An experiment conducted at the University of Toronto has thrown a fundamental aspect of the Heisenberg uncertainty principle into doubt. For decades, we've believed that you can't measure a quantum state without inducing uncertainty — but now, we're not so sure about that.

While this new discovery doesn't overturn the uncertainty principle as a whole, it does indicate that certain aspects of Heisenberg's conjecture may need to be revised.

Heisenberg's uncertainty principle is an integral component of quantum physics. At the quantum scale, standard physics starts to fall apart, replaced by a fuzzy, nebulous set of phenomena. Among all the weirdness observed at this microscopic scale, Heisenberg famously observed that the position and momentum of a particle cannot be simultaneously measured, with any meaningful degree of precision. This led him to posit the uncertainty principle, the declaration that there's only so much we can know about a quantum system, namely a particle's momentum and position.

Now, by definition, the uncertainty principle describes a two-pronged process. First, there's the precision of a measurement that needs to be considered, and second, the degree of uncertainty, or disturbance, that it must create. It's this second aspect that quantum physicists refer to as the "measurement-disturbance relationship," and it's an area that scientists have not sufficiently explored or proven.

Up until this point, quantum physicists have been fairly confident in their ability to both predict and measure the degree of disturbances caused by a measurement. Conventional thinking is that a measurement will always cause a predictable and consistent disturbance — but as the study from Toronto suggests, this is not always the case. Not all measurements, it would seem, will cause the effect predicted by Heisenberg and the tidy equations that have followed his theory. Moreover, the resultant ambiguity is not always caused by the measurement itself.

The researchers, a team led by Lee Rozema and Aephraim Steinberg, experimentally observed a clear-cut violation of Heisenberg's measurement-disturbance relationship. They did this by applying what they called a "weak measurement" to define a quantum system before and after it interacted with their measurement tools — not enough to disturb it, but enough to get a basic sense of a photon's orientation.

Then, by establishing measurement deltas, and then applying stronger, more disruptive measurements, the team was able to determine that they were not disturbing the quantum system to the degree that the uncertainty principle predicted. And in fact, the disturbances were half of what would normally be expected.

But as noted, this quirk in quantum physics does not overturn the basic tenet of the uncertainty principle; we still cannot know a quantum system with precise certainty.

But that said, as Steinberg told Nature News, "[T]he experiment shows that the act of measurement isn't always what causes the uncertainty. If there's already a lot of uncertainty in the system, then there doesn't need to be any noise from the measurement at all."

You can check out the entire study at Physical Review Letters.

H/t to Geoff Brumfiel @ Nature. Image via shutterstock/optimarc. Inset image via.

Business is good in Poland for priests who are skilled in the arts of demonic extrication. The country is in the midst of an exorcism epidemic (or boom, depending on how you feel about it.) And this has inspired Catholic priests to join forces with a publisher, and launch the world's first monthly magazine devoted to the subject. And with a three-month waiting list for exorcisms in Warsaw, people had better start reading.

Called Egzorcysta Magazine, the monthly journal contains such page-turning titles as, "New Age - the spiritual vacuum cleaner," and "Satan is real." The first issue is 62 pages and costs about $3.00.

The Raw Story tells us more:

"The rise in the number or exorcists from four to more than 120 over the course of 15 years in Poland is telling," Father Aleksander Posacki, a professor of philosophy, theology and leading demonologist and exorcist told reporters in Warsaw at the Monday launch of the Egzorcysta monthly.

Ironically, he attributed the rise in demonic possessions in what remains one of Europe's most devoutly Catholic nations partly to the switch from atheist communism to free market capitalism in 1989.

"It's indirectly due to changes in the system: capitalism creates more opportunities to do business in the area of occultism. Fortune telling has even been categorised as employment for taxation," Posacki told AFP.

"If people can make money out of it, naturally it grows and its spiritual harm grows too," he said, hastening to add authentic exorcism is absolutely free of charge.

Ah, so it's authentic exorcism that's free of charge. Good to know; now we can avoid all those inauthentic kinds.

H/t goes out to Disinfo. Image via.

Back in the 1940s, the highly invasive brown treesnake was accidently introduced to the island of Guam. In just four decades, these snakes had wiped out 10 of 12 native bird species, with the remaining two species forced to live in small areas, protected by snake traps. The result: an island with no bird chirps — and a 40-fold increase in the island's spider population.

And as a recent research expedition has revealed, the spiders have indeed taken over the island — a frightening example of what can happen when a critical predator is removed from an ecosystem.

Start counting

The research was conducted by biologists from Rice University, the University of Washington and the University of Guam, who were among the first to study how the loss of forest birds were impacting on the island's ecosystem. Without the insectivorous birds there to bother the spiders, the arachnids have largely taken over the place.

And as lead researcher Haldre Rogers observed, spiderwebs have indeed become a ubiquitous feature of the canopy; her team had to carry sticks and constantly wipe away the webs as they were making their way through the jungle.

And dealing with all the spiderwebs was in fact part of the job. By counting spiderwebs on both Guam and the nearby islands in the Marianas Island chain, the researchers were able to get a sense of what has happened on the island, compared to the other locations where the treesnake has not made an appearance.

And to do so, Rogers and her team — with tape measures and counters in hand — scoured the spider-infested island over the course of four months, counting webs. (So, you want to be an ecologist...)

Natural experiment

Even though this is a disturbing turn of events, at least Guam is proving to be a rather remarkable "natural experiment" for the researchers. Normally, you'd have to build a large exclosure, to simulate this sort of effect. But Guam is offering the scientists a unique real-world example of an ecosystem gone wrong, the result of a large-scale unintentional disruption of a natural system.

