Computers Can 'See' People's Dreams

By Tia Ghose, LiveScience Staff Writer | LiveScience.com – Thu, Apr 4, 2013

A computer can predict what you're dreaming about based on brain wave activity, new research suggests.

By measuring people's brain activity during waking moments, researchers were able to pick out the signatures of specific dream imagery — such as keys or a bed — while the dreamer was asleep.

"We know almost nothing about the function of dreaming," said study co-author Masako Tamaki, a neuroscientist at Brown University. "Using this method, we might be able to know more about the function of dreaming."

The findings, which were published today (April 4) in the journal Science, could also help scientists understand what goes on in the brain when people have nightmares.

Sleepy mystery

Exactly why people dream is a mystery. Whereas the founder of psychoanalysis Sigmund Freud may have thought dreams were about wish fulfillment, others believe dreams are irrelevant byproducts of the sleep cycle. And yet another theory holds that dreams allow the mind to continue working on puzzles faced during the day. In general, most people believe their dreams have meaning.

Scientists have dreamt of being able to look inside the brain's sleepy wonderland. Past studies had suggested that people's brain activity can be decoded to reveal what they are thinking about: For instance, scientists have decoded movie clips from brain waves.

Dream reading

So why not try to read dreams?

Tamaki and her colleagues tracked brain activity using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) of three people as they were sleeping; the researchers woke up the trio every few minutes to have them describe their dreams. In total, the scientists collected about 200 visual images. [7 Mind-Bending Facts About Dreams]

The researchers then tied the dream content that participants described in their waking moments to specific patterns in brain activity (as seen in the blood flow in fMRI scans) and had a computer modellearn those signatures.

The computer model then analyzed each person's dreams. The model was able to pick out the time when each person dreamed of specific objects based on their brain activity when they were awake.

Those findings showed the same brain regions are activated when people are awake as when they are actually having the associated dream.

"We were amazed," Tamaki said.

Even though the team just tried to read dream imagery from one person's waking brain activity, they found some common patterns for broad classes of imagery, such as scenery versus people, Tamaki told LiveScience.

"There is a similarity amongst the subjects, so from that result, we could pick up some basic dream content and then we can build a model from those base contents, and they may apply to other people," Tamaki said.

No More Horsin’ Around: Psy Introduces ‘Arrogant Dance’ for New Single

By Wendy Geller | Stop The Presses!

If, like 1.5 billion other people out there, you loved all the characters in Psy's breakout smash "Gangnam Style"--here's some welcome news. Most of them are back in his new video for follow-up single "Gentleman"!

Yep, the pelvic-thrusting dude in the elevator, the hipster in the yellow suit, and the hordes of "sexy ladies" in skimpy workout gear are all back for the new clip. No need to look closely--they're all holding starring roles yet again. Alas, the little boy with the amazing moves on the playground isn't present, nor is the stable of horses, but Psy adds a few new fun faces that should make up for the omissions.

Also notable is the new dance that accompanies the song. Just as the "horse dance" became an instant craze (even Madonna deigned to perform it), the "arrogant dance" is sure to catch on quickly as well. Although this particular set of moves doesn't seem to be quite as aerobic as the horse dance, it does require a hip-shaking swagger, plus a big dose of attitude.



The choreography for "Gentleman" was originally introduced to Korean culture via K-pop girl group Brown Eyed Girls, who shook their hips similarly in their 2009 hit "Abracadabra." Here's the original if you'd like to compare:

Brown Eyed Girls member--and K-pop superstar in her own right--Ga-In also appears in "Gentleman" to help Psy along with his dance steps.

It remains to be seen if "Gentleman" will prove to be the massive viral sensation that "Gangnam Style" was. The clip was posted to Psy's YouTube channel Saturday morning and--as expected--is rapidly starting to rack up views, comments, and thumbs up/down notifications. What do you think?

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Soviet Mars spacecraft possibly spotted in photos

• Associated Press/NASA - This image released by NASA shows a set of pictures taken by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter showing what may be parts of a Soviet spacecraft that landed on Mars in 1971. Scientists …more 

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Space fans from Russia scanning NASA images have spotted what may be aSoviet spacecraft that landed on Mars in 1971 and then mysteriously stopped working.

Photos taken by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter circling the red planet pointed to what may be the Mars 3 lander along with its parachute, heat shield and other hardware that it jettisoned during the descent through the thin Martian atmosphere.

While scientists said the find appeared promising, more follow-up was needed to rule out other possibilities.

Mars 3 operated for only 15 seconds on the Martian surface before it suddenly stopped communicating. It was part of a double mission the Soviet Union launched in 1971. Its twin, Mars 2, crashed.

The Russian space enthusiasts were part of an online group that followed the Curiosity rover, NASA's latest Mars mission. They used crowdsourcing to pore through publicly available archive images and contacted scientists about their find.

Earlier this year, at the group's request, the reconnaissance orbiter passed over the region where Mars 3 was thought to have landed and photographed the site.

