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Analysis, Brain, Breakthrough Thinking, Crazy Stuff, Culture, Globalism, Historical Perspectives, Human Behavior, New Discoveries

What Is the Most Complex Language in the World?

January 4, 2010

Think Enlish is tough?

The Economist has an article about how languages can be said to be, comparatively speaking, more or less complex. The grand prize for most complex language goes to one in the Amazon:

With all that in mind, which is the hardest language? On balance The Economist would go for Tuyuca, of the eastern Amazon. It has a sound system with simple consonants and a few nasal vowels, so is not as hard to speak as Ubykh or !Xóõ….

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Analysis, Current Events, Historical Perspectives, New Discoveries, Science & Technology News

Huge Pre-Stonehenge Complex Found via Faux “Crop Circles”

June 22, 2009

Connecting the historical dots

Given away by strange, crop circle-like formations seen from the air, a huge prehistoric ceremonial complex discovered in southern England has taken archaeologists by surprise.

A thousand years older than Stonehenge, the site includes the remains of wooden temples and two massive, 6,000-year-old tombs that are among “Britain’s first architecture,” according to archaeologist Helen Wickstead, leader of the Damerham Archaeology Project.

For such a site to have lain hidden for so long is “completely amazing,” said Wickstead, of Kingston University in London…

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Analysis, Health & Fitness, Hot Issues, Science & Technology News

Building Humans – ‘Unnatural’ Selection

March 31, 2009

Building Humans - ‘Unnatural’ Selection

Picture this: prospective parents excitedly clicking through an online catalogue, ticking off the optimal mix of traits for their yet-to-be-conceived child.

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Brain, Health & Fitness, Science & Technology News

The Human Brain Lives ‘On The Edge Of Chaos’

March 20, 2009

The Human Brain Lives ‘On The Edge Of Chaos’

Cambridge-based researchers provide new evidence that the human brain lives “on the edge of chaos”, at a critical transition point between randomness and order. The study, published March 20 in the open-access journal PLoS Computational Biology, provides experimental data on an idea previously fraught with theoretical speculation.

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Analysis, Business, Health & Fitness, New Viewpoints, Science & Technology News

Genetic Testing: Do We Really Want To Know Everything Our Genome Has To Say?

January 15, 2009

Genetic Testing: Do We Really Want To Know Everything Our Genome Has To Say?

Once impenetrable, the individual genetic code is becoming an open book thanks to kits that scan for genes linked to scores of traits and diseases, from bladder cancer and baldness to male infertility and memory loss.

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Analysis, Art, Breakthrough Thinking, Health & Fitness, New Discoveries, Science & Technology News

Are Optical Illusions Caused By The Brain Or The Eye?

November 12, 2008

Are Optical Illusions Caused By The Brain Or The Eye?

(Left) Isia Leviant’s Enigma. Most viewers say the purple rings appear to fill with rapid illusory motion. (Right) A simplified version that the researchers used in the study. Most viewers report illusory motion lengthwise along the gray stripe.

When viewing the famous optical illusion painting Enigma by Isia Leviant, many people claim to see motion within the colored circles moving against the black and white striped background. Although this optical illusion has been known for a long time, its physiological origins are still unknown.

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