They discovered that, depending on the location, Guam contains anywhere from two to 40 times the normal number of spiders. Their research shows just how important insectivorous birds can be to an ecosystem. The researchers worry (and predict) that other locations in which insectivorous birds are on the decline could see a similar increase in spider populations. The closing words of their study ends rather ominously: "If insectivorous birds continue to decline, we will likely be living in a more spider-dominant world in the future."

In Guam, the treesnake is so problematic that the U.S. spends more than $1 million each year making sure airplanes and cargo are snake-free as they leave the American territory. And hunting them has not gotten any easier, since they are an elusive, nocturnal predator.

Moving forward, the researchers will continue to study the island, paying particular attention to whether or not the spider population will continue to increase.

The study was published in PLOS.

Images via Isaac Chellman.

Mammals are unique in that they're the only animals whose brains feature a neocortex — a recently evolved structure that's responsible for higher order functioning like conscious thought, sensory perception, spatial reasoning, and language.

But now, scientists working at the University of Chicago have confirmed that birds have their own version of the neocortex — one that may actually give them certain cognitive advantages over mammals. The discovery will have profound implications for our understanding of why birds appear to exhibit such high-levels of intelligence, reasoning, and self-awareness.

Different structures

Both mammals and birds have a brain structure called the dorsal ventricular ridge (DVR) that originates from an embryonic region called the telencephalon. But that's where the similarity ends; the two regions go on to develop into very different shapes, with the standard mammalian neocortex comprised of six cortical layers, while the bird's DVR contains large clusters of neurons called nuclei.

For the past 50 years, scientists have debated the purpose of this mysterious structure. Because the neocortex was only seen in mammals, it was thought that the DVR was a kind of amygdala, the brain organ responsible for learning and emotional reactions. Not satisfied with that explanation, neuroscientist Harvey Karten speculated back in the 1960s that it may in fact be a kind of neocortex — but he lacked proof.

But this has changed. Neurobiologists Jennifer Dugas-Ford and Clifton Ragsdale have collaborated on a paper published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences indicating that birds have neocortical-like functioning, but that it's done differently — the result of convergent evolution.

Bird brains

To determine the true functionality of the DVR, Dugas-Ford and Ragsdale's team studied the brains of two different bird species, chickens and zebra finches. Specifically, they were using recently discovered sets of molecular markers used to identify layers of the mammalian cortex (layer 4 is for input neurons, and layer 5 is for output neurons). Using these markers, the researchers looked to see if these same genes were expressed in the DVR nuclei of birds.

And in fact, that's exactly what they found. The level 4 and 5 markers were expressed by distinct nuclei of the DVR, supporting the suggestion that the DVR nuclei is the avian equivalent of the mammalian neocortex. The discovery also confirms that different physical brain structures that are built with the same cell types can execute different functions.

Moreover, the scientists theorize that the DVR configuration may actually confer an advantage to the birds. Birds mayhave special nuclei that are involved in vocalization, and possibly other characteristics as well. Moving forward, the scientists are interested in exploring how the length of circuits and differently evolved processing centers can impact on animal cognition.

Images: Shutterstock/Ana de Sousa/Wang LiQiang.

Every once in a while, there's news which reminds us that we're living in the age of accelerating change. This is one of those times: A new project has been announced in which scientists at the Universities of Sheffield and Sussex are hoping to create the first accurate computer simulation of a honey bee brain — and then upload it into an autonomous flying robot.

This is obviously a huge win for science — but it could also save the world. The researchers hope a robotic insect could supplement or replace the shrinking population of honey bees that pollinate essential plant life.

Powerful and affordable

Now, while this might sound like some kind of outlandish futurist joke, there are some serious players — and money — involved. Called the "Green Brain Project," it was recently given £1 million (USD $1,614,700) by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), as well as hardware donations from the NVIDIA corporation.

Specifically, NVIDIA will provide them with high-performance graphical processing units called GPU accelerators. This will allow the researchers to simulate aspects of a honey bee's brain by using massively paralleled desktop PCs. While this will certainly work to promote the NVIDIA brand, it will also allow the researchers to conduct their project inexpensively (supercomputer clusters aren't cheap).

And indeed, the researchers are going to need all the computational power they can get; it may appear that insects have simple minds — but their brains can be extremely complex.

Creating autonomy

Now, it should be noted that the researchers aren't trying to emulate a complete honey bee brain, but rather two specific and complex functions within it, namely vision and sense of smell. Once complete, they will upload those models into a robotic honey bee so that it can act autonomously.

"This is an important further advance over current work on brain models because it is becoming more and more clear that an essential aspect of brain function is that the brain is not acting in isolation but in constant interaction with the body and the environment," they note in their proposal, "This concept of 'embodiment' and its consequences for cognition are important insights of modern cognitive science and will become equally important for modern neuroscience."

By isolating and modeling these particular functions, the researchers hope to provide their flying robot with the cognitive power required to perform basic tasks — and without a set of pre-programmed instructions. It is hoped, for example, that the robotic bee will be able to detect particular odors or gasses in the same way that real bee can identify certain flowers.

To help them with their work, the researchers will collaborate with Martin Giurfa of Toulouse, an expert in all aspects of bee brain anatomy, physiology, and bee cognition and behavior.

Should they be successful, it would mark an important moment in technological history: The first robot brain that can perform complex tasks as proficiently as the animal its trying to emulate.

Artificial pollinators

The Green Brain Project could further our understanding of both artificial intelligence and the neuroscientific underpinnings of animal cognition. But also, along with the National Science Foundation-funded Robobees project (led by Harvard University), the advent of an artificial pollinator could provide a solution (either temporarily or permanently) to the problem of dwindling honey bee populations — an organism that's currently dealing with the devastating effects of colony collapse disorder.

In fact, the artificial honey bee may be the first of many robots we introduce into the environment to make up for the current era of widespread extinctions.

Top image via. Inset images via here, here, here.

A devastating Salmonella epidemic is ravaging parts of sub-Saharan Africa right now — and it appears that HIV gave this rapidly evolving form of Salmonella a major boost. According to a new study, the African HIV epidemic appears to have provided this strain of Salmonella with a large number of humans with weakened immune systems, giving it a place to evolve, and to spread rapidly.

Worse still: the new, improved strain of Salmonella doesn't respond to the first set of antibiotics, meaning that doctors have to use more expensive drugs, instead. Just one more way that HIV is more evil than we ever knew.

Called non-Typhoidal Salmonella (iNTS), the relatively new disease was generated by a new form of the bacteria Salmonella typhimurium that spread from two different focal hubs in Southern and Central Africa. It emerged in two separate waves, the first in 1960 and the second in 1977 (possibly from the Congo Basin).

iNTS is a blood-borne infection that kills 25% to 45% of Sub-Saharan Africans who contract it. In other parts of the world, NTS is fatal in less than 1% of people infected. The disease appears to be more severe in Africa, on account of such factors as malnutrition, co-infection with malaria or HIV — and possibly also, the new mutated version of the Salmonella bacteria.

In a new study, researchers analyzed the pathogen's genetic makeup and found that it is evolving into a more typhoid-like bacteria, that is able to efficiently spread around the human body.

And indeed, it was this perfect storm of factors — HIV, malaria, and malnutrition — that has allowed this disease to enter, adapt, circulate, and thrive. The researchers tracked its spread over the past 50 years from the Congo to the northern Sub-Saharan regions as it came into contact with susceptible populations.

In addition to this, the researchers also found that one of the major contributing factors for the successful spread of iNTS is that it developed a resistance to several front line drugs used to treat blood-borne infections such as iNTS.

On a positive note, the study marks the first time that whole-genome sequencing was used to track the spread of iNTS — an important bit of insight that may allow the researchers to determine how NTS is actually transmitted in sub-Saharan Africa, something that still remains a mystery (though some evidence exists that it may be passed on from human to human).

You can read the entire study at Nature Genetics.

Image via MichaelTaylor/shutterstock.

In an unprecedented $1 billion mission to reach the Earth's mantle, geologists are set to start drilling 3.7 miles (6 km) beneath the seafloor, to reach the Earth's mantle. And according to project co-leader Damon Teagle, "It will be the equivalent of dangling a steel string the width of a human hair in the deep end of a swimming pool and inserting it into a thimble 1/10 mm wide."

For sure — it's not going to be easy. The mantle is a 1,860 mile-thick layer of slowly morphing rock between the Earth's crust and the core. And to get there, geologists will have to slowly and patiently make their way through ultra-hard rocks with drill pipes that are 6.2 miles in length. And given that each drill bit lasts for about 50 to 60 hours, the entire project could take years.

Speaking to CNN, Teagle referred to it as "the most challenging endaevor in the history of Earth science." And to make all the more difficult, the geologists are hoping to bring up some samples.

Teagle recently did an NPR radio interview where explained the purpose of the mission:

[If] we really want to understand how our Earth has evolved over its history since its formation, then we need to have a very precise view of the chemical composition of the mantle...

[We] are interested in the formation and evolution of the ocean crust, and also about the nature of the mole hole — which is this boundary between the crust and the mantle and the mantle itself — [so] we're drilling into very hard, crystalline rocks — rocks that formed from the crystallization of magma. Whereas the oil companies, when they're drilling, they're drilling into sedimentary rocks that have been laid down in the oceans over the eons and captured organic material that eventually evolved to form petroleum and gas.

So actually, the rocks we're drilling into are the rocks that sit beneath the sedimentary reservoirs that host the oil and gas. So they can drill deeper holes — but they're not drilling into such hard rocks.

To get a head start on the drilling, the geologists are using a Japanese deep-sea drilling vessel called Chikyu that's capable of carrying 10 km of drilling pipes. The boat already holds the world-record for the deepest hole in scientific ocean drilling history, over 1.3 miles (2.2 km) into the sea floor.

This is not the first attempt to reach the mantle. Back in 1962, a group of Soviet geologists launched Project Mole Hole, but never made it all the way.

Top Image via CNN. Inset images via here and here. Sources: CNN and NPR.

Redditor gonzoblair has produced this fantastically comprehensive and twisted vision of what the front page of Reddit might look like in the year 3012.

Click to see larger image. And be sure to mention your favorite links in the comments.

It has been 34 years since the People's Republic of China introduced their one-child policy, a population control measure that restricts the reproductive practices of married couples. But as the Chinese government continues to proclaim the policy as being a tremendous success, the one-child rule has also introduced a slew of unforeseen problems, ranging from widespread female infanticide to alleged personality deficits. And looking ahead to its long term effects, it's becoming increasingly clear that China is about to confront an entirely new set of problems.

One-child policy

China imposed the one-child rule in 1978 to curb the growth of its massive population. The communist nation, which has a long history of implementing grandiose megaprojects and sweeping social reforms, was hoping to relieve the pressure exerted by its large population on various social, economic, and environmental realms.

Today, the government claims that the policy is working and that it has prevented an additional 400 million births — this in a country populated by 1.3 billion people. Moreover, they claim that the one-child rule has introduced a slew of benefits, including an enhanced ability to deliver healthcare and manage economic growth. At the same time, the government also argues that it allows families to save considerable amounts of money.

This being said, however, the one-child policy has undeniably resulted in unforeseen problems, many of which strongly indicate that tough times lie ahead. This unprecedented social experiment, it would seem, is not without its problems.

A dearth of girls

First and foremost are the problems of female abortions and infanticide. After the one-child rule was implemented, many families clung to traditional preferences for a male heir (among other cultural and economic motivations). As a result, abortions of females have become commonplace, as well as the killing of babies born post-partum.

