鳕鱼岛之行 8/23-24/2014

好久没有更新blog了，毕业了，好多事情忙，从辛辛那提搬到波士顿，爸妈陪我4个多月。他们走后，一切又要从零开始，开始交新朋友，找当地的好教会，我在教会遇到了一个很特别的朋友：钟钟。她从小就是基督徒，这在我接触到的中国朋友中，并不多。我们一起去了波士顿附近的鳕鱼岛。

我当初安排这个旅行的时候，没有发现一个很系统的2日游行程，多半是3日，4日，等等。所以想分享一下上个周末短暂的2日游鳕鱼岛的经历，希望对别人有帮助。没有太多假期，就利用周六周日去玩了。cape code一天也能玩下来的，就是会比较累。这次由于时间关系没有机会去Martha's Vineyard （钟钟应该很想去，她至少10次提到了这个岛 --- ^_^）

第一天行程map：

周六早上，8点从Someville, MA出发开往第一个目的地：Chatham Pier and Fish Market (45 Barcliff Ave，Chatham,MA 02633），10点半左右就到的，时间还比较早，肚子还没饿，我和钟钟就开始随意逛。

有海狮（不太确定是海狮还是海豹http://kid.qq.com/a/20080226/000141.htm），还有各种海鸟，名字叫不出。我们沿着沙滩走，到了Chatham Hotel Inn的reserved beach，有些人在玩水上的paddle板，小孩子在沙子里找金属，等等。

当我们打算要走的时候，发现有渔船要靠岸了，于是，2人兴高采烈得跑去看。

我问：”这是什么鱼？看上去好大？"

钟钟非常自信地说：“比目鱼！”

为了好玩，我去问了一个游客，她说是“Stingrays”（中文是黃貂魚）。

哈哈，原来钟钟在忽悠我...（开玩笑的）...她真是很认真地告诉我就是比目鱼。


网上说Chatham Pier and Fish Market应该有很新鲜的海鲜。于是我们想去买龙虾吃。但我们又不想吃lobster roll，于是我们问了有没有steamed，她们说要一个小时，2.5磅24美金左右，这家店没有座位的。只有买了到外面吃。我就要了一个大的，我们2人分着吃的。我后悔当初没有要2个1磅多的了。因为真是很好吃，价格也公道，非常值！（建议早点去预订，然后去沙滩转转，1小时后正好去取steamed大龙虾！）

于是，我们先去了第二站lighthouse，1点15分再回到fish market去取大龙虾的。Chatham Lighthouse (Chatham, MA, Chatham, MA 02633)

灯楼只有周三对外开放，周六不开放。我们就去海边看看了，沙滩的沙子很软。人挺多的，免费哦！

逛完沙滩，我们就开往第三站Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge，想要徒步走走看看。http://www.fws.gov/refuge/Monomoy/ (30 Wikis Way Chatham, MA 02633)，在那里的停车场，我们吃了午饭（大龙虾），然后开始逛national wildlife refuge，天开始有点阴，还下了一点点地雨。这是网上推荐的一个地方之一，不过我们一致同意，如果你不是生物学家或者看鸟或钓鱼的人，就没那么特别。（tips：那里有免费租用望远镜哦，抵押驾照就行了)

望远镜在5点之前要归还，于是我们5点回到了visitor center。这之后，我们就打算去第四站。经过40分钟的紧张驾驶，钟钟勇敢地把车开到了第四站Rock Harbor Sunset （Rock Harbor Rd., Orleans, MA, 02653）YEAH！刚下车，钟钟说：“这里怎么这么磋啊~~~”，超逗~~我们以为走错地方了，然后问了路上的旅客，他们说这就是传说的Rock Harbor，有着最有美的日落景。当我们走到沙滩边，景色越来越美起来了。

