10 Unsolved Mysteries

The 10 Unsolved Mysteries
1. How Did Life Begin?
2. How Do Molecules Form?
3. How Does the Environment Influence Our Genes?
4. How Does the Brain Think and Form Memories?
5. How Many Elements Exist?
6. Can Computers Be Made Out of Carbon?
7. How Do We Tap More Solar Energy?
8 What Is the Best Way to Make Biofuels?
9. Can We Devise New Ways to Create Drugs?
10. Can We Continuously Monitor Our Own Chemistry?
For more information: http://www.nature.com/scientificamerican/journal/v305/n4/full/scientificamerican1011-48.html

PhD survival guide

PhD is not just a project to be completed and written up. It is a training period during which aspiring scientists must learn the right way to do science. The secret to surviving a PhD is proactively avoiding common problems and learning to enjoy what you are doing.

For more information: http://www.nature.com/embor/journal/v13/n3/full/embor201215a.html

Human brain project

The brain, with its billions of interconnected neurons, is without any doubt the most complex organ in the body and it will be a long time before we understand all its mysteries. The Human Brain Project proposes a completely new approach. The project is integrating everything we know about the brain into computer models and using these models to simulate the actual working of the brain. Ultimately, it will attempt to simulate the complete human brain. The models built by the project will cover all the different levels of brain organisation – from individual neurons through to the complete cortex. The goal is to bring about a revolution in neuroscience and medicine and to derive new information technologies directly from the architecture of the brain.

For more information:  http://www.humanbrainproject.eu/

Free will

Scientists think they can prove that free will is an illusion. Philosophers are urging them to think again.
For more information: http://www.nature.com/news/2011/110831/full/477023a.html