To address the problem, some districts implemented a policy where, if the first born was a girl, the couple could have another child. But that was no guarantee the second child wouldn't also be a girl — creating another scenario in which an abortion might be seen as necessary.

And now, decades after the one-child rule was implemented, the numbers look absolutely damning.

Writing in her book, Unnatural Selection, Mara Hvistendahl notes that, in a natural state, there are 105 boys born for every 100 girls. In China, however, the male number has crept up to 121 — and as high as 150 in some districts.

Over the course of several decades, this has resulted in millions upon millions of abortions — many of which have been instigated by women, either by the mother, or sometimes the mother-in-law.

"Surplus men"

Needless to say this has resulted in a society in which men greatly outnumber women — by a factor of 32 million. In 2005 alone there were more than 1.1 million excess births of boys — and this despite the fact that sex selective abortions are illegal in China. Clearly, couples are turning a blind eye to the law and are finding ways to both get the fetal screening done, as well as the abortion.

This is not a good situation. "Historically, societies in which men substantially outnumber women are not nice places to live," writes Hvistendahl, "Often they are unstable. Sometimes they are violent."

She points to examples in history, such as fourth century B.C. Athens and China's Taiping Rebellion in mid-19th century — both of which were the result of wide scale female infanticide. These eras were characterized by wide scale crime and violence.

In China, this practice has now resulted in a "surplus" of men who have little hope of marrying. Hvistendahl notes that these men tend to accumulate in the lower classes where the risk of violence is accentuated. Moreover, unmarried men who have low incomes tend to get restless — and in fact, areas with skewed gender balances tend to experience higher rates of crime.

And because it's harder to find a wife, men are having to literally buy or bid for them. This has contributed to China's elevated household savings rate where parents are having to squirrel away money in order to secure a bride for their son. It has also led to a boom in the mail order bride business — and prostitution.

And as a recent analysis by Wei Xing Zhu has shown, the imbalance is expected to worsen in the coming decades; the biggest gaps currently exist between the one to four-year old group — which means they'll be the ones having to deal with the fallout in about in 15 to 20 years.

The 4-2-1 problem

By the midpoint of the century, more than a quarter of the Chinese population will be over 65. And it will be at this point in time (if not sooner) that young adults will face an unprecedented burden of care — what's been dubbed the 4-2-1 problem.

What this means is, given that most Chinese citizens don't have siblings, each child will likely have to care for their two parents — and very possibly their four grandparents (hence the 4-2-1 problem).

Statistically speaking, for every 100 people aged 20 to 64, there will be 45 people aged over 65, compared to 15 today. This will put a tremendous strain on the younger generations.

Negative population growth

There's also the problem of rapidly declining population growth. According to a recent census, China's population grew 5.8% since 2000, from 1.27 billion to 1.34 billion — a significant slowdown from the previous census which indicated a rate of 11.7%. Simultaneously, the proportion of Chinese aged 14 and under fell to 16.6% (compared with 22.9% in the previous census). According to Wang Feng, a demographer and director of the Brookings-Tsinghua Center for Public Policy in Beijing, this points to an astounding low fertility rate below 1.5 children per couple.

Assuming that rate holds, and given another stretch of time in which the one-child rule remains in effect, China could face an unprecedented population drop.

As a result, Chinese demographers have been asking the government to reconsider the one-child policy. And if statements made by President Hu Jintao back in April 2011 are of any indication, the rule may be under review. Other commentators, however, insist that the Chinese government is steadfast in their support of the policy and that it's not going anywhere anytime soon.

But they may have little choice. A declining population means fewer productive workers (if not consumers). Some fear that the Chinese labor force has hit its peak and will start to decline in just a few years. And in fact, it's expected that China's growth will moderate from 10-12% between 7-9% over the next few years.

"Little Emperors"

Another implication of the one-child policy is what's referred to as the "little emperor" syndrome. Some social psychologists contend that many Chinese children, because they have no siblings, are not properly socialized into society. And in fact, these so-called Chinese singletons have been accused of being over-indulged, lacking in self discipline and having no adaptive capabilities.

The problem with these claims, however, is that they're completely anecdotal and lacking in actual scientific research.

That said, the idea of creating a country without siblings does on the face of it appear to be a risky social experiment. There is much evidence to suggest that birth order has a tremendous impact on the development of unique familial personality types. In essence, China has created an entire generation of exclusively first born children — this could be dramatically reducing the diversity of personality types in that country.

But as noted, the one-child era, while arguably serving a purpose, may be at its end phase. The Chinese government, looking to keep the country socially and economically healthy, may have little choice but to reform the laws.

Other sources: Mara Hvistendahl - Unnatural Selection, WSJ, BBC, HuffPo, CBC, Soberlook, Thinking Chinese.

Banner image: Photograph: IISH Stefan R. Landsberger Collection/Babies & Books Exhibition. Inset images: Reuters, Chinese Posters, Reuters, noahpinionblog, joelsyearinchina.

Back in the late 1980s, scientists suggested that the sudden spike in allergy sufferers was the result of living in sterile homes and overzealous hygiene practices. Our immune systems, went the thinking, weren't being exposed to potentially important infections. A recent report, however, indicates that this "Hygiene Hypothesis" is false and that no link exists. Instead, the researchers have presented a new theory — one that links allergies and other diseases to our lack of exposure to human, animal, and environmental microbes.

This new report comes to us from the International Scientific Forum on Home Hygiene (IFH), an initiative that's being led by Sally Bloomfield and Rosalind Stanwell-Smith. They argue that the name "Hygiene Hypothesis" is misleading, and that it's giving people a false sense of why allergies are emerging at such significant rates. Moreover, as the researchers stated through a press release, "If worrying about 'being too clean' results in people needlessly exposing themselves and their children to pathogens that can make them ill, this would clearly be dangerous."

