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Short-term memory is formed and lost far too quickly for it to be explained by any (known) kind of synaptic plasticity. So how does it work? British mathematicians Samuel Johnson and colleagues say they have the answer: Robust Short-Term Memory without Synaptic Learning.

great article on working on Stuff that matters - its an old article but it still rings true

The Coming Crisis In Organizing Work Bollier reports that Roundtable attendees shared a growing concern that there is an unacknowledged crisis brewing in the workforce and the way it's organized. "My sense is that there is a constant move toward globalization, outsourcing and the 'freeagent nation', said attendee Dwayne Spradlin of InnoCentive, Inc. "People are engaging the workplace in a very different way. I think over the next five years we're going to see a massive shift in demographics among young people and how they engage their organizations. In general, companies are wholly unprepared for what's about to come."

When working with remote employees, managers often don't have the luxury of relying on visual cues to tell if an employee is truly understanding instructions or feedback. The blank stare, the quizzical look, the phony nod of understanding - all of these staple non-verbal indicators of, "I don't get it" (or, "I'm not paying attention") are usually unavailable when working in a virtual environment.

The growing acceptance of Neuro plasticity lets us see the brain as a resource we can continually develop. This talk describes a programme designed to help us address limitations of our own brain and even take our skills to exceptional levels Barbara Arrowsmith-Young tells the inspiring story of how she overcame her severe learning difficulties with specific brain exercises she developed herself. We also hear the moving accounts of two Australians who've taken a leaf out of her book.  They've found the hard work has paid off.

Recent work in mice suggested that the immune system is involved in removing beta-amyloid, the main Alzheimer's-causing substance in the brain. Researchers have now shown for the first time that this may apply in humans

We now know that the oft-repeated "your brain only runs on glucose!" is wrong. I've mentioned it before, and anyone who's taken the time to get fat-adapted on a low-carb Primal eating plan intuitively knows that your brain doesn't need piles of glucose to work, because, well, they're using their brain to read this sentence

Writing in Source Code for Biology and Medicine, a trio of bioinformaticians presents a satire on working in the field that outlines how not to succeed. "By scrupulously following these guidelines one can be sure to regress at a highly satisfactory rate," the authors write. While written in sarcasm, these humorous how-tos - "make sure the output of your application is unreadable, unparseable, and does not comply to any known standards," for example - speak to the challenges of successfully navigating a career in the burgeoning field.

Using this 3D body suit, they are able to shoot 3D motion capture right out of the lab. More details about this suit - known as MVN BIOMECH from Xsens, this 3D human kinematic, camera-less measurement system will come integrated with small tracking sensors that are placed on the joints. All the sensors on the suit will comprise of a trio of components: an accelerometer, magnetometers and a gyroscope, working in tandem to deliver information on each of the joints, body segments between the joints and the 3D movements. Currently, a project is being developed to see how nurses are able to lift patients safely into a hospital bed without having to strain themselves.

Genome Institute of Singapore's (GIS) Associate Director of Genomic Technologies, Dr. Yijun RUAN, led a continuing study on the human genome spatial/structural configuration, revealing how genes interact/communicate and influence each other, even when they are located far away from each other. This discovery is crucial in understanding how human genes work together, and will re-write textbooks on how transcription regulation and coordination takes place in human cells.

Scientists and surgeons from France, Germany, United Kingdom and Switzerland have developed a "virtual liver", using EU research funding, which will help surgeons better plan and carry out tumour operations and ensure quicker patient recovery. Personally I just find it a shame that there is no open source repository where this work can be made available to the general public. There is definitely no way for the general public to get involved. 

Your memory capacity as something you can train. 

Physicist Geoffrey West has found that simple, mathematical laws govern the properties of cities -- that wealth, crime rate, walking speed and many other aspects of a city can be deduced from a single number: the city's population. In this mind-bending talk from TEDGlobal he shows how it works and how similar laws hold for organisms and corporations. Physicist Geoffrey West believes that complex systems from organisms to cities are in many ways governed by simple laws -- laws that can be discovered and analyzed

Where do great ideas come from? Many of us imagine creativity comes from an environment of boundless possibility - no rules or restrictions. We also have a stereotype of "creatives" - they work in studios rather than office buildings, wear jeans instead of suits and are filled with endless creative solutions. But why should creativity be the province of a totally open environment or a certain type of person? We falsely think that if our world or profession is constrained, we cannot enjoy wild creativity. That isn't the case. Here are some examples and ways that you can make creative constraint work for you and your business.

This very cool... much like Google Wave... so now we can all work on a Google doc with real time commentary..only works for new documents ... check out the video on the link

Our technology transforms the way you work, create, and collaborate. The era of one human, one mouse, one screen, one machine is giving way to what's next: multiple participants, working in proximity and remotely, using a groundbreaking spatial interface to control applications and data spread across every display. This is what Oblong builds. It's why we're here.

I wonder if we could use this or similar work in parsing the info once we go live with the crowd sourcing.

Great intro to doing work quickly and well About 46' in simulated evolution becomes an example. It's fascinating to hear what computer models of evolution have shown about evolving the ability to fly. 6 separate organ systems needed to mature before flight become possible. 

The health battles of millions, recorded digitally, open a world of virtual research. The antidepressant Paxil was approved for sale in 1992, the cholesterol-lowering drug Pravachol in 1996. Company studies proved that each drug, on its own, works and is safe. But what about when they are taken together? By mining tens of thousands of electronic patient records, researchers at Stanford University quickly discovered an unexpected answer: people who take both drugs have higher blood glucose levels. The effect was even greater in diabetics, for whom excess blood sugar is a health danger.