The Blob

 Hi ! 

 

This blog  article is to educate anyone who might be reading this. Last year, I acquired myself a Blob through a friend of mine that filled in a CNRS (centre national de recherche scientifique) form and got one. Here is what I have learned and how to take care of a Blob if you ever happen to fall on one.

    

  

    First, a little bit of science, the Physarum polycephalum, or more commonly blob, is neither an animal nor a plant or fungi (mushroom), it is what is called an acellular slime mold. It lives in humid and dark habitats and feeds on anything really. The way it looks has it mistaken with a normal fungus or such. 

Here is what a blob looks like in the forest:

 

      

   

      It has a few particularities that are specific to the slime mold category of organisms. If cut into two, these two parts of blob will become two separate beings called "brothers" or "sisters". If two blobs of any kind meet, they will merge and form a single blob. 

    Another particularity of the blob is that it is kind of infinitely big, as long as it has food, it can keep growing and expand, it is not limited by skin or anything.

Before we move on, this next part is about the blob in a more practical way, if you wish to get one, you really should take into account it is a lot of work (I only kept it awake for about a month) and all the responsibilities you gain are only your responsibilities.

    Now Where to find a blob ? If you really want a blob, You can look at this video from the CNRS, it gives precious information on where to find one and how to take care of it, although I must warn you, if you wish to start from the forest, it takes around 3 months before you can see it and wake it from it's sleep.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uyVVknT0gpY  (I am sorry it is in french)

And if you want to get a blob in a faster way, you can ask me and I can give one to you (only if you really want to).

 

     

 

    There are a few things you will need to get before starting to cultivate your blob, you will need some gelatin (plant based) and some petri dishes. To feed it, the best food to give it is some good old boring oat flakes. Once it is fully developed you can always try with some other foods and see which ones it likes and which ones it doesn't. (I tried with Ketchup and asparagus - didn't work)

    The first thing you need to do is follow the recipe on your gelatin packet and fill a few petri dishes up to about a third to a half of the the petri dish. You then need to place the piece of napkin with the sleeping blob on one side of the petri dish and put a few oat flakes on the other side. The Blob will feel the oat flakes and go there. You must leave it in the dark for about 24 hours (I left it in a cupboard). This is what it should look like after 24h:

You can then remove the piece of napkin and keep giving it food.

At one point, it will get to big for the petri dish, you can just cut up a quarter of the gelatin slab and put it in a new petri dish. Now you must be careful, the blob grows very fast and before you know it, you have about 50 petri dishes all full with the menace of the blob going out of them and free in your home. The only way to stop the Blob is by freezing it, at least it is the most efficient way. 

Once you have had enough fun with your blob, you can put it to sleep (it survives about two years asleep) so you can have it for later and/or give some to other people who would be interested. To put it asleep, you must lay it (a piece of gelatin) on some napkin piece and let it dry out for a few days. You now have a sleeping blob !

I hope you liked my article and will appreciate the freakishness and coolness of the blob. Until next time, bye !

 

The psychology of music.

Hey guys,

Today, I have chosen to talk about how music can have many deeper effects on us then just being nice to hear...

 First of all, music has many effects on our perception:

- It can influence our perception of effort and lead us to forget the state of fatigue thanks to the dopamine it releases in the brain.

- It can help improve deep sleep because of its hypnotic qualities.

- It can aid creativity, give us a helping hand to find ideas because of its memory boosting effect.

- It can improve concentration, by giving us something stable to focus on.

 Next, music can help with our performance at school by:

- Helping with self-confidence

- Helping us learn new languages in the future

- Increasing the duration and intensity of concentration.

Many tests were done to prove these ideas.

For example, one test was done with multiple pupils divided into three groups. One listening to rather fast-tempo Mozart, one listening to relaxing music, and one in silence.

The results showed that the group that had been listening to Mozart scored two times higher than the other groups.

Now, let's focus on the physical side of the matter. When listening to music we can immediately detect the rhythm, we can reproduce it. Also, often if we listen to music that we like, we move on the rhythm, maybe even without noticing. But this is indeed more than just memory. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans on people that were told to lay still and listen show that music activates not only the lobe responsible for interpretation, but also the lobe responsible for commanding movement.

 After finding this, many researchers deducted that music could possibly be used to help people with neuromuscular deceases. It has very positive effects on certain people and none for others.  Finally it has been found that music-therapy has changed the lives of some for whom it works, for example people with Parkinson’s disease.

- Hope you enjoyed, and thanks for reading! -

Why do we dream ?

