Will I be Able to Hear Bone Conduction Headphones Even if I Wear Earplugs?

Because bone conduction bypasses the ear entirely and directly stimulates the ossicles (which is the scientific name for the tiny bones that reside in your inner ear, as well as the rationale behind comic book hero Daredevil’s athletic prowess), it is entirely possible to stick your ear plugs in and still listen to your ‘Bonephones’.

 

In some respects, it’s actually preferable. Y’see Nick, using headphones is fine and dandy, until you have to turn the volume all the way up in order to drown out noisy children, busy traffic and/or people shouting into their phones all around you. After that, if you increase the volume to too great a degree, you can expose your ears to sounds that can actually permanently damage your hearing.

 

Bone conduction, however, carries much less of a risk, because it does not effect the parts of the ear most at risk from loud noises.

 

Hearing is a process that actually has several stages. At first, your ear picks up sound waves, the sound waves pass into your middle ear (specifically, your auditory canal) before hitting the eardrum. The eardrum then vibrates, passing the sound down to the aforementioned ossicles (‘aforementioned ossicles’ is a lovely phrase, don’t you think?) From there, the ossicles transmit the sound to the cochlea, which is a fluid-filled structure that encodes the sound information in order for our brain to decode it (this is not unlike the way a wireless mouse works, actually).

 

Yup, the inner ear is a wacky world.

 

Essentially, bone conduction technology rattles the ossicles in the same way that they’d rattle in your inner ear, it just, to turn a phrase my father is particularly fond of ‘cuts out the middle man’. It really is an interesting invention.

 

So, as you see, there is no way a pair of earplugs pose any problem at all to your enjoying music or audio content on your Bonephones. I hope this helps. You’ll likely find this method especially useful if you happen to find yourself on a long plane journey and seated next to a disgruntled infant.

 

I’m actually fairly certain that bone conduction technology was invented during a similar scenario. 

Will I be Able to Hear Bone Conduction Headphones Even if I Wear Earplugs?

Pioneering Rock Musician Lou Reed Dies at 71

Rock n Roll poet Lou Reed, a founding member and principal songwriter of the massively influential band ‘The Velvet Underground’ – as well as a globally recognized recording artist in his own right, has died of liver failure, he was 71 years old.

Reed’s songs were groundbreaking in that they openly discussed issues like outsider sexuality and hard drug use and then married these lyrics to alternative, sometimes avant-garde music.

Reed was a recording artist in every sense of the word. Throughout his life and career, his work was challenging, powerful and often divisive. However, he was also no stranger to a catchy, crowd-pleasing pop chorus, as famous hits like ‘Perfect Day’, Satellite of Love’ and ‘Walk on the Wild Side’ will attest. Lou Reed’s work was the ultimate meeting point between the urban culture of the New York City streets and the highbrow insouciance of the uptown art galleries.

Supremely influential to the development of Pop, Glam, Indie, Punk and lots more besides, Reed was considered to be a godfather of alternative sounds.

Lou Reed was born in Brooklyn in 1942, when World War 2 was still raging around the world. He studied at Syracuse University and, around this time, became a disciple of the poet Delmore Schwartz. Upon graduation, he worked for Pickwick records as a songwriter, generating at least one minor hit. Eventually, he met Welsh violinist John Cale and, together with drummer Maureen Tucker and guitarist Sterling Morrison, formed The Velvet Underground.

The Velvet Underground were an instant hit on the New York music scene, so much so that pop artist Andy Warhol became a fan and incorporated them into his various projects. Warhol would eventually be credited as the producer of the band’s 1967 debut album, for which he also provided the artwork. The band were white hot creatively for three years, until their last album ‘Loaded’ was released in 1970.

Commercially, however, the Velvet Underground were completely ignored at the time. It was only later that they would be considered by a new generation of musicians as a seminal, trailblazing band.

Reed’s first solo album (where he was backed by the progressive rock band ‘Yes’) wasn’t a hit, but his glam-inflexed, David Bowie produced follow up, ‘Transformer’ became a worldwide smash and yielded several enduring pop classics.

For the rest of the decade, Reed refused to be pigeon holed as simply a ‘Rock’ or ‘Pop’ performer, instead producing albums like the tragic, story-based ‘Berlin’ or the savagely experimental ‘Metal Machine Music’. ‘Coney Island Baby’ was perhaps his most accessible record after ‘Transformer’, it was a hard-edged song-set that featured a collection of radio friendly alternative rock tunes and it was well received by the majority of fans.

Over the decades, Reed’s rebellious music continued to divide and delight in equal measure. Albums that had some fans and critics cheering had others scratching their heads. He was wholly capable of being supremely heartfelt and candid one minute and yet totally aloof and incomprehensible the next. He was, however, never less than 100% true to his incomparable artistic spirit.

