I wrote this in the comment of the original thread below. I have no idea if I’m right, but I thought I’m going to save it for posterity (vanity) anyway. For what it’s worth, nothing like this is mentioned in the linked article in Nature. __ If the biological analog of quantum theory is the theory of evolution, then the biological analog of the Higgs boson is the neural correlate of the meme. The theory of evolution is highly explanatory, and predicts a wide range of observed phenomena. It doesn’t give you a set of linear equations, but it does describe a set of complex dynamics that allows for a detailed study of the very mechanisms of life. Like the standard model, some of these mechanisms are well studied and understood. The biological equivalent of the electrons are the genes: the most familiar and well understood mechanisms predicted by the theory. At the moment, we understand electrons far better than we understand genes– that is, we can do more with them. But the last few decades have seen incredible advances in genetic engineering, and we are only becoming more confident in our grasp. The theory of evolution also has natural and obvious applications in the areas of psychology and sociology, but applying the theory in these areas is like walking through a minefield, and there are few places where we can do so with any confidence. The lack of confidence about the specifics, however, betrays a much deeper confidence in the generalities: the same biological models that explain the organization of other biological systems should likewise explain the organization of both brains and networks of brains. Both phenomena are pervasive biological phenomena, but we lack the mechanism, the “fundamental particle”, to unify their treatment with the genetic models we’ve been […]

“He scalpels out little segments freehand, remarking: ‘That’s your fear and aggression centre …'” Psychology World originally shared this post: A human brain dissection – in pictures By Zoe Williams, +The Guardian Photo Credit: Graeme Robertson Observe the process, step by step, as professor Steve Gentleman dissects a brain at the Brain Bank. It may be difficult to look at, but the research done here helps scientists to learn more about little-understood and devastating conditions from Parkinson’s disease to Alzheimer’s and multiple sclerosis Source: http://goo.gl/QVijz

Ciro Villa originally shared this post: …”The recently-launched Runmycode has thrown another bridge across these divides, a bridge that allows scientists and academics in the fields of economics and business to test the logic of an argument by testing the code that expresses it. A user can employ Runmycode for free to automatically create a website built around a given professional paper in between 15 and 45 minutes. The central feature of the resultant site is a cloud-based data simulator, developed in J2EE, that allows a user to test the paper’s assertions. This simulator allows readers, especially other scientists and those for whom the paper may prove the most useful, to test the arguments in the paper with their own data set.”… Runmycode lets scientists crowdsource code testing A new service removes a little more of the barrier between academics and the public by automatically producing a companion website for each paper researchers author. Creators hope it will invite criti…

John Baez originally shared this post: +Mike Stay pointed out Ron Eglash’s webpage on fractal themes in African architecture: http://homepages.rpi.edu/~eglash/eglash.dir/afractal/afarch.htm The most convincing example is an aerial photo of a Ba-ila village. Here’s a sketch based on that photo.

I woke up this morning to find that the robot video I shared last night has been +1’d or shared over 100 times in total, easily the most successful post that has appeared in my stream. Totally awesome, and a great opportunity to watch Ripples at work. https://plus.google.com/ripple/details?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D6b4ZZQkcNEo&context=z13edndznrbkfxkcf23oynlafpmds3ac1 If you haven’t been obsessing over Ripples already, the data analysis it offers is amazing! It even offers a timeline so you can see exactly how these memes spread across the G+ network. Does anyone have a favorite Ripples graph for fast spreading content? The KONY 2012 videos are an obvious choice. There were two videos that went around, one on YouTube and one on Vimeo: https://plus.google.com/ripple/details?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DY4MnpzG5Sqc https://plus.google.com/ripple/details?url=http%3A%2F%2Fvimeo.com%2F37119711 Notice that in both cases, the videos seem to spread much more by people sharing the video uniquely, instead of just resharing the posts of others. Pretty impressive for a video that spread so quickly! Notice also that in order to get reshared, you don’t have to be the first to publish the content, or even close the first. You just need a strong network of followers: notice the Shepard Fairey circle for the Vimeo video is pretty late to the game, but still commands a fairly large circle. Any other interesting Ripple graphs? Google+ Ripples youtube.com – Sand Flea is an 11-lb robot with one trick up its sleeve: Normally it drives like an RC car, but when it needs to it can jump 30 feet into the air. … The ripple diagram shows this post…

Malte Ubl originally shared this post: #meme #alanturing

Jonathan Langdale originally shared this post: Complexity & Chaos, order through fluctuation “…how is choice made? There’s always pure chance, especially in physical systems. And there may also be outside influences. In social systems, these may be human intentions as well. So, at a bifurcation point, a small random fluctuation in the state or structure of a system is magnified and made permanent.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-organization http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilya_Prigogine “Self-Organization is the process where a structure of pattern appears in a system without a central authority or external element imposing it through planning.” This might be something I listen to when I go to sleep, I’ll keep it my watch later list. >But the dude that made the playlist put it out of order, which kinda sucks. I’m probably going to be too lazy to make my own. < +Jon Lawhead ordered this into a playlist: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0F3AAFB03A09E5D0 >http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLD205992E2126AF83&feature=plcp (over 2hr long, out of order)< This part 9 is 7m long and pretty interesting. .

Louis Gray originally shared this post: Nearly every day, I see Google’s self-driving cars on the perimeter of our Mountain View campus. I haven’t yet set foot in one. But a man named Steve Mahan got to drive one. See his experience in this video and see why this innovation is special.

Michael Wu originally shared this post: Did you know that Klout Doesn’t Really Measure Influence http://mashable.com/2012/03/23/klout-influence/ Klout Doesn’t Really Measure Influence [STUDY] A study about digital influence says Klout and other social media measurement tools don’t define how users influence their networks.

Boston Dynamics has another awesome robot video on YouTube! “Sand Flea is an 11-lb robot with one trick up its sleeve: Normally it drives like an RC car, but when it needs to it can jump 30 feet into the air. An onboard stabilization system keeps it oriented during flight to improve the view from the video uplink and to control landings. Current development of Sand Flea is funded by the The US Army’s Rapid Equipping Force. For more information visit www.BostonDynamics.com.” http://youtu.be/6b4ZZQkcNEo Their collection of bots gets more impressive by the day. Other Boston Dynamics videos below: BigDog Overview (Updated March 2010) PETMAN Prototype DARPA Cheetah Sets Speed Record for Legged Robots Thanks for the tip +Kirk Fisher!