Ever wonder why we dream ? We don't know exactly why we dream, but we know everybody does it. Firstly, what the word dream really refers to ? Basically, dreams are stories and images our mind creates while we sleep.

There are several theories being explored, but no one is 100 % sure. Some scientists say that dreams are meaningless. A second theory says that dreams are fundamental for our health and well-being. A study proved that an absence of dreams can provoke anxiety, depression, some difficulties to concentrate, hallucinations and weight gaining. On the contrary, dreams help us to solve problems in our lives, to incorporate memories and to process emotions.

In the early 1900s, Freud that while all of our dreams, including nightmares are a collection of images from our daily conscious lives, and have symbolic meanings which relate to the fulfillment of our subconscious wishes. Freud believed dreams as a way to fulfill our wishes and desires that were unacceptable to society. These theories are all very interesting but researchers are still trying to explain the necessity of dreams.

As for the meaning of dreams, there are varying points of views. Some scientists explain that dreams have no connexion with our life. And others assume our dreams may be representative of our thoughts an emotion, and we analyse them, we may able to undertand ourself better. Dreams can also be seen as a conduit of creativity.

Follow your dreams !

A new planet in our solar system ?

Hey Charlie ! Could a new planet exist in our solar system ?

 In January 2015, Caltech astronomers Konstantin Batygin and Mike Brown have found mathematical evidence and computer simulations suggesting there may be a ninth planet in the solar system right behind Neptune. They have called it « planet nine ». Since « planet nine» so far has not yet been observed directly, its existence stays only theoretical at this point. From 2006 on, school all over the world has taught that the solar system contained 8 planets. But it may have been 9 planets all along.

The hypothetical planet is believed to have 10 times the mass of Earth and about 4 times Earth's diameter. Moreover, Planet nine is estimated to have a very long orbit that take between 10,000 to 20,000 years to orbit the sun.

Evidence continues to mount for its existence through its gravitional effects. There are three separate reasons that proves its existence.The existence of a large object could explain the unique orbits of at least five smaller objects discovered in the distant Kuiper Belt. The Kuiper Belt is a vast region of primordial debris in the outer Solar System, extending from the orbit of Neptune. All five objects have elliptical orbits that go in the same direction. Normally, the orbits should be all over the place. The second point shows that Planet Nine's influence might have tilted the entire solar system except the sun. These two reasons on their own proves that all of this is influence by a large gravitational source. The third explanation comes from the computer simulations predecting that more objects in the solar system should be titled out of the plane.

This is not the first time that a planet in our system solar is discovered theoritically. Deviations in the orbit of Uranus has been observed. Neptune was pridicted to exist before it was actually discovered using similiar mathematical modeles back in 1846.

Interesting youtube channels!

Hey Charlie!

Not a longtime ago, I've discovered some youtube channels that I found really cool and interesting:

In a Nutshell provides some very cool content: basically you learn new stuff about very different topics (mostly scientific) thanks to good visuals and explainations (in english of course lol), here are some examples:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NbuUW9i-mHs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEYbgyL5n1g

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tlTKTTt47WE

What I like about this channel is that they both create "serious" videos (concrete) or debatable videos, which is super interesting in my point of view.

The second channel is, as the name indicates, rather about history so if you ever doubt on a fact or you need some more precisions in your notes (or if you didn't catch some informations during Mr.Leveque's class don't worry I got you) well this channel is perfect for you! 

Once again, what is super cool about their videos is that they have such good visuals that you understand even more what happened etc...So give it a go and tell me what you thought about them!

Hey Charlie!

Today some 1ère S went to what is called JFB. We actually went to St Charle's university to discover the different scientific courses available.
It was (in my opinion) really interesting (mostly for people who had no precise ideas about what to do after the bac).The best part was when a teacher showed us how to make holograms and showed us one he had done in a laboratory. It was amazing!!!! I hope in some decades, holograms will be very common. He also explained us how it worked which was fascinating (at least to me) and very interesting because it is anchored in modernity and in progress.
The next great thing was the university in itself. It is quite big. However, I must admit I was a bit disappointed because students did not sing nor dance like in American movies. It was cool anyway.

More seriously, it was good to learn things concerning what to do after the bac even if it's in France. It gave me an idea of what I could do. So, if you want to study abroad you can look for the same thing you found interesting here, but elsewhere (which makes it also useful even if you don't project on staying in France). Indeed, it makes you seriously think about what you would like to study.

The L and ES went to JFB too but in order to see other things. You should go and ask them (or even me) if you have any question. Who knows? We could maybe be useful.

Bye, bye Charlie!
Lisa

Some smart and interesting YouTube channels!

Hey Charlie!