这个地方确实很美（看照片就知道咯），我们到的时候是潮水低的时候，我们在沙滩上漫步1个多小时 （聊天南地北，听钟钟美丽动人的歌声回荡在这旷阔的天水之间）。7点左右，我们往回走，发现原来走过的沙滩已经被潮水淹没了，好在水还不深，我们安全返回了岸边。等日落等到7点40分左右，不过真的是很美。很宁静。

第一天的最后一站就是去hotel check-in了，钟钟开了一个多小时的夜路 （辛苦了），9点15分左右达到harbor hotel（698 Commercial Street，Provincetown, MA 02657，http://www.harborhotelptown.com）。把东西放在hotel，我们就去镇上了。哇，真是同志城。好多帅哥，不过都是同志。钟钟很不喜欢，觉得很鬼异，于是我们吃了点东西就回hotel了，没有在镇上疯玩。在那种环境下，我们2个女生走在那里，估计也会被人假定成同志了。呵呵。

好了，这就是第一天的行程。

第二天，我们没有早起，8点去hotel的泳池游泳，直到10点，11点30才check out，我们真是很放松，没有考虑好时间，所以第二天的行程有所改变。我们没有去Pilgrim Monument，只是远远的看到它，也没有bike，因为时间关系。我们在镇上吃了早中饭，还有mimosa喝噢！

原本的行程：

（1）Provincetown Harbor，Commercial Street. Provincetown, MA 02657 -- 看日出！

（2）Pilgrim Monument – climb up to the top, 1 High Pole Hill Rd, Provincetown, MA 02657
（3）Bike the Beech Forest Trail -- Race Point Rd, Provincetown, MA 02657 (will get to see Race Point and Herring Cove beaches)  42 Bradford Street, Provincetown, MA 02657
（4）Cape Cod National Seashore  (Salt Pond Visitor Center, 50 Nauset Road, Eastham, MA 02642)

1-3都没有做，由于时间和体力关系。我们去了Marconi beach （15美金一天停车费）。这是我们这2天看到最美的一个beach，浪也很大，绝对推荐！

这之后，钟钟想吃sushi，于是我们去了一家sushi店http://www.misakisushi.com/，很不错。8点左右开回波士顿。10点半送钟钟回家，11点自己才到家。这个短暂的周末，玩得非常开心！不知道下次什么时候还有机会去cape cod了。^_^

FW: Brain Sex

http://www.cerebromente.org.br/n11/mente/eisntein/cerebro-homens.html

Are There Differences between the Brains of Males and Females?

Renato M.E. Sabbatini, PhD  
That men and women are different, everyone knows that.
But, aside from external anatomical and primary and secondary sexual differences, scientists know also that there are many other subtle differences in the way the brains from men and women process language, information, emotion, cognition, etc.
One of the most interesting differences appear in the way men and women estimate time, judge speed of things, carry out mental mathematical calculations, orient in space and visualize objects in three dimensions, etc. In all these tasks, women and men are strikingly different, as they are too in the way their brains process language. This may account, scientists say, for the fact that there are many more male mathematicians, airplane pilots, bush guides, mechanical engineers, architects and race car drivers than female ones.
On the other hand, women are better than men in human relations, recognizing emotional overtones in others and in language, emotional and artistic expressiveness, esthetic appreciation, verbal language and carrying out detailed and pre-planned tasks. For example, women generally can recall lists of words or paragraphs of text better than men (13).
The "father" of sociobiology, Edward O. Wilson, of Harvard University (10), said that human females tend to be higher than males in empathy, verbal skills, social skills and security-seeking, among other things, while men tend to be higher in independence, dominance, spatial and mathematical skills, rank-related aggression, and other characteristics.
When all these investigations began, scientists were skeptical about the role of genes and of biological differences, because cultural learning is very powerful and influential among humans. Are girls more prone to play with dolls and cooperate among themselves than boys, because they are taught to be so by parents, teachers and social peers, or is it the reverse order?
However, gender differences are already apparent from just a few months after birth, when social influence is still small. For example, Anne Moir and David Jessel, in their remarkable and controversial book "Brain Sex" (11), offer explanations for these very early differences in children:
"These discernible, measurable differences in behaviour have been imprinted long before external influences have had a chance to get to work. They reflect a basic difference in the newborn brain which we already know about -- the superior male efficiency in spatial ability, the greater female skill in speech."
But now, after many careful controlled studies where environment and social learning were ruled out, scientists learned that there may exist a great deal of neurophysiological and anatomical differences between the brains of males and females.

