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Female accomplishments are too often overlooked in our history books, but this photo looks to change that by celebrating one of history's coolest ladies. Read the rest
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I knew the name, but not that she was the lead engineer! Neato!
'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;
The children were nestled all snug in their beds;
While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads;
And mamma in her 'kerchief, and I in my cap,
Had just settled our brains for a long winter's nap,
When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from my bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.
The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow,
Gave a lustre of midday to objects below,
When what to my wondering eyes did appear,
But a miniature sleigh and eight tiny rein-deer,
With a little old driver so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment he must be St. Nick.
More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name:
"Now, Dasher! now, Dancer! now Prancer and Vixen!
On, Comet! on, Cupid! on, Donner and Blitzen!
To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!
Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!"
As leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,
When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky;
So up to the housetop the coursers they flew
With the sleigh full of toys, and St. Nicholas too—
And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof
The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.
As I drew in my head, and was turning around,
Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound.
He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,
And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot;
A bundle of toys he had flung on his back,
And he looked like a pedler just opening his pack.
His eyes—how they twinkled! his dimples, how merry!
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!
His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,
And the beard on his chin was as white as the snow;
The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,
And the smoke, it encircled his head like a wreath;
He had a broad face and a little round belly
That shook when he laughed, like a bowl full of jelly.
He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,
And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself;
A wink of his eye and a twist of his head
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread;
He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And filled all the stockings; then turned with a jerk,
And laying his finger aside of his nose,
And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose;
He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.
But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight—
"Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night!"
Source: The Random House Book of Poetry for Children (Random House Inc., 1983)
Clement Clarke Moore
Biography
More poems by this author
“As early as the 1920s, researchers giving IQ tests to non-Westerners realized that any test of intelligence is strongly, if subtly, imbued with cultural biases… Samoans, when given a test requiring them to trace a route form point A to point B, often chose not the most direct route (the “correct” answer), but rather the most aesthetically pleasing one. Australian aborigines find it difficult to understand why a friend would ask them to solve a difficult puzzle and not help them with it. Indeed, the assumption that one must provide answers alone, without assistance from those who are older and wiser, is a statement about the culture-bound view of intelligence. Certainly the smartest thing to do, when face with a difficult problem, is to seek the advice of more experienced relatives and friends!”
- Jonathan Marks - Anthropology and the Bell Curve (via mgrable)
- Jonathan Marks - Anthropology and the Bell Curve (via mgrable)
Certainly the smartest thing to do, when faced with a difficult problem, is to seek the advice of more experienced relatives and friends!
—Jonathan Marks -
—Jonathan Marks -
4 public comments
Now you understand Camus.
Indianapolis
Camus' actual ideal game is the videogame version of Candyland, in which Sartre would be unable to disregard the rules.
Providence RI USA
Become the hero of the absurd
Berlin/Germany
Britain has a lot of 'Ghost Trains' going around the country. Learn what they are 
The British train system has a curious little kink in it: there's a number of 'ghost trains.' What are these ghost trains? They're lines that run in the middle of the night, with obscure scheduling so that no one knows about them. If you happen to spot one and want to buy a ticket for them, the conductors will try to talk you out of it.
Why do they exist? Apparently closing down a rail line is a very costly and time-consuming process that's full of bureaucracy and protests. Instead of going through that, they just keep the lines running.
The phenomenon is so large and mysterious, that there are people who hunt these trains and wait for them taking photos. They call themselves 'Ghosties" who travel the land looking for these trains.
Check out more info on them at the source
A neuroscientist is reverse-engineering a human brain and if he succeeds it will be hugely beneficial for the human species
According to Markram there is not a single drug manufactured for brain diseases or mental illness that scientists can be certain of what effet they'll have on the brain, or what effect it really has on a molecular level. There is not a single brain disease that is completely understood by science.
This model he is building will give scientists a very clear understanding of what happens in the human brain; how it functions and how it responds to medication. According to him it will be the only way we will successfully be able to treat diseases like Alzheimer's disease and depression.
He says we will not solve these problems the way we are doing science today. Unless science is able to simulate the interactions between the brain and certain medications, it will be impossible to find answers.
Project Blue Brain is something that has never been attempted before, but huge progress is being made and documented on film. It is very exciting to think that, as early as 2020, we will finally have a comprehensive understanding of the most complex organ in the human body, and that will allow scientists to finally find ways to work on cures for its mysterious diseases.
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