Today I'm writting this article to bring you some fresh stuff but also to destroy some clichés. In fact I often hear "meh, YouTube is all about gaming and vlogs, nothing less".

In order to destroy this idea that YouTube is full of dumb stuff and the only channels that wants to be interesting are boring, here are some counter examples. And here are some channels that might interest you!
P.S: There will be French and English channel, but mostly French channles (sorry).

https://www.youtube.com/user/Vsauce

This guy is called Vsauce. His channel is mainly composed of videos about science, physics... but his goal is not to make you bored with explaining things, no, he answers (dumbs or interesting) questions that we all asked ourselves at some point (at least I guess) like "Will we run out of music?", "If we know the speed of light, what is the speed of darkness then?", "why aren't we disgussed by kisses?", etc... This guy is really smart and really know how to make subjects interesting!

https://www.youtube.com/user/FilmTheorists https://www.youtube.com/user/MatthewPatrick13

Now this fellow gamer and film addict generaly called "MatPat" is animating shows about theorys on film and gaming (you would have never guess that I'm sure). But he doesn't only expose theory, he explains them with math and physics. His videos are really entertaining, you never get bored, trust me.

https://www.youtube.com/user/lepsylab

Le Psylab is a French channel animated by two psychiatrists and they talk mainly about psychiatry (logic). I thought it might be interesting to put them here because it really is an uncommon subject and these guys really know there subjects. Also they are animating a show called "Fovea" which describes how much is a move relevant depending on psychiatry (the last one is on "Inside Out" and it's really good).

https://www.youtube.com/user/epenser1

It's more than probable that you know Bruce, aka Epenser. Again, he's a french youtuber that mainly talks about physics. To put in a nutshell, he is (to me) Vsacue's French equivalant, and likes to put science in everything (for example, did you know there is a science in the waiting lines?).

https://www.youtube.com/user/dirtybiology

Don't trust this profile picture, Leo's channel is called DirtyBiology, and it's eeeeeeverything but cute. Here this guy talks about biology, and things related to it. So he can treat fun subject (for example "Is Darwin's theory of evolution working in the Pokemon world?" or "can we have (naturally) green white bears?")... aaaaaaaand dirty subjects, because biology is not only about animals and trees (like "how can you create a zombie thanks to medecine?").

https://www.youtube.com/user/Axolotblog

Here we won't be talking about science, but about curiosity. Axolot's channel is all about curiosity, strange and original things, weird places, or unknown persons that were in fact a big help in hystory. He's not very active but his videos are really good. He also has a blog that should see asap.

https://www.youtube.com/user/notabenemovies

Ben from the channel NotaBene talks about history. His main shows are linked with original events or unsual subjects (like the biggest military fails) or even searching if some movies are really historical (the one on Braveheart broke a part of my dreams).

https://www.youtube.com/user/DanyCaligula

This cute little mouse is the avatar of Dany Caligula. This young guy talks laws but mainly about philosophy. If some can think he's snob, his goal is to initiate people to philosophy, and I think he totally nailed it!

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGeFgMJfWclTWuPw8Ok5FUQ

The last channel doesn't want you to understand physics or biology, it wants you to be smart. Welcome on HackingSocial. The main goal of his channel is to make you aware about manipulations practiced in the medias or by big industries, how to counter them and how to make people aware of them. To me this channel should really be more famous, because it would help so much people. It talks also a lot about social experiments and sociology.

I thinkI talked about the main ones. Sorry Charlie, but my goal here is to make people aware that these channels exist, and maybe to share them with other people that might not talk English so well. I hope appreciated it and will learn some new stuff. Sorry for the long post and see ya Charlie!

Kellian

Carsten Holler : Decisions

Dear Charlie,

Have you ever heard of Carsten Holler?

He is a Belgium modern artist. He first trained as a scientist before becoming an artist (you can always change your mind, see!). Holler is specialized in creating experiental installations and participative artwork. His last exhibition is called "Decision" and takes place at the Hayward Gallery in London. As I travelled to London this summer (I miss you Summer), I had the chance to visit (I would even say participate to) the exhibition and it was AMAZING!

As you might have guessed, "Decision" is about choices : the visitor has to make choices all through the exhibition, and these choices lead him/her to different installations. The first choice was the entrance door : would you go in A or B ? I chose A and found myself in a dark tunnel that was like a maze. The tunnel was really long (about 5 minutes) and trust me that at the end of it you begin to feel anxious! Then there were different art sculptures like this one :

 What I really liked about this exhibition is that visitors get really involved and discover new things and moreover have fun. Some may say that this is not art but what is art really? Holler has the ability to let the visitor experience new things : I also wore glasses that turned the world upside-down and as the experience took place on a balcony it was even more disturbing! I had to concentrate to walk (almost) properly...or close my eyes but it's a bit like cheating then...There were also all sorts of games that sollicited all your senses and feelings...no you don't dreaming it's me flying! OK, I'm attached. OK, I am circling around a stake. OK, I am wearing a ridiculous blue "armor" but still! Where can you experience flying around a pole? Nowhere really...