Studying Differences in the Brain

There are now a number of sophisticated neuroscientific methods which allow scientists to probe minute differences between any two groups of brains. There are several approaches, brought forth by advancements in computerized image processing, such as tomography (detailed imaging of the brain using "slices"): 

1. volumetric measurements of brain parts: a region is defined, and the computer, working with a pile of slices, calculates the areas of the brain region, and then integrates numerically several areas in order to calculate its approximate volume. Statistical analysis of samples containing several brains are able to discover (or not) any differences in volume, thickness, etc.
2. functional imaging: using advanced devices, such as PET (Positron Emission Tomography), fMRI (functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging) or Brain Topographic Electroencephalography, researchers are able to visualize in two and three dimensions what parts of brain are functionally activated when a given task is performed by the subjects.
3. post-mortem examinations. The brains of deceased individuals are excised and sliced. Modern image analysis techniques are used to detect quantitative differences, such as the number and form of neurons and other brain cells, the area, thickness and volumes of brain regions, etc.

Scientists working at Johns Hopkins University, recently reporting in the "Cerebral Cortex" scholarly journal (1), have discovered that there is a brain region in the cortex, called inferior-parietal lobule (IPL) which is significantly larger in men than in women. This area is bilateral and is located just above the level of the ears (parietal cortex).
Furthermore, the left side IPL is larger in men than the right side. In women, this asymmetry is reversed, although the difference between left and right sides is not so large as in men, noted the JHU researchers. This is the same area which was shown to be larger in the brain of Albert Einstein, as well as in other physicists and mathematicians. So, it seems that IPL's size correlates highly with mental mathematical abilities. Morphological brain differences in intellectual skills were suspected to exist by neurologists since the times of phrenology (although this was proved to be a wrong approach), in the 19th century. The end of the 20th century has witnessed the first scientific proofs for that.
The study, led by Dr. Godfrey Pearlson, was performed by analyzing the MRI scans of 15 men and women. Volumes were calculated by a software package developed by Dr. Patrick Barta, a JHU psychiatrist. After allowing for the natural differences in overall brain volume which exist between the brains of men and women, there was still a difference of 5% between the IPL volumes (human male brains are, on average, approximately 10 % larger than female, but this is because of men's larger body size: more muscle cells  imply more neurons to control them).
In general, the IPL allows the brain to process information from senses and help in selective attention and perception (for example, women are more able to focus on specific stimuli, such as a baby crying in the night). Studies have linked the right IPL with the memory involved in understanding and manipulating spatial relationships and the ability to sense relationships between body parts. It is also related to the perception of our own affects or feelings. The left IPL is involved with perception of time and speed, and the ability of mentally rotate 3-D figures (as in the well-known Tetris game).
Another previous study by the same group led by Dr. Godfrey Pearlson (9) has shown that two areas in the frontal and temporal lobes related to language (the areas of Broca and Wernicke, named after their discoverers) were significantly larger in women, thus providing a biological reason for women's notorious superiority in language-associated thoughts. Using magnetic resonance imaging, the scientists measured gray matter volumes in several cortical regions in 17 women and 43 men. Women had 23% (in Broca's area, in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex) and 13% (in Wernicke's area, in the superior temporal cortex) more volume than men.
These results were later corroborated by another research group from the School of Communication Disorders, University of Sydney, Australia, which  was able to prove these anatomical differences in the areas of Wernicke and of Broca (3). The volume of the Wernicke's area was 18% larger in females compared with males, and the cortical volume the Broca's area in females was 20% larger than in males.
On the other hand, additional evidence comes from research showing that the corpus callosum, a large tract of neural fibers which connect both brain hemispheres, is enlarged in women, compared to men (5), although this discovery has been challenged recently.
In another research, a group from the University of Cincinnati, USA, Canada, presented morphological evidence that while men have more neurons in the cerebral cortex, women have a more developed neuropil, or the space between cell bodies, which contains synapses, dendrites and axons, and allows for communication among neurons (8). According to Dr. Gabrielle de Courten-Myers, this research may explain why women are more prone to dementia (such as Alzheimer's disease) than  men, because although both may lose the same number of neurons due to the disease, "in males, the functional reserve may be greater as a larger number of nerve cells are present, which could prevent some of the functional losses."
The researchers made measurements on slices of brains of 17 deceased persons (10 males and seven females), such as the cortex thickness and number of neurons in several places of the cortex.
Other researchers, led by Dr. Bennett A. Shaywitz, a professor of Pediatrics at the Yale University School of Medicine, discovered that the brain of women processes verbal language simultaneously in the two sides (hemispheres) of the frontal brain, while men tend to process it in the left side only. They performed a functional planar magnetic resonance tomographic imaging of the brains of 38 right-handed subjects (19 males and 19 females). The difference was demonstrated in a test that asked subjects to read a list of nonsense words and determine if they rhyme (7). Curiously, oriental people which use pictographic (or ideographic) written languages tend also to use both sides of the brain, regardless of gender.
Although most of the anatomical and functional studies done so far have focused on the cerebral cortex, which is responsible for the higher intellectual and cognitive functions of the brain, other researchers, such as Dr. Simon LeVay, have shown that there are gender differences in more primitive parts of the brain, such as the hypothalamus, where most of the basic functions of life are controlled, including hormonal control via the pituitary gland. LeVay discovered that the volume of a specific nucleus in the hypothalamus (third cell group of the interstitial nuclei of the anterior hypothalamus) is twice as large in heterosexual men than in women and homosexual men, thus prompting a heated debate whether there is a biological basis for homosexuality (6). Dr. LeVay wrote an interesting book about the sex differences in the brain, titled "The Sexual Brain" (6).

