Suppose, the day after attacking President Carter, the rabbit finds itself alone in the middle of the pond, which is perfectly circular. Suppose there is a single Secret Service agent on the edge of the pond, armed with a small net to ensnare the swimming rabbit as it approaches the edge. This net is effective only if the rabbit is still in the water. If the rabbit reaches any point on the edge before the agent does, it can hop away to freedom; if the agent gets there first, the rabbit will be captured.
If the agent runs four times as fast as the rabbit swims, can the rabbit escape? If so, how?
For extra credit: What’s the fastest the agent can run (as a multiple of the rabbit’s speed) such that the rabbit can still escape?
Researchers instructed the woman to move her right hand. As expected, the motor cortex and visual processing areas in the left side of her brain became mobilized.
The same effects were observed to a lesser extent when the woman simply imagined moving her right hand. Imaginary movements of the woman's paralyzed left hand prompted the same activity in the brain, but on the right side.
But when doctors asked her to move her phantom arm, her brain reacted as though the arm really existed and could be moved. In addition, the patient's visual cortex was also activated, indicating the she actually saw the imaginary limb.
And when she was instructed to scratch her cheek, regions of the brain relating to touch were activated.
And that's the crux of one of Schlozman's arguments: The story changes as the situation grows grimmer. Here, the professor draws on "mirror neuron" theory, which holds that humans are hard-wired to reflect the psychological states of the people around them. (Show a test subject a short film of a face displaying disgust, or pleasure, and regions of the brain associated with those feelings activate in the subject.)
Unable to relate to the hordes of undead, the survivors in zombie films enter a spiral of despair, feeding off the panic and hopelessness of the uninfected people around them.
Dunkin' Donuts is inviting website users to create their next donut using a five-step selection process. Mine is a chocolate butter filled donut with peanut butter frosting and chocolate sprinkles. What's yours?
https://www.dunkindonuts.com/donut/ via Radley Balko
"The headmaster believes that the outrageous rumors had reached a point where she had to say something to families to ensure that all students felt safe and respected," said Chris Horan, School Department spokesman.
This 4-minute video from Current TV's SuperNews lampoons the Twitter phenomenon. Why would anyone want hourly updates on the mundane details of other people's lives? SuperNews explains.
Via Gavin Richardson
Nemesis is a short film by Leonard Scarlow about an ordinary man trying to discover his hidden superpowers -- because deep down inside of himself, he knows that he was meant to be a superhero.
It's about 9 minutes long. The dialogue is in Norwegian, but it's subtitled in English.
Only with your taxpayer dollars can Lex finally destroy Superman. Please call or e-mail your representatives in Congress and ask them to rescue the troubled LexCorp.
When the month and day form the square root of the year, math geeks celebrate a special holiday. Well, presumably. I never made it past precalculus, so I'm only going by what the Associated Press says:
The math-buffs' holiday, which only occurs nine times each century, falls on Tuesday — 3/3/09 (for the mathematically challenged, three is the square root of nine). "These days are like calendar comets, you wait and wait and wait for them, then they brighten up your day — and poof — they're gone," said Ron Gordon, a Redwood City teacher who started a contest meant to get people excited about the event. The winner gets, of course, $339 for having the biggest Square Root Day event. Gordon's daughter even set up a Facebook page — one of a half-dozen or so dedicated to the holiday — and hundreds of people had signed up with plans to celebrate in some way. Celebrations are as varied: Some cut root vegetables into squares, others make food in the shape of a square root symbol.
How will you celebrate Square Root Day?
