Mind Engineering

Leading neuroscience researchers are racing to unlock the secrets of the mind. On the cusp of decoding brain signals that govern motor skills, they are developing miraculous technologies to enable paraplegics and wounded soldiers to move prosthetic limbs, and the rest of us to manipulate computers and other objects through thought alone. These fiercely competitive scientists are vying for Defense Department and venture capital funding, prestige, and great wealth.

What do computers, cells, and brains have in common? Computers are electronic devices designed by humans; cells are biological entities crafted by evolution; brains are the containers and creators of our minds. But all are, in one way or another, information-processing devices. The power of the human brain is, so far, unequaled by any existing machine or known living being. Our brains have even allowed us to develop computers that are almost as powerful as the human brain itself. Arlindo Oliveira describes how advances in science and technology could enable us to create digital minds.

Embark on a transformative journey that will unveil the extraordinary potential of your subconscious mind, empowering you to reverse the aging process, restore youthful vitality, and rejuvenate every cell in your body. Here we will explore the profound connection between your thoughts, beliefs, and the physical reality you experience. Humanity has long sought the elusive elixir of youth, and while such a literal fountain of youth may not exist, recent scientific advancements reveal that we possess an inner wellspring of rejuvenation—the power of our own subconscious minds.

The field of mind-body medicine is plagued by wild claims that mislead patients and instil false hope. But as scientists in a range of fields uncover solid evidence that our minds influence our bodies quite profoundly, there is now great promise, too. Jo Marchant attempts to use scientific research to find out if alternative medicines work; if our thoughts, beliefs and emotions influence our physical health; and if we can train our brains to heal our bodies.

When test subjects participating in secret experiments begin to mysteriously die, Cyrus Cooper, the youngest recruit of the "Coalition" - a secret law enforcement organization - is assigned to prevent the program’s lead researcher from being the next victim. Cyrus goes undercover, taking a position as a personal assistant in order to enter the life of the brash, elderly scientist. When multiple attempts are made on her life, however, not only must Cyrus protect the headstrong lady, but he must also uncover the perpetrator of the attacks before it’s too late.

On the scorching February day in 2009 that became known as Black Saturday, a man lit two fires in Victoria's Latrobe Valley, then sat on the roof of his house to watch the inferno. In the Valley, where the rates of crime were the highest in the state, more than thirty people were known to the police as firebugs. But the detectives soon found themselves on the trail of a man they didn't know.

Imagine controlling a machine with your mind. Imagine a communication line direct from your mind to someone else's. Imagine controlling a prosthetic limb with a thought or "seeing" through a camera located miles away. Once the stuff of science fiction, such remarkable feats are now within the grasp of neuroscience. Malcolm Gay tells the fascinating stories of the researchers delving into the intricate workings of the brain to map the neural signals that make up our thoughts.

Science fiction often takes its inspiration from the latest science . . . and our oldest questions. After all, the two are inextricably linked. At a time when advances in artificial intelligence are genuinely leading us closer to a computer that thinks like a human, we can’t help but wonder: What makes a person a person? Countless writers and filmmakers have created futuristic scenarios to explore this issue and others like it. But these scenarios may not be so futuristic after all.

The climate crisis is wreaking havoc across the globe, raising sea levels, disrupting ancient weather patterns and decimating biodiversity worldwide. But new research shows that the warming climate is not just affecting the planet's physical systems - it is affecting us all individually too. In The Weight of Nature, the neuroscientist and journalist Clayton Page Aldern examines, for the first time, the seismic consequences of climate change on the human mind, brain and body.

In PULL, Brennan Spiegel, M.D. presents a groundbreaking exploration of how gravity influences conditions of body and mind that have puzzled medical professionals for centuries. Starting with a simple observation at a family dinner and culminating in a new approach to gravity-based health and wellness, PULL is a captivating journey through the human body’s inner struggle to keep us upright and healthy.