Evolution versus Environment

What is the reason for these gender differences in structure and function?
According to the Society for Neuroscience, the largest professional organization in this area, evolution is what gives sense to it. "In ancient times, each sex had a very defined role that helped ensure the survival of the species. Cave men hunted. Cave women gathered food near the home and cared for the children. Brain areas may have been sharpened to enable each sex to carry out their jobs". Prof. David Geary, at the University of Missouri, USA, a researcher in the area of gender differences, thinks that "in evolutionary terms, developing superior navigation skills may have enabled men to become better suited to the role of hunter, while the development by females of a preference for landmarks may have enabled them to fulfill the task of gathering food closer to home." (2) The advantage of women regarding verbal skills also make evolutionary sense. While men have the bodily strength to compete with other men, women use language to gain social advantage, such as by argumentation and persuasion, says Geary.
Author Deborah Blum, who wrote "Sex on the Brain: The Biological Differences Between Men and Women" (12), has reported the current trend towards assigning evolutionary reasons for many of our behaviors. She says: "Morning sickness, for example, which steers some women away from strong tastes and smells, may once have protected babes in utero from toxic items. Infidelity is a way for men to ensure genetic immortality. Interestingly, when we deliberately change sex-role behavior -- say,  men become more nurturing or women more aggressive -- our hormones and even our brains respond by changing, too."
During the development of the embryo in the womb, circulating hormones have a very important role in the sexual differentiation of the brain. The presence of androgens in early life produces a "male" brain. In contrast, the female brain is thought to develop via a hormonal default mechanism, in the absence of androgen. However, recent findings have shows that ovarian hormones also play a significant role in sexual differentiation.
One of the most convincing evidences for the role of hormones, has been shown by studying girls who were exposed to high levels of testosterone because their pregnant mothers had congenital adrenal hyperplasia (4). These girls seem to have better spatial awareness than other girls and are more likely to show turbulent and aggressive behaviour as kids, very similar to boys'.

