Hidden Brain - Making the world sparkle again.

Habituation and the hedonic treadmill

Look again - the power of noticing what was always there. 

https://a.co/d/0iSnx1Bp

Dishabituation - a break from your routine makes you see your routine anew. Julie Roberts "resparkles" time with her family by returning after shooting a movie. 

Changing your environment primes your brain for taking in information differently and sparking creativity. But the effect only lasts 6 minutes. 

Experiences retain their intrigue far longer than material items. Experiences are recollected over and over, and you habituate slower. 

Giving is much more satisfying than receiving. The rate of habituation of feeling happy is much faster for things you get for yourself. 

Variety enhances psychological experiences. Variety prevents habituation. Variety by definition means there's change, so you can't habituate to it. 

Shorter vacations may be better - vacations peak in happiness at 43 hours. A few short vacations will be more exciting than longer ones. 

People who are asked say they prefer hearing a favorite song without interruption. But when tested, they enjoyed it now if it was interrupted. Same with massage. 

Conversely, distasteful experiences are best done without breaks, so you don't have to re-enter the habituation to the bad. 

People who have had depression returned to neutral emotion slower after bad news. 

Disastrous accidents often happen near the very end of an undertaking. The workers habituate to the danger and take less precautions at the end of the project. 

https://hiddenbrain.org/podcast/making-the-world-sparkle-again/

Gyroscopic drill seems very intuitive

https://youtu.be/1s6wZqNZ_34?si=txDVpGfWQD7-FaE5

Getting around the proposed DJI drone can

DJI claims users can opt out of a feature that allows DJI drones to collect flight logs, photos or videos. It also suggests operators turn on a Local Data Mode feature, disconnecting the flight app from the internet.

Who was Kilroy?

Interesting history. 

Just Who Was Kilroy?

It is not clear just where the viral "Kilroy Was Here" tradition got started. Soon after WWII ended, the American Transit Association ran a contest to track down its origins. Scores stepped forward, to claim that they had been the originators. Ever since, there has been plenty of research on Kilroy. The likeliest theory traces the meme to James J. Kilroy, a Fore River Shipyard in Braintree, Massachusetts, inspector. That Kilroy supervised the work of riveters who were paid by the number of rivets installed. After they noted that number down, inspectors put chalk marks on the work done. However, some unscrupulous riveters erased the mark, in order to get paid twice for the same work. To avoid that, Kilroy wrote "Kilroy was here" in harder-to-erase crayon.

Kilroy's crayon marks would normally have been painted over. Wartime was hectic, however, and in WWII, that didn't always happen. Thousands of GIs came across "Kilroy was here" on ships built at Fore River Shipyard. None of them knew who Kilroy was, but they wondered, and that minor mystery birthed a viral meme tradition. The hardest to reach ship locations were the likeliest to go unpainted. The presence of the crayoned phrase in those spots enhanced Kilroy's reputation for getting into impossible-to-reach places. When they got off their ships, many servicemen continued the gag about the mysterious Kilroy. They ran with it, and tagged every available surface to let the world know that Kilroy had been there. Somebody at some point added an easy-to-imitate drawing of a big-nosed cartoon character to the gag. The phrase and drawing combination took Kilroy from a widespread meme to major viral history.

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1EDDZNYz3JUGvNcV/?mibextid=oFDknk

Pebble Flow electric trailer

https://youtu.be/cIAX5DEDQYI?si=ZeDRqdKYJVOAL9tJ

This trailer has dual motors for maneuvering the trailer on your driveway, and for assisting the tow vehicle to provide longer range. It has a 45kw battery and 1kw solar panels that can also act as a backup power supply at your home. And, it has a robot mode that automatically finds and attaches to a nearby trailer hitch. 

Low-rider paint job

https://youtu.be/oTClfZ2LHJc?si=l76xbKGx2_mXkXKZ

Incredible layered candy-apple paint effects on low-riders

Toyota capturing the market for very cheap pickups

https://youtu.be/8CiEKGbNF_k?si=CqEYh_lhBfmj7uka

Toyota is answering the call of those who love the Subaru Sambar - a very barebones $13K truck initially only available in Asia. 

Reserve rides ahead of time at Disney world

Just in time before we have grandchildren, Disney is introducing reservations a week ahead for theme park rides, if you're staying at one of their hotels. 

"guests will be able to reserve rides and shows ahead of time...Guests staying at Disney World's resort hotels can make selections up to seven days in advance, all at once, for up to 14 days of their stay." 

Submarine diving and surfacing mechanics

https://youtu.be/XFJnWp1tAdU?si=nNdTrFYJ-p48quV-

8:51 A submarine's buoyancy is affected by the temperature and salinity of the water. Melting arctic ice gives areas of low salinity that have to be measured and accounted for. 

