Typically when the brain wishes to impose significance upon something, it rewards the activity with a portion of endorphins, thereby enticing the individual to repeat the action as often as possible.

The bliss found in eating fatty foods, for instance, probably provided early humans with the ambition to hunt and devour energy-rich animal flesh. Sexual intercourse also rewards the participants with a cocktail of natural feel-good biochemicals, perhaps as a means to encourage the development of the pornography industry, which is vital to a strong economy.

[Exctract from Damn Interesting’s article about the scientific study on laughter]

Antes de “An Inconvenient Truth” y su oposición The Great Global Warming Swindle (tampoco cierto del todo), estaba el oscurecimiento global [wiki], un fenómeno relativamente desconocido que cambiará la perspectiva sobre las causas del cambio climático. Aquí está EL documental:

Hay decenas de teorías sobre el cambio climático basadas en modelos que, por definición, se crean en la búsqueda de un patrón en particular, desde un interés en particular. Éste documental de BBC Horizon de 2005, sin embargo, parece más realista, honesto y neutral sobre un problema —la reducción de la cantidad de luz solar que llega a la superficie de la Tierra— que es tan verdad como es sentido común, y cuya solución (la reducción de la contaminación que ya se está llevando a cabo globalmente), paradójicamente contribuye al calentamiento global. Sí, el oscurecimiento global enfría la Tierra y contrarresta el calentamiento global, de ahí la creciente inestabilidad del clima causada por ambas fuerzas luchando entre sí. Aunque está brillantemente presentado, narrado y respaldado, cuidado con a quién se lo pasáis, que puede dar cierto miedo.

ACTUALIZADO: A continuación, y a la espera de su disponibilidad íntegra, los primeros 12 minutos del documental, en español: (more…)

I have watched several documentaries and presentations about Peak Oil and the following is in my opinion the most informative, complete and comprehensive, if only a bit shocking for some people (with spanish subtitles btw):

The End of Suburbia

Crude Impact: The most boring due to slow talking, long static scenes and general lack of moving statements or facts. Still recommendable.

Oil, Smoke and Mirrors: Its first part is a really good summary of the Peak Oil phenomena and its implications, straight to the point and even more mind-opening than The End of Suburbia. It switches to 9/11 conspiracy theory mode, however, and only wraps around Peak Oil a little bit at the end. Highly Recommendable if you can take that with a grain of salt.

[Via Techeblog]

Where does size begin and end? Probably not where the smallest or biggest things we know. Two videos for you to think twice next time you “think big”

With the excuse of this spectacular multiphotograph of a solar eclipse [via Neatorama], I repost a thought on the phenomena from 2003 (below).

There’s something more fascinating in sun eclipses than the eclipse itself

Sun eclipses occur because and only because the combination of the diameter of the moon, the diameter of the sun, and the distance between the sun and the moon and between the moon and us is perfect. If just one of these values were different, sun eclipses simply wouldn’t exist on Earth. It looks like it has been calculated to the milimeter by… coincidence? No comment.

“Mathematics have demonstrated that (…) if we have a sample of severall million people —and free time—, we will certainly be able to find a relation between the hair color and anxiety, or the hip perimeter and interest in movies, for example.”

Two extracts of “El alma está en el cerebro” (The soul is in the brain) by Eduardo Punset [wiki]

“Let’s suppose we have two groups of population, A and B in which a statistical analisys on height is going to be made. Both groups, A and B are very similar in this matter, but the average height of A is 1,70 meters, slightly above that of B, which is 1,72 meters. This average could be due, for example, to the occasional presence of nine basketball players in group B, whose height is more than 2,15 meters, while in group A there is only one person who surpasses that height. A news headline could read: “90% of the people who surpass 2,15 meters belong to group B”. The headline is perfectly correct, but if we came down to the details, we would observe that the gross of both groups measure the same. If we only focused on that detail, we would extract a wrong idea of the situation. Change the height for the annual income or other scales and we see how advantage can be taken from statistics in order to justify or fight economical decisions or of social politics.”

(more…)

Before “An Inconvenient Truth” and its also must-see opposition The Great Global Warming Swindle, there was global dimming [wiki], a relatively unknown phenomenon that will change the perspective on the causes of climate change. Here’s THE documentay:

There are dozens of climate change theories based on models that, by definition, are created in search for a particular pattern, from a particular interest. This 2005 BBC Documentary however feels very neutral, honest and realistic about a problem —the reduction of sun light reaching the Earth’s surface— that is as fact as it is common sense, and whose solution (the reduction of pollution already taking place globally), paradoxcally contributes to global warming. Yes, global dimming cools down the Earth and counteracts global warming, hence the growing inestabilty of the climate caused by the two forces fighting each other. Although it’s brilliantly presented, narrated and backed up, watch out for who do you pass it on to, as it can be pretty scary.