"The Caryatids"

Attention cyberpunks: Bruce Sterling has a new novel out.

More praise for "Darklore Vol. II"

Peter Rogerson's review of the 2008 Fortean anthology can be found here.

Our Unconscious Brain Makes The Best Decisions Possible

Contrary to Kahnneman and Tversky's research, Alex Pouget, associate professor of brain and cognitive sciences at the University of Rochester, has shown that people do indeed make optimal decisions -- but only when their unconscious brain makes the choice.

"A lot of the early work in this field was on conscious decision making, but most of the decisions you make aren't based on conscious reasoning," says Pouget. "You don't consciously decide to stop at a red light or steer around an obstacle in the road. Once we started looking at the decisions our brains make without our knowledge, we found that they almost always reach the right decision, given the information they had to work with."

See also:

Blind Man Sees With Subconscious Eye

TN has what is known as blind sight, according to de Gelder. Even though the primary part of his brain that processes visual information is destroyed, he still has more primitive parts of his brain intact, and these are capable of doing some visual processing. After all, one of the most basic functions of the visual system is to help an animal avoid obstacles or predators. TN still has some visual abilities -- he's just not aware he has them.

Oh, by the way, there's this book you should read . . .

Books to read in 2009:

New acquisition:





Meanwhile . . .

Greenhouse Gases Hit Record Levels Last Year

Concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO2) and nitrous oxide (N2O) touched new highs after more steady rises in 2007, and methane had its largest annual increase in a decade, the World Meteorological Organisation said.

"The major greenhouse gases -- CO2, methane and N2O -- have all reached new highs in 2007. Two of them, CO2 and N20, are increasing steadily and there is no sign of levelling off of those two gases," WMO expert Geir Braathen told a news briefing.

Good news -- "Darklore" (vol. 2) is out. If you're looking for an esoteric stocking-stuffer, this is the one. (Choose between paperback format or limited edition hardcover.)

Recent acquisitions: