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POPSTop 25 Censored Stories of 2007 More I couldn't clip (due to Clip Limits) #21 Gold Mining Threatens Ancient Andean Glaciers #22 $Billions in Homeland Security Spending Undisclosed #23 US Oil Targets Kyoto in Europe #24 Cheney’s Halliburton Stock Rose Over 3000 Percent Last Year #25 US Military in Paraguay Threatens Region
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POPSHow to Talk to a Global Warming Skeptic (FAQ) More common questions and myths answered at the source, thoroughly cross-referenced and conveniently categorized and sub-categorized by type of argument: Stages of Denial Scientific Topics Types of Argument Levels of Sophistication A nice reference that's updated with fresh comments. Many "skeptics" often are unaware (by choice or by circumstance) that their common questions have already been addressed by scientists long ago.
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POPSThe Teen Brain Human and animal studies, Jensen and Urion note, have shown that the brain grows and changes continually in young people—and that it is only about 80 percent developed in adolescents. The largest part, the cortex, is divided into lobes that mature from back to front. The last section to connect is the frontal lobe, responsible for cognitive processes such as reasoning, planning, and judgment. Normally this mental merger is not completed until somewhere between ages 25 and 30—much later than these two neurologists were taught in medical school. There are also gender differences in brain development. As Urion and Jensen explain, the part of our brain that processes information expands during childhood and then begins to thin, peaking in girls at roughly 12 to 14 years old and in boys about two years later. This suggests that girls and boys may be ready to absorb challenging material at different stages, and that schools may be missing opportunities to reach them.
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POPSWhy I Love Clipmarks So, i didn't write this, I read it. It was posted by Clipmarks user onlinedesign in the "Why I Use Clipmarks" section of her profile. You can click the source link to visit her page. I wanted to clip this because it really moved me. It is exactly what i hope Clipmarks can provide for people. Knowing that we have accomplished this for some people gives me great pride and satisfaction. I could never adequately convey how impressed, inspired and grateful i am for the collective contributions of the people who share the content, thoughts, opinion, passion and perspective that gets mixed together here on clipmarks.com. I think it's truly remarkable.
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POPSExactly why we created Clipmarks... I just read this "why i use clipmarks" testimonial and it rocked me...because this describes exactly what we hoped it would be and how we hoped it would impact people. Click the source to see who said it...
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POPSThe Coming Death Shortage "Why the longevity boom will make us sorry to be alive" a must read. Though I fail to agree with many of the premises of this article, the critical views it presents are important and the issues need be taken into consideration seriously
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POPSPhysicist Claims First Real Demonstration of Cold Fusion "Arata and Zhang demonstrated very successfully the generation of continuous excess energy from ZrO2-nano-Pd sample powders under D2 gas charging and generation of helium-4," Takahashi told New Energy Times. "The demonstrated live data looked just like data they reported in their published papers . This demonstration showed that the method is highly reproducible."
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POPSQuantum Theory May Explain Wishful Thinking The intriguing title hides an interesting application of mathematical tools used in quantum mechanics to model decision making under condition of uncertainty. Pothos and Busemeyer hope that further research on quantum probability models of human cognition could help answer fundamental questions about the nature of how we think. For example, what does it mean to be rational? Another example is Schrodinger’s equation, which predicts a periodic oscillation between choices after a minimum length of time. This oscillation matches with electroencephalography signals and may explain why the longer you debate on a decision, the more you fluctuate. Overall, if our brains use quantum principles, and quantum computation is known to be fundamentally faster than classical computation in computers, then perhaps quantum principles can even help explain the success of human cognition.
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POPSThe Fallacy Files I clipped this before, but pop restrictions burried the clip. In a very naive hope to keep discussions fallacy-free, better the debate and stimulate some self-criticism, I'm re-sharing this with you all. Anyway, the resource is huge, examples abundant, explications very clear and even etymological grounded.
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POPSWhy are intelligent women such fools in love? "Without the engagement of the head and the heart, relationships are not a safe place to be, but the bright woman is headstrong enough to tell herself that she will be able to make this work." In other words, we fall at the first hurdle because we override our gut instinct."
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POPS"I'm a kafir (unbeliever) and my blood is halal (allowed to be spilled)" "Both women, who refused to give their real names, go online daily to debate religion with fellow atheists -- and the few believers hardy enough to brave their barbs -- from safely behind their computer screens. they also say; "It's easier to say that you're gay than an atheist." Asked what she would be without the Internet, Didi laughed: "I would be a full-closet atheist."
