I Shot A Man Today…

Well actually I read about it and it was very interesting. Take a look:

He looked up, saw me, and said, “Oh, shit.” Not like “Oh shit, I’m scared.” But like “oh shit, now there’s somebody else I gotta kill” – real aggressive and mean. Instead of continuing to push the gun at Dan’s head, he started to try to bring it around on me. This all happened real fast – in milliseconds – and at the same time, I was bringing my gun up. Dan was still fighting with him, and the only thought that came through my minds was “Oh, dear God, don’t let me hit Dan.” I fired five rounds. My vision changed as soon as I started to shoot. It went from seeing the whole picture to just seeing the suspect’s head. Everything else just disappeared. I didn’t see Dan anymore, didn’t see anything else. All I could see was the suspect’s head.

I saw four of my five rounds hit. The first one hit him in his left eyebrow. It opened up a hole and the guy’s head snapped back and he said, Ooh,” like, Ooh, you got me.” He still continued to turn the gun toward me, and I fired my second round. I saw a red dot right below the base of his left eye, and his head kind of turned sideways. I fired another round. It hit on the outside of his left eye, and his eye exploded, just ruptured and came out. My fourth round hit just in front of his left ear. The third round had moved his head even further sideways to me, and when the fourth round hit, I saw a red dot open on the side of his head, then close up. I didn’t see where my last round went. Then I heard the guy fall backwards and hit the ground.

- Compliments of Malcolm Gladwell (for more info read Blink)

Blink is a book about stereotypes, thinking without thinking and unconscious decision making. I recommend it to anyone that wants something to open their eyes. Malcolm Gladwell is also the author of the best selling novel “The Tipping Point.” It’s certainly on my list!

Blink

I have a good buddy that is constantly reading. He claims that he is not the fastest reader, however it seems as though he is always a few good reads ahead of me and he is always making unreal recommendations. I had the opportunity to pick up a book by Malcolm Gladwell called “Blink”. I’m not quite finished it but it has really caught my attention. Blink is about thinking without thinking. I know, it seems like quite the topic, however in a nutshell it is exploring unconscious thought.

You have no idea how much you judge people, all the time. I mean this in both a positive and a negative way.

One of the first case studies instantly caught my attention. For a number of years, Vic Braden was a professional tennis player and then he spent some time coaching. This guy could watch a tennis match between two people that he had never watched before and pick out each time the serving player was going to double fault.

First, understand that in a given match any one player could serve the ball more then 200 times. If they double fault 20 times this guy would accurately pick out 19 of 20 double faults right before they served the ball. He tried to determine what it was about that player’s serve that indicated to him a double fault was on the way but he just could not explain it. It’s unconscious decision making. It’s almost like having that gut instinct.

As expected, I highly recommend reading it. Also, I will keep you up to date on more interesting findings from the book.

Dooms Day Seed Vault

Here’s a prime time example of mass collaboration. A friend of mine told me about a vault that was built in Norway. It took scientists 7 years to collect 1.5 billion different species of seeds. The idea behind the vault was to preserve the world’s food source in case of an emergency. I watched an interesting video from 60 minutes at this site http://www.croptrust.org/main/#videos

First off, I think it’s quite scary to say the least. It seems like we have totally destroyed the planet and are preparing for absolute chaos. However, the other side of the coin presents this idea as a great one. In case of any natural disasters, or human mismanagement, we have a resource that can save our crop diversity.

Cradle To Cradle

A friend of mine picked up a pair of cradle to cradle nike shoes and they are pretty sweet. Check out www.thekevblog.wordpress.com for that story.

Anyways we got talking about a very well known architect, designer and author William McDonough. The idea of Cradle To Cradle is to remake the way we make things. In his Ted talk in 2005 he discusses how the world is kind of like a toilet that doesn’t flush. In a sense, fixing this toilet is the premise behind Cradle To Cradle. So, for example a child’s blanket is made with warning labels about how the materials may cause the child harm if ingested. Why not manufacture a blanket that when a child chews on it, it gives them nutrients. Then once the child is done with the blanket, the materials are 100% recyclable or biodegradable. It’s such a simple but great concept. Take a look at William McDonough’s Ted talk…

Abby & Brittany Hensel turn 16

I found a very interesting video on youtube of conjoined twins. I feel slightly sheltered as 2.8 million people have seen this video but if you are like me and living under a rock, check it out.

Is Aging an Accident of Evolution?

Based on the research from Stanford scientists, the answer is yes. Take a look at this interesting article I found at dailygalaxy.com…

“Everyone has assumed we age by rust. But how do you explain animals that don’t age? Some tortoises lay eggs at the age of 100, there are whales that live to be 200 and clams that make it past 400 years.”

- Stuart Kim, PhD, Stanford University professor of developmental biology and genetics

Prevailing theory of aging challenged by Stanford University Medical School researchers. Their discovery contradicts the prevailing theory that aging is a buildup of tissue damage similar to rust. The Stanford findings suggest specific genetic instructions drive the process. If they are right, science might one day find ways of switching the signals off and halting or even reversing aging.

“We were really surprised,” said Stuart Kim, who is the senior author of the research.

Kim’s lab examined the regulation of aging in C. elegans, a millimeter-long nematode worm whose simple body and small number of genes make it a useful tool for biologists. The worms age rapidly: their maximum life span is about two weeks.

Comparing young worms to old worms, Kim’s team discovered age-related shifts in levels of three transcription factors, the molecular switches that turn genes on and off. These shifts trigger genetic pathways that transform young worms into social security candidates.

The question of what causes aging has spawned competing schools, with one side claiming that inborn genetic programs make organisms grow old. This theory has had trouble gaining traction because it implies that aging evolved, that natural selection pushed older organisms down a path of deterioration. However, natural selection works by favoring genes that help organisms produce lots of offspring. After reproduction ends, genes are beyond natural selection’s reach, so scientists argued that aging couldn’t be genetically programmed.

For the rest of the story go to:

http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2008/07/is-aging-an-acc.html

Time Travel: Einstein’s Big Idea

I had a discussion a few days ago with some friends about time travel. Although I am not too good with physics the conversation was very interesting and having the internet at our fingertips helped as well. I realize that the video may not be the best but take a look at it. If you take a second it totally makes sense.