Is Beauty in the Mind of the Beholder?

By James Gallagher
bbc.com
"Mathematics: Why the brain sees math as beauty"
February 12, 2014

         Exquisite, beautifully crafted, and magnificent mathematical formulas. Can formulas be truly described in this manner? According to researchers at the University College of London, mathematical formulas can evoke the same sense of beauty as artistic masterpieces and music from the greatest composers. These researchers have conducted experiments where mathematicians were shown equations while in a brain scanner. Results showed that the same emotional brain centers, used to appreciate art, were being activated by “beautiful” formulas. Therefore, it was concluded that there may be a neurobiological basis to beauty. This means that when mathematicians consider a formula beautiful, their medial orbito-frontal cortex is activated. Strangely enough, this same part of the brain is activated when the mathematicians were admiring artistic masterpieces like music and paintings. To the untrained eye, there may not be much beauty in e^i∏+ 1= 0, but in the study, it was the formula of choice for mathematicians. When the mathematicians were asked why they chose this particular formula, there were various explanations; “It is simple to look at and yet incredibly profound”, “It accompanies the five most important mathematical constants: zero, one, e, and pi”, “It also contains the three most basic arithmetic operations: addition, multiplication, and exponentiation.” This beauty of math has been missing from schools. The children have been trained to think that there is no beauty in math.

How Great Was Luhrmann's Gatsby?

         Visually dazzling, spectacular over-the -top parties, and an unforgettable soundtrack fills the mind of the viewer for the first half of the movie. These fantasy filled, money-no-object parties blended into each other, creating a world like no other. This paled in comparison to the parties and festivities described in the first half of the book. However, when the main characters actually meet for the second time and the story begins to unravel, there is a huge letdown for the audience. The movie becomes focused on two characters that had limited chemistry between them. Even though Gatsby focused on proving his worthiness to Daisy, however, Daisy is unmoved by all of it and does not care what Gatsby actually feels. She is self-centered and absorbed in her own world. Although the movie stayed true to the book, yet, it was a world away from the actual book. The only thing really connecting it to the creative work of Fitzgerald were his actual words depicted on the movie screen. Even though this movie was entertaining and exciting in the beginning, however, it managed to show the bittersweet, tragic characters going towards their inevitable fate. The movie was entertaining yet dragged out towards the end.   

How Funny is Zimbabwe's Money?

By Brian Hungwe

February 5, 2014

bbc.com

"Zimbabwe's Confusion"

        Zimbabwe’s economy is in an intensive care unit (ICU). For the past year, Zimbabwe has stopped using their currency because of a hyper-inflation. Instead, they have been using U.S dollars, British pound, Japanese yen, Chinese yuan, Indian rupees, and a few other currencies. Chaos and long lines have become the norm. This has caused huge confusion for the cashiers who are trying to deal with many different exchange rates simultaneously. To add insult to injury, Zimbabwe does not have a coin currency either. Instead, people are handed candy and pens as change. Although some people find this system acceptable, many are frustrated and long to have their own Zimbabwean currency back. These people believe the Chinese currency has taken over their economy completely. The Chinese are taking money out of Zimbabwe but they are not investing in the country. Many believe this is a new form of colonization. However, Zimbabwe’s President, Robert Mugabe, unmitigatedly opposes the idea of bringing back the Zimbabwean currency. He believes it would lead to the return of hyper-inflation, which in turn could lead to the destruction of their almost nonexistent economy. There may be a light at the end of the tunnel if Zimbabwe can somehow attract investors to their country, in order to revive their lifeless manufacturing industries.

 

 

Who's in Charge of Cleaning Up the Earth??

By Ella Davies
January 31, 2014
bbc.com
"Seven Surprising Facts"

          Ugly, bald, and morbid creatures, yet they are crucial to our ecosystem. Perhaps they should be respected not dejected by mankind. They feast upon the carcasses left behind by wild animals, stopping the spread of diseases and also limiting the population of other scavengers. However, these important creatures now face endangerment in India, Nepal, and Pakistan. Elephant and tiger poachers kill vultures by the dozens so they do not alert the authorities to the whereabouts of the poachers.  The population of vultures has plummeted ninety five percent in these countries. Vultures are the infection control agents of the ecosystem. They also have some unique qualities that most animals do not possess. Vultures are known to have a huge appetite. Regular hunting animals consume thirty percent of their prey while vultures clean up the rest. These creatures also have a dirty little secret; they urinate on their legs every time after a good meal.  The urine of a vulture consists of acids that sterilize the bird’s legs after standing in rotting flesh.  The most unique characteristic yet of a vulture is its ability to eat anything. The stomach of a vulture is known to contain strong stomach acids that dissolve anything from bones of a wild animal to destroying bacteria such as cholera, anthrax, and also preventing them from getting ill off of a diseased carcass. Vultures deserve at least a little respect for what they do because without them, the Earth would be filled with disease and putrefying carcasses.

