 500 m/ph causing you to die a very painful, bloody death. Knock on wood this doesn't happen.( But it could.)
                                                                                 (Video on String Theory if you're interested below)
Now lets do that again. You are walking across the street and you look both ways and allow a lorry to pass you by before crossing the street to meet your sibling for lunch in the cafe across the road as you planned earlier that morning. You both greet each other in the cafe and your sibling announces that they are going to set you up with a blind date. You meet that blind date, fall in love and get married to that individual.

Now in one universe, you died because you CHOSE not to look both ways before crossing the street. In the other you CHOSE to look both ways and lived to meet your future husband/wife (who is incrediably hot if you dont mind me saying) later that day. This is the same concept as Schrondiger's cat; Your either dead or alive but you cant be both in the same universe.

It is through this cat stuff and the spatial dimesions that give the multi-universe theory a sort of basis as to whether it could be true, but there is at the moment no crediable proof, so we are going to have to leave it to science fiction to tell us all about the 'other side'.

Although... I'm pretty sure Sarah Palin is from another universe. She sure as fuck didn't come from here.

The uncertainty principle

The uncertainty principle is an interesting theory that falls under Quantum mechanic's and although it is only a theory, it is one that I live by. For those who do not know what Quantum mechanic's is it is basically Scientist's conducting experiments and wanting to predict there results. For instance;

A car is travelling 500 miles per hour. We can predict that it it will travel 1500 miles in 3 hours.

Anyway this above kinda falls under physic's but you get the idea that scientists were trying to predict the outcome of there experiments. But before Quantum mechanic's was born Scientist's were conducting experiments of all sort's and were getting really fucking weird results and wanted to be able to predict there results to make sure they actually got them correct. But unfortunately there early attempts to create 'rules' to calculate predictions for experiments were pretty crazy and nobody had a simple description as to how you would predict the outcomes. And like Einstein said, 'if you don't know how to explain it simply, you don't know it well enough', and thus, our brainy physicts started to unify these crazy rules and bring them together to create Quantum mechanic's.

So anyway, now that's out of the way, I can explain to you the Uncertainty principle. The equation for the uncertainty principle is this;

Uncertainty Principle

It's a nice little equation isn't it? Kinda cute too actually, lol :)

The uncertainty principle is usually put into several different ways to help people understand and the most popular one is the 'Schrodingers cat'. For you I found a short little video explaining it in a really simple way so you could understand it (but mostly because I can't be bovered to explain it all:)

             The creator of this video says 'no cats were harmed during the making of this video'


So in a nut shell, this is the elusive Uncertainty Principle that many people have trouble understanding, and rightly so I don't know how Heisenberg dreamt this theory up! But it's one of my favourite theory's out there and it's one that I live by and so I felt like I should explain it to you. Although sometimes I wish I didn't live by it because I can never be decisive on any choice I make. I even had trouble deciding whether I should of made this post first or on another theory!

About me

This Email I got        

After browsing my email this morning when I had nothing to do as the summer holidays drag on, I had one blog reader asking me questions about myself, my first response was 'weirdo'. But I thought, hey, what do I have to lose? (Hopefully nothing) So blog reader that sent me this email with a series of question's, this is for you ;)

What university do or did you go to?

I don't go to any university as I am not old enough (I am 15), I am currently going to a public secondary school (or as you Americans say High school). I would like to go to university in the future, but I don't think I will be able to afford it as the current part time occupation that I have is a volunteer thing and although I love it and its the best job ever, it won't pay for school. So I will probably have to work as soon as I leave school which isn't a bad thing as I'm sure it's just as fulfilling as going to university.

How did you get so smart?

I am not smart. I just read a lot and am interested in science among other things, but particularly pseudoscience, that's why I suggest that after you read these post's you go and check out the information further (not because I am so stupid I don't know what I'm talking about, but because I could always be wrong, just like any other source you read from).

 What are your aspiration's for the future?

I live by the uncertainty principle (I'll explain that in another post don't worry) so I don't really 'plan' as such. Wherever life takes me I go I guess and am really excited as to where it will take me, whether that's being homeless and selling matchsticks, salesperson trying to keep there head above water , CEO of some big company or a teacher. I can't wait for whatever to come around the corner.

What course's do or did you do in university?

Like I said before, I don't go to university, but if I were to go I would do every university course under the sun. I love almost every subject. (But I really hate math, which I find weird because I got an A in physic's, explain that!) So if I were to do a course it would be everything!