Fact and Prejudice

But do these differences mean a superiority/inferiority relationship between men and women?
"No", says Dr. Pearlson. "To say this means that men are automatically better at some things than women is a simplification. It's easy to find women who are fantastic at math and physics and men who excel in language skills. Only when we look at very large populations and look for slight but significant trends do we see the generalizations. There are plenty of exceptions, but there's also a grain of truth, revealed through the brain structure, that we think underlies some of the ways people characterize the sexes."
Dr. Courten-Myers concurs: "The recognition of gender-specific ways of thinking and feeling -- rendered more credible given these established differences -- could prove beneficial in enhancing interpersonal relationships. However, the interpretation of the data also has the potential for abuse and harm if either gender would seek to construct evidence for superiority of the male or female brain from these findings."
The conclusion is that neuroscience has made great strides in the 90s, regarding the discovery of concrete, scientifically proved anatomical and functional differences between the brains of males and females. While this knowledge could in theory be used to justify misogyny and prejudice against women, fortunately this has not happened. In fact, this new knowledge may help physicians and scientists to discover new ways to explore the brain differences in the benefit of the treatment of diseases, the personalized action of drugs, different procedures in surgeries, etc. After all, males and females differ only by one Y chromosome, but this makes a real impact upon the way we react to so many things, including pain, hormones, etc.

To Know More

Sabbatini, R.M.E.: The PET Scan: A New Window Into the Brain 
Gattass, R.: Thoughts: Image Mapping by Functional Nuclear Magnetic Resonance 
Cardoso, S.H.: Why Einstein Was a Genius? 
Sabbatini, R.M.E.: Paul Broca: Brief Biography 
Sabbatini, R.M.E.: Mapping the Brain

References

1. Frederikse, M.E., Lu, A., Aylward, E., Barta, P., Pearlson, G. Sex differences in the inferior parietal lobule. Cerebral Cortex vol 9 (8) p896 - 901, 1999 [MEDLINE].
2. Geary, D.C. Chapter 8: Sex differences in brain and cognition. In "Male, Female: the Evolution of Human Sex Differences". American Psychological Association Books. ISBN: 1-55798-527-8 [AMAZON].
3. Harasty J., Double K.L., Halliday, G.M., Kril, J.J., and McRitchie, D.A. Language-associated cortical regions are proportionally larger in the female brain. Archives in Neurology vol 54 (2) 171-6, 1997 [MEDLINE].
4. Collaer, M.L. and Hines, M. Human behavioural sex differences: a role for gonadal hormones during early development? Psychological Bulletin vol 118 (1): 55-77, 1995 [MEDLINE].
5. Bishop K.M. and Wahlsten, D. Sex differences in the human corpus callosum: myth or reality? Neuroscience and Biobehavioural Reviews vol 21 (5) 581 - 601, 1997.
6. LeVay S. A difference in hypothalamic structure between heterosexual and homosexual men Science. 253(5023):1034-7, 1991 [MEDLINE].

See also: LeVay, S.: "The Sexual Brain". MIT Press, 1994 [AMAZON]
7. Shaywitz, B.A., et al. Sex differences in the functional organisation of the brain for language. Nature vol 373 (6515) 607 - 9, 1995 [MEDLINE].
8. Rabinowicz T., Dean D.E., Petetot J.M., de Courten-Myers G.M. Gender differences in the human cerebral cortex: more neurons in males; more processes in females. J Child Neurol. 1999 Feb;14(2):98-107. [MEDLINE]
9. Schlaepfer T.E., Harris G.J., Tien A.Y., Peng L., Lee S., Pearlson G.D. Structural differences in the cerebral cortex of healthy female and male subjects: a magnetic resonance imaging study. Psychiatry Res. 1995 Sep 29;61(3):129-35 [MEDLINE].
10. Wilson, E.O. - "Sociobiology". Harvard University Press, 1992 [AMAZON].
11. Moir A. and Jessel D. - "Brain Sex". 1993 [AMAZON] See also: Excerpts from the book
12. Blum, D. - "Sex on the Brain: The Biological Differences Between Men and Women". Penguin, 1998 [AMAZON]
13. Kimura, D. - "Sex and Cognition". MIT Press, 1999 [AMAZON]

Classic post about Empirical Bayesian application in MEG source reconstruction.

