Molecularist

Good analysis [via @atmaspere]

"The possibility of strange forms of alien life seems to have just got a whole lot closer to home. Astrobiologists from Arizona State University, Florida, UC Boulder, NASA, Harvard and Australia have recently theorized about a “shadow biosphere” – a biosphere within a biosphere where alternative biochemistry may be thriving in a way that we haven’t yet thought to examine." [via @rnaworld]

Just brilliant.

"The writer Douglas Adams observed how technology that existed when we were born seems normal, anything that is developed before we turn 35 is exciting, and whatever comes after that is treated with suspicion. This is not to say all media technologies are harmless, and there is an important debate to be had about how new developments affect our bodies and minds. But history has shown that we rarely consider these effects in anything except the most superficial terms because our suspicions get the better of us. In retrospect, the debates about whether schooling dulls the brain or whether newspapers damage the fabric of society seem peculiar, but our children will undoubtedly feel the same about the technology scares we entertain now. It won't be long until they start the cycle anew."

Wonderful essay on giving.

Very good range of ideas (though a tad predictable). Two I liked in particular were from Paul LeClerc, President and CEO, New York Public Library, and Kevin Rose, Founder of Digg. Go and read them all. [via @BoraZ]

"The Fitbit accurately tracks your calories burned, steps taken, distance traveled and sleep quality. The Fitbit contains a 3D motion sensor like the one found in the Nintendo Wii. The Fitbit tracks your motion in three dimensions and converts this into useful information about your daily activities." [via @rivalee]

"As I've been digging deeper into the data I've gathered on 210 million public Facebook profiles, I've been fascinated by some of the patterns that have emerged. My latest visualization shows the information by location, with connections drawn between places that share friends. For example, a lot of people in LA have friends in San Francisco, so there's a line between them." [via laurie b]

[via @bryanrieger]

[via @bryanrieger]

"ImPACT (Immediate Post-Concussion Assessment and Cognitive Testing) is the first, most-widely used, and most scientifically validated computerized concussion evaluation system."

"Due to awareness raised by the media, advances in clinical assessment and treatment, and implementation of sports concussion management programs in a growing number of schools, we are beginning to see progress for student-athletes."

"High schools and educators are taking concussion injuries seriously"

"By contrast, "a less connected person who is strategically placed in the core of the network will have a significant effect that leads to dissemination through a large fraction of the population."" [via @drkiki]

Maybe now folks will realize that numbers of followers alone, doesn't cut it.

"A new technique for analyzing early English texts is gradually revealing the history of the apostrophe." [via @EvilSue]

"Simply add the width, an 'x', and the height (example) of the image you want and my script will spit out a gray box to the size you want with the image dimensions in black Arial text centered in the middle of the box." [via @mattbalara]

Very intriguing. Well done. Where does Biology begin for you?

"Slashtags are a simple way to add information to a tweet that helps both people and machines understand context around a tweet. At the end of the content of the tweet you add a / followed by some two and three letter codes that provide the meaning (common slashtag codes are by, via, cc, and re)."