Cognitive Labs

Incredible...it's the first picture of a memory being made in a...sea slug through the efforts of UCLA researchers.



The increase in green fluorescence represents the imaging of protein synthesis at synapses when memories are made. Credit: Martin et. al

For the first time, an image of a memory being made at the cellular level has been captured by scientists.

The image shows that proteins are created at connections between brain cells when a long-term memory is formed. Neuroscientists had suspected as much, but hadn't been able to see it happening until now.

The experiment also revealed some surprising aspects of memory formation, which remains a somewhat mysterious process.

Kelsey Martin, a biochemist at the University of California, Los Angeles, and colleagues investigated memory formation in neurons from the sea slug Aplysia californica, a good model for brain cells in other organisms, including humans.

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Labels: about, memories, synapses, talking, you're

In the "where are they now?" category, we've decided to profile, from time to time, some of the most interesting stories of web 1.0, since by now, the events have faded in our minds like the memory of swinging on a tire on a long past summer day.

In this case, let's go back to 1998.

Internet portal Excite!, one of the original search powerhouses, received an unsolicited purchase offer by Fax for $1.68 billion from Zap.com, a new Internet portal in the making founded by Zapata, a company which derived 40% of its revenues from selling fish protein, but originally was in the oil business.

The entrepreneurs behind Zap.com were Malcolm and Avram Glazer, owners of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

While the purchase offer was rejected as folly, the Glazers motored on despite the ridicule from tech scribes to future successes such as buying the world's favorite football club, Manchester United in 2005.

The club has 300 million fans, 5% of the world's population, and is presently valued at 1.3 billion euros, a 10% annual return over the purchase price.

Meanwhile, Excite! didn't right itself as an independent entity, changing hands several times and ending up in the hands of Interactive Corp. Of that era, only Yahoo! survives.

Labels: 1.0, excite, glazer, memories, web1.0, web1.0memories, zap.com, zapata

Today is the anniversary of the passing of John Phillips, from the 1960's group Mamas and the Papas. If you don't know the band, you'll know the song California Dreamin' which has been re-made by different acts recently. If you were in the 1960's you'll remember it, if your weren't - you'll get a sense of what it was like.

Labels: 60s, johnphillps, mamasandpapas, memories