The world we live in is an abundance of information. We learn from interacting personally with the world, and the information we receive from the world are integrated in our brains and are formed into memories. Experience and memory is believed to be inexorably linked, at least that’s what they seemed to be until this report on the formation of artificial memories happened.

Using laboratory animals, investigators reverse engineered a specific natural memory by mapped the brain circuits underlying its formation. They then “trained” another animal by stimulating brain cells in the pattern of the natural memory. Doing so created an artificial memory that was retained and recalled in a manner indistinguishable from a natural one.

Memories are essential to the sense of identity that emerges from the narrative of personal experience. This study is remarkable because it demonstrates that by manipulating specific circuits in the brain, memories can be separated from that narrative and formed in the complete absence of real experience. The work shows that brain circuits that normally respond to specific experiences can be artificially stimulated and linked together in an artificial memory. That memory can be elicited by the appropriate sensory cues in the real environment. The research provides some fundamental understanding of how memories are formed in the brain and is part of a burgeoning science of memory manipulation that includes the transfer, prosthetic enhancement and erasure of memory. These efforts could have a tremendous impact on a wide range of individuals, from those struggling with memory impairments to those enduring traumatic memories, and they also have broad social and ethical implications.

What are your thoughts on this one?

(Image Credit: sbtlneet/ Pixabay)

Garlic is a lovable cat with a pink nose and tiny gray ears. He looks identical to his original.

“My cat died of urinary tract disease,” Garlic’s owner Huang Yu told the Global Times. “I decided to clone him because he was so special and unforgettable.”

Garlic may be biologically identical to his original, but he’s not the same cat. He has his own personality and he has his own memories.

While they have successfully cloned the cat (which is the first cloned cat in their country, by the way), China’s Sinogene Biotechnology Company is not content with just cloning the body. They state that the next level would be using artificial intelligence to transfer the original’s memories over to the clone.

Sinogene’s general manager told attendees at a press conference on Monday that “to make the cloned animal share the same memories with the original, the company is considering the use of artificial intelligence or man-machine interface technology to store them or even pass the memories to cloned animals,” wrote the Global Times, a paper run by the Chinese communist party.

While there’s no telling whether that’s even technologically possible, the fact that Sinogene is even looking into it could be taken as a sign that there’s a demand for pets that are identical — in both body and spirit — to their predecessors.

And that’s disturbing on a number of levels.

Cloning pets is already controversial — scientists have claimed that cloned animals aren’t as healthy, with shorter lifespans than naturally born animals, while some animal activists have argued that cloning pets is unethical given the number of shelter animals in need of homes.

What are your thoughts on this one?

(Image Credit: Seanbatty/ Pixabay)

The universe is truly a vast place, but have you ever asked how big is it? This is one of the fundamental questions to astrophysics, and a question impossible to answer. Still, scientists still try their best in trying to find the answer.

"That may be something that we actually never know," Sarah Gallagher, an astrophysicist at Western University in Ontario, Canada, told Live Science.

But how do scientists solve for the answer to one of the biggest (literally) questions man can ask? They have a few tricks up their sleeve. Unfortunately, even with these tricks, they still can’t answer the question.

Some say that the universe is infinite, while others say that it is finite. Both of them, however, agree on this one: the universe is “really freaking huge.”

See the full story over at the site.

(Image Credit: NASA/ ESA Hubble Space Telescope)

The only thing more common than people numbering things is when we then later rank those same things, which can cause trouble numerically. The National League of Cities lists the most common street names in the US, according to data from the Census Bureau. Coming in first place is Second, and number two is Third. Third is First, and fourth is Fourth. Fifth is the sixth-most common street name, and Main comes in seventh. Is that clear? If it sounds like an Abbot & Costello routine to you, you're not alone. Earthmens-9 used this information to rewrite the classic "Who's on First?" routine.

Hey, let’s go visit the most common street names in the U.S. what’s the first?

-First is third.

-Wait you’re saying Third street is first?

-No, it’s Second.

-Ok, so what’s first?

-Third.

-I thought it was second.

