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Monday, May 3, 2010

What? No Fandant Smoke Monster?

Delinquency or love? Mostly love. I adored that quasi time-traveler photo last week and wanted to know what everyone thought of it, so I left it up. All. Week. But, as with all delicious things, we must move on. Speaking of delicious, someone who-shall-remain-nameless has a b-day coming up. Wouldn't this TARDIS cake score perfection points? If I can't have the LOST cake, of course. The Sawyer piece.

Favorite writing quote overheard this week: "I could've eaten Alphabits and crapped out a better novel."

For the high-brow among us: new research on how our brain perceives time. David Eagleman, neuroscientist at Baylor College of Medicine, runs one of the only laboratories in the world dedicated to experiments seeking hard data on how humans internalize time. Eagleman discovered that the human brain runs two clocks, one that "feeds you a perception of the now, and another that is constantly at work tidying up that perception." This tidying clock, to preserve the tremendous amount of mental energy needed, will often predict everyday stimulus that flow by unnoticed. When an out-of-the-ordinary event occurs, it seems to take longer to occur because this tidying clock could not predict it. Understanding the brain's internal time sensors has important ramifications in the study of mental illnesses, specifically hallucinations reported by schizophrenics that are potentially a time-delay of stimulus-response normally experienced near-simultaneously. Two fist bumps and a snap for the reporter who strapped on an iron pair and participated in Eagleman's fifteen story free fall experiment in the name of science.

Random Monday question:
If you wrote a screenplay on the last hour of your life (that just expired), what would you title it?

7 comments:

Charles Gramlich said...

The brain has a number of structures that seem to "keep" time. Not all of them run at the same speed.

Robin said...

OMG - that quote is hysterical. I love it! And those cakes - wow. Also love Mr. Eagleman's take on the brain and time. I always learn something new here - thanks. :)

Marilyn Brant said...

Last half hour? Hmmm. Perhaps: "House of the Rising Zombie Mom..."

Subby said...

Neat cakes.

As for time, Princess Cheese( at 8 ) is still trying to grasp the concept of it. I oft wonder how the human brain would react to having no concept of time at all? Strees levels would be down, for one thing...

Katie Reus said...

That quote cracks me up :) And I love those cake pics...now I'm hungry!

Regina Richards said...

Screen play n the last hour of my life...title?

Suburban Headache

Dialogue said...

Love those cakes