While the pictures showed features that appeared consistent with a spacecraft landing, scientists said they could just be rocks or other natural geological formations.

There are future plans to take more pictures and talk to Russian engineers about the mission to get a better idea of the landing process.

There's always the chance that "we may not get a definitive answer," said Alfred McEwen of the University of Arizona, Tucson, who is in charge of the camera aboard the reconnaissance orbiter.

During Curiosity's landing last year, the reconnaissance orbiter was able to locate its parachute, rocket stage and cables that were cast away as the car-size vehicle touched down inside an ancient crater. In that case, engineers knew where Curiosity would land, allowing scientists to direct thespacecraft to be in the right place to capture the landing.

Mysterious Stone Structure Discovered Beneath Sea of Galilee

By Owen Jarus, LiveScience Contributor | LiveScience.com

A giant "monumental" stone structure discovered beneath the waters of the Sea of Galilee in Israel has archaeologists puzzled as to its purpose and even how long ago it was built.

The mysterious structure is cone shaped, made of "unhewn basalt cobbles and boulders," and weighs an estimated 60,000 tons the researchers said. That makes it heavier than most modern-day warships.

Rising nearly 32 feet (10 meters) high, it has a diameter of about 230 feet (70 meters). To put that in perspective, the outer stone circle of Stonehenge has a diameter just half that with its tallest stones not reaching that height.

It appears to be a giant cairn, rocks piled on top of each other. Structures like this are known from elsewhere in the world and are sometimes used to mark burials. Researchers do not know if the newly discovered structure was used for this purpose.

The structure was first detected in the summer of 2003 during a sonar survey of the southwest portion of the sea. Divers have since been down to investigate, they write in the latest issue of theInternational Journal of Nautical Archaeology. 

"Close inspection by scuba diving revealed that the structure is made of basalt boulders up to 1 m (3.2 feet) long with no apparent construction pattern," the researchers write in their journal article. "The boulders have natural faces with no signs of cutting or chiselling. Similarly, we did not find any sign of arrangement or walls that delineate this structure." [See Photos of the Mysterious Sea of Galilee Structure]

They say it is definitely human-made and probably was built on land, only later to be covered by the Sea of Galilee as the water level rose. "The shape and composition of the submerged structure does not resemble any natural feature. We therefore conclude that it is man-made and might be termed a cairn," the researchers write.

More than 4,000 years old?

Underwater archaeological excavation is needed so scientists can find associated artifacts and determine the structure's date and purpose, the researchers said.

Researcher Yitzhak Paz, of the Israel Antiquities Authority and Ben-Gurion University, believes it could date back more than 4,000 years. "The more logical possibility is that it belongs to the third millennium B.C., because there are other megalithic phenomena [from that time] that are found close by," Paz told LiveScience in an interview, noting that those sites are associated with fortified settlements. 

The researchers list several examples of megalithic structures found close to the Sea of Galilee that are more than 4,000 years-old. One example is the monumental site of Khirbet Beteiha, located some 19 miles (30 kilometers) north-east of the submerged stone structure, the researchers write. It "comprises three concentric stone circles, the largest of which is 56 m [184 feet] in diameter." [Gallery: Aerial Photos Reveal Mysterious Stone Structures]

An ancient city

If the third-millennium B.C. date idea proves correct it would put the structure about a mile to the north of a city that researchers call "Bet Yerah" or "Khirbet Kerak."

During the third millennium B.C. the city was one of the biggest sites in the region, Paz said. "It's the most powerful and fortified town in this region and, as a matter of fact, in the whole of Israel."

Archaeologist Raphael Greenberg describes it in a chapter of the book "Daily Life, Materiality, and Complexity in Early Urban Communities of the Southern Levant" (Eisenbrauns, 2011) as being a heavily fortified 74-acre (30 hectares) site with up to 5,000 inhabitants.

With paved streets and towering defenses its people were clearly well organized. "They also indicate the existence of some kind of municipal authority able to maintain public structures ..." Greenberg writes.

The research team says that, like the leaders of Bet Yerah, whoever built the newly discovered Sea of Galilee structure needed sophisticated organization and planning skills to construct it. The "effort invested in such an enterprise is indicative of a complex, well-organized society, with planning skills and economic ability," they write in their journal paper.

Paz added that "in order to build such a structure a lot of working hours were required" in an organized community effort.

Future exploration

Paz said that he hopes soon that an underwater archaeological expedition will set out to excavate the structure. They can search for artifacts and try to determine its date with certainty.

He said that the Israel Antiquities Authority has a research branch capable of excavating it. "We will try to do it in the near future, I hope, but it depends on a lot of factors."

"I Went Undercover on America's Cheating Website"

We wish we could ignore ashleymadison.com, the online playing field for married people looking to cheat. But over 8 million men and women have signed up, heeding its slogan, "Life is short. Have an affair." Eight. Million. REDBOOK couldn't ignore that number, so we sent writer Lisa Taddeo online to meet up with straying husbands and get them to answer: Why?