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POPSThey just don't fear heaven and earth "If anything, they are superior in many ways to us. Thinking too much about the future or worrying too much about the past is really unhealthy. The Pirahã taught me that very lesson. Living in the moment is a sophisticated way to live. I don't see depression. I don't see some of the things that afflict our society - and that's not because they don't face pressures." An interesting story.
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POPSTablet ignites debate on messiah and resurrection "This should shake our basic view of Christianity," he said as he sat in his office of the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem where he is a senior fellow in addition to being the Yehezkel Kaufman Professor of Biblical Studies at Hebrew University. "Resurrection after three days becomes a motif developed before Jesus, which runs contrary to nearly all scholarship. What happens in the New Testament was adopted by Jesus and his followers based on an earlier messiah story."
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POPS26 Ways We Decieve Ourselves Pretty good list with links defining each of the different ways we deceive ourselves. We are all probably guilty of quite a few of these. Interesting read.
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POPSScientists Apply for First Patent on Synthetic Life Form Without getting into the ethical implications which are fundamental and complex, This is an unprecedented step, a far reaching dangerous idea rapidly reaching its timely fruition, full of both positive potential and peril. Welcome to the 21st century :-) We will really have to tread wisely and courageously here.
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POPSPaper Bags or Plastic Bags? Everything You Need to Know So, while it's good to have the alternative (and to recognize the innovation it represents), bioplastics aren't quite ready to save us from the paper or plastic debate. Paper bags or plastic bags: the conclusion Both paper and plastic bags require lots and lots of resources and energy, and proper recycling requires due diligence from both consumer and municipal waste collector or private recycling company, so there are a lot of variables that can lead to low recycling rates. Ultimately, neither paper nor plastic bags are the best choice; we think choosing reusable canvas bags instead is the way to go. From an energy standpoint, according to this Australian study, canvas bags are 14 times better than plastic bags and 39 times better than paper bags, assuming that canvas bags get a good workout and are used 500 times during their life cycle. Happy shopping!
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POPSCULTURAL EVOLUTION We are finally starting to understand the patterns of culture change and the role of natural selection in shaping them. And since everything from weapons of mass destruction to global heating are the results of changes in human culture over time, acquiring a fundamental understanding of cultural evolution just might be the key to saving civilization from itself.
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POPSLogical Fallacies of Creationists and How to Spot Them THE ACHILLES' HEAL FALLACY They carbon-dated a snail and it turned out to be 25,000 years old! Carbon dating is totally unreliable! THE AD HOMINEM ATTACK You have been blinded by Satan, and you are a creature of the devil. Neither you nor what you say can be trusted. You will rot in Hell for your ways THE RED HERRING Evolution is impossible because the Big Bang is a totally unacceptable theory because it defies the word of our loving Creator, He who sent His only Son, our Lord to...
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POPSMore Evidence for a Revolutionary Theory of Water The current study is the most recent addition to a growing body of evidence for a new theory about the structure of liquid water. In 2004, Nilsson and colleagues sparked controversy with a paper published in Science that suggested the tetrahedral model of water was incorrect. Nilsson agrees that the debate is far from settled and that much work remains before a clear picture of liquid water emerges. "Over the last decade or so we have discovered that materials once considered homogeneous exhibit complex nanoscale order," said Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory director Jo Stöhr. "In my view, the work on water is yet another example of the actual complexity of matter, this time within a simple liquid. Modern X-ray work appears to be triggering a new understanding of liquids and we may have only seen the beginning of a paradigm shift in our understanding."
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POPSScientists Warn Large Earth Collider May Destroy Earth Physicists at CERN and Brookhaven National Laboratory, who underwrote the VLEC's construction with donations from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, agree that there are "some troubling variables" whenever attempting to launch Earth through the vacuum of space into a massive body of solid matter. Yet, they insist, the academic benefits of a planetary collision outweigh any risk of annihilating the Earth. While the project remains controversial, physicists agreed in late November to reconvene and evaluate the risk factor of the project after a small-scale field test, during which the Very Large Earth Collider will be turned on at 10 percent capacity, catapulting Earth into the moon at only half the speed of light.
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POPSWhy religion is outdated, and dangerous. I find it most disturbing. On the verge of development that will prolong life with less illnesses, and will increase the degrees of freedom and responsibility a so called 'prolife' religious mass is trying to take us back.