In the 2000’s, Reed became a devoted practitioner of Tai Chi; he based an album on the works of Edgar Allen Poe and he worked as a photographer (which had been a side passion of his for many years). He also became even more heavily involved in social and environmental activism. His most recent record was released in 2011; it was produced in collaboration with Thrash Metal giants ‘Metallica’.

To say that Lou Reed made a huge impact on popular music would be an absolute understatement; to say that Lou Reed is one of the founding fathers of alternative music/culture would be doing the man something of a disservice. In truth, Lou Reed wrote the book on Rock n Roll, before summarily burning it and doing whatever he felt like doing, whenever he felt like doing it. He will be missed.

Pioneering Rock Musician Lou Reed Dies at 71

What could be the best LG 42 inch LED TV on the market at the moment

If you believe long and hard about it, you have maybe owned a piece of LG electronic gear at some point in your life. The corporation has been supplying class products since 1947, beginning with chemicals and plastics and going from there. LG in reality make rather a lot of things, but the South Korean firm is perhaps best known for its electronics products.

 

The latest LG 42 ” LED Television is to be one of those most noticeable of that aforementioned LG products in the coming months. New for 2013, this innovative all-singing, all-dancing smart TV is, to state it mildly, utterly gob-smacking.

 

Having a MASSIVE 42-Inch Full HD 1080P widescreen (that also allows for Cinema 3D), you realize that you’ll be looking at one of the clearest, most dazzlingly stunning displays on the market today.

 

In addition of that, this TV has, well, all the added extras. Downloadable apps, built-in Freeview and an all-inclusive WiFi only add to the fun. So when you hook this bad boy up to your Blu Ray player and your surround sound speaker system, you will be considering a cinema quality experience in the comfort of your apartment.

 

In truth, having a Television this good, you may preferably be getting at an experience so immersive that it in reality bests the cinema for ambience. As for gaming? Forget about it (and I mean that in the good way), your games will never have looked so cool. The sounds and images won’t ever of been sharper or better defined.

 

As for this Internet, you might be able to make use of the WiFi connection that’s at the least as good as your android tablet/Smart phone, if not even better. Brilliant apps like ‘LoveFilm’ ‘Facebook’ and ‘Youtube’ will bring the best of that World wide web away from titchy devices or isolated desktop pcs and into the front room for all to share and enjoy.

 

What we’re looking at right now, without exaggeration, is one of those best Televisions in the world today. Crisp picture, wonderful sound output and many more choices than it is possible to shake a Television Guide at. You really can’t go wrong.

 

Today’s movies, games and also TV are being made for systems like this. High definition cameras are used to fully take advantage of formats like 3D, HD and Widescreen. In case you really want to get the most out of your Blu-ray library, you then owe it to yourself to upgrade to the new LG 42 inch LED Television.

What could be the best LG 42 inch LED TV on the market at the moment

Tech We’d Like to See: Cities on the Moon

What it is:

Placing a city (or several) on the moon has long been a dream of science fiction writers, futurists and ambitious scientists. Recently however, renewed public interest in space exploration, together with a growing realization that the world is becoming dangerously overpopulated, has lead some scientists, artists and zealous would-be lunar colonists to start taking this ages-old dream extremely seriously. 

Why we want it:

Because it could potentially be one of the only non-genocidal solutions to the eventual overpopulation of planet earth. Also, who wouldn’t want to sit on the moon and watch the Earth rise?

When can we expect it?

A couple of years ago, a group called Moon Capital launched a high profile competition, allowing scientists, architects and aspiring artists the chance to create scientifically plausible scenes of moon colonisation (in the style made famous by super-artist Chesley Bonestell).

The competition had (hypothetical) moon colonisation taking place in the year 2068. This estimate was good enough for the entrants of the competition, so it’ll be good enough for us, too. Hopefully, then, you’ll get your lunar colony in about 55 years time (just under a hundred years after Neil Armstrong took that one small step….)

Of course, the problems posed by such a feat of engineering are many-fold. For starters, the moon is some 380,000 km away from us at any given time, (which is quite a trip for a moving van, even taking speed cameras out of the equation), then there’s the difficulty of actually building a working city in such a hostile environment…

We’ve built space stations, of course, so we know we can construct things in space, but they aren’t exactly desirable places to live. Also, we can get people to the moon and back (we’ve been at it since the 60’s, no matter what the conspiracy nuts tell you), but the trip is still intensely dangerous and requires a great deal of training and preparation.

Finally, we come to the complete lack of breathable atmosphere on the moon; this would require scientists to create some sort of artificial environment (or else speed up development of terraforming methods, but that’s a story for another time).

Oh yeah, there’s no food either, not unless you like your Selenite steaks rare.

