Not a year has gone past when
Stephen Hawking’s achievements, both in terms of science and popular culture, have not made global headlines. His work has revolutionized
theoretical physicis and cosmology, made him the Commander of the Order of the British Empire and earned the U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom, all while his body suffers from
amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
Here are some of his great thoughts and moments:
“Some people would claim that things like love, joy and beauty belong to a different category from science and can’t be described in scientific terms, but I think they can now be explained by the theory of evolution.”
“The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge.”
“We are in danger of destroying ourselves by our greed and stupidity. We cannot remain looking inwards at ourselves on a small and increasingly polluted and overcrowded planet.”
“It is a waste of time to be angry about my disability. One has to get on with life and I haven’t done badly. People won’t have time for you if you are always angry or complaining.”
“I have lived with the prospect of an early death for the last 49 years. I’m not afraid of death, but I’m in no hurry to die. I have so much I want to do first.”
While collecting stones along the east coast of his hometown in Maine, it dawned on artist Alan Magee how the beauty of an object draws in its own attention. His
hyperrealistic acrylic and oil paintings look unbelievably like
photographs, capturing the quiet intensity of those stones, pebbles and
rocks that demanded his contemplation. Each is arranged in softly lit,
zen like compositions, where Magee has stacked them like cairns or on
top of other objects, while in other pieces, they appear scattered like a
starry Milky Way galaxy, bleached white by the sun and sand with their
own stories to tell.
Chilling Brain Scans Show the Impact of a Mother’s Love on a Child’s Brain Size
A shocking comparison of brain scans from two three-year-old children reveals new evidence of the remarkable impact a mother’s love has on a child’s brain development.
The chilling images reveal that the left brain, which belongs to a normal 3-year-old, is significantly larger and contains fewer spots and dark “fuzzy” areas than the right brain, which belongs to that of a 3-year-old who has suffered extreme neglect.
Neurologists say that the latest images provide more evidence that the way children are treated in their early years is important not only for the child’s emotional development, but also in determining the size of their brains.
Experts say that the sizeable difference in the two brains is primarily caused by the difference in the way each child was treated by their mothers.
While at first glance, the images might indicate that the child with the right brain might have suffered a serious accident or illness, neurologists said that the truth is that the child with the shrunken brain was neglected and abused by its mother, and the child with the larger and more fully developed brain was raised in a loving, supportive home and was looked after by its mother, according to The Sunday Telegraph.
Researchers told the UK newspaper that the image of the brain scan on the right shows that the child lacks some of the most fundamental areas that are present in the image of the brain scan on the left.
They say that the child on the left with the larger brain will be more intelligent and will be more likely to develop the social ability to empathize with others compared to the child on the right.
On the other hand, the child with the smaller brain on the right will be more likely to become addicted to drugs, be involved in violent crimes, be unemployed and dependent on government benefits in the future. (Source)