To conclude, I would say that Carsten Holler is a great artist who geniously combine art and science and allows the visitors to discover new experiences and have fun but also thinking of how you react and live in this world. If you ever get the chance to visit any of his exhibition, go for it! You will not regret it ! ;-)

  This is how you quit the exhibition...and it's AWESOME!

Bye Charlie! ^^

Tara

Cheryl's problematic birthday

Dear Charlie,
I imagine you've read about the Singapore math questions that made the world buzz
Have you already tried figuring this logic puzzle out?
As you know, I'm  myself fully uncapable of making heads or tails of it.
But I thought, you might want to give it  a try.
http://www.theguardian.com/science/alexs-adventures-in-numberland/2015/apr/13/can-you-solve-the-singapore-primary-maths-question-that-went-viral
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/15/science/a-math-problem-from-singapore-goes-viral-when-is-cheryls-birthday.html
If you want to check if you got it.  Here's the solution:
http://www.theguardian.com/science/alexs-adventures-in-numberland/2015/apr/13/how-to-solve-albert-bernard-and-cheryls-birthday-maths-problem
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/15/science/answer-to-the-singapore-math-problem-cheryl-birthday.html
Good luck!
Mrs. C.

The Tudors

Dear Charlie,
Do you remember learning about the Tudors?
I do,  discovering them, I particularly remember being  fascinated and often appalled.
Today's  tabloids shock the world, revealing the scandals of today's Royals but compared to the Tudors, they're "softies."

Can you imagine the headlines on  Henry VIII? or one of  his  famous daughters "Bloody Mary" ( aka Mary I; it is not just a drink) and "the Virgin Queen" ( aka Elizabeth I,  it's is not just astrology)?


http://www.michellehenry.fr/tudors.htm

You may wonder why I am suddenly talking about them.
Have I just watched an episode of the Tudors?
http://www.tv.com/shows/the-tudors/
 I could have  even if some historian says it's inaccurate.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/6005582/BBC-period-show-The-Tudors-is-historically-inaccurate-leading-historian-says.html
Actually,  my incentive was an article from the Guardian which I found quite interesting because it was linking history, art and science.

http://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/feb/16/anne-boleyn-portrait-found-using-facial-recognition-software?CMP=EMCNEWEML6619I2

Enjoy!
Mrs. C.

Cybernetic Breakthrough

Image Credit: Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory 

I just read about an amazing story : A man from Colorado lost both his arms in an accident (They were cut at shoulder-level, which is pretty bad).
 
The thing is, researchers from the Johns Hopkins University's Applied Physics Laboratory managed to build him two new "Mind-controlled" arms. After a few days of training, he managed to lift objects and do simple things with his arms just by thinking about doing it.
 
I think that this being possible is just amazing. Plus, the researcher who led this project stated that they were "just getting started", and that "the next 5-10 years [were] going to bring some phenomenal advance".
 
Yet having seen movies and played videogames that talked about the subject, I think it is also a technology that has the potential to make the divide between rich and poor people even bigger. It is still a breakthrough for mankind, adn I am surprised it hasn't been more talked about.

You can learn more on the Johns Hopkins University's Applied Physics Laboratory's website

Looking glass

Dear Charlie,

Today, I saw this on facebook. It is captivating. Fascinating. Eyes are really stange things, aren't they?

" In higher organisms the eye is a complex optical system which collects light from the surrounding environment, regulates its intensity through a diaphragm, focuses it through an adjustable assembly of lenses to form an image, converts this image into a set of electrical signals, and transmits these signals to the brain through complex neural pathways that connect the eye via the optic nerve to the visual cortex and other areas of the brain. "

Fortunately, this doesn't sum up all capacities eyes have. It is so complex that we can't even say we really know it, and understand it. When we look into people eyes, we get lost. Lost in a sort of minus galaxy, and we are attracted by this mysterious and unknown system, and thanks to that video, made by Benjamin Lebeau we have access to wonderful images of it on a great song by Dan Deacon ( "Alright Spiral Snip” ), mixing with some kaleidoscopic effects. 
Our body is definitely an art. 

Enjoy ! 
--------------------------- LOOKING GLASS (click)-------------------------------------