THOUGHTBOX

This video resonates with me. I've always considered it amazing that our bodies are essentially star dust ("we are all made of stars"). But I don't think I've seen anyone put it quite the way this video puts it, a way that makes it more moving. More moving and motivating than any holy writ.

US Navy closer to developing a functional railgun  - so we're just that little bit closer to Star Wars. NASA is trying to deal with Mars mission budget cuts  - I'm a huge space exploration nerd and everytime I read about funds being cut for missions to new frontiers I lose a little bit of faith in humanity. Indy's Fridge Nuking experience totally implausible  - seriously, who didn't know that already? And for our really really important piece of news - at least for me: The first lab created human egg  - this could potentially be a huge breakthrough in genetics. US Scientists in Massachusetts have shown that it's possible to generate egg cells from harvested ovary cells.

A fossilized, 300 million-year old forest has been discovered underneath a coal mine in Wuda, northern China. The forest was preserved by volcanic ash, similar to the preservation of the roman village of Pompeii, giving scientists a unique snapshot at plant life from a very remote era. The discoveries include six different groups of plants, from ferns to 25-meter tall trees, along with extinct groups of spore-bearing trees called Noeggerathiales, which were not commonly found until now in Asia. The really interesting thing to note is that coniferous and flowering plants are not found among the fossils because they had not evolved yet during the Paleozoic era. These images are artist's depictions of the forest as it may have looked 300 million years ago.

The controversial ACTA trade agreement has been put on hold by the European Commission, as the body intends to pursue the aid of the European Court of Justice to decide whether the treaty violates any fundamental rights. This represents a fundamental step forward for us EU citizens, as one of the most dangerous accords that could have severely compromised our privacy is now being delayed, with several countries now refusing to ratify ACTA on those grounds. Which I think is a big plus given that it takes all 27 member countries of the EU to agree on ACTA for it to ever become the standard. Meanwhile, EU Commissioner Karel De Gucht considers that ACTA does not violate  the EU’s rights of freedom of expression and freedom of information, as " ACTA will not censor websites or shut them down; ACTA will not hinder freedom of the Internet or freedom of speech." So far so good - at least things are moving in a good direction with ACTA. We'll have to wait and see what the Europea...

New studies indicate that humans are not naturally nasty as ancient greek philosophers suggested, but in fact there is biological basis for cooperative behavior. That's really great because up to this point, the common view was that we (Homo Sapiens Sapiens) developed morality in order to function as a society. In essence, we were the only creatures being high and moral because it gave us some sort of competitive edge, and thus morals were a strictly human feature. Researcher Frans de Waal countered that, along with most mammalian juveniles, human children have a natural tendency towards cooperation, in order to reproduce and pass on their genes. She bases her conclusions on experiments done on rats and monkeys, where individuals were given the choice of treats or helping others (rats had to help others escape a trap versus eat some chocolate). His research is said to prove that  "reciprocity, fairness, empathy and consolation," occur naturally, in the wild. On a m...

A lot of people have been talking about Lana del Ray and whether or not she is an authentic musician or a product designed to enthrall and a fake that has crossed indie fans. Normally I don’t pursue these kinds of things. You can enjoy music regardless of the people behind it. One of my favorite bands, Tool, once said in an interview that you don’t need to know where the artist sleeps, who he sleeps with, what he eats to enjoy his music. That’s something I heartily agree with. Yet there’s a lot of buzz around about this Lana Del Rey. Who is she? Lana Del Rey made her debut under her real name of Lizzie Grant: a bleached blonde, post-americana Nancy Sinatra-esque indie singer with a raspy voice. Yet things didn’t kick off for her until she used her made-up name that she’s much more famous for. Lizzie has admitted that “Lana del Rey” is the creation of the team behind her music identity, and is a combination of the movie star Lana Turner and the Ford Del Rey. When these marketing po...