Indeed, the conventional thinking over the past twenty years was that a lower incidence of infection in early childhood (mostly through unhygienic contact with other siblings) could be an explanation for rising levels of allergic diseases and asthma. The authors caution, however, that no causal link has ever been properly established linking infectious diseases to the immune system's ability to ward off allergies.

That said, the authors do acknowledge the importance of microbes. And in fact, their research indicates that modern living has resulted in dangerously low exposure levels to critical microbial "old friends" that are not only important for the proper regulation of allergies, but for warding off chronic inflammatory diseases such as Type 1 diabetes and multiple sclerosis.

And indeed, the suggestion that we should expose ourselves to the right microbes is consistent with the latest thinking on proper gut flora maintenance and the overall integrity and diversity of the human microbiome; the science is increasingly showing that microbes play a crucial role in the regulation of our immune systems.

The microbes in question include those that humans would have been regularly exposed to prior to the 19th century, and most prominently during the Paleolithic Era. The authors argue that these microbes are no longer present in our homes — and not because of our cleaning practices (though that's hard to believe). They suggest that modern homes have a lower diversity of microbes, but still contain bacteria, viruses, fungi, moulds and dust mites.

And as for the microbes we should be exposing ourselves to, the researchers suggest that rural environments contain "the right kind of dirt." As to how we could actually go about this, however, is a question that remains unanswered. Read the entire report.

Image: hxdbzxy/shutterstock.com.

Egyptologist have confirmed that an artificial toe found on the remains of a mummy was not for cosmetic purposes, but instead an actual prosthetic device that helped the ancient Egyptian to walk. Consequently, it is considered the oldest assistive device ever discovered by archaeologists.

To prove the functionality of the device, researcher Jacky Finch hired two volunteers (both missing their right toe) to test the effectiveness of the artificial toe while wearing replica leather ancient Egyptian style sandals, and while in bare feet.

Once the tests were run and the video analyzed by gait experts, the volunteers' performance showed that the toe wasn't just for show. And in fact, the device gave them a definite advantage over not having it. The volunteers achieved 87% of the flexion achieved by their normal left toe, while the three part wood and leather design produced nearly 78%.

More importantly was the ability to push off using the toe. The first test subject had problems in bare feet, but the second volunteer was able to produce between 60-63% flexion wearing the replicas with or without the sandals.

Finch concluded that the device would have been particuarly effective for the person wearing the artificial toe in conjunction with the sandals.

Details of the study will soon appear online at the Journal of Prosthetics and Orthotics.

Advice for guys who are struggling to deal with their receding hairlines: You might just want to shave it all off. A recent study involving three separate experiments has shown that men who shear the hair off their heads are perceived as being more dominant, taller, and even stronger. But the increased perception of masculinity comes at a price: namely, diminished attractiveness.

The research was conducted by Albert Mannes at the University of Pennsylvania who, it should be noted, is a balding man himself. He wanted to know if men who voluntarily shave their heads (as opposed to guys who are just flat out bald) are seen as having a different social standing than men with hair (including men with receding hairlines). To that end, he set up three different experiments to find out if this behavior was a kind of nonverbal cue.

The experiments

In the first experiment, some 60 volunteers analyzed a series of photos of men roughly the same age and wearing similar clothing. The difference, however, was that some men had completely shaved heads, while others had a full mop of hair. The participants were asked to rate each person in terms of their perceived power, influence, and authority. Once the results were in, the men with shaved heads ended up at the top of the list.

For the second study, Mannes had his participants look at images of four men. Each man was shown twice, once with hair and once with it digitally removed. This time, the participants assessed the shaven ones as being more dominant — but also an inch taller and 13% stronger (who knew?).

And in the final study, the volunteers were given verbal and written descriptions of the men (i.e. "nonphotographic stimuli"). The accounts described the men's physical attributes, including whether or not they had thick hair or shaved heads. At this point you won't be surprised to hear that the men who were described as having shaved heads were rated the highest for masculinity, strength, dominance, and leadership potential.

Interpersonal standing

So, what does Mannes think about all of this?

His theory is that men who take the initiative to voluntarily shave their heads give off the impression of boldness and dominance. And in fact, his studies also showed that men with thinning hairlines were rated as being less masculine than those who simply cut if off. Consequently, he believes that men who are experiencing natural hair loss may improve their interpersonal standing by shaving.

But before you reach for that razor, it's important to note that the study also showed that men with shaved heads are also considered less attractive and older-looking. Given that masculinity is often correlated with attractiveness, the whole thing might just cancel itself out.

Be sure to read the entire study at Social Psychological and Personality Science.

Top image via. Inset image via. Supplementary information: TIME.

Quantum physicist David Deutsch has penned a provocative and must-read article for Aeon Magazine in which he argues that artificial intelligence might someday be possible — but only if a major breakthrough is made in our fundamental understanding of how human cognition and consciousness works. And to get there, he says, we'll need to listen to what the philosophers have to say.

Deutsch opens his essay noting how six decades of research into the subject has resulted in virtually no progress. He suggests that the very laws of physics imply that artificial intelligence must be possible. But the roadblocks to development, he says, are bolstered by ill defined concepts, human prejudices, grossly underrated and neglected areas of research, and just plain human ignorance.

First and foremost, argues Deutsch, is that we need to properly distinguish between simple AI and what's called artificial general intelligence, or AGI. An AI, says Deutsch, can be anything as simple as a chatbot or an algorithm that helps something like Siri follow your commands on an iPhone.

