May 26, 2014

Speeding up brain networks might boost IQ

Back in 2009 a team of dutch scientists were analyzing the brain. They found that for all the denseness of the


brain doesn't really matter. It does just not as much as they originally thought. Its really about the efficiency of the wired brain. They found that the most intelligent people have the fastest connections not the most

Thus suggests that you may be able to increase your brain performance or boost your intelligence  via drugs. It also suggests that by speeding up ANN's (Artificial Neural Networks) may boost the intelligence of the system

In 2011 There were some studies done by Air Force researchers. They found that they could cut training time in half for air force pilots by delivering a mild electrical current (two milliamperes of direct current for 30 minutes).You can read the full article here

There are already a number of consumer products being created to try and take advantage of this discovery and its starting to hit the mainstream. Wired did an article on it "Inside the Strange New World of DIY Brain Stimulation". As well self described biohackers like Tim Ferriss and Dave Asprey are touting the positive effects it has had on them.

Foc.usFoc.us has released several product geared for gamers. And Fisher Wallace has release a slightly different product to help people treat insomnia

You can check out foc.us here

You can check out Fisher wallace's product here

Fisher WAllace


So I decided to buy one a year ago and test it on myself. I got a cheaper tDCS ApeX Type A from Amazon. It worked great just like I expected. Being a connoisseur of nootropics(aka smart drugs) I usually run a battery of tests on myself to see if they are actually doing anything like the dual and back test. I did notice some improvement in working memory. I am still using it once a week to this day. I do believe I am gaining a benefit from it.



May 24, 2014

Primordial Gravitational Waves: The future of probing the past

primordial gravitational waves
Launched back on May 14,2009 the European Space Agency's Planck satellite will
enable us to find out what happened just fractions of a second after the big bang by examining the cosmic
microwave background in exquisite detail.

Now 5 years later they are getting closer than ever to finally getting some answers. They recently released an announcement saying they have just found some signs of primordial gravitational waves.

A ways back Einstein theorized that gravitational waves  were a kind of ripple in space-timeand did in fact exist.

Scientists were using Background Imaging of Cosmic Extragalactic Polarisation (BICEP2 for short) at an  experiment at the South Pole and may have found footprints these waves.

What might this mean in lamens terms?

Studying the Universe with gravitational waves can bring about a wealth of new data. Produced mostly by catastrophic events like collisions of black holes, these waves are completely different in their nature from electromagnetic radiation. It is like adding sound to our image of the Universe.