MISSION MOON! On August 23, exactly at 12:33 P.M. UTC, India's Chandrayaan-3 mission's robotic lander, named Vikram, touched down on the surface of the moon. It was a moment of jubiliation and celebration across India and around the world. For the first time, humans had landed a spacecraft on the Moon's unexplored South Pole. Behind the success of this mission were the decades of hard work put in by the scientists and engineers of ISRO - the Indian Space Research Organization, in cooperation with other space agencies around the globe. From launching the orbiter, lander, and rover into space...

1888: A young prostitute opens a gift from a painter and discovers van Gogh’s bloody ear. 2042: The inventor of gene-tweaking buys a desiccated ear which he believes holds the key to bottling human genius. Vinny lives on an isolated island and paints. Scientists watch him, waiting to see if his artistic genius or his latent schizophrenia will manifest first. He’s been cloned to be an artist; he’s surrounded only by things that stimulate his art. Until he discovers rock and roll… The island is full of secrets. Vinny is hiding a guitar cut out of paper. His surrogate parents are ...

Introduction What is Emotional Intelligence (EI)? Emotional Intelligence (EI) is the ability to recognize, understand, and manage our own emotions while also recognizing, understanding, and influencing the emotions of others. The concept, popularized by Daniel Goleman in the 1990s, encompasses skills that are critical for effective communication, relationship-building, and personal well-being. What is Learning? Learning is the process of acquiring knowledge, skills, attitudes, or values through study, experience, or teaching. It is a lifelong process that is essential for personal and ...

People behave in strange ways. We sometimes giggle when someone falls down, swear we've been to places we haven't, or continue believing in something despite scientific evidence to the contrary. For more than a decade, Scientific American MIND's long-running feature "Ask the Brains" has addressed questions from their readers on the quirks and quandaries of human behavior, psychology, and neurology. Here, in Ask the Brains, Part 1, they’ve compiled some of the best and most interesting inquiries about the human brain.

As China comes into its own as a world economic power, a new, huge consumer class is emerging, hungry for all things Western. In this land where 25 years ago most of the population had never tasted chocolate, five icons of Western business are now slugging it out in a battle royal to see which will become the Emperor of Chocolate in China.

Peron is a freak among his people… Peron is a gleran. A sentient, insect creature part of a hive of countless fellows. But he isn’t meant to be sentient. Something has gone wrong, and has left Peron as the only gleran in his hive, maybe even the world, with free will. As Peron realises how different he is, he starts to realise his loneliness. But why should he be alone among millions? He shouldn’t, and he won’t let himself be the only sentient gleran. But the hive mind is strong. Perhaps too strong even for him. Find out how one of the Warpmancer Universe’s most interesting ...

Among all life on Earth, we alone experience rich moral emotions, follow complex rules governing how we treat one another, and engage in moral dialogue. But how did human morality evolve? And can humans become morally evolved? In A Better Ape, Victor Kumar and Richmond Campbell draw on the latest research in the biological and social sciences to explain the key role that morality has played in human evolution.

Four writers. Four dictators. One world, changed out of all recognition. ENGINEERS OF HUMAN SOULS is an intimate and shocking shadow history of creative vanity in a time that turned writers - once the faithful servants of authority - into figures of political consequence. Maurice Barrès, who first wielded the politics of identity. Gabriele D'Annunzio, whose poetry became a blueprint for fascism. Maxim Gorky, dramatist of the working class and Stalin's cheerleader. The Maoist Ding Ling, whose stories exculpated the regime that kept her imprisoned.

Over his long career as witness to an extreme 20th century, National Book Award-winning psychiatrist, historian, and public intellectual Robert Jay Lifton has grappled with the profound effects of nuclear war, terrorism, and genocide. Now he shifts to climate change, which, Lifton writes, "presents us with what may be the most demanding and unique psychological task ever required of humankind" - what he describes as the task of mobilizing our imaginative resources toward climate sanity.

Own the room with this hilarious collection of fact-tastic myth-busters and jaw-dropping trivia exploring science, history, sport and lesser-known facts from across the universe. Did you know that the Moon has a Bishop? That ostriches DON'T bury their heads in the sand? And that powdered rice was used as cement in the Great Wall of China? What do souls weigh? What can't 60% of the human population smell? And what on earth is rhinotillexomania? And the big one . . . are farts actually invisible? The answers to these questions are all here.