HNHacker News
TopNewBestAskShowJobs

notaboutcode

5 karma · joined August 3, 2016

submissionscomments
notaboutcode··on Researchers 'Reprogram' Network of Brain Cells with Thin Beam of Light
“I always thought the brain was mostly hard-wired,” said the study’s senior author, Dr. Rafael Yuste, a neuroscience professor at Columbia University. “But then I saw the results and said ‘Holy moly, this whole thing is plastic.’ We’re dealing with a plastic computer that’s constantly learning and changing.”

Is this quote being taken out of context or do many neuroscience researchers really think the brain is some sort of static thing? Basic life experience would seem to tell me that this isn't the case. I'm assuming they just mean they haven't been able to observe this reprogramming ability, or do they really think the brain is some sort of immutable object?

notaboutcode··on How Silicon Valley helps spread the same sterile aesthetic across the world
While the minimalist Nordic aesthetic of IKEA certainly plays a large role as others have pointed out, I find the aesthetic has more to do with what I've seen Brooklyn homogenize towards over the past 10 years. And behind many of those spaces are the Haslegrave brothers. [1]

I'm sure this design aesthetic has arisen independently in many different areas of the world and has seen a convergence due to the factors the article points out, but at least here in Brooklyn this aesthetic arose in the lofts along the waterfront and were pushed around the city by the Haslegraves.

Now the loft building that they live in has a steady stream of AirBnb tourists, unbeknownst to them that the aesthetic they see around the world in no small part has to do with two brothers living down the hall.

[1] http://thescoutmag.com/features/design/1066/the_brothers_has...