-First.

-First what?

-Street

-That’s what I’m asking! What’s the first street?

-Second.

-Ok then, so you’re saying the first street is second and Third is first?

-No, First is third, Third is second.

That's just the beginning. You can read the rest of the routine at reddit. And learn about some other weird street names in the comments at Metafilter.

(Image credit: formulanone) 

I’m asked to include this song BY FAR more than any other. And this predictability is precisely why I’d never use it. In general, I’d rather be in the business of giving folks the thing they want that they don’t know they want rather than just the thing they know they want. https://t.co/hUXzvNIeOj

— James Gunn (@JamesGunn) August 30, 2019

There's one song that James Gunn will never include in the Guardians of the Galaxy soundtrack and that would be "Dancing in the Moonlight" by King Harvest.

There have been a lot of chart-toppers which the Guardians grooved to in the first two movies like "Come and Get Your Love", "Ain't No Mountain High Enough", and "I Want You Back". And as a result, many fans have been requesting to include certain songs in the movie, some more so than others.

In response to a Twitter follower telling him that he better include King Harvest’s “Dancing in the Moonlight” in Guardians Vol. 3 or “I swear I will actually riot,” writer and director James Gunn tweeted, “I’m asked to include this song BY FAR more than any other. And this predictability is precisely why I’d never use it.

(Image credit: James Gunn/Twitter)

What would you do when somebody pulls out a gun and demands that you give them your possessions? Most of us would probably freak out. Not Tony Tovar who became viral in video showing how he continued smoking in the face of a bar robbery.

“He just wanted drug money,” Tovar said of the robber who stuck up Behrmann’s bar on Wednesday night. Tovar conceded that he wouldn’t suggest anyone else follow his lead.

“It’s probably not in your best interest if they have a loaded firearm, I wouldn’t suggest that to just anybody,” he said in the interview.

He himself, though, wouldn’t think twice if faced again with the same situation. “Absolutely not,” he said when asked if he would do anything differently.

Watch the video on the New York Post.

(Image credit: Inside Edition via HuffPost)

I was just getting something out of her fur, I swear! She doesn't mean a thing to me! I'd never cheat on you!.

Alas for poor kitty, she's unlikely to believe you, as she caught you red-pawed.

-via Super Punch

Lenny Maughan, an avid runner and prolific artist in San Francisco, is brilliant at turning his loops into designs. A combination of great physique and artistry!

“I sketched out the Vulcan salute—the hand gesture—on a paper map, in a sort of tribute, since Leonard Nimoy had recently died,” said Maughan. “The way Market Street offsets the streets on its side made the ‘V’ shape a good starting point. The rest of the hand easily came into shape. After seeing all this render [on Strava], I was happy—and hooked!”

Outside of his artistic endeavors, Maughan runs year-round and trains for marathons. He often logs miles with local club for base mileage, but when he is working on a new Strava design, he flies solo. Although he welcomes his friends to join him and simply follow him, he ends up doing it alone.

Since he runs so often, it’s not his fitness level that slows him down, but rather the intricacies of the design. Maughan is all for the shape and design of his strava artwork. 

“I really don’t care about the miles. Or the elevation. Or the speed. That’s not the point. These aren’t races,” he said. 

How do you envision your marathon route?

(Image Credit: Runners World)

Our supply of water will not be enough to provide for and sustain the global demand after a decade. Water consumption isn't just about the ones coming out of the faucet or the shower. In fact, 90% can be ascribed to agriculture.

So it would be best to be conscious of how much water we are consuming and how much we are wasting when we don't finish our food.

(M)any of us are completely unaware of how much water it takes to produce the ingredients for the meals we eat. The Wonderwater Café is a pop-up that provides its diners with information they need to make ethical decisions on the food they choose to consume.

The project features in the XXII Triennnale di Milano, Broken Nature: Design Takes on Human Survival and the museum’s Triennale Caffé is hosting the Wonderwater Café for the duration of the exhibition.