Dear Yuri,

Yury Petrov wrote:
> Hi Will,
> 
> I attached the paper. 

Thx, its a top paper.

My concern is that the EM algorithm cannot be
> used to estimate two parameters when one of them is used to define a
> prior for the other. 

It can.

One parameter defining a prior over another results in a hierarchical 
model. Bayesian estimation of linear Gaussian hierarchical models was 
solved in the 70's by the stats community. More recently the machine 
learning community have been using various approximate inference 
algorithms for hierarchical nonlinear/nonGaussian models. See 
Jordan/Bishop/Ghahramani etc.

Irrespectively of how the MSP algorithm has been
> derived, the ReML learning part explicitly described in the Appendix
> of the Phillips et al 2002 paper is violating the Bayes rule. It
> first calculates the source covariance matrix given the solution of
> the previous iteration, then uses its scale (trace) to rescale the
> original source covariance, etc. Yes, it uses the 'lost degrees of
> freedom' trick 

This isn't a trick. It falls naturally out of the mathematics.

to prevent a nonsensically localized solution, but
> this trick does not address the main problem. The algorithm still
> changes the prior based on posterior, then posterior based on the new
> prior, etc. iteratively.
> 

All of what i've said corresponds to the framework of Empirical Bayes - 
where you estimate the parameters of priors from data.

Pure Bayesians do not allow this. They see it, as you say, as a 
violation of what a prior is.

But then pure Bayesians have'nt solved many interesting problems. The 
Empirical Bayesian claims to know only the form of prior densities. Not 
their parameters.

Best,

Will.

> 
> 
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> 
> 
> 
> On Sep 22, 2010, at Sep 22, 2010 | 1:14 PM, Will Penny wrote:
> 
>> Dear Yury,
>> 
>>>> ---------------------------------- Dear All,
>>>> 
>>>> I have a conceptual concern regarding the MSP algorithm used by
>>>>  SPM8 to localize sources of EEG/MEG activity. The algorithm is
>>>>  based, in part, on EM iterative scheme used to estimate source
>>>>  priors (source covariance matrix) from the measurements. The
>>>> way this scheme is described in the Phillips et al. 2002 paper,
>>>> it works as an iterative Bayesian estimator: first it estimates
>>>> the sources, then calculates the resulting source covariance
>>>> from the estimate, next it (effectively) uses it as the new
>>>> prior for the sources, estimates the sources again, etc.
>>>> However, applying Bayesian learning iteratively is a common
>>>> pitfall and should not be used, because each such iteration
>>>> amounts to introducing new fictitious data. I attached a nice
>>>> introductory paper illustrating the pitfall on page 1426.
>> 
>> I don't believe that this is a pitfall.
>> 
>> The parameters of the prior (specifically the variance components)
>> are estimated iteratively along with the variance components of the
>> likelihood.
>> 
>> Importantly, each is estimated using degrees of freedom which are 
>> effectively partitioned into those used to estimate prior variance
>> and those used to estimate noise variance. This is a standard
>> Empirical Bayesian approach and produces unbiased results.
>> 
>> See papers by David Mackay on this topic and eg. page 6-8 of the
>> chapter on 'Hierarchical Models' in the SPM book (this is available
>> under publications/book chapters on my web page 
>> http://www.fil.ion.ucl.ac.uk/~wpenny/ - note gamma and (k-gamma)
>> terms in denominator of eqs 32 and 35 denoting the partitioning of
>> the degrees of freedom).
>> 
>> Nevertheless, I'd like to read page 1426 of your introductory
>> paper. Can you send it to me ?
>> 
>> Best wishes,
>> 
>> Will.
>> 
>> In particular, the outcome of the
>>>> iterations may become biased toward the original source
>>>> covariance used. In my test application of the described EM
>>>> algorithm I found that scaling the original source covariance
>>>> matrix changes the resulting sources estimate, which, in
>>>> principle, should not happen. For comparison, this problem does
>>>> not occur, when the source covariance parameters are learned
>>>> using ordinary or general cross-validation (OCV or GCV).
>>>> 
>>>> Best, Yury
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>> 
>> -- William D. Penny Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging 
>> University College London 12 Queen Square London WC1N 3BG
>> 
>> Tel: 020 7833 7475 FAX: 020 7813 1420 Email:
>> [log in to unmask] URL: http://www.fil.ion.ucl.ac.uk/~wpenny/
>> 
>> 
> 

