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Hymenopus coronatus (Olivier, 1792)
the walking flower mantis / orchid-blossom mantis / (pink) orchid mantis
Found in SE Asia rainforests (Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, Philippines, Singapore and Western Ghats of India).
These organisms can switch between brown and pink depending on the color of the background.
They have significantly pronounced sexual dimorphism relative to other mantis species. That is- the males can be less than half the size of the female.
This camouflage is considered to be potentially a self defense mechanism and/or a form of mimicry that helps it blend with the orchid to capture insect prey.
source: the species wikipedia page
Complex learning dismantles barriers in the brain
Biology lessons teach us that the brain is divided into separate areas, each of which processes a specific sense. But findings published in eLife show we can supercharge it to be more flexible.
Scientists at the Jagiellonian University in Poland taught Braille to sighted individuals and found that learning such a complex tactile task activates the visual cortex, when you’d only expect it to activate the tactile one.
“The textbooks tell us that the visual cortex processes visual tasks while the tactile cortex, called the somatosensory cortex, processes tasks related to touch,” says lead author Marcin Szwed from Jagiellonian University.
“Our findings tear up that view, showing we can establish new connections if we undertake a complex enough task and are given long enough to learn it.”
The findings could have implications for our power to bend different sections of the brain to our will by learning other demanding skills, such as playing a musical instrument or learning to drive. The flexibility occurs because the brain overcomes the normal division of labour and establishes new connections to boost its power.
It was already known that the brain can reorganize after a massive injury or as a result of massive sensory deprivation such as blindness. The visual cortex of the blind, deprived of its input, adapts for other tasks such as speech, memory, and reading Braille by touch. There has been speculation that this might also be possible in the normal, adult brain, but there has been no conclusive evidence.
“For the first time we’re able to show that large-scale reorganization is a viable mechanism that the sighted, adult brain is able to recruit when it is sufficiently challenged,” says Szwed.
Over nine months, 29 volunteers were taught to read Braille while blindfolded. They achieved reading speeds of between 0 and 17 words per minute. Before and after the course, they took part in a functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) experiment to test the impact of their learning on regions of the brain. This revealed that following the course, areas of the visual cortex, particularly the Visual Word Form Area, were activated and that connections with the tactile cortex were established.
In an additional experiment using transcranial magnetic stimulation, scientists applied magnetic field from a coil to selectively suppress the Visual Word Form Area in the brains of nine volunteers. This impaired their ability to read Braille, confirming the role of this site for the task. The results also discount the hypothesis that the visual cortex could have just been activated because volunteers used their imaginations to picture Braille dots.
“We are all capable of retuning our brains if we’re prepared to put the work in,” says Szwed.
He asserts that the findings call for a reassessment of our view of the functional organization of the human brain, which is more flexible than the brains of other primates.
“The extra flexibility that we have uncovered might be one those features that made us human, and allowed us to create a sophisticated culture, with pianos and Braille alphabet,” he says.
Eric Smalls is a sophomore at Stanford studying computer science. In 2012, President Barack Obama featured Smalls in a campaign video about the importance of...
the things we learn right before midnight
what's keeping you from sleeping?
nothing. i'm just not ready to hit the sack.
why's that?
you really want to know?
yep.
okay. but i don't want you to think i'm crazy or leave this bed running, alright?
i wouldn't do that.
right. okay. hmm. so, 24 years ago, on the eve of my birth, my mom decided to deliver her child in a graveyard. the city's farthest most forgotten graveyard. she's an artist, though; a lover of contrasts & a chaser of the dark.
oh
july 21st, lost in the depths of a summer night amid traces of grief, sorrow & dried petals, my mum gave birth to a baby she’d almost immediately hold between her arms. i don't remember this of course, but i've been told she murmured:
'hey, little one. i need you to think of death as your friend. a mutual. an ally. a confident.'
from that day on - my entire life, basically- i've never slept before midnight.
i stay still by the side of my bed, patiently waiting for my oldest friend to come sit by my side.
once he shows up, we tell each other how life treated us that day in our own sides of the realm. we then hold hands & together, we end the life of yet another day.
- @skinthepoet
An attempt at a first person animation, that I noticed doesn't have any recoil and I can't easily fix that now so I'll probably never finish it.
Now YOU TOO can have a Contacts List made by Not-Microsoft that may/may not work 60% of the time, all the time.
Lisbon / Portugal blogs
Lisbon and Portugal isnpire hundreads of travel posts, bloggers and videos but there are a few that stand out for me which I check out regurarly.
HERE TO GO TO
http://www.wheretwogoto.com/category/around-portugal/around-lisbon/
A travel blog for Portugal and outside of it. Good tips for day or weekend trips from Lisbon. Written by expat couple in English.
SALT OF PORTUGAL
https://saltofportugal.com/about/
Mainly about Lisbon and Portugal. Different themes you can search for posts produced by small group of posts. I like that concept how they create this thing together. Nice artwork. They also have their own voicemap tour of Lisbon! And scarfs inspired by Lisbon tiles.In English.
LISBON BY LIGHT
https://www.lisbonbylight.com/lisbon-stories/
This is lovely even though more like a design blog. I love the idea of ’stories of Lisbon’ as locals of the city, often artists. Great strories and inspirations. Great way to discover portuguese brands and artists. Very ’arty’, very Lisboa.
THE LITTLE UPSIDE DOWN CAKE
http://www.littleupsidedowncake.com/category/lisbon-stories/
Like the name tells you already this about eating in Lisbon and elsewhere in the world. Another not a travel blog. You can look for recipes according to the time of the year, which is a fun idea. Love the posts of different cafés of Lisbon. Also stories behind the counter. Amazing photos!
LISBOA COOL / LISBON SECRETA / TIME OUT
Available in Portuguese as in English. These are all quite similar, commercial websites about Lisbon. Tips for visiting and learning more of it but also events, restaurants, cafes… Time Out comes out as a magazine once a week if you prefer.
VISUAL DIARY
https://www.lily.fi/blogit/visual-diary
In Finnish. Written by a graphic designer living in Lisbon for over 3 years. She writes about life, in general but especially in Lisbon. Great lists. Also about design. I love her photos. She also has a great instagram account worth following if you speak Finnish.
LISBON ME PLEASE / LISBOA LIVE / LISBOA COME
https://www.instagram.com/lisbon_me_please/
https://www.instagram.com/lisboalive/
https://www.instagram.com/lisboa.come/
Do you follow blogs about your home city /country?
When will i learn
That your love
Was never for me
To hold?
Only for me to veiw
At a distance
But never to really
Touch.
https://player.vimeo.com/video/140981921?color=ffffff&title=0&byline=0&portrait=0
LRNG Manifesto lrng.org
Director Felipe Lima
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Music UUV Editor Taylor Ward @ Parallax Post Asst. Editor Dustin Straube Sound Designer Owen Granich-Young Colorist Bossi Baker
1st AC Rachel Fox DIT Erin Olesen Swing Albert Gonzalez Location Sound Mixer Mike Barone PAs Yorgos Varagoulis, Cory Riley, Chris Hansen