An AGI, on the other hand, is an attempt to approximate the way a human mind works — including self awareness. It's only by carefully distinguishing between the two that we'll be able to stop devaluing the potential for AGI and move forward, he says. Consequently, Deutsch suggests that we need to adopt a "philosophy of mind" approach to supplement our computer, cognitive, and neurological sciences. He writes:

Perhaps the reason self-awareness has its undeserved reputation for being connected with AGI is that, thanks to Gödel's theorem and various controversies in formal logic in the 20th century, self-reference of any kind has acquired a reputation for woo-woo mystery. And so has consciousness. And for consciousness we have the problem of ambiguous terminology again: the term has a huge range of meanings. At one end of the scale there is the philosophical problem of the nature of subjective sensations ("qualia"), which is intimately connected with the problem of AGI; but at the other end, "consciousness" is simply what we lose when we are put under general anaesthetic. Many animals certainly have that.

AGIs will indeed be capable of self-awareness – but that is because they will be General: they will be capable of awareness of every kind of deep and subtle thing, including their own selves. That does not mean that apes who pass the mirror test have any hint of the attributes of "general intelligence" of which AGI would be an artificial version. Indeed, Richard Byrne's wonderful research into gorilla memes has revealed how apes are able to learn useful behaviours from each other without ever understanding what they are for: the explanation of how ape cognition works really is behaviouristic.

Essentially, Deutsch argues that, should an AGI be developed, we would have no choice but to refer to it as "people."

And indeed, the issue of personhood is yet another area in which philosophy can inform the subject. Not only will a proper understanding of personhood work to bring about a self-aware AGI, it will also provide a guideline on how to treat such an entity once it emerges. Deutsch writes:

Furthermore, in regard to AGIs, like any other entities with creativity, we have to forget almost all existing connotations of the word "programming". Treating AGIs like any other computer programs would constitute brainwashing, slavery and tyranny. And cruelty to children too, because "programming" an already-running AGI, unlike all other programming, constitutes education. And it constitutes debate, moral as well as factual. Ignoring the rights and personhood of AGIs would not only be the epitome of evil, but a recipe for disaster too: creative beings cannot be enslaved forever.

There's lots more to Deutsch's excellent essay, and I strongly suggest you check it out — and be sure to read his thoughts on how we might be able to deal with the perils of greater-than-human machine intelligence.

Top image via. Inset image imredesiuk/shutterstock.com

The final list of speakers has been announced for Singularity Summit 2012, an annual futurist confab that brings together some of the world's leading thinkers on such topics as robotics, regenerative medicine, artificial intelligence, brain-computer interfacing, and of course, the Technological Singularity. And this year's lineup features a diverse bunch, from science fiction author Vernor Vinge to neurodiversity and autism awareness advocate Temple Grandin.

The Singularity Summit is considered one of the leading academic forums for discussions on the Technological Singularity, which is the hypothetical creation of smarter-than-human intelligence. It will be held in San Francisco from October 13 to 14.

Other speakers include futurist and inventor Ray Kurzweil, neuroscientist Steven Pinker, the Nobel Prize winning economist Daniel Kahneman, science writer Carl Zimmer, genomics pioneer Linda Avey, and Google Director of Research Peter Novrig.

Speaking to io9, event organizer Michael Anissimov said they made an extra effort this year to pull speakers from a wide array of backgrounds and disciplines. "We did so in order to address some of the most exciting areas of technological development and philosophical thought — while continuing to focus on artificial intelligence, biotechnology, and medium-to-long-term futurism."

Read more about SingSum12, including the full schedule and how to get tickets.

Russian media outlets are reporting that an 11 year-old boy named Yevgeny Salinder has uncovered the remains of a wooly mammoth that died about 30,000 years ago. After stumbling upon the extinct animal, Yevgeny ran home to tell his parents, who in turned alerted the local paleontologists (well, as local as these things can get in Siberia, anyway). And as their preliminary analysis has revealed, it may be one of the most pristine remnants of a wooly mammoth ever discovered.

The remains were found about three kilometers from the Sopkarga polar weather station in Taymyr, Russia, where Yevgeny lives with his parents. The area is in the far north of Russia in the most northern part of the Eurasian continent.

Once the paleontologists started digging around the remains, it became obvious fairly quickly that it wasn't just bits of fragment or a badly decayed carcass, but the entire body of an approximately 15 year-old male that weighed half a ton. And incredibly, they were able to gather well-preserved fragments of its skin, meat, fat — and even several organs.

Because the remains were buried in the permafrost, the scienctists had to use traditional tools such as axes and picks, plus a specially designed device that allowed them to thaw ice layers with the help of steam. And even with the help of these tools, it still took them a week to get the entire thing out of the ground.

Preliminary analysis indicates that the mammoth featured a camel-like hump — a fatty deposit that would have made life considerably easier for the ice age-era mammal. This may help to confirm a long standing hypothesis that mammoths did in fact feature such humps.

Speaking to Russia's Pravda, the deputy director of the Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences Alexei Tikhonov said that, "For the first time, it was seen in Paleolithic drawings, and everyone tried to guess why the animals are humped. Scientists believed that it was so because the animals had very large neural spines of the thoracic vertebrae. Now it turns out that it is not true to fact. We can see that this animal was very well adapted to the conditions of the north. The animals were saving fat for winter."

The next stop for the wooly mammoth, which has been named "Zhenya" (a short form of Yevgeny, the name of the boy who found it) will be at the Zoological and Paleontological Institutes of Moscow and St. Petersburg where further analysis will be conducted.

Sources: Pravda.ru, rt.com.

The civil war in Syria is now well into its 18th month, and with it, it has now claimed the lives of over 30,000 people. And as if this conflict wasn't tragic enough, the scope of the fighting has extended to the ancient city of Aleppo and its UNESCO designated world heritage sites. Sadly, reports came in last week that the gorgeous Souk al-Madina Market — an important archaeological and historical site that dates back to the 14th century — has been burnt to the ground. It's yet another brutal reminder of how devastating wars can be to all facets of human life.

