Wednesday, January 19, 2011

How does an autogyro work?

Or: do you have seven minutes to kill right now? I try not to put too many videos up here, but this one's worth it.



(can't remember where I saw this.)

John Lennon's Ferrari 330 GT 2+2 coupe for sale.

(click image to embiggen)

If you're in the market for a new car, this might be just the thing. Bonhams is auctioning the car on February the fifth, which should give you some time to scrape a few extra pennies together.

Apparently, the Ferrari was originally left-hand drive, but Lennon had it converted to right-hand drive (possibly since he'd recently been driving on a learner's permit, and wanted things to be familiar.)

The New York Times article on the car's auction mentions that a 1965 330 is not a highly-desirable model, and that this could affect the sale price. Still, if you don't mind being caught "slumming", it's probably a decent automobile.

Study shows dopamine release before and during certain musical passages.


A McGill University study appears to show that there's an anatomically distinct dopamine release directly before and during passages of music that elicit a sudden, strong emotional response.

The researchers followed the brain patterns of test subjects with MRI imaging, and identified dopamine streaming into the striatum region of their forebrains "at peak emotional arousal during music listening."

(Read the ars technica article here.)

Participants supplied their own music in which certain passages give them "objectively verifiable chills" and data was gathered through the use of PET (Positron Emission Tomography) and fMRI (Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging) scans.

If you're feeling more adventurous, the more detailed article from Nature Neuroscience is here.