(Image credit: Lily Banse/Unsplash)

For the first time next year, Strictly Come Dancing will allow same-sex pairs to participate in the competition as the policies have been relaxed in order to reflect the current trend and inclusivity of modern Britain.

They said BBC bosses had a change of heart after realising that other nations had happily accepted the idea. “Having previously thought it was unnecessary, it has dawned on people at the BBC that the original British show looks a bit backwards in not having embraced the notion of a same-sex couple," they added.

“It could well be that we follow the Aussie model and go for a charismatic drag act, because Courtney Act proved hugely popular with traditionally conservative Australian viewers. “And why not shake things up a bit over here? It’ll be fun. Exciting times are ahead.”

(Image credit: BBC/PA Wire)

When US presidents go out and take a trip or visit other states, the things that they do and the places they have been become part of the history of those places which can be told and re-told to future visitors and generations, either as a means to attract more visitors or just an interesting anecdote to share.

5280 Magazine shares a list of some of these moments wherein past US presidents spent their time in Colorado. From William Howard Taft's refusal to take a dip in a hot springs pool in Glenwood Springs to Theodore Roosevelt's commendation of the breakfast he was served in Hugo, these little stories add a little more to what we know about the presidents and the state of Colorado.

(Image credit: Kait Herzog/Unsplash)

Officials of Philadelphia's Zero Waste and Litter Cabinet are going to tackle the issue of illegal dumping of construction debris by changing their procedures for issuing construction permits to contractors so that only contractors whose haulers are approved will be given permits.

Starting Oct. 1, anyone applying for a permit for construction, demolition, or major alterations to a building has to tell the city which company is responsible for taking away the rubbish.

Applicants must select their haulers from a city registry. The idea is to make sure contractors taking advantage of the city’s construction boom are working with reputable haulers that use approved disposal facilities.

(Image credit: City 311)

This might be the best video on the Internet right now. pic.twitter.com/6AyR6hricX

— Blattman (@davidblattman) August 27, 2019

This guy has probably spent years practicing his pen-throwing skills. The workers obviously have very little supervision at this office. How many times can he nail it in a row? You'll have to watch and see. A little cleverness goes a long way. -via Nag on the Lake

In a talk on TED.com, cognitive scientist Deb Roy shared a remarkable experiment that hearkens back to an earlier era of science using brand-new technology. 

From the day he and his wife brought their son home five years ago, the family’s every movement and word was captured and tracked with a series of fisheye lenses in every room in their house. The purpose was to understand how we learn language, in context, through the words we hear. 

A combination of new software and human transcription called Blitzscribe allowed them to parse 200 terabytes of data to capture the emergence and refinement of specific words in Roy’s son’s vocabulary. Roy later on analyzed the results through graphs.

Roy is now taking the amazing research capability and team he’s developed and applying it to commerce. He’s on leave from MIT and has founded a VC-backed company called Bluefin Labs that applies these same high-powered analytics to relate, not the speech of a child to that of a father, but events broadcast on TV to conversations taking place in social media, the better to chart “engagement” with the State of the Union Address or Jersey Shore or a car commercial.

What an interesting way of taking his ideas out of the lab and into the world!

(Image Credit: Deb Roy via Fast Company)

Our 3rd (and final) new candy cane flavor of the year: Pizza! We had to!https://t.co/wbSsFVNukI pic.twitter.com/7zW1bl2V3A

— Archie McPhee (@ArchieMcPhee) August 29, 2019

Summer will be over soon, and that means that the ol’ candy cane season will be here. But don’t you just settle for peppermint candy canes because there’s a new candy cane in town. That’s right, it’s pizza candy canes.

I’m honestly not sure what to make of Archie McPhee’s latest candy cane concoction, but I like pizza, and I like candy, so maybe I’ll like these? Who knows. At least each one has fewer calories and fat than an actual slice of pizza, so they’ve got that going for them.

The pizza-flavored candy canes will be an addition to Archie McPhee’s other peculiar flavors like bacon, kale, clam, pickle, and, last but not least, mac and cheese.

What are your thoughts on this one?

(Image Credit: Archie McPhee/ Twitter)