Yes, the idea of colonising the moon poses a number of mind-boggling obstacles, but if there’s one thing that we as a species excel at, its overcoming obstacles.

So, while it may seem far-fetched to imagine something like this actually happening, consider this; the first powered flight took place in 1903 and just 66 years later, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were hanging out on the moon. Think on that for a second.

Cool Factor: 5/5

Cities on the moon? Now that’s cool. 

Tech We’d Like to See: Cities on the Moon

‘Jewel Encrusted Skeleton ‘Saints’ Make Headlines Around the World’

Paul Koudounaris, who is also identified by his nickname ‘Indiana Bones’ is an novelist, photographer and leading specialist on bone-decorated places and ossuarys. Earlier this year, Koudounaris released a hardback that includes high definition imagery of that 400-year-old ‘catacomb saints’ of Rome, a group of corpses that was meticulously adorned with charms and finery ahead of being offered as the ruins of saints to congregations across Europe.

Throughout the Protestant Overhaul of that 16th Century, Catholic churches were routinely stripped of these relics, cryptogram and finery. So as to defy this, The Vatican had ancient skeletons removed out of the Catacombs of Rome and lavishly decorated as a remnants of recognized saints.

Though regularly forgotten until Koudounaris published his book, the catacomb saints continue to fascinate concerned parties; they can still encourage religious zeal. In 1977, the town of Ruttenbach in Bavaria worked hard to raise enough funds to purchase back 2 of the primary saints from undisclosed collectors, the ornamental skeletons had initially been auctioned off in 1803.

The book, that Koudounaris has surreptitiously titled ‘Heavenly Bodies’ sees its author attempt to find and photograph each of the surviving catacomb saints.

In his heyday (a period that lasted over 200 years before finally coming to a close within the 19th century), the saints travelled far and wide, being transported at vast expense by the Church. They were venerated as things of devotion, or conduits for prayer.

Although the saints could appear unusual to contemporary eyes (one Telegraph reporter described these as ‘ghastly’), it’s crucial that you understand that those who prayed at the feet of the gilded cadavers were considerably closer to demise than their contemporary counterparts. In the wake of The Black Death (which recurred repeatedly right through Europe from the 14th to the 17th Centuries), art, literature and also worship had moved to embrace such ghoulish, macabre imagery.

The remains were regularly decked out by nuns and sometimes located in different natural poses, before being secured in glass cabinets. Some of the thorough decoration took as long as 5 years to finish, with jewellery and costumes being acutely impressive.

Koudounaris’ book, ‘Heavenly Bodies’ is available now.  

‘Jewel Encrusted Skeleton ‘Saints’ Make Headlines Around the World’

Is after death actual fictional

A brand new scientific analysis has suggested that dying rats experience an strange surge of intense brain motion throughout their last moments of life. This enlarged brain use could be in line with (and thusly describe) Human accounts of near or after death experiences, as reported by some people around the world.

 

Roughly a 5th of all folks who have survived a cardiac arrest have reported having an ‘After Death Experience’ or ADE.  This is sort of an alarming stat, principally as ADE tends to have a very profound effect on the life of the survivor. Having an ADE is seen by many as indisputable evidence of an life after death or perhaps a continuance of the person’s soul after death.

 

In the same way, a ‘Near Death Experience’ (or NDE) is considered to be similar to the ADE, but clearly occurs while the patient remains to be technically living. Many people who encounter NDE’s report a floating sensation or ‘From Body Experience’ (OBE), also as encounters with angels, deceased family and cherished ones. Both NDE and ADE survivors often explain traversing an extended tunnel towards an extreme light.

 

Negotiations of life after death seems in early scriptures, archaeological sites and many subsequent works of philosophy and also have fascinated (and frightened) Human beings, regardless of creed, race or culture, since time immemorial.

 

After recovering from surgery in 1979, Jazmyne Cidavia-DeRepentigny of Hull, Georgia, USA, reported a stereotypical NDE account that was eventually published in the book ‘Beyond The Light’ by P.M.H Atwater in 1994. Like many individuals, Jazmyne recounts details of her surgery that may be very difficult to obtain were she lying.

 

Jazmyne says that “I was floating over my body.  I could see and listen to all that was being said and done.  I left the area for a minute after which returned to where my body lay.  I knew why I died.  It was because I could not breathe.  There was a tube along my throat and the medical staff didn’t have an oxygen mask on my nose.  I had also been provided excessive sedative”.

 

She went to describe her attempts to get rid of the tube from her throat in a considerably disturbing account.

 

Prior to the aforementioned study, it is accepted fact that brain activity ceases once the heart stops. This has now been demonstrated as being untrue, at the least so far as rats are concerned. It’s also the strongest presumption to date concerning the causes of ADEs, OBEs and NDEs.

