October 29, 2013

Neuroscientists Inch Closer to Seeing Your Dreams

Brain decoding is the technique by which neuroscientists are able to decipher what a person is experiencing during a dream.

bigthinkeditor

The most counterintuitive, surprising, and impactful new stories delivered to your inbox every Thursday.

Brain decoding is the technique by which neuroscientists are able to decipher what a person is experiencing during a dream. Researchers are using MRI scans to detect subtle patterns of activity.

The Nature video below depicts three different uses of brain decoding, “including a virtual reality experiment that could use brain activity to figure out whether someone has been to the scene of a crime.”

Watch here:

The most counterintuitive, surprising, and impactful new stories delivered to your inbox every Thursday.

Collage of classical art suggesting a theme related to somatic markers.

Business

How “somatic markers” can transform your decision-making

Ditch the old brain vs. heart assumptions, and instead think about a heart-led brain.

A black and white image of a bunch of spheres, symbolizing the multiverse concept discussed by scientists.

Starts With A Bang

How logic and reasoning can fail as scientific tools

In logic, ‘reductio ad absurdum’ shows how flawed arguments fall apart. Our absurd Universe, however, often defies our intuitive reasoning.

A wooden sign indicating "assisted migration rep 2" in a pine forest under a clear blue sky.

Life

Moving trees north to save the forests

As the world warms, trees in forests such as those in Minnesota will no longer be adapted to their local climates. That’s where assisted migration comes in.

Historical map illustration depicting a planned city layout with a circular central area and radiating streets.

Strange Maps

Ohio’s Circleville ditched the grid system. Then it got squared.

A small Ohio town tried to escape America’s addiction to rectangular grids. It didn’t last long.

Bullet Cluster separation mass gravity x-ray lensing

Starts With A Bang

Flagship NASA space telescope faces a penny-pinching death

NASA’s only flagship X-ray telescope ever, Chandra, still works and has no planned successor. So why does the President want to kill it?

Up Next

Sloppy Science Jargon Gets Nobel

Markets can move mountains. But we must guide their power, using empirical behaviors. They should serve us, not we them.