Why We Sleep: A TED Talk

Why We Sleep

·http://www.ted.com/talks/russell_foster_why_do_we_sleep

Russell Foster studies sleep. In fact, he's a circadian neuroscientist, which means he studies what happens to the brain when it does - and doesn't - sleep. This entertaining talk, just under twenty-two minutes in length, covers a range of sleep-related topics from the amount of sleep people typically got before the invention of the lightbulb (hint: a lot more than we get now) to dangers of depriving teenagers of their bed rest. Along the way, Foster asks and tries to answer, the age-old question of why we sleep and explores the relationship of interrupted sleep cycles with mental illness. Subtitles for the talk are available in 36 languages

posted by Chuck Schallhorn

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James Randi TED Talk: Tears into Psychics

I accidently discovered this one.  James Randi gives a 17-minute speech about why parapsychology is not true.  Humorous and skeptical in tone. He also covers his million-dollar challenge and the lack of takers.



posted by Chuck Schallhorn

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Exploring the Mind of a Serial Killer

TEDTalks is an excellent intellectual series highlighting scientists and their research. Their website is http://www.ted.com/

I subscribe to their iTunes feeds and came across a six minute talk by Jim Fallon, a neuroscientist with a fascinating family history.

Where do serial killers come from? Nearly all out students ask us and want to know. Now, the talk is on the website and includes genetic, epigenetic, environmental factors as potential causes. He shows brain scans of people based upon double-blinded research he did. Fascinating and brief. Perfect in our short attention-span world.

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