Magic For Neuroscientists / Science News

Magic For Neuroscientists / Science News

del.icio.us Tags: memory,perceptioneption,attention,brain,majicians,illusions

Magic for neuroscientists
By Laura Sanders
Web edition : Tuesday, October 20th, 2009
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CHICAGO -- Magicians and neuroscientists may not seem like a likely match, but they have one important thing in common: A fascination with the brain. As Science News pointed out in this article about science and magic in April, neuroscientists delve deep into the human mind to see how things like attention, perception and memory work, while magicians manipulate these very same things to confound their audience.
This unlikely alliance was solidified October 17 at the Society for Neuroscience’s Annual Meeting in Chicago as two world-class magicians demonstrated some of their tricks to an audience of thousands of neuroscientists. (The size of the scientist crowd may have rivaled the motley crew of America’s Got Talent hopefuls, who were waiting in a monster line that snaked around a different part of the conference center.
Although neuroscientists seem like they might be a tough crowd, everyone in the room was enamored. By all reports, the scientists seemed thrilled to have such interesting new colleagues.
Apollo Robbins, known professionally as the “Gentleman Thief,” has an unusual set of skills that allowed him to, among other dastardly deeds, “borrow” Jennifer Garner’s engagement ring, switch Troy Aikman and Jerome Bettis’ licenses, and relieve Jimmy Carter’s secret service agents of their wallets, watches and confidential itineraries. (For more of Robbins’ rap sheet, check out his website Istealstuff.com
Eric Mead, the other magician who performed, offered some salient advice: The key to magic, he says, is “to look people in the eye and lie intentionally.” But that only works because these highly skilled mind-benders are so attuned to the mysteries of the brain that they can literally manipulate a person’s reality.
Robbins talked about three tricks that lead to the magician’s so-called grift sense — the ability to instantly read and respond to other people’s signals. First, he says, proximity is everything. Getting into someone else’s personal space without setting off alarms is hard. But tricks like moving in sideways, avoiding direct eye contact and tilting the head can all make the intrusive move more innocuous. Second, movements that draw the eye can provide the magician cover to do the trick. Creating a multitude of small motions, instead of one big motion, keeps a person’s gaze right where the magician wants it. And third, manipulating a person’s interior dialog can cause a person to let down his or her guard. Once someone has a raucous internal dialog going on, the senses become dulled to the outside world, leaving them vulnerable to a trick.
Had Apollo Robbins and Eric Mead ventured over to the America’s Got Talent auditions next door, there would have been no contest — these magicians would have made the competition disappear.

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Magic For Neuroscientists / Science News

Science and Health Blog - Mirror.co.uk

          Science and Health Blog - Mirror.co.uk

Technorati Tags: Public Notice,Climate Change,man-made

First Government public warning on climate change

By Mike Swain on Oct 9, 09 10:16 AM in Environment
The first government public warning on man-made climate change will be broadcast tonight on British television.
The public service advert is the first to warn officially climate change is happening and confirm it is man-made.
It will be aired in the Coronation Street break at 8.45 pm.
The ad features a dad reading a bedtime story to his daughter.
The dad tells his daughter of "a very strange world" with "horrible consequences" for today's children.
At the end she asks: "Is there a happy ending?"
Continue reading

Science and Health Blog - Mirror.co.uk

The Associated Press: Obama awards national science, technology medals

The Associated Press: Obama awards national science, technology medals

Technorati Tags: Obama,President,science,awarded,medals

Obama awards national science, technology medals
By PHILIP ELLIOTT (AP) – 4 days ago
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama linked scientific discovery to helping the struggling economy Wednesday as he honored those who invented batteries for implanted defibrillators, mapped the human genetic code and made global positioning systems possible.
Awarding the National Medal of Science and the Medal of Technology and Innovation, Obama said the United States must continue to invest in "the next generation of discoveries and the next generation of discoverers." Repeating his pledge to put thousands more students in college classrooms, he committed to spending 3 percent of the gross domestic product to educate future scientists and researchers.
"Because throughout our history, amid tumult and war and against tough odds, this nation has always looked toward the future and then led the way," he said

The Associated Press: Obama awards national science, technology medals

AIDS vaccine results questioned | Booster Shots | Los Angeles Times

 

AIDS vaccine results questioned | Booster Shots | Los Angeles Times

Technorati Tags: aids,vaccine trials,patients,HIV

Oddities, musings and news from
the world of health

AIDS vaccine results questioned

October 11, 2009 | 10:45 am

U.S. Army and Thai researchers announced to great fanfare last month that a combination vaccine had produced a statistically significant 31% reduction in new HIV infections in a trial of more than 18,000 people in Thailand -- a modest rate, but the first vaccine results that suggested it may eventually be possible to produce a vaccine against the deadly infection, which has killed more than 25 million people worldwide. In an unusual approach, the researchers decided to make the results public in a news conference rather than wait for formal publication of their findings. The complete results have never been made public.

Now, however, a secondary analysis of the results have suggested that the vaccine was not quite as good as people had believed, reducing infections by only 24%, which was not statistically significant, according to researchers who spoke with Science magazine. The first analysis included all 16,000 people who participated in the trial and produced the promising results. The secondary analysis -- which was part of the protocol and is considered normal for all vaccine trials -- excluded patients who did not follow the experimental regimen. When that was done, the results were less convincing, according to experts who have seen the data.

AIDS vaccine results questioned | Booster Shots | Los Angeles Times