# s-brain-behav: the skill to synchronize eye-blinks

<< Magicians  use  several  techniques  to  deceive  their  audiences,  including,  for  example,  the misdirection  of  attention  and  verbal  suggestion.  We  explored  another  potential  stratagem, namely  the  relaxation  of  attention.  Participants  watched  a  video  of  a  highly  skilled  magician whilst  having  their  eye-blinks  recorded.  The  timing  of  spontaneous  eye-blinks  was  highly synchronized  across  participants.  In  addition,  the  synchronized  blinks  frequency  occurred immediately  after  a  seemingly  impossible  feat,  and  often  coincided  with  actions  that  the  magician wanted  to  conceal  from  the  audience.  Given  that  blinking  is  associated  with  the  relaxation  of attention,  these  findings  suggest  that  blinking  plays  an  important  role  in  the  perception  of  magic, and  that  magicians  may  utilize  blinking  and  the  relaxation  of  attention  to  hide  certain  secret actions. >>

Wiseman  RJ,  Nakano  T. Blink  and  you’ll  miss  it:  the  role  of  blinking  in  the perception  of  magic  tricks. PeerJ4:e1873 https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.1873

https://peerj.com/articles/1873/

# p-eu-trade: ipotesi (e vaticinio) di #chaos con meccaniche "a leva" di Poul e Delia

<< "Quale fattore condurrà a una decisione? In passato c'è stato un solo momento in cui è stata presa una decisione ed è coinciso con una situazione che vedeva la Grecia a corto di liquidi e a un passo dal default. Non è vero? ", ha detto Thomsen."Esatto!", ha  affermato Veculescu. >>

Poul Thomsen, direttore europeo del FMI;  Delia Velculescu, capo missione del FMI in Grecia.

Daniel Marans. Fuga di notizie: le conversazioni del FMI che fanno scoppiare la rabbia in Grecia. 03/04/2016 17:13 CEST.

http://m.huffpost.com/it/entry/9604636

http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/imf-greece-leak_us_57001521e4b0a06d5805ddf6

https://wikileaks.org/imf-internal-20160319/transcript/page-1.html

http://big.assets.huffingtonpost.com/Tsipras-Lagarde_Letter_4-2-16.pdf

# s-astro: about Milkomeda wave

<< The  two  celestial  giants  will become  one  and  stars,  planets  and  gas  clouds  will  be  hurled  into  intergalactic  space  by  titanic  gravitational  forces.  Surviving  stars  and planets  will  be  pitched  into  a  jumbled  cloud  flaring  up  with  new  stars  –  floating  into  a  long  future  not  in  the  Milky  Way,  nor Andromeda,  but  a  monstrous  “Milkomeda”  galaxy. >>

Our galaxy’s impossible collision could break gravity. 30 March 2016

https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg23030670-300-how-a-galactic-smashup-could-force-a-rethink-of-gravitys-laws/

# s-evol: then it became extinct

<< The largest  shark  in  the  history  of  the  planet,  Carcharocles  megalodon,  lived  between  23  million  and  2.6 million  years  ago,  reaching  body  lengths  of  up  to  18  meters  and  probably  feeding  on  marine  mammals. Then  it  became  extinct. >>

<< The  giant  shark became  extinct  because  the  diversity  of  its  prey  decreased  and  new  predators  appeared  as  competitors. >>

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-03/uoz-psa033116.php

Catalina Pimiento, Bruce J. MacFadden, et al. Geographical distribution patterns of Carcharocles megalodon over time reveal clues about extinction mechanisms. Journal  of  Biogeography. 30 Mar 2016, DOI: 10.1111/jbi.12754.

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jbi.12754/full

# s-usa: RAGtime revisited inside last #POTUS races: past ("pulsatile") trick, THEN treat, THEN ... (?)

Dara  Lind. One  chart  that  proves  Donald Trump  and  Bernie  Sanders's  voters aren't  the  same. March  31,  2016,  1:50  p.m.  ET

http://www.vox.com/2016/3/31/11338806/trump-sanders-populism-voters

Pew Research Center. March 31, 2016

http://www.people-press.org/2016/03/31/campaign-exposes-fissures-over-issues-values-and-how-life-has-changed-in-the-u-s/

2152 - RAG-time revisited
Monday, February 18, 2008

RAG: Ralph, Al, George

http://inkpi.blogspot.it/2008/02/2152-rag-time-revisited.html

# s-brain: silent synapses

<< (..)  researchers  were  able  for  the  first  time  to  view  the  release  and  re-uptake  of dopamine  —  a  neurotransmitter  involved  in  motor  learning,  habit  formation,  and  reward-seeking  behavior  —  in  individual synapses.  When  all  the  neurons  were  electrically  stimulated  in  a  sample  of  brain  tissue,  the  researchers  expected  all  the synapses  to  release  dopamine. Instead,  they  found  that  less  than  20  percent  of  dopaminergic  synapses  were  active  following  a  pulse  of  electricity. >>

The  case  of  the  silent  synapses:  Why  are  only  20%  of  synapses  active  during neurotransmission? Unknown  information  coding  in  the  brain? February  26,  2016

http://www.kurzweilai.net/study-finds-only-a-small-portion-of-synapses-may-be-active-during-neurotransmission

Daniela  B  Pereira, Yvonne  Schmitz, et al. Fluorescent  false  neurotransmitter  reveals functionally  silent  dopamine  vesicle  clusters  in  the striatum. Nature Neuroscience (2016) doi:10.1038/nn.4252. Published  online  22  February  2016

http://www.nature.com/neuro/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nn.4252.html

# p-USA: #POTUS race, a POEtic justice ...

<< There's  poetic  justice  in  Trump's  rise  to  the  top  of  the  GOP  presidential  field.  The  GOP  is reaping  precisely  what  it  has  sown. >>

Dave  Pruett. From  the  Party  of  Abe  to  the  Party  of  Donald. 03/24/2016  07:46  pm  ET

http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/from-the-party-of-lincoln_b_9535034.html