Sep
20th
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20th
Sep
17th
Mon
17th
Postmodern Decline - by Piss and Vinegar
Postmodernism is a dead buzzword. Once it migrated its way to prime time, it was cashed in of any real value. Current historians, still in need of defining their own paradoxical nature, use the term to narrate the development of art, culture and philosophy since the end of the Second World War. This is partly due to the fact that it was a growth from, and a response to Modernism.
Sep
13th
Thu
13th
Mona Lisa smile secrets revealed - bbc
“The elusive quality of the Mona Lisa’s smile can be explained by the fact that her smile is almost entirely in low spatial frequencies, and so is seen best by your peripheral vision,” Prof Livingstone said.
Commentary by Gadgit - The Secret behind the Secret behind Mona Lisa’s Smile
Sep
11th
Tue
11th
Contagious yawn 'sign of empathy' - bbc
A susceptibility to contagious yawning may actually be a sign of a high-level of social empathy.
Although many species yawn, only some humans and possibly their close animal relatives find yawning infectious, suggesting the reason is psychological.
The research was presented at the British Association’s Festival of Science in York.
“Contagious yawning is a very interesting behaviour,” said Dr Catriona Morrison, a lecture in psychology at the University of Leeds, who is leading the work.
“You don’t need a visual cue, you don’t even need an auditory cue - you can just read about it or think about it and it gets you going.
“We believe that contagious yawning indicates empathy. It indicates an appreciation of other people’s behavioural and physiological state,” she added.
Sep
5th
Wed
5th
Drug 'may reverse liver disease' - bbc
A cheap and readily available drug could reverse severe liver disease, even in patients who find it impossible to give up booze, research suggests.
Sep
4th
Tue
4th
Men bad for women's waistlines - bbc
“Men are very bad for women really,” he said. If you are eating with a partner the evening meal is a social event…you may eat more and maybe more extravagant stuff Dr Haslam He said research showed women tend to gain weight once they cohabit and begin to share meals with men who intrinsically have higher energy needs and therefore appetites. “If you are eating with a partner the evening meal is a social event and its no longer just filling a gap. You may eat more and maybe more extravagant stuff.”
Thailand's frenzy for amulets - bbc
Thais have always been keen on amulets. Usually bearing the likeness of the Buddha or other religious figures, they are worn round the neck to bring good fortune.
But no amulet has ever been as popular as the Jatukam Ramathep.
Jul
29th
Sun
29th
Pierre-Joseph Proudhon - Wikipedia
Pierre-Joseph Proudhon (pronounced [ˈpruːd ɒn] in British English, [pʁu dɔ̃] in French) (January 15, 1809 – January 19, 1865) was a French mutualist political philosopher of the socialist tradition. He was the first individual to call himself an “anarchist” and is considered among the first anarchist thinkers. He was a workingman, a printer, who taught himself to read Latin so as to print books in that language well. Proudhon is most famous for his assertion that “Property is theft!”, in What is Property? Or, an Inquiry into the Principle of Right and Government (original title: Qu’est-ce que la propriété? Recherche sur le principe du droit et du gouvernement), his first major work, published in 1840.
Pierre-Joseph Proudhon (pronounced [ˈpruːd ɒn] in British English, [pʁu dɔ̃] in French) (January 15, 1809 – January 19, 1865) was a French mutualist political philosopher of the socialist tradition. He was the first individual to call himself an “anarchist” and is considered among the first anarchist thinkers. He was a workingman, a printer, who taught himself to read Latin so as to print books in that language well. Proudhon is most famous for his assertion that “Property is theft!”, in What is Property? Or, an Inquiry into the Principle of Right and Government (original title: Qu’est-ce que la propriété? Recherche sur le principe du droit et du gouvernement), his first major work, published in 1840.
Jul
24th
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24th