Consciousness Search tips There are three kinds of search you can perform: All fields This mode searches for entries containing all the entered words in their title, author, date, comment field, or in any of many other fields showing on OPC pages. Surname This mode searches for entries containing the text string you entered in their author field. Advanced This mode differs from the all fields mode in two respects. Note that short and / or common words are ignored by the search engine. Saudi court sentences poet to death for renouncing Islam A Palestinian poet and leading member of Saudi Arabia’s nascent contemporary art scene has been sentenced to death for renouncing Islam. A Saudi court on Tuesday ordered the execution of Ashraf Fayadh, who has curated art shows in Jeddah and at the Venice Biennale. The poet, who said he did not have legal representation, was given 30 days to appeal against the ruling. Fayadh, 35, a key member of the British-Saudi art organisation Edge of Arabia, was originally sentenced to four years in prison and 800 lashes by the general court in Abha, a city in the south-west of the ultraconservative kingdom, in May 2014. But after his appeal was dismissed he was retried last month and a new panel of judges ruled that his repentance did not prevent his execution. “I was really shocked but it was expected, though I didn’t do anything that deserves death,” Fayadh told the Guardian. “He was unable to assign a lawyer because his ID was confiscated when he was arrested [in January 2014].
Trump's conflicts of interest: a visual guide | US news Trump's conflicts of interest: a visual guide By Nadja Popovich and Jan Diehm “I will be leaving my great business in total in order to fully focus on running the country in order to MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” Donald Trump tweeted on Wednesday. The early morning announcement, which provided no further details but promised a press conference on 15 December, followed weeks of bad press over conflicts of interest posed by the Trump Organization’s international real estate dealings. “While I am not mandated to do this under the law,” Trump wrote, “I feel it is visually important, as president, to in no way have a conflict of interest with my various businesses.” So far, the visuals haven’t been good for the president-elect. Closer to home, the business interests of the Trump Organization will cross paths with the US government on multiple fronts, providing ample opportunity for further conflicts. General Services Administration v Trump International Hotel, DC What the President-elect could do
German supermarket Edeka release heartbreaking Christmas advert A Christmas advert released by German supermarket Edeka is melting hearts worldwide. Similar to John Lewis’ emotive “Man On The Moon” advert; it focuses on an elderly man alone at Christmas. But, some viewers believe it has trumped the British advert as the most powerful yet. The advert shows an elderly man spending several Christmases alone; with his children providing a different excuse each year: "I just wanted to call and let you know that we can’t make it for Christmas this year… we’ll try again next year. Time passes and tragically the children receive news of their father passing away. The children return to the family home to attend his funeral and pay respects; but as they enter the dining room, their father appears and says: "How else could I have brought you all together?" Tears quickly turn to smiles as the family indulge in a Christmas dinner that has been long overdue.
Iranian artist Farghadani faces indecency charges after shaking man's hand Artist Atena Farghadani, 29, serving 12 year sentence for satirical cartoonsDrew politicians who restricted women's access to birth control as animalsShe and lawyer Mohammad Moghimi charged after shaking hands in prison By Jenny Stanton For Mailonline Published: 13:35 GMT, 8 July 2015 | Updated: 13:44 GMT, 8 July 2015 An Iranian woman sentenced to more than 12 years in prison for drawing satirical cartoons of politicians is now facing new charges - for shaking a man's hand. Artist Atena Jailed: Atena Farghadani, 29, is serving 12 years in prison after drawing satirical cartoons of Iranian politicians athering and colluding against national security, spreading propaganda against the system and insulting the president and the supreme leader. Satirical: The artist depicted government officials, who restriicted women's access to birth control, as animals She also posted an open letter to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei on her Facebook page upon being returned to her cell.
There's Big Money to Be Made in Asteroid Mining See the full version of the infographic. If humans were ever able to get their hands on just one asteroid, it would be a game-changer. That’s because the value of many asteroids are measured in the quintillions of dollars, which makes the market for Earth’s annual production of raw metals – about $660 billion per year – look paltry in comparison. The reality is that the Earth’s crust is saddled with uneconomic materials, while certain types of asteroids are almost pure metal. X-type asteroids, for example, are thought to be the remnants of large asteroids that were pulverized in collisions in which their dense, metallic cores got separated from the mantle. There is one such X-type asteroid near earth that is believed to hold more platinum than ever mined in human history. Near-Earth Mining Targets Both companies are looking specifically at near-Earth asteroids in the near-term, which are the easiest ones to get to. Where the Money is Made
Elon Musk Wants to Make Sure AI is Developed for the Benefit of Humanity (Not Its Destruction) by Natalie Shoemaker Elon Musk wants to protect humanity from the robot apocalypse. Artificial intelligence has been growing at a rapid pace thanks in part to deep learning, but the world's brightest minds worry. Facebook and Google have announced big plans to advance AI in their respective research divisions. The organization believes it's “important to have a leading research institution which can prioritize a good outcome for all over its own self-interest.” Below, futurist and entrepreneur Michael Vassar runs through a worst-case scenario: In the past, Musk has signed an open letter calling for the prevention of an autonomous robotic army, warning of the disastrous consequences for humanity and future advancements. “It's hard to fathom how much human-level AI could benefit society, and it's equally hard to imagine how much it could damage society if built or used incorrectly,” says the OpenAI blog entry. Natalie has been writing professionally for about 6 years.
