By 2020 Over 50 Billion Devices Will Be Hooked Up to the Internet

Global Trends for 2011

via: TIG Global Blog

Object Vibrations - 1000 frames per second

Here is some cool footage of various objects vibrating, shot at high speeds.

Vibrations - 1000 fps

Haboob - Intense Sandstorm Formation

Image via Wikipedia

   A haboob (Arabic هبوب) is a type of intense sandstorm commonly observed in arid regions throughout the world. There is almost no visibility in close proximity when inside the area covered by the haboob (as can be seen in the video below).

   During thunderstorm formation, winds move in a direction opposite to the storm's travel, and they will move from all directions into the thunderstorm. When the storm collapses and begins to release precipitation, wind directions reverse, gusting outward from the storm and generally gusting the strongest in the direction of the storm's travel.

   When this downdraft, or "downburst", reaches the ground, dry, loose sand from the desert setting is essentially blown up, creating a wall of sediment preceding the storm cloud. This wall of sand can be up to 100 km (60 miles) wide and several kilometers in elevation. At their strongest, haboob winds can travel at 35-50 km/h (20-30 mph), and they may approach with little to no warning.

via: YouTube

Visualized Twitter Activity from Japan after Earthquake

Image by xotoko via Flickr

Here is a very interesting pattern of twitter activity just right after the big earthquake that hit Japan on 11th of March 2011.

Personal messages 

On Twitter, we saw a 500 percent increase in Tweets from Japan as people reached out to friends, family and loved ones in the moments after the earthquake. The video below shows the volume of @replies traveling into and out of Japan in a one-hour period just before and then after the earthquake. Replies directed to users in Japan are shown in pink; messages directed at others from Japan are shown in yellow.

Mr. Freeman

Here is an awesome motivational video to start off the weekend. It's an animation done in Russian with subtitles at the bottom. Make sure to view it the second time to get the full meaning of the author's message. So go out there and commit something outside of your comfort zone. "JUST DO IT" "The Most Important - It's Not A Game!"

Kinesiology: The Myotomes

Image by Tamityville via Flickr

Today I will introduce a series of posts entitled "Kinesiology:" which will deal with the interesting facts and information that I've learned throughout my years in university. If you could, give me your opinions whether you liked this post, and whether you would like similar in the near future in the comments section.

   I have finished a Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology and Health Science program, and know a reasonable amount of background information on the subjects pertaining to health and physical activity. Today I will start  off with a brief introduction to Myotomes and their testing.

   Myotomes are defines as a groups of muscles supplied by a single nerve root. It also has to be noted that spinal nerves come in pairs, one from the left side and the other from the right side. So an injury to a single nerve root (either right or left) is associated with muscle weakness (a.k.a. incomplete paralysis) of the myotome (left side or right side muscles) supplied by that nerve root. When testing a myotome, key muscles are tested for weakness, not pain.

Image by EUSKALANATO via Flickr

If It Were My Home

   The lottery of birth is responsible for much of who we are. If you were not born in the country you were, what would your life be like? Would you be the same person?

   IfItWereMyHome.com is your gateway to understanding life outside your home. Use our country comparison tool to compare living conditions in your own country to those of another. Start by selecting a region to compare on the map to the right, and begin your exploration. Aside from giving you a categorized comparison of countries, this website also displays a brief history of the chosen country. Here is some background information about my country - Canada:

Image via Wikipedia

A land of vast distances and rich natural resources, Canada became a self-governing dominion in 1867 while retaining ties to the British crown. Economically and technologically the nation has developed in parallel with the US, its neighbor to the south across an unfortified border. Canada faces the political challenges of meeting public demands for quality improvements in health care and education services, as well as responding to the particular concerns of predominantly francophone Quebec. Canada also aims to develop its diverse energy resources while maintaining its commitment to the environment. 

The land now occupied by Canada was first inhabited approximately 16,000 years ago by aboriginal peoples. Starting in the late 15th century the British and French explored and settled along the eastern seaboard. The 19th century saw a rapid influx of European immigrants as the westward push that characterized the continent's development continued. 

The beginning of the 20th century saw Canada's early involvement in World War I due to British control of its foreign affairs. In 1919 Canada joined the League of Nations independently of Britain taking control of its own foreign policy. Canada declared war on Germany during World War II three days after Britain, with the first Canadian Army units arriving in Britain in late 1939. 

Today, Canada is characterized by its socially democratic programs such as universal health care, the Canda Pension Plan, and Canada Student Loans. In 2006 The Economist ranked Canada the third most democratic nation in its Democracy Index, ahead of all other countries in North and South America.

via: IfItWereMyHome.com

Top 10 Most Extreme Substances Known on Earth

Here is a nice top 10 list of awesome Earthly substances, ranging form super-hot to the most darkest and the most magnetic to the super-fluid. So without any further adieu

10. The Darkest Substance Known to Man

What do you get when you stack carbon nanotubes on their ends and sandwich them together? A material that absorbs 99.9% of the light that touches it. The microscopic surface of the material is rough and uneven, which breaks up the light and makes it a poor reflector. Then add to that carbon nanotubes act as superconductors in certain arrangements, which makes them excellent light absorbers, and you have a perfect storm of black. Scientists are really excited about the potential applications of the substance; since virtually no light is “wasted”, it would be used to improve optical tools like telescopes, and even be used to make nearly 100% efficient solar collectors.

Keep your mouth shut about your goals and plans.

When you have some great aspirations in your life, shouldn't you announce them to your family and friends?
Isn't it good networking to tell people about your upcoming projects?
Doesn't the “law of attraction” mean you should state your intention, and visualize the goal as already yours?
Nope.

Tests done since 1933 show that people who talk about their intentions are less likely to make them happen. 

