Tuesday, 6 October 2015

Ink Blot Test - The Rorschach Test


A persons personality when identified and understood could tell you a lot about that individual and the possible direction their cognitive functioning (thinking). In a more ideal situation this could be an assistive  measure in identifying and changing the way we view things.


There are a number of tests available online, one in particular is the Ink-Blot Test also know as the Rorschach Test. 

How does it work?

The test-takers perceptions of inkblots are recorded and then analyzed using a complex algorithms to identify key personality trait or abnormalities in personality.






http://theinkblot.com/


For more information check out:

>> Rorschach Inkblot Test-Psychcentral

>> Rorschach.org

Monday, 5 October 2015

Are you Right or Left-Brained? Find Out!!

Did you know it is possible to identify which side of your brain is most dominant? Well it is! 

Neuroscientists tell us that the brain has a right hemisphere and a left hemisphere. What we know is there are different parts of our brain. that control different functions in our body and also in our cognition (the way we think). 

 PARTS OF THE BRAIN FIG.  1.1

 

It is important to remember the lobes run both sides of the brain and are not separated to either side where one lobe is on one side...


If you would split the brain right down the middle into two symmetrical, or equal parts, you would have a right and left hemisphere. Although equal in size, these two sides are not the same, and do not carry out the same functions. (see Figure 1.1) 
 
The Left side
 Functions: Responsible for control of the right side of the body, and is the more academic and logical side of the brain.
The Right side
 Functions: Responsible for control of the left side of the body, and is the more artistic and creative side of the brain 

FUNCTIONS OF THE BRAIN FIG. 1.2



braintest.sommer-sommer.com/en/ 
 braintest.sommer-sommer.com/en/


Monday, 28 September 2015

Blood Moon or super moon from around the World September 2015






 What you need to know about a blood moon. 

According to The Gaurdian, during a total lunar eclipse, the Earth, sun and moon are almost exactly in line, with the moon on the opposite side of the Earth from the sun. As the moon was full when it moved into the shadow of the Earth it dimmed markedly, but remained visible because of the sunlight passing through the Earth’s atmosphere.

So why was it reddish?
The sunlight passing through the Earth’s atmosphere was filtered and refracted in such a way that the green to violet light on the spectrum was scattered more strongly than the red light. This left more red light to reach the moon’s surface.

What did this moon look like from different places around the world?

The blood moon, or supermoon, during a total lunar eclipse over Caracas, Venezuela. [Miguel Gutierrez/EPA]

Frankfurt am Main, western Germany, on September 28, 2015.






USA: Las Vegas, Nevada,









SOUTH AFRICA: Cape Town




Monday, 3 August 2015

Lack of sleep can damage your brain

Most people say children's brains grow when they sleep, but as adults we need sleep for different reasons. Researchers have long known that lack of sleep can be bad for your health, affecting everything from immune function to cognitive acuity.

Long-term memory closes up during sleep
The components of the brain that carry information to Long-term memory turn off while sleeping. For the same reason, dreams quickly fade out after you wake up. Although you may have quite a few dreams in a night, they aren’t being memorialized into Long-term memory. Normally only the fragments of a dream left in Short-term memory have a possibility to be converted after you wake up.

According to studies the record for the longest time for someone to go without sleep is 18 days, 21 hours and 40minutes. The individual who participated reported hallucination, paranoia, blurred vision, slurred speech, memory and concentration lapses.

Getting too little sleep creates a "sleep debt," which is much like being overdrawn at a bank. Eventually, your body will demand that the debt be repaid.

Sooner or later your body will just shut down, without your control. Remember Nightmare on Elm Street? How the characters bodies shut down without them knowing they were asleep.


 

Thursday, 30 July 2015

Cecil the Lion, and the Dentist


With a title like that, one could easily think it is a children's story book. However this story is a horror, were Cecil ends up dead, stuffed and displayed as a trophy piece on a Dentists wall.






Walter Palmer an American dentist from Minnesota is no stranger to hunting, but sparked outrage around the world for hunting and killing Cecil the lion, Zimbabwe's favorite lion.
According to BBC News Palmer said he had no idea that the lion was a "local favourite". Like that makes killing an animal without provocation okay... 

The two local men who assisted him are face charges of up to 15years in jail, in my opinion is not severe  enough. Palmer paid the approximately R650 000 (which is a lot of money) to arrange for his little trip. After luring the animal out of the National park with bait Palmer shot him with a cross bow and rifle, according to BBC News, the hunt took 40hours but once over Palmer skinned him.

Source: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-33695872

Poaching is illegal in most parts of the world but in Africa hunting lions is illegal! Palmer stated he is regretful, as he was tricked by the guides who said they had arranged all the legal paperwork. He calls the ignorance card... 

He is no stranger to Hunting... whether legal or illegal in this case... below are some of his previous hunts


-----------------------------

Check out:  CNN - Bail Granted for Zimbabwian locals involved in the killing of Cecil , The New York Times - Killer of Cecil the Lion Finds Out That He Is a Target Now, of Internet Vigilantism

Tuesday, 28 July 2015

Understanding HIV and AIDS p1

QUICK BACKGROUND

Firstly we need to understand that viruses evolve, they can have different strains eg. the influenza virus, because the flu virus gets stronger and evolves into different strains, vaccines have to be made to counteract them (that is why we get flu shots once or twice a year, the virus changes).

According to researchers, HIV is a different strain of another virus that were common in a certain type of primate (chimpanzee) found in West Africa. Thy also had an immunodeficiency virus called Simian immunodeficiency virus or SIV. Scientist believe that the virus was transmitted to humans and evolved into HIV when humans hunted these chimpanzees for meat and came into contact with their infected blood. Over the many years this virus slowly spread across Africa to other parts of the world.

For a more thorough look into the History of HIV see The Aids Institute.org - Where did HIV come from?


What Is HIV?

HIV is an acronym for, Human Immunodeficiency Virus. This is a virus that weakens your immune system by destroying important cells that fight disease and infection. A "deficient" immune system can't protect you.

Your body has white blood cells form part of your immune system and these cells defend your body from bad bacteria and viruses that attack your body. They are the soldiers of your body, HIV does not attack your body, this virus attacks your soldiers, your white blood cells, destroying them while multiplying. 


Above is a simple clip explaining how the HI virus attacks our White Blood Cells.

HIV is just the first stage, if your body has one or more opportunistic infections (TB, Leukemia etc)certain cancers, or a very low number of CD4 cells (are a type of white blood cells that play a major role in protecting your body from infection) then you have progressed to the final stage which is AIDS.

What Is AIDS?
AIDS stands for Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome. Acquired means 'to get', Immunodeficient mean your immune system is not working well and Syndrome means 'a collection of symptoms and signs of disease'. AIDS is a syndrome, rather than a single disease, because your body now is attacked by many other infections and diseases like 

For more on this check out HIV and AIDS 101 - Signs and Symptoms