Iranian artist imprisoned for cartoon of local politicians Atena Farghadani is a 28-year-old Iranian artist. She was recently sentenced to 12 years and 9 months in prison for drawing a cartoon. This cartoon, that she posted on her Facebook page last year, depicts members of the Iranian parliament as animals. It was drawn in protest of new legislature in Iran that will restrict access to contraception and criminalise voluntary sterilisation. Last August, 12 members of the elite Revolutionary Guard came to Atena’s house, blindfolded her and took her to the infamous Evin Prison in Tehran. “While in prison last year, Atena flattened paper cups to use them as a surface to paint on. She was released in November and gave media interviews and posted a video on YouTube detailing her beatings, constant interrogations and humiliating body searches.
Here's a Helpful Infographic on the Many Risks of Helicopter Parenting Below you'll find a nifty infographic produced by the folks at Yellowbrick detailing the consequences of everyone's favorite irritating childrearing trend: helicopter parenting. We've written a lot about this topic here at Big Think; our archives are a veritable smorgasbord of pieces detailing its effects and consequences. Our focus isn't merely because we like to helicopter the helicopter parents, but because shifts in how we raise our kids have resulted in a generation of young adults who lack critical thinking, self-reliance, and coping skills. And that sucks not just for said young adults, but also for everyone else who has to deal with their problems. The image below will shed some light on all these elements, as well as offer a more basic crash course for those still unfamiliar with this troubling trend: For additional information on and analysis of the items above, check out the Yellowbrick blog.
100 Diagrams That Changed the World – Brain Pickings Since the dawn of recorded history, we’ve been using visual depictions to map the Earth, order the heavens, make sense of time, dissect the human body, organize the natural world, perform music, and even concretize abstract concepts like consciousness and love. 100 Diagrams That Changed the World (public library) by investigative journalist and documentarian Scott Christianson chronicles the history of our evolving understanding of the world through humanity’s most groundbreaking sketches, illustrations, and drawings, ranging from cave paintings to The Rosetta Stone to Moses Harris’s color wheel to Tim Berners-Lee’s flowchart for a “mesh” information management system, the original blueprint for the world wide web. It appears that no great diagram is solely authored by its creator. Most of those described here were the culmination of centuries of accumulated knowledge. Christianson offers a definition: Thanks, Kirstin
Shaking hands with your lawyer is not a crime, rules an Iranian judge By now, many of us have at least seen the trailer for The Revenant, with Leonardo DiCaprio cast as Hugh Glass, a fur trapper and hunter who embarks on a mission for vengeance after being left for dead by his cohorts in the wake of a bear attack. As it turns out, Hugh Glass was a real guy who had a pivotal role in the westward expansion of the fur trade, and by extension, America. And he was even more of a badass than we see in the movie—though not for the reasons you might expect. The lucrative fur trade was a driving force behind American exploration, as Eric Jay Dolin explains in his chronicle, Fur, Fortune, and Empire: The Epic History of the Fur Trade in America. Mountain men Lewis and Clark did not find such a route. Dolin estimates only a few thousand men pursued this risky path. Among the toughest of the mountain men were the free trappers. Eventually, Glass became a representative of free traders. “This was all the coaxing McKenzie needed,” Dolin wrote. A grizzly ordeal
About Bones You probably don’t give much thought to your skeleton, even though it’s holding you together. Do you have as many bones now as you did when you were born? What’s the shortest bone in your body? When it comes to bone health, Dr. By age 30, we’re already starting to lose bone density if we don’t exercise. Love This? Thanks for subscribing! “Most people don’t realize it when they’re deficient in vitamin D,” Stearns said in an interview with Care2. Check out The Cleveland Clinic infographic below to learn more about the bones that make up your skeleton. According to the National Osteoporosis Foundation, women 50 and younger and men 70 and younger need about 1,000mg of calcium a day. If you’re under age 50, you need 400 to 800 IU of vitamin D a day. Guidelines differ for children, pregnant women and women who are breastfeeding. If you don’t get enough calcium and vitamin D from your diet, talk to your doctor about dietary supplements. Main post photo: Thinkstock | Infographic: Cleveland Clinic
Edward Snowden Divulges the 5 Easiest Ways to Protect Yourself Online by Natalie Shoemaker In a recent interview with The Intercept, Edward Snowden offered some advice for what average citizens can do to reclaim their privacy. Because the sharing of information should be a conversation, not an enigma buried in a site's 'Terms of Service.' 1. This includes Signal, an easy-to-use app that encrypts your mobile phone messages, as long as the person you're calling or texting also has the app installed. 2. 3. 4. 5. By using these programs, people have already changed the conversation about security and privacy. The trick is getting more people to adopt these programs (think of it like herd immunity). “I think reform comes with many faces,” Snowden told the site. The sharing of information should be a conversation — not an enigma buried somewhere in the Terms of Service of a site. Natalie has been writing professionally for about 6 years. Photo Credit: ADAM BERRY / Stringer/ Getty