What do you think when you read the word interference? If you’re like most people, you probably think it’s negative. Colloquially, interference tends to be obstructive or destructive, like interference keeping your radio or TV from picking up a station, or pass interference in football. I’m NeuWriting to inform you of a recent study in […]
June
22
Psychopathy, qu’est-ce que c’est
posted by Catie Profaci
Psychopathy, qu’est-ce que c’est A thought experiment Imagine that you are a respected scientist trying to better understand psychopathy. What might be different in the brain of a psychopath? As you look through brain scan after brain scan of psychopathic individuals—many of them convicted killers—you see a pattern. In brain regions important for impulse control, […]
June
15
Your Brain, the Liar
posted by Jarrett Lovelett
Have you ever questioned the nature of your reality? Thinking machines, like those portrayed in HBO’s Westworld, use new information from their environment to update their beliefs about the world and take action to further their goals. For all such machines, the success of that process of integrating new input is limited by their hardware, […]
June
08
Apply now for ComSciCon at UCSD!
posted by Catie Profaci
Applications for ComSciCon-SD close in one week (on June 15th)! Apply today. A scientist and a non-scientist walk into a bar. As the night proceeds, the non-scientist asks the scientist the oft-dreaded question: “So, what do you do? What is your research about?” What likely follows is a confused and confusing garble of jargon and […]
June
01
Highs and Lows
posted by Drew Schreiner
Have you ever heard about the distinction between Type 1 and Type 2 fun? Don’t worry, this isn’t some scientific attempt to quantify fun and render it anything but. Type 1 fun is basically anything you do that is actually fun. Playing with puppies, hanging out with friends, annoying your significant other – that sort […]
May
25
Cranium-bound Ultrasound: A Novel Brain Stimulation Method
posted by Christian Cazares
Over the last few years, the application of ultrasonic stimulation has been heading towards a rather intimate part of the human body: the brain. Researchers have engineered a way to transmit ultrasound through the skull to influence brain activity, remarkably without the necessity of brain surgery. While non-invasive brain stimulation has been […]
May
11
Identity Crisis
posted by Barbara Spencer
Who are you? How do you know? I’ve been thinking a lot about identity this week. It all started when I received a letter from the IRS that began “Dear TAXPAYER” and essentially asked, “Are you who you say you are?” (Yes, it’s me! Please send me my tax refund!) To validate my identity, I […]
April
27
Half Asleep
posted by megkirch
Sleep, though one of my greatest joys in life, is frustratingly unproductive. As much as I love to curl up in bed, close my eyes and flip the off-switch on my consciousness, the realization that I spend 24-33% of my day just staring at the backs of my eyelids is exasperating. Imagine the possibilities if […]
April
20
A Crisp(r) Explanation of Biology’s Coolest New Tool
posted by Caroline Sferrazza
[En español] If perusing the headlines is a regular part of your daily routine, you’ve probably noticed that one acronym has been exceedingly popular in the Science and Technology section for last couple of years: CRISPR. Even once you figure out what CRISPR stands for – Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats – it’s not […]
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