Science News

A video info graphic that compares the internet today to 10 years ago.

Our long history with the Internet is causing us to lag behind other countries. But maybe there's another way.

The researchers, Monica Ortiz, a doctoral candidate in bioengineering, and Drew Endy, PhD, an assistant professor of bioengineering, have parasitized the parasite and harnessed M13’s key attributes — its non-lethality and its ability to package and broadcast arbitrary DNA strands — to create what might be termed the biological Internet, or “Bi-Fi.” Their findings were published online Sept. 7 in the Journal of Biological Engineering.

Girls who spend more time updating pictures, chatting and surfing the Internet are more likely to suffer from negative body image and low self-esteem, says a new study.

One of the greatest effects of the Internet is its ability to capture our attention only to scatter it, ultimately producing a generation whose brains are being better hardwired to scan, skim and multitask, causing a weakening in our ability to read and think deeply in a concentrated manner.

Himelboim found out that as the discussion group be­came larger, just like in offline life, they also became more hierarchical. People exhibit what’s called a preferential at­tachment toward those with many con­nections, which suggests that having many connections makes it easier to make more connections. For those hav­ing fewer connections, making new con­nections will be more difficult. Hence, the internet seems to foster inequality.

The media has been buzzing with the supposed news that ‘internet addiction’ has been added to the list of ‘official mental disorders’. This is nonsense, but it tells us something oddly disappointing about how the media handles tech scare scores.

No one can remember everything, and the Web can be a great mind-expanding device.

A Russian anti-virus company has discovered the most complex computer virus in cyber warfare history. Called "Flame", the company says the virus has been targeting computer systems in the Middle East, such as Iran's Oil Ministry, for at least two years.

The Internet has revolutionized the way we connect and the way we think, speeding up the rate of virtually everything. At times, having so many facts at your fingertips can feel less like an upside and more like a deluge. (There's a reason why Gleick's book is subtitled "a flood.") But fundamental cultural and technological shifts in our relationship to information are hardly unprecedented. They're "part of the evolution of the species," he says.

The electro-type, the Electro Sapien, will expand conscious access to brain realism, merge — through miraculous data crunching — our insipid linear perception of reality with actual multidimensional reality. He will abstract linear thinking, see and analyse in greater detail the sapient mass of present time. He will feed on vision and memory connectivity stored in all constructs of matter, and harness integration of individual electric signatures with the internet’s electric signature. He won’t fear death, nor personal identity dissolution and insignificance.

Being online does change your brain, but so does making a cup of tea. A better question to ask is what parts of the brain are regular internet users using.

Despite all the attention the Internet receives for supposedly causing social isolation, there may be a bigger cause right under our noses: automobile traffic.