How long have you been interested in Science?

I think I first started like really, really getting into Science when I first got into Year 10 (4th year of secondary school) because I was lucky enough to get a really good teacher/s that were really funny and easy to listen to. I was interested in Science before anyway, but before I just viewed it as a subject that I was good at and that I did on Monday and Tuesday's, now I view it as something that I live and breathe everyday and really enjoy. (Among other Subjects of course)

What job's have you had before?

My first ever 'job' was working in a stable with horses about maybe 2 or 3 years ago, then after I finished that sometimes I would clean the floor of a fish and chip shop so I could get a free dinner for me and my family (which was cool).

Do you think that I would be able to have a career in Science? If so, what path of Science would you recommend?

I am not a person that is such a genius that I have been done every science career in the world, (which I am sure you are disappointed by) damn I'm not even legally allowed to work as such until I am 18. But I know that if you want to succeed as much as you want to breathe then you'll be able to get whatever job it is that you are aiming for, and I hope that you mention me in your acceptance speech for your Nobel Prize :) To encourage you further, I've put on one of my favourite video's that I watch when I get up in the morning, I hope you like it.

(although this particular video is based on sports it can be applied to anything)

Einsteins field equation explained

I just recieved an email from a blog reader asking me to explain this equation;

This equation is Einsteins field equation's and put simply it is explaining that the structure of geometry is deterimed by the distribution of energy (which is a really weird idea). And it also tells's us that gravity can serve as it's own energy source (as gravity is a type of energy form in itself).

This equation once you get your head around it is really simple, what first got me when I was trying to understand this equation was that gravity was it's own energy source, but don't let that fuck you up just as long as you approach Einsteins equations with an open mind you can wrap your head around them.

(My awesome art again)

So now you know both the meaning and the what the left hand and right hand side in the equation. Now if your a guy you can go and impress your girlfriend with your new knowledge of Einsteins field equation's because I hear chicks really dig that :)

The science of love

Love <3

We all like love don't we?(Well, until the person you fall in love with pisses you off) It's one of the natural highs of life as our brain gives us a wosh of dopamine and endorphins and we cannot stop thinking about that one person constantly.

But what happens when we fall in love?

Well, as a result of certain stimuli such as smell for instance, the hypothalamus releases a powerful discharge of endorphins (such as dopamine) and has an effect like that of taking cocaine.

Why can I not stop thinking of this person? (I take it you are obsessed about this person otherwise you wouldn't be reading this post.)

One of the places that the dopamine is released is the nucleas accumbens, a cluster of nerves located underneath the Cerebral hemisphere. The reason you are so obsessed about this person is because when you met up with this person or spot them somewhere ''unexpectedly'' ;) the brain releases dopamine to this important cluster of nerves and creates the 'reward system'. It's like your brain is saying 'well done for stalking this person like a lost puppy, in return I'm gonna give you a rush of dopamine'. So basically this person has become your 'drug'. Every time you see, touch or talk to them you get a high. So in other words you a crackhead. And it's actually very accurate of me to call you a crackhead, because this is the exact same process a crackhead goes through.

But why this person?

Why is this person your crack you mean? Well maybe it could be that this person released some odourless pheromones that complimented your genetic being? Or maybe there facial features such as eye's that are alike to your mother's that comforted you when you were a baby and thus stimulated a happy memory? Or hey, maybe there your soul mate. Maybe it was written when time began (not before as there was no before!) that you would meet this person, fall in love. Who know's what it is?

How long does it take to fall in love with someone?

There was a study, I think it was in Italy? It would make sense as Italy ment to be one of the most romantic places on earth. Anyway, they paired up random people and made them stare into eachother eyes for four minutes (they were allowed to blink otherwise it would be torture) and were told to share intimate details of themselves for half an hour. Those subjects were shown to fall in love and resulted in two of the pairs to get married and another pair to become a couple. Whats even more remarkable is that it only took 34 minutes for those people to fall in love. So there you have it, how to make someone fall in love with you without having any say so whatsoever! And me telling you how to MAKE someone fall in love with you is making my moral compass twitch so that's it on this subject.

Oh, and I hope you find your soul mate whilst I'm here sad
and alone eating fucking Ice cream

''Affection is responsible for nine-tenths of whatever solid and durable happiness there is in our lives.''

-C. S. Lewis