The now-destroyed market is only one of several places that UNESCO, the United Nations cultural agency, has been working to protect in Syria. Disturbingly, however, UNESCO has received reports that five of Syria's six world heritage sites have already been damaged — including the ancient desert city of Palmyra, the Crac des Chevaliers crusader fortress, and parts of old Damascus.

The Al-Madina Souq was located in the heart of Aleppo within the walls of its ancient districts. It was known for its long and vaulted narrow alleys (over 13 kilometers worth), its intracately carved wooden facades, and its 1,500 shops — making it the world's largest covered market and a popular tourist attraction.

It was designated a UNESCO heritage site in 1986 for its "rare and authentic Arab architectural styles" and its testimony to the city's cultural, social, and technological development from the Mameluke period.

Back in the 14th century, it was was a major trade center for imported luxury goods, including raw silk from Iran and spices and dyes from India. It also served as trading hub that networked all the way to China. More recently, it was a focal area for the development of wool, agricultural products, and soap.

Distressed by the destruction of the market, UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova warned all combative parties of Syria's obligations under the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict, to which it is a signatory. "The human suffering caused by this situation is already extreme," she noted through their official statement. "That the fighting is now destroying cultural heritage that bears witness to the country's millenary history — valued and admired the world over — makes it even more tragic."

This has not been a good year for UNESCO. Earlier this year, shrines in Timbuktu were destroyed by Islamist rebels. The tombs dated back to the 12th century.

Other sources: Reuters.

Images: gray-um.com/photos, euronews.

She sounds like the most badass woman to ever rule pre-colonial South America: Queen K'abel of the Maya, one of the greatest leaders of Classic Maya civilization. Archaelogists have known about her reign through plaques that commemorate her reign. But now, a research team working in Guatemala has finally discovered her tomb — including her remains.

In addition to finding K'abel's decayed skeleton, the archaeologists uncovered a hoard of glistening jade jewels and a small alabaster vase adorned with the image of an older woman's face. The vase was inscribed with the queen's name, which confirmed the identity of the tomb's lone occupant.

Lead researcher David Freidel believes the discovery is significant, not only because the tomb is that of a notable historical figure in Maya history, but because the newly uncovered tomb presents a unique situation in which Maya archaeological and historical records meet.

Speaking through a press release, he noted, "The Classic Maya civilization is the only 'classical' archaeological field in the New World - in the sense that like archaeology in Ancient Egypt, Greece, Mesopotamia or China, there is both an archaeological material record and an historical record based on texts and images."

According to the researchers, K'abel was one of the greatest rulers of the Late Classic period. She ruled with her husband, K'inich Bahlam, for at least 20 years (672-692 AD). She was also the military governor of the Wak kingdom for her family, the imperial house of the Snake King, and she carried the title "Kaloomte'," which translates to "Supreme Warrior," higher in authority than her husband, the king.

K'abel also is famous for her portrayal on the famous Maya stela, Stela 34 of El Perú (shown above left), which can be found in the Cleveland Art Museum.

Details of the study can be found here (pdf).

Images via AFP/Proyecto Arqueologico El Peru-Waka'.

It has been said that Apple's Siri is an important precursor to more advanced intelligent personal assistants. Eventually, it's thought, we'll be able to have actual conversations with these sorts of AI, and possibly even relationships. But as Laura June of The Verge has recently pointed out, Siri is not to be trusted — and the iPhone assistant's short descriptions of popular scifi films show why. Here's what Siri has to say about some of our favorite movies.

In the classic anime film, Ghost in the Shell, human civilization comes face-to-face with a government-bred intelligence called The Puppet Master that achieves sentience and escapes to the Internet. While it certainly makes for great science ficiton, the idea of a self-aware agent in cyberspace has also been bantered about by futurists who wonder about the potential for a global brain and the noosphere — a possible breeding ground for an artificial intelligence to emerge. But how realistic is this vision? In this new Big Think video, Michio Kaku provides the answer.

Everything is set for this coming Monday's skydive stunt spectacular, in which Felix Baumgartner will attempt to set a new world record for the highest, longest, and fastest freefall in history. Once he leaps from a helium balloon positioned 23 miles (37 km) above New Mexico, Baumgartner expects to go supersonic a mere 40 seconds into his descent. And this near-space skydive, should it be successful, could set the stage for the next momentous human achievement: The space dive.

So, to get you ready for Monday, here's everything you need to know about the historic jump.

Who holds the current record?

Back on August 16, 1960, Colonel (then Captain) Joseph Kittinger of the United States Air Force jumped 19.5 miles (31.3 km) from a helium balloon. It was part of Project Excelsior, a program designed to test a new multi-stage parachute system that could be deployed from extreme heights. The U.S. military was becoming increasingly concerned that pilots, who were flying planes at unprecedented altitudes, would not be able to survive the required jump.

And indeed, previous tests with dummies revealed that conventional parachutes would cause skydivers to fall into a flat spin at a rate of 200 revolutions per minute — which would be potentially fatal.

Using the new parachute, Kittinger survived the jump — but not without incident. During his ascent, the pressure seal in his right glove failed, causing his hand to swell to twice its normal size. Despite the extreme pain caused by the low pressure (which he kept to himself for fear that the jump would be cancelled), he went ahead and made "the highest step in the world."

In terms of the numbers, Kittinger's freefall lasted for four minutes and 36 seconds in which he attained a top speed of 614 miles per hour (988 km/hr). The entire descent took a little over 13 minutes.

Kittinger's record has stood for over half a century — which is pretty badass when you think about it.