-- 
William D. Penny
Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging
University College London
12 Queen Square
London WC1N 3BG

Tel: 020 7833 7475
FAX: 020 7813 1420
Email: [log in to unmask]
URL: http://www.fil.ion.ucl.ac.uk/~wpenny/

FW: Interesting Article

At the end of this article, the claim about "internet affects memory" -- Use myself as an example, I did feel the changes in my memory (loss) after I had computer and internet.

Read this article (interesting! share in my blog):

http://www.smartplanet.com/blog/science-scope/scientists-figured-out-why-we-cant-get-smarter/9631

 

Scientists figured out why we can’t get smarter

By Boonsri Dickinson | August 1, 2011, 12:12 PM PDT

 

Here’s an interesting fact: Smart people have faster impulses in the brain than less intelligent people. That’s all according to one Cambridge professor by the name of Ed Bullmore. But as far as getting any smarter, tough luck. British scientists made a convincing case for why our brains have reached full capacity: Human brains would consume too much energy.
Simon Laughlin, professor of neurobiology, at Cambridge University told The Sunday Times: ‘We have demonstrated that brains must consume energy to function and that these requirements are sufficiently demanding to limit our performance and determine design.”
There’s a chance the human brain could start to conserve energy and bring us back towards the size of the noggins of our Neanderthal ancestors. The researchers took into account the structure of the brain and figured out how much energy brain cells consume.
Mathematically speaking, the brain is an energy hog. It’s physically smaller than the rest of the human body, yet it consumes 20 percent of our energy. Energy is needed to fire electrical impulses so neurons can communicate with each other and also maintain the health of the cells to keep the tissues in the brain alive.
To get any smarter, the brain would need extra energy and oxygen, something all the coffee and Red Bull in the world probably can’t provide. Also, in the The Sunday Times story, the researchers say there’s a link between how connected different brain areas are and IQ. However, there isn’t enough energy to keep up with any increase in brain power.
Say it ain’t so that brain connections can’t get much better than this. Perhaps, this is as good as it gets.
With the way things are going with the Internet, maybe we can off-load some of the work onto computers and save some energy. If you recall, a recent study showed that the Internet affects your memory. On the upside, we’ve been able to overcome energy hurdles when building computers, so maybe there’s a chance we can do the same for human brains. If not, then scientists can always try to use machines to augment human intelligence or the other way around.
According to a recent Time magazine feature:

46 years later, Kurzweil believes that we’re approaching a moment when computers will become intelligent, and not just intelligent but more intelligent than humans. When that happens, humanity — our bodies, our minds, our civilization — will be completely and irreversibly transformed. He believes that this moment is not only inevitable but imminent. According to his calculations, the end of human civilization as we know it is about 35 years away.

via The DailyMail but the story originally appeared in The Sunday Times

Photo: NSF

http://www.creativitypost.com/psychology/the_brain_as_a_network_focusing_your_network

Brain scan study to understand workings of teenage mind: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-22510866

http://www.creativitypost.com/psychology/the_brain_as_a_network_focusing_your_network

irrelevant notes:  http://www.jobs.cam.ac.uk/job/?category=2

August 26 - Fifth year of Ph.D. study

Autumn Semester of Fifth year Ph.D. study will start on August 26.  Time really flies.  Soon, I will graduate and own my Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering and start another journey in academia.