During surfacing, orientation in 3 dimensions is very critical, so that (23:20) "just the weight of one person walking from forward to aft of the ship will upset the balance," so an order is given to not walk around, just as they're surfacing. 

21:28 If the submarine has any momentum from a sideways current when surfacing through ice, and if the vertical "punch" through the ice isn't forceful enough, the submarine could violently roll rather than punch through, damaging tail planes and prop. 

Airless tires for Tesla

https://youtu.be/tcfyMnO61gU?si=KRjg6aV70nSAI7HS

1:46 airless tires last longer, deform better, they're lighter, and more aerodynamic.

Bugatti Bolide acceleration

https://youtu.be/IFre_PN4h4U?si=gMzTLwql6AzHzBJH

10:15 the chassis has to be incredibly stiff; of it's not, you get this word sensation under full throttle that the car is trying to steer itself. 

Rent an earth ship in New Mexico Airbnb

What's an earth ship? A completely off-grid home built from recycled materials that uses every drop of water 4 times from drinking to garden to flushing to septic garden. Currently rent for $179/night. https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/1762491?viralityEntryPoint=1&s=76 

https://youtu.be/a_ZTiocr3LU?si=AdLFoLxjnAasKipI

Amazing cover of Fleetwood Mac

https://youtu.be/V1LhC1zGouc?si=VN_Qk6mXCubnf_k-

She went on to develop a YouTube following and uploaded just one or two covers a year. 

https://youtu.be/DfsY2KyLtT8?si=sNZxnpFHPw5aOqb9

Until she was asked to redo Fleetwood Mac by David Guetta in an over-produced dance version. 

https://youtu.be/_QiKAN2LIuk?si=6LGszYzFVyRcSHF4

NYTimes: Surgeon General: Why I’m Calling for a Warning Label on Social Media Platforms

"Adolescents who spend more than three hours a day on social media face double the risk of anxiety and depression symptoms" 

[we need to] "prevent platforms from...the use of features like push notifications, autoplay and infinite scroll, which prey on developing brains and contribute to excessive use." 

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/17/opinion/social-media-health-warning.html?smid=nytcore-android-share

Keeping an old car running reliably

https://youtu.be/XkmmJhXRpvs?si=_pT77p-X0rDjikIW

You'll like this guy's approach to keeping an old car running reliably. He seems very handy and has some good tricks and advice in the video. 

Love, love it. New dream car. Totem.

https://youtu.be/2WxueDKa0g0?si=fuUguiAAORx45M7z

Intricately hand-built and individually machined works of art. Only one small handle for the trunk release remains from the original car. 

Surimi from Pacific whiting

https://youtu.be/Wy9LsW3DjJo?si=ztHsbpXersRVCY3_

A protease inhibitor derived from potato, developed to prevent this fish becoming mushy during cooking, allowed this species to become a multi-million-dollar industry. Ground into a paste called surimi, its main market is in Korea, though a minor percentage is turned into imitation crab. 

Surimi from Pacific whiting

https://youtu.be/Wy9LsW3DjJo?si=ztHsbpXersRVCY3_

A protease inhibitor invented to prevent this fish becoming mushy during cooking allowed this species to become a multi-million-dollar industry. Ground into a paste called surimi, its main market is in Korea, though a minor percentage is turned into imitation crab. 

Egg-shaped airplane highly more efficient

https://youtu.be/l6vnU3JuNVE?si=50oKaIB_Dgi8hIJL

Ovoid shape promotes laminate flow over its surface, allowing 1:16 long range flights using 80% less fuel than conventional aircraft. 

Remarkable paint restoration

https://youtu.be/_70O487kOP0?si=C353ToJ45dhsYbyF

Sure took a lot of work! 

What Are Finger Limes? | Bon Appétit

https://www.bonappetit.com/story/what-are-finger-limes

Finger Limes, also known as nature's caviar, are an Australian tropical fruit filled with juicy pearls of citrus.

Word puzzles

I think these 3 word puzzles illustrate just how adaptable the human brain is, and how much information the brain can fill in using context and familiarity. 

Paramedics' new ice body bag to correct heat stroke

Heat Indexes Approach 100 Degrees as Temperatures Rise Across the U.S.

"emergency responders are carrying large plastic bags, or even body bags, that serve as ice cocoons. The bags are filled with ice cubes and water and zipped up around patients to about their chest area for about 15 to 20 minutes or so until they cool to safe levels." 

  https://www.nytimes.com/live/2024/06/18/weather/heat-wave-news?smid=nytcore-android-share

Citroen hydraulic suspension

https://youtu.be/offOjyc9DUc?si=LyIvkjk35G833E8d

I would really like to see this amazing suspension in action. 

