According to a recent article by physorg.com, scientists have actually invented a computer that can read brain waves! The “brain computer interface (BCI)” was recently demonstrated at a four-day European Research and Innovation Exhibition in Paris and works by reading a signal in the mind when focusing on a certain letter. This technology could allow people with various dissabilities a way to write and communicate. It is anticipated that there will be nearly 100 million potential users of BCI technology worldwide, including 16 million sufferers of cerebral palsy, a degenerative brain disease, and at least five million victims of spinal cord injury.
Category: Body & Mind
Do You Live in a Polite City?
Readers Digest has conducted a survey of major cities around the world to find which ones are the most polite. I can’t say I’m surprised that New York City won – NYC has an undeserved reputation of rudeness. Playfuls as a short article on the polite cities.
“The survey showed that New York (80 points), Zurich, Toronto, Berlin, Sao Paulo, Zagreb (Croatia), Auckland, Warsaw and Mexico City were the world’s most polite cities.”
World Urban Forum
Vancouver is hosting the UN World Urban Forum this week and it’s a chance to explore how to make cities more livable. This week people from the world will look at how to make cities more environmentally sustainable and how to make cities a friendly environment for people, among many other topics.
This urban forum badly needed since the majority of people now live in cities than in rural settings – a first for humankind.
There is also a website to encourage youth to be involved with the WUF.
Viewers Want Realistic TV for a Change
I find this report to be a bit of shock, TV viewers acknowledge that they have a negative view of the developing world. Of course, it’s not their fault, but TV’s and viewers want that to change.
Hopefully this will serve as a wake-up call to journalists that we want critical analysis about the world and not just sports, boobs, and celebrity gossip.
“Reflecting the real world? How British TV portrayed developing countries in 2005 compliled by volunteer agency VSO, with DFID support, reveals that television viewers have an overwhelmingly negative view of the developing world and that they hold TV responsible. The report shows that viewers have a real appetite for richer representations of the world outside the UK and calls on broadcasters to invest more funds, creativity and talent in bringing the world to UK audiences. “
Canadian Youth Learn Smoking is Bad
Anti-smoking laws and advertising campaigns are working in Canada, which is most obviously a good thing since smoking destroys your health. The study notes that smoking has dropped across all age groups, but most significantly with teenagers.
“Fewer young Canadians are smoking, but they are still the group most at risk of being exposed to second-hand smoke, according to new data released Tuesday.
The results of the Canadian Community Health Survey, released by Statistics Canada, found that in 2005 about 40 per cent of non-smokers aged 12 to 17 reported being regularly exposed to second-hand smoke, far higher than the 11 per cent of those aged 65 and over and 19 per cent of 35 to 64 year olds.”