Mathematics Rising

I often get stuck in the gap we rarely notice between the word and what the word is meant to signify.   Do we really understand what word and symbol actually do?  Or, even more to the point, can we see what the body is accomplishing in the evolution of these cognitive tools? In a film [...]

The story of online gamers solving protein structure problems for biochemists has been reported by many, including the New York Times, NPR’s 360, Youtube, and a host of blogs.  The gamers, by using their three-dimensional puzzle solving skills, have made significant contributions to biochemical research. The problem for biochemists is predicting the shape that a [...]

I just read through a series of blogs generated by an article in the journal Neurosurgery, in which two neurosurgery researchers at Johns Hopkins University argue that an anatomically accurate image of the human brain is hidden in God’s neck in one of Michelangelo’s frescos.  I was struck by how little the reports and blogs [...]

Advances in neurobiological research often demonstrate how very difficult it is for us to get a good look at ourselves. Effective analytic tools in the sciences usually rely on defined categories such as organic and inorganic; animals and plants; protons, neutrons and electrons; voluntary action versus involuntary action; motor skills versus thinking skills. But refinements [...]

Now we can identify the number the brain is identifying! An article in Science News reports on how neuroscientists are able to determine the quantity of dots a person is looking at by looking at their brain activity patterns using an MRI. The study also revealed that the patterns that correspond to some number of [...]

Our family lived in France for the last six months and at the end of that time we had the chance to visit family in Florence. Since we drove to Florence we could stop at Pisa along the way.  I found Galileo all around me. Dava Sobel’s book, Galileo’s Daughter, once drew me in and [...]