Papercut

Author: Dr. Stephen Hawking Why we must ask big questions Real science can be far stranger than Sci Fi. Much more satisfying as well. Most people think real science is too complicated. People should try to appreciate basic fundamental principles without going too much to equations. People should rise to the challenge of sustainable development goals and act of out common interest. Emission from black hole, now called Hawking radiation, proves that information is not lost in a black hole but it is not returned in a useful way, like burning an encyclopedia but retaining the smoke and the ashes. Dr. Hawking uses a program called Acat, developed by Intel for speaking. He controls it by a small sensor via cheek movements. A Brief History of Time, published on April Fool's day in 1988 became one of the best sellers of all time. Howe can we provide solutions to the problems plaguing the earth? Overpopulation, poverty, global warming ? We need to work together to make the fut

Author: Jackie Chan with Zhu Mo Jackie Chan, one of the most loved stars in Asia and Hollywood bares it all in this heart warming auto-biography. He candidly tells about his strengths and weaknesses, his struggles, his stardom, his relationships and how he made it big in celluloid. It is very exciting to read about all the adventures he had while filming hundreds of movies in Chinese as well as in Hollywood. The risks that he took, right from when being a "corpse" in initial movies to when he was a super star is thrilling. The next big thing from China after Bruce Lee, he tells how he made his own path for success. However the best part for me was how he acknowledged that he was not a good boyfriend or a husband or even  a good father. His initial days of turmoil in the Chinese Drama Academy had a huge impact on him, making him a spendthrift and a workaholic and thus could not give his best in any relationship he had. He does not have any qualms in agreeing that he was

Author: Siddhartha Mukherjee Missing Science of Heredity: Pythagoras: Hereditary information carried in male semen. Spermism. Female provides nourishment.  His devotees argued parents are like sides of triangle. Kid is hypotenuse. Aristotle: Male semen has message, instructions or architecture. Female has the material. Nobody for thousands of years could provide good alternate theories. Charles Darwin: Went to South America for a survey for many years. Collected huge specimens of skeletons, plants, pelts, rocks, shells etc. He could see lot of variations in the same species in a particular island. It was as if each site had produced its own variant - a bar coded bird for each island. What if all finches had arisen from a common ancestral finch ? What if current forms of animals are consequences of natural forces that had accumulated over millennia ? Farmers breed and interbred cattle to produce natural variants. Reverse Darwinism. Deliberately created by humans. When a

Author: David Eagleman Animal brains : Pre-programmed. Hardwired. Independent right after birth. Human brains : Live wired. Plastic. Adapts to conditions. Thus can survive anywhere from Africa to Antarctica. Initial brain development important. Children need proper care. Romania suffered as its children were institutionalized. Teens have very active mPFC : Medial Pre Frontal Cortex. Leads to more self evaluation, more risk taking or thrill seeking behaviors. Plasticity in adults: London cab drivers who memorize London Maps have enlarged Hippo-campus. Violin players have omega sign folds in the brain due to extensive left hand use. Memories fade, not trustworthy. Same events can lead to different memories at different points of our life. Brain is a toolbox. Use all tools to keep cognition healthy. You do not perceive objects as they are. You perceive objects as YOU are. There is no "Reality" outside of our skulls. Brain receives air,pressure,molecules etc thr