Who is Felix Baumgartner?

He is a 43 year-old Austrian stunt skydiver and BASE jumper. Baumgartner has been skydiving since he was 16 years old. A member of the Austrian military and a former pilot, he was a part of their demonstration and competition team.

After leaving the military, Baumgartner started to perform a number of skydiving and BASE jumping stunts. He holds a number of records and accomplishments. In 1999, he jumped from the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur setting a record for the highest parachute jump from a building. Four years later, he became the first person to skydive across the English Channel using a specially made carbon fiber wing. He has also jumped from the hand of the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro, and more recently, he became the first person to jump from the 91st floor observation deck of the Taipei 101 building in Taiwan.

Earlier this year, on July 25, and in preparation for the Big Jump, Baumgartner had a successful trial run in which he performed a freefall from 18 miles above the Earth. He attained a top speed of 536 miles per hour (864 km/hr), which is roughly the speed of an airliner.

He is only the third person to safely parachute from a height of over 13.5 miles (21.7 km).

What kind of equipment will he be using?

There are three major components to his equipment: The suit, the capsule, and the helium balloon.

The suit was specifically designed for the jump and will able to withstand temperatures as low as –70°F (–56°C). It consists of four layers, including an insulating and fire-repellant material called Nomex, and a breathable liner that will rest against his skin.

It also features a pressure system to help him avoid decompression sickness, hypoxia, and tissue damage. As he falls, a special valve and a pair of diaphragms will regulate the suit's internal pressure. It also has a chest pack that's equipped with a voice transmitter and receiver, an accelerometer (which will confirm his speed), and a hi-def video camera with a superwide 120-degree view.

And importantly, the suit is also equipped with a G-Meter that will measure the gravitational forces on Baumgartner. Should he go into a potentially fatal spin, the system will automatically release a three-foot drogue parachute specially designed to stabilize spins.

The suit also features a special face shield that will prevent his breath from crystallizing on the surface, along with three different parachutes. To ensure stability, the chutes are 2.5 times larger than usual.

It's worth noting that Joseph Kittinger helped to advise Baumgartner on the suit during the development process.

As for the capsule, it weighs 2,900 lbs and consists of a pressure sphere (where Baumgartner will be positioned during the ascent), a supporting outer cage, the outermost shell, and the base and crush pads (which are designed to handle a landing of up to 8 Gs).

The 30 million-cubic-foot helium balloon is one tenth the thickness of a Ziploc bag — but weighs more than 3,000 pounds. If the entire thing was stretched out it would cover about 40 acres.

How will the jump unfold?

On Monday October 8, Baumgartner will enter into his capsule and start to make his long ascent into the stratosphere. The entire journey to near-space is expected to take almost three hours. Once Baumgartner reaches the stratosphere, the temperature will start to increase (just a little bit) on account of the ozone molecules absorbing ultraviolet light from the sun.

At the 23 mile mark (37 km or 120,000 feet) above New Mexico, he will wait for the "all clear" from mission control. After he depressurizes and detaches himself from all connections, Baumgartner will open the door and position himself for the jump. In the event of an emergency, he could ride the capsule back to earth — but while depressurized and with limited oxygen reserves. It wouldn't be pretty.

Assuming everything will be a go, he will then leap from the capsule.

At this point, Baumgartner's rate of velocity will be nothing short of intense. He will enter into what's called the "delta position" (head down with arms at his side) in order to achieve maximum velocity. And because of the exceptionally thin air in the stratosphere, he will experience virtually no wind resistance, and he will not hit any kind of terminal velocity. As a result, he's expected to achieve the speed of sound (690 miles/hour or 1,110 km/hr) after only 40 seconds of freefall. It will be crucial for Baumgartner to maintain a stable delta position, otherwise he may enter into an uncontrollable spin and lose consciousness.

It's worth noting that Baumgartner will experience a sonic boom, but because the air is so thin it won't present a problem. At least that's the theory.

As Baumgartner falls away from the edge of near-space and makes his way into the troposphere, he will start to hit resistance and gradually slow down.

Once he hits the 5,000 feet mark (about five minutes after his jump), Baumgartner will deploy his parachute. It should take him another 10 to 15 minutes to reach the surface.

Should everything go as planned, he will become the first person to break the speed of sound and achieve Mach 1 in freefall. He will also set the record for the highest and longest freefall. And not only that, he will also set a record for the highest manned balloon flight.

What are the scientific implications?

While the jump certainly gives off the impression that it's a stunt (and let's face it — it most certainly is), there are some definite scientific and technological aspects to the mission.

First and foremost, Baumgartner's suit is state of the art. Assuming that it functions as planned, it will aid in the development of a new generation of space suits — including units with enhanced mobility and improved visual clarity.

And as New Scientist recently noted, it could also be a forerunner to suits that may actually allow humans to freefall from even more extreme heights — possibly even from space. This could prove valuable for the burgeoning space tourist industry (mostly for safety purposes in the event of a problem, or for future thrill seekers) .

It's not clear, of course, if a human will ever be able to perform a full reentry wearing only a spacesuit — but Baumgarter's test could offer a strong indication of the tolerances required to pull off such a remarkable feat. But in all fairness, it will take some considerable technological know-how to develop a suit that can withstand the intense heat of reentry and not allow its occupant to be burnt to a crisp.

Lastly, the mission will help scientists develop protocols for exposure to high altitude and high accelerations, and create parachute systems capable of supporting such feats.

How can I watch?

The Red Bull Stratos website will be live broadcasting the mission here. It will start at 5:00 AM PST on Monday October 8, 2012.

Sources: RedBullStratos, PopSci, New Scientist. Images: Felix Baumgartner, Robert Yager, Jeff Newton, Red Bull Stratos.