Researchers have assumed that visual information in the brain was transmitted almost in its entirety from its entry point, the primary visual cortex (V1).

“We intuitively assume that our visual system generates a continuous stream of images, just like a video camera,” said Dr. Dirk Jancke from the Institute for Neural Computation at Ruhr University.

“However, we have now demonstrated that the visual cortex suppresses redundant information and saves energy by frequently forwarding image differences,” similar to methods used for video data compression in communication technology. The study was published inCerebral Cortex (open access).

Using recordings in cat visual cortex, Jancke and associates recorded the neurons’ responses to natural image sequences such as vegetation, landscapes, and buildings. They created two versions of the images: a complete one, and one in which they had systematically removed vertical or horizontal contours.

If these individual images were presented at 33Hz (30 milliseconds per image), the neurons represented complete image information. But at 10Hz (100 milliseconds), the neurons represented only those elements that were new or missing, that is, image differences.

To monitor the dynamics of neuronal activities in the brain in the millisecond range, the scientists used voltage-dependent dyes. Those substances fluoresce when neurons receive electrical impulses and become active, measured across a surface of several square millimeters. The result is a temporally and spatially precise record of transmission processes within the neuronal network

This site will help you clear up any problems you have with Google searching!

I'm not sure why googling well is a "boss" attribute but the hints are good.  I am trying them now!

Some good tips here!

Ping.it (review), a web app which allows you to monitor and discover relevant news in your areas of interest, has just introduced a new powerful feature with makes it possible to track any relevant content being published around a specific keyword.

Just specify the set of keywords or keyphrase you want to track, and almost instantly Ping.it provides you with a preview of relevant content items. 

Probes can be tailored to your specific needs, by applying specific search parameters and social popularity filters. It is also possible to exclude specific keywords. 

I find Ping.it and its keyword monitoring facility very effective and capable of bringing me only high quality results in my field of interest. I would not hesitate to recommend it to those who need to seriously monitor any topic.

Find out more about this feature: http://ping.it/blog/go-beyond-rss-with-keyword-probes/ 

Free to use.

Try Ping.it: http://ping.it/ 

As usual, Robin Good is tracking the cutting edge in info-discovery. In addition to RSS feeds of persistent news searches and other kinds of searches and social media monitoring services like talkwalker.com, Ping.it looks like a potentially useful infotention tool (off to test it...)

In experience creativity seems to be volitional not physiological, now there is some science to counteract this socially accepted point of view. 

Seems very interesting: from digital sweatshops to social computing and crowdsourcing....

Vai acontecer  em junho de 2014 e reunir grandes nomes da ciência de redes, como Ducan Watts e pesuisadores sobre aprendizagem em rede.

Two interesting videos on website evaluation from www.freetech4teachers.com

I would like to add to Beth Dicther's share, via Richard Byrne's Free Technology 4 Teachers, that website evaluation skills should be a necessity for any student and educator regardless of online or face-to-face. 

website evaluation

Zoekmachines - en Google - voorop gaan de context van zoektermen steeds beter begrijpen, zodat gebruikers betere en op hun situatie (plek, voorkeuren) toegespitste resultaten krijgen. Omdat het daarbij om de zogeheten 'big data' draait, is onder meer het gebruik van Google+ belangrijk voor Google. 

Kort gezegd gaat het betekenen dat zoekwoord 'pizza' niet leidt naar allerhande recepten websites, maar naar de Italiaan om de hoek.

An interesting 5 short videos worth watching.

These cartoons are really sweet and very well done. Nice way to explain the though process behind the science, make sure to see at least one of them.

Learn more about Science by first understanding the Scientific Process. These videos above make it much more easier to understand the topic. 

Bridge 8 are good peeps

University of Washington researchers have performed what they believe is the first noninvasive human-to-human brain interface, with one researcher able to send a brain signal via the Internet to control the hand motions of a fellow researcher.

Using electrical brain recordings and a form of magnetic stimulation, Rajesh Rao sent a brain signal to Andrea Stoccoon the other side of the UW campus, causing Stocco’s finger to move on a keyboard.

While researchers at Duke University have demonstrated brain-to-brain communication between two rats, and Harvard researchers have demonstrated it between a human and a rat, Rao and Stocco believe this is the first demonstration of human-to-human brain interfacing.

“The Internet was a way to connect computers, and now it can be a way to connect brains,” Stocco said. “We want to take the knowledge of a brain and transmit it directly from brain to brain.”

De plus en plus sympa

Maps are great visuals for teaching about concepts of space (as in spatial intelligence) and data. This collection of forty maps is diverse and you will find quite a few that you may want to share with students but check them out first. Based on the grade level you teach there may be maps you will not share. Luckily there are links to where the map was first found. A few of the maps are listed below. The one in the image is a "Map of 'Pangea' with Current International Borders."

* Countries that do not use the Metric System

* The Only 22 Countries in the World that Britain has not Invaded

* Map of Time Zones in Antarctica

* Global Internet Usage Based on Time of Day

* World Map of Earthquakes since 1898

* The 7000 Rivers that Feed the Mississippi River

good work dude

If you have wondered why spatial skills matter this post states "The ability to mentally manipulate shapes and otherwise understand how the three-dimensional world works turns out to be an important predictor of creative and scholarly achievements, according to research published this month in the journal Psychological Science."

Why is this important? It turns out that spatial skills at the age of 13 turn out to predict "the likelihood that the individual would develop new knowledge and produce innovation in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, the domains collectively known as STEM."

For more information on this as well as links to additional resources check out this post.