Announcing your plans to others satisfies your self-identity just enough that you're less motivated to do the hard work needed. 

In 1933, W. Mahler found that if a person announced the solution to a problem, and was acknowledged by others, it was now in the brain as a “social reality”, even if the solution hadn't actually been achieved. 

NYU psychology professor Peter Gollwitzer has been studying this since his 1982 book “Symbolic Self-Completion” (pdf article here) - and recently published results of new tests in a research article, “When Intentions Go Public: Does Social Reality Widen the Intention-Behavior Gap?”
Four different tests of 63 people found that those who kept their intentions private were more likely to achieve them than those who made them public and were acknowledged by others. 

Once you've told people of your intentions, it gives you a “premature sense of completeness.”
You have “identity symbols” in your brain that make your self-image.Since both actions and talk create symbols in your brain, talking satisfies the brain enough that it “neglects the pursuit of further symbols.”

 At first you might feel unable to hold all your goals and aspirations only to yourself, but you should try and do it gradually to see the most benefit from it. If you can't hold off telling someone your goal then try rephrasing it into a way that will not give you any social satisfaction or gratification. For example, instead of saying: "I've joined a gym and bought running shoes. I'm going to do it!" say something like: "I want to get into shape and become more fit, and if I slack off you should kick my ass or not talk to me for a while". That way you will be dissatisfied with your statement to a friend and will still be compelled to do your hard work to reach that goal later on.

Interactorium, the coolest 3-D molecular visualizer

The Interactorium is a platform built to visualise very large interactome datasets. Developed in collaboration with the School of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of New South Wales, it is adapted from the Skyrails Visualisation Engine, which was originally developed by Yose Widjaja.

The Interactorium functions as an atlas of known protein-protein interactions. The current distribution uses the yeast protein-protein interaction dataset by Bertin et al.

A groundbreaking visual presentation of a microscopic organism at a molecular level such as this, encompasses such a great amount of detail and interactivity, its mind-boggling. This project should be adapted to other organisms and eventually to human beings, possibly to study the life around us in a more grandiose fashion and to understand all the little minute changes that happen at a the molecular level.

via: Interactorium

Cannabis - what it actually does to your brain

   Scientists have known for a while that the active ingredient in cannabis was a chemical called delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC for short. Ingesting or smoking THC has a wide range of effects, from the psychoactive "getting high" to the physiological relief of pain and swelling. It also acts as both a stimulant and depressant. How could one substance do all that?

2012 Pole Shift: Prophecies of the Maya & I Ching

This Discovery channel show presents good coverage of the general subject of 2012. However, the subject goes far deeper than this and goes to include two predominant theoretical predictions to the end of the world. Those two being: the Ancient Mayan civilization, and the Chinese I Ching book.

via: YouTube

So what do you guys think will happen on the December 21 2012? Is it just another useless prediction of the end of time like the recent one by Harold Camping, or is there some truth to this date?

Happy guys finish last, says new study on sexual attractiveness

We've heard it before: nice guys finish last. And when it comes to sexual attraction, it appears the rule holds. Women find happy guys significantly less sexually attractive than swaggering or brooding men, according to a new University of British Columbia study that helps to explain the enduring allure of "bad boys" and other iconic gender types.

Although some of you might be saying that everyone knows that women are more likely to be attracted to a bad-boy attitude, but here is some actual research to back that claim up. The University of British Columbia researchers who worked on the study say there's an inherent contradiction in this finding.

OMGFacts - Facts with a wow factor in them

Another recommended entertaining website with some educational value added to it. Find out plethora of random facts and the background information on them. From sex to science, all of the facts are fun and interesting to read. OMGFacts, 

Here are some of the Top Facts from the website:

• Having sex can reduce a fever because of the sweat produced. 

The Science of Persuasion Answers

Here are the answers to yesterday's Science of  Persuasion quiz along with a brief explanation on each. Few people had actually guessed very close to the actual answers. Congrats to you guys! I Hope you enjoyed it and if you are interested in more such quizzes please visit Daily Planet's Mind Bender via  Discovery Channel.


1. How many times should an idea be repeated for maximum effect? 
a) 3-5

Studies have found that the maximum effect came from 3-5 repetitions of an idea or message. Repetition fails if people aren't paying attention or if an argument is weak. If an argument is strong, repetition increases its power to persuade. However, too much repetition can have the opposite of the desired effect.

The Science of Persuation

I recently was watching TV and came up on a show that listed some awesome facts about the power of persuasion. The host basically gave a short quiz about the topic and listed a few plausible choices and then revealed the correct answer. I will try to reproduce that quiz in this post and you will have to take guesses as to what the right answer should be

Dig holes right through the Earth

If I dig a very deep hole, where will I end up on the other side of the Earth?
If that question has ever bothered you at any time, now you can get the answer to it by checking out this map.

Here is the result of the hole made from my home city:

via: Map.TallEye.com

3-D Street Art

Art is all around us in today's society, but this type of art is literally below our feet right on the boardwalks of various streets. The video below is a collection of various street art that from a certain view give the impression of being real 3-D painting.

via: YouTube

Also head on past the break for a video of how one such art piece is created.

Bring the billboard to Life

A smart ad campaign to interest people in pursuing a career in public health. The interactive component of this billboard is that the viewer gets to "save a life" of a patient with a touch of hands (i.e. CPR). Just imagine walking into a bus shelter to wait for your daily commute and suddenly you hear series of long rapid beeps (that are usually indicative of a cardiac arrest), you turn around and press your hands against the wall as directed and in turn "save a patient's life". I'd consider that to be a pretty nice start of the day - saving someone's life at a bus-stop :D  Enjoy the video demonstration below.

via: YouTube