Antidepressants, as I pointed out yesterday, is the most widely use prescription drug in America. Hence you could say it is likely one of the most used brain hacks. According to an independent 2005 study 11% of American females, and 5% of men take antidepressants (this data set is excluding the institutionalized population). However, what…
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BIL conference – just signed up.
by Ward • • 3 Comments
Image by billerickson via Flickr I previously wrote about the BIL conference – which is an alternative to the high-end TED conference. I mentioned at the time that TED was already full (not to mention you have to invited and it cost 6,000 a year). Well it turns out BIL is just as popular as…
brain hack
Most common brain hack: antidepressants
by Ward • • 5 Comments
Image via Wikipedia Probably the most widely used brain hack is the use of antidepressants. Is this a good hack or bad hack? Recent data indicates the most widely prescribed drug in America are antidepressants. Between 1995 and 2002 the use of antidepressants have climbed 48%. According to some this is resulting in the numbing…
lifespan, longevity
Freeze those testes: frozen in time – Part II
by Ward • • 2 Comments
Image via Wikipedia A few days ago I wrote about the group that cloned mice from tissue taken from a carcass thrown into a -80 freezer for 16 years. Now news comes that numerous bulls were cloned from tissue taken from frozen testicles (again like the mouse experiment nothing special was done to preserve the…
brain health, lifespan
Simple foods to improve your health: Part I
by Ward • • 0 Comments
Image via Wikipedia I have not covered diet much on this blog so far. Today I will give a cursory glance (Part I) at some potential foods you might want to add to your eating habits to improve your brain health. Changing your diet is one of the simplest hacks for improved brain and overall…
longevity, Uncategorized
Frozen in time – thaw me out: a 2008 Breakthrough
by Ward • • 1 Comment
Image via Wikipedia We probably have all watched or read some sci-fi movie where either animals (e.g. Jurassic Park) or humans (e.g. Austin Powers) are brought back to life after being dead and frozen for a considerable time. Welcome to our apparent every accelerated rate of change in our modern world, as a group of…
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Rebooting a synthetic genome – a potential 2009 breakthrough
by Ward • • 0 Comments
Image via Wikipedia Rebooting a synthetic genome – think of what that really means. “Printing” off of a genome of whatever combination of genes, or even newly invented/tweaked genes, then taking that DNA and inserting it into an inert empty lipid bilayer of a cell and booting up the cell into a living organism. Now…
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Hope and change: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
by Ward • • 0 Comments
Image by richliu(???) via Flickr I was fortunate enough to watch, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” a couple times a few days ago, and at many levels (too obscure to explain) it made me ponder. Art in it various form was invented by humans for many reasons. It allows us to be creative, but…
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BIL conference – a TED alternative.
by Ward • • 7 Comments
TED (ideas worth spreading) is a world famous conference, and many of us have watched incredible videos of the talks from this conference. However, the attendance of TED is by invitation only (though you can apply for membership). The cost of membership is $ 6,000 a year. Okay, you can only attend if you are…
brain health, information
Reading and your brain: past, present, and future
by Ward • • 2 Comments
Image via Wikipedia Most of us take reading for granted but in the grand scheme of things it is a fairly recent invention and skill of humans. Even in our modern times according to UNICEF the illiteracy rate worldwide is 20%. Past Reading: If you go back only as far as 1841 in developed nations…