Look back, I really appreciate all the great people I encountered and thanks God for his blessings to be surrounded with great leaders and wonderful opportunities.

Without my mentors (Drs. Scott Holland and Christy Holland, Jerzy Szaflarski, Jarek Meller, Weihong Yuan, Jennifer Vannest, Jing Xiang, Tzipi Horowitz-Kraus, etc), I would not be able to accomplish what I have accomplished.  The whole experience of get your Ph.D. is irreplaceable.

My take home message:  You need to be eager to learn, be a good team-player, and always have a positive attitude.  Remember, you might not be able to change or control your circumstance, but you can definitely control your response to the circumstance.  Good luck with everyone who is considering of pursing a Ph.D. or is currently pursing Ph.D.  Hang in there.  A big rainbow is waiting for you at the end of the P.H.D journey.

After Ph.D.

Good resource: http://studentaffairs.stanford.edu/cdc

Upgrade ASUS x202e

Recently, I got ASUS x202e with discover points award.  This cute pink touch-screen laptop only cost me 360 bucks from Amazon.com.  (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00B7JQQQA/ref=oh_details_o04_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1)

Technical Details

Summary

Screen Size	11.6 inches
Max Screen Resolution	1366x768 pixels
Processor	1.8 GHz Core i3-3217U
RAM	4 GB DDR3
Hard Drive	500 GB
Graphics Coprocessor	Intel GMA HD
Wireless Type	802.11bgn
Number of USB 2.0 Ports	2
Number of USB 3.0 Ports	1

Other Technical Details

Brand Name	Asus
Series	ASUS VivoBook
Item model number	ASUS VivoBook X202E-DH31T-PK
Hardware Platform	PC
Operating System	Windows 8
Item Weight	2.9 pounds
Item Dimensions L x W x H	11.90 x 7.90 x 0.80 inches
Color	Pink
Processor Brand	Intel
Processor Count	2
Computer Memory Type	DDR3 SDRAM
Hard Drive Interface	Serial ATA-300
Hard Drive Rotational Speed	5400 RPM
Batteries	1 Lithium ion batteries required. (included)

I really like the color and solid build of this cute laptop.  The System is a little slow.  I decided to upgrade the hard disk to SSD and the wireless card to Intel 6235AN.

(1) Samsung MZ-7TD250BW 840 Series Solid State Drive (SSD) 250 GB Sata 2.5-Inch (169.99 bucks)
(2) Intel Network 6235AN.HMWWB Centrino WiFi Card Advanced-N 6235 Dual Band Bluetooth (22 bucks)
(3) Windows 8 Pro 64-bit student version from school (8 bucks)

~200 bucks in total for upgrading cost.

Steps for installation of SSD hard disk:
[1] unscrew the 9 screws in the bottom

[2] you need an old credit card to open the lid (see figure)

[3] unscrew the 3 screws which hold the hard disk.












[4] you can remove the black foam and put on the SSD hard disk, or you don't have to do that since SSD is not as fragile as the regular hard disk.









Steps for installation of new Intel 6235AN wireless card (will boost the surf speed):

[1] unplug the white and black wires and unscrew 1 screw, the card will pop up itself

[2] put the new one in the place, black-main, white-AUX

















Bingo!

Done!

Use external DVD player and install the clean windows 8 pro 64-bit.  Very fast installation.

This upgrade made this laptop boots much fast.  I love it and enjoy the great deal.

ASUS x202e -  A budget touch-screen (11.6 inch) laptop! - highly recommended to those who want to find a light-weighted and touch-screen laptop.

Much cheaper than Mac Air or Dell XPS 12.

If you don't have tight budget, I would recommend you to look into DELL XPS 12 - Cool design unit.

Hope the information is helpful to you!