Are You Coming?!?

               Unlimited funds. Excellent friends. Great weather. Why not?   I am going to throw a “small” intimate get together for some of my closest friends to celebrate life. This party will take place on February 8, 2014 at the Chenonceau Palance in France (I will make arrangements to fly you out on my private jet February 6).  The party will begin at 5 P.M on Saturday February 8 and will last until Monday noon.  Boy, what I have in store for you. My personal chef and food connoisseur, Geoffrey Zakarian, who has just returned from Yerevan, where he was exploring the unique art of Armenian cuisine, which he will incorporate into his scrumptious food, will prepare for you only the best. Some of the highlights include Beluga Caviar with imported goat cheese and White Truffle Pudding, which would be flown from Yerevan for your enjoyment. For the main course, Chef Zakarian will prepare for us Warm Lobster in Summer Preparation, his signature dish, and Samundari Khazana. Now, for dessert, we are going to have a choice of Madagascar chocolate, Frozen Haute Chocolate Ice Cream with a Dansuke Watermelon, Jackfruit, and Armenian Pomegranate parfait and many more. For entertainment, we will have   Andrea Bocelli performing in the rose garden, Alan Hovhaness, performing his Guitar Concerto No. 1, renowned Armenian singer Charles Aznavour singing everybody’s favorite, La Boheme, LMFAO, and Pitbull will also be at hand to play for those who would like to dance the night away in the Crystal Ballroom. There will also be a polo match with the one and only Prince William and Prince Harry. We will also have Cirque de Soleil performing on the last evening. To close this spectacular event, there will be fireworks while the Los Angeles Philharmonic will perform its finest music. To remember this magnificent party, all the guests will have a choice of taking home with them a Ferrari, Rolls-Royce, Aston Martin,   Tiffany’s Pink Diamond Collection, or De Beer’s Coloured Diamond Collection.  The guest list includes Hovannes Adamian, the inventor of the color TV, Emil Artin, one of the founding fathers of algebra, Bill Gates, the philanthropist, Oprah Winfrey, Anne Hathaway, J.K Rowling, and many more.

 

 

 

Does This Sound Fishy?

By Stephanie Smith
January 18, 2014
cnn.com
"He's going to get better than he was before"

What if taking a few grams of fish oil could wake someone up from a coma? The NorthShore Neurological Institute in Evanston, Illinois has discovered that feeding people fish oil after sustaining a severe brain injury can actually cause the brain to heal and to begin functioning once again. The brain’s cell wall is composed of omega- 3 fatty acids, which is found in abundance in fish oil.  By simply giving the patient a substantial dosage of the fish oil, we provide the brain with the foundation to repair itself. The omega-3 acids also reduce inflammation in the brain, which becomes unstoppable after a serious head trauma. However, there are only seven miraculous cases of fish oil bringing patients back from deep comas that are recorded in medical literature.  There was the case of a teenager named Bobby Ghassemi who nearly died in a car accident before getting a large infusion of fish oil. A couple of months later, after receiving high doses of fish oil, he attended his high school graduation. In another incident, sixteen year old Grant Virgin, who suffered an in repairable brain injury during an accident, was awakened from a deep coma by receiving the fish oil treatment. Unfortunately, we are years away from just taking fish oil and curing brain injuries since we need more extensive studies done.

How Smart is Your Basketball?

www.usatoday.com/story/tech/...smart-basketball.../3435703

            How can you go from a zero to a hero? This is for all the bench warmers out there.  CES has introduced the 94Fifty smart basketball. This basketball is made of an indoor/outdoor synthetic leather, which has nine sensors hidden inside it. The sensors communicate with a companion app on the iPhone or the iPad. It can easily measure the amount of force applied to the ball, the speed of a person’s dominant hand versus the speed of the weak hand, count the number of dribbles, detect when a person has lost control of the ball, and much more.  As the player dribbles or throws the shots, the app provides instant visual and audio feedback to the player, measuring how fast the player makes the shots, the kind of backspin he/she might have, and the kind of arc the player has when they throw the ball towards the hoop. The ball is activated by simply bouncing it four times against the ground and it goes to sleep when it is not being used. Now, any bench warming, nonathletic, disco ordinated person can own a smart basketball with a mere price of $300 and work their way up to become a sleek, fast-moving, slam-dunking heck of a player.