Wright's Law Edges Out Moore's Law in Predicting Technology Development - IEEE Spectrum

Wright's Law Edges Out Moore's Law in Predicting Technology Development - IEEE Spectrum: Wright’s Law (1936). “We learn by doing.” The cost of a unit decreases as a function of the cumulative production.

Does Quantum Physics Make it Easier to Believe in God? | Big Questions Online

Does Quantum Physics Make it Easier to Believe in God? | Big Questions Online: If, on the other hand, we accept the more traditional understanding of quantum mechanics that goes back to von Neumann, one is led by its logic (as Wigner and Peierls were) to the conclusion that not everything is just matter in motion, and that in particular there is something about the human mind that transcends matter and its laws. It then becomes possible to take seriously certain questions that materialism had ruled out of court: If the human mind transcends matter to some extent, could there not exist minds that transcend the physical universe altogether? And might there not even exist an ultimate Mind?

Africa Progress Panel calls on African governments to drive towards MDGs | Global development | guardian.co.uk

Africa Progress Panel calls on African governments to drive towards MDGs | Global development | guardian.co.uk: With the Arab spring very much in mind, the report carried stark warnings about the chasm between rich and poor. The panel said Africa's wealth disparities are among the biggest in the world. In China, where rising inequality is seen as a threat to social stability and future growth, the Gini index is 42. But 24 African countries show higher inequality scores. In Mozambique, Kenya and Zambia, the Gini coefficient is between 45 and 55, while in Botswana and South Africa it is above 60.

Africa's millions of young people must add up to demographic dividend | Linah Mohohlo | Global development | guardian.co.uk

Africa's millions of young people must add up to demographic dividend | Linah Mohohlo | Global development | guardian.co.uk: If we can get this right and harness the incredible creativity, energy and innovation in our young people, we can reap a fantastic demographic dividend. But it is not guaranteed.

Time-keeping brain neurons discovered

Time-keeping brain neurons discovered "The key finding is that neurons in the prefrontal cortex and the striatum encode the time information associated with sensory cues," Jin explained. "Visual cues, for example, elicit a variety of responses in a particular population of neurons. We found that the brain is able to tell the passage of time from the visual cues because different neurons are active at different times. Most remarkably we found that there are neurons that are active at precise times after a particular visual cue, and these neurons act like clocks that mark time."

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"Another key finding of our work is that the brains of the monkeys constructed neural activities to encode time even though timing was not required for the experimental task," Jin said. "We suggest that time encoding is the essential function of the brain's neural networks."

Rare neurons discovered in monkey brains

The anterior insular cortex is a small brain region that plays a crucial role in human self-awareness and in related neuropsychiatric disorders. A unique cell type – the von Economo neuron (VEN) – is located there. For a long time, the VEN was assumed to be unique to humans, great apes, whales and elephants. Henry Evrard, neuroanatomist at the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics in Tübingen, Germany, now discovered that the VEN occurs also in the insula of macaque monkeys. The morphology, size and distribution of the monkey VEN suggest that it is at least a primal anatomical homolog of the human VEN. This finding offers new and much-needed opportunities to examine in detail the connections and functions of a cell and brain region that could have a key role in human self-awareness and in mental disorders including autism and specific forms of dementia.Rare neurons discovered in monkey brains

How Climate Change Causes Earthquakes and Erupting Volcanoes | Mother Jones

How Climate Change Causes Earthquakes and Erupting Volcanoes | Mother Jones: The bottom line is that through our climate-changing activities we are loading the dice in favor of escalating geological havoc at a time when we can most do without it. Unless there is a dramatic and completely unexpected turnaround in the way in which the human race manages itself and the planet, then long-term prospects for our civilization look increasingly grim. At a time when an additional 220,000 people are lining up at the global soup kitchen each and every night, when energy, water, and food resources are coming under ever-growing pressure, and when the debilitating effects of anthropogenic climate change are insinuating themselves increasingly into every nook and cranny of our world and our lives, the last thing we need is for the dozing subterranean giant to awaken.