 

One of those scientists responsible for these results, Dr. George Mashour of the University of Ann Arbour, Michigan, USA said that the team was “astonished with the high degrees of motion” within the rodents. “In truth, at near-death many recognized electric signatures of consciousness exceeded levels found within the waking state, suggesting that the brain is capable of well-organized electric activity throughout the early phase of clinical death.” He said.

 

The team’s lead scientist, Dr. Jimo Borjigin added that “This research paper tells us that decrease of oxygen or both oxygen and glucose throughout cardiac arrest can stimulate human brain activity that is characteristic of conscious processing,”

 

However, Dr. Martin Coath from the University of Plymouth, UK was a little critical of the team’s findings.

 

Dr. Coath said, because the rats were anaesthetized, the findings better demonstrated the unconscious brain’s reaction to the life-threatening deficit of blood flow and oxygen. He also said that the study hadn’t necessarily showed that any ‘heightened conscious processing’ had actually taken place, suggesting that the wording of that conclusion was “a bit of a stretch”. He commented that, while the consequences were “genuinely interesting” they were as well “hardly amazing”.

 

The results of this study will no doubt be of great notice to numerous within the scientific community, as well as religious groups, those engrossed in the paranormal and those who have experienced an ADE or NDE.

  

SOURCES:

 

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/paranormal-death-experiences-explained-204403437.html#7mbMENa

 

http://www.iands.org/nde-stories/17-nde-accounts-from-beyond-the-light.html

Is after death actual fictional

Extraterrestrial Life Discovered...Maybe

A team of Uk scientists believe that they have revealed organisms in earth’s atmosphere that originally come from space.

 

As hard as that may be to judge, Professor Milton Wainwright, the team’s leader, insists that this is unquestionably the instance.

 

The team, out of the University of Sheffield, exposed the little organisms (misleadingly referred to as ‘bugs’ by a great deal of overeager journalists) living on a research balloon that was sent 16.7 miles into our environment throughout last month’s Perseids meteor shower.

 

In keeping with Professor Wainwright, the minuscule creatures could not have been carried into the stratosphere on the balloon. He said, “Most people will presume that those biological particles must have just drifted up to the stratosphere from Earth, but it is normally accepted a particle of the volume found can’t be lifted from Earth to heights of, for example, 27km. Really the only known exception is by a violent volcanic eruption, none of which occurred within three years of their sampling trip.”

 

Wainwright maintains that the only salient conclusion is that organisms originated from space. He went on to mention that “life is not restricted to the planet but it almost definitely did not originally come here”

 

However, not everyone seems to be so convinced. Dr. Seth Shostak, senior astronomer with the SETI (Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence) project said, “I’m very skeptical. This claim may be made beforehand, and dismissed as terrestrial contamination.” The team responds to this by saying that they were thorough when they prepared the hot-air balloon before the experiments started.

 

Yet, they do acknowledge that there might be an unknown reason for those organisms to reach such altitudes. It must also be renowned that microbal organisms discovered within the 1980’s and 1990’s and called ‘extremophiles’ shocked the scientific community by living in environments that would instantaneously kill the bulk of life on earth.

 

These creatures have always been observed living deep under Glacial ice or 1900 feet below the sea floor. In March of this year, Ronnie Glud, a biogeochemist at the Southern Danish Uni in Odense, Denmark was quoted as saying “Inside the most isolated, harsh areas, you are able to actually have higher motion than their surroundings,” which “Yow will discover microbes in all places – they’re exceptionally adaptable to circumstances, and survive where they are,” so it seems more plausible that any the team is in error, or that this is solely one more case of microscopic life showing up in an unusual place.

 

In addition, it is not the 1st time this unique team has come under fire for making such claims, either. Back in January of this year, astrobiologist Dr. Chandra Wickramasinghe reported that ‘fossils’ found from a Sri Lankan meteorite were evidence of extraterrestrial life, an assertion that is commonly criticized by the scientific community.

 

Other scientists have complained that there basically is not enough indication to make this type of claim, as a theory this important would need a sizable body of proof to prove its authority.

 

What that says to the reporter is that microorganisms can exist pretty much anyplace and that it simply is not good science to jump to wild conclusions like aliens when a more plausible solution is most certainly present. Science shouldn’t be subject to such wild leaps of elaborate. Imagination is a great aid to science, but it really is not a science in and of itself. Unfortunately, Dr. Wainwright and his team seem to be seeing what they need to see.

  

SOURCES:

 

http://www.livescience.com/27954-microbes-mariana-trench.html

http://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2013/09/22/news/entertainment/have-we-found-alien-life/

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/alien-bugs-discovered-earths-atmosphere-152253962.html#13B0NDB

Extraterrestrial Life Discovered...Maybe