Wind forces that shape buildings

https://youtu.be/JfmT0zUVhHs?si=DiOQ6YXJB0pJwGav

7:39  20% of a building's cost goes directly to combating wind forces

Home - Coalition For The Homeless

Defending the legal right to shelter in NYC. Providing meals, rental assistance, crisis intervention, etc. 

Practical answers on how to help if you see a problem. 

https://www.coalitionforthehomeless.org/

Chickadee - bird brains. The genius of birds.

Chris Templeton and his colleagues have found that chickadees use their calls like language, complete with syntax that can...convey their location or...news of a tasty treat... warn of predators - both the type and magnitude of the threat. A soft, high-pitched call signals a threat on the wing...the signature chickadee-dee-dee flags a stationary predator...the number of those skipping-stone "dees" indicates the predator's size. 

p.40, 'The Genius of Birds,' Jennifer Ackerman.

Mountain chickadees that live in the colder, snowier conditions of higher elevations have bigger hippocampi [the brain region vital for spatial learning and memory] than their lower-elevation peers... This makes sense. At higher elevations, where it stays cold longer, birds must store seeds and remember where they put them. Recovering caches is not so critical in milder climates, where food is available year-round. p. 53, 'The Genius of Birds,' Jennifer Ackerman.

NYTimes: Rube Goldberg’s Greatest Machine Is His Legacy

"There is a timeless appeal to this mechanized subversion of expectations. It will always be funny to see a complex machine whiz and whir just to accomplish what is essentially a wry wink about having wasted your time." 

Rube Goldberg's Greatest Machine Is His Legacy https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/22/crosswords/rube-goldberg-machine-contest.html?smid=nytcore-android-share

War = escalating reciprocal retributions

Gazans Speak of Devastation After Israeli Hostage Rescue https://www.nytimes.com/live/2024/06/09/world/israel-gaza-war-hamas?smid=nytcore-android-share

War is so often a story of escalating reciprocal retributions, and this quotation says it all: 

"he saw the street covered in blood and bodies. Gazans there were cursing not just Israel, but Hamas as well, he said, blaming them for bringing this disaster upon them." 

This is so senseless to me. 

Electrical shocks to tongue to treat tinnitus

"The leading explanation for this link is that the loss of input from the ears causes the brain to compensate by becoming more sensitive — sometimes called the central gain theory."

"the nerve fibres that carry signals from hair cells to the brain... are at least three different types, letting us process sounds at different volumes: quiet, intermediate and loud. The ones that process loud sounds are most susceptible to damage."

"People who have [tinnitus] but have good hearing, according to the standard hearing test known as an audiogram, have long been a stumbling block for the central gain theory. However, if they had damage solely to their loud nerve fibres, this wouldn't show up as hearing loss in an audiogram, which only measures the quietest sounds"

"Niliksha Gunewardene at the Bionics Institute in Melbourne...recently shown that in animals, an injection of neurotrophin-3-loaded nanoparticles into the ear releases neurotrophin-3 in the inner ears of mice, which leads to synapse growth."

"the cochlear nucleus also has inputs from other parts of the body, including touch neurons from the face, jaw and neck, which may be to suppress sounds caused by movements of the body, such as chewing...Neuromod Devices [have produced a] device called Lenire, which... delivers electrical stimulation to the tongue at the same time as the person listens to sounds through headphones."

docs

journal

Crow intelligence

https://youtu.be/UrONJIoaIgU?si=rXwYvZNPSs-Cnw2L

This seems to have caught Mark Rober's attention - he really challenged this crow:

https://youtu.be/tpg3VvoIVfA?si=v_ykYNf8wEuYfuUB

Crow 007 solving puzzle

https://youtu.be/Gui3IswQ0DI?si=AU1Cvi7iHvv4rtcV

Birds at Risk of Extinction Due to Climate Change

I didn't know it was this dire: 

"a grim picture: a steady decline of nearly three billion North American birds since 1970, primarily as a result of human activities. Climate change will further exacerbate the challenges birds are already facing from human activity.  

In 2014, Audubon published its first Birds and Climate Change Report. The study showed that more than half of the bird species in North America could lose at least half of their current ranges by 2080 due to rising temperatures." 

-audobon.org

"Cats have contributed to the extinction of 63 species of birds, mammals, and reptiles in the wild...In the United States alone, outdoor cats kill approximately 2.4 billion birds every year."

https://abcbirds.org/program/cats-indoors/cats-and-birds/