Related: Women cheat online, too. Our male reporter met up with one of them.

By Lisa Taddeo

By definition, Ashley Madison, a dating site for cheaters, is a disreputable place. Seedy, sad. Your first impulse may be to throw your arms up in rage and condemn its members, the ones trawling for an affair or the chance to talk dirty in an instant message. But don't you also have questions? I set out to ask married men on the site not only why they cheat, but why they do it so boldly, admitting their recklessness and confessing their betrayals on the Internet as though their morality and fidelity were items up for auction on eBay.

To get started, I create a profile with a fake name and a dark picture of myself and chart a plan. I'll respond only to men who approach me. Then I'll meet a few of them for a drink, but there will be no drunkenness. For my own safety, I won't reveal what I'm really doing. And if they try anything, I'm gone.

In my profile, I say that I'm married, because in addition to avoiding escorts, many of the men on the site don't want the complications of seeing a single woman. They want an even trade. Your fidelity for mine. The rest of what I say is mostly true, and to weed out the more aggressive guys, my tone comes off as exploratory, not sexual. I write about being curious. I say I miss autonomy. I say I'm scared to live the rest of my life with unexplored desire.

Overnight I receive 164 messages.

Several of them contain below-the-waist images. One of the men has a tagline on his profile that reads, "At your cervix, madam." Within moments of signing in, instant messages flush my screen, emails and winks from muscular men and men much older than me and young ones and proud fathers and one gray grandfather, worming out like monsters from the baseboards. Do you want to chat? Hey beautiful. Hey sexy. Alone in my house, and naked for you. And then, a familiar face. A man I know. He wants to meet; he doesn't know I ran into him just last week. Maybe I shouldn't be surprised: 68 percent of the site's members are men, and their average age is 44 — right in his demographic. But my jaw hits the ground anyway when I realize whom I'm looking at. He's married with children. A family man. Or so I thought. 

The more careful among them don't post pictures directly to the site, but they send a key that grants me access to a "private showcase" of images. Some wax their chests and others are darkly forested. One man takes a picture in front of his 1987 Camaro, parked outside of a diner. One man has his arm across the shoulders of a young Jon Bon Jovi. But most have taken their pictures recently and surreptitiously. In their bathrooms with their iPhones held up to the mirror, their faces partially obscured, their wives' J'adore behind them, on top of the toilet.

There are the ones who just want to meet to have sex; you can tell because their handles are direct and uncomplicated: Yours4Lust and DeepPassionMan. They list measurements and ask for yours, as though it's merely a matter of fitting one puzzle piece into another. I ignore these. Instead, I respond to the thoughtful ones, whose tales might help answer my questions. 


Read more: Married Men Cheating on Ashley Madison - Why Married Men Have Affairs - Redbook 

Women Cheat, Too: The Other Side of Ashley Madison

It's not easy to meet a married woman on Ashley Madison. I learn this after dropping $20 to sign up (unlike female members, guys have to pay) and then another $150 on "credits" that I use to send messages to women on the site.

I am honest enough: single guy, (mostly) normal, (mostly) open.

I get zero responses. Turns out, the bulk of women on the site are looking only for cybersex, wanting to fill an emotional void. 

Then the message finally comes: L., 42, an attractive mother of two. She's slightly older than many of the women on Ashley Madison — the average age of female members is 35 — and is atypical in the fact that she prefers single men. (She tried dating some of the married men but found them too paranoid. She also likes that unattached guys have apartments to go to instead of hotel rooms.) 

She tells me she has "no clue" what she's looking for, just that it's not a committed relationship and it's not a one-night stand. But she doesn't want there to be any confusion about the future. 

"Nobody was ever going to be better with my kids than my husband," she tells me over coffee after work. It's her idea to meet at Starbucks. She doesn't like bars, she explains. After more than a year of cheating on her husband with several partners, she wants to judge me with a clear head. 

"I could trade him in for another guy," she goes on about her husband, "but that guy wouldn't be the father of my children."

Despite this, L. has no interest in sleeping with her husband anymore. He lied to her about money until it destroyed their relationship, and she gets visibly pained talking about it. But she isn't ready to clamp on a chastity belt. Enter Ashley Madison.

"I'm not looking to marry you," she says. "So I don't care if you're messy or watch sports all day. I'm not your wife." 

With those words, I get a glimpse of what L.'s looking for: She wants a break. Not just from her husband but from the person she becomes when she's with him. She wants to get back at him without hurting her kids. She wants to flirt and feel sexy.

I find myself feeling sorry for her. I suspect she wishes that her husband wasn't a jerk. I suspect she doesn't like trolling a site for guys who live in bachelor pads with bare walls.

When she tries to kiss me, I turn my cheek, give her a hug, and say bye.

A few days later I get an email from L. saying she would like to meet again. I tell her it was nice meeting her but that Ashley Madison just isn't for me. 

And I never hear from her again.

Read more: Married Women Cheating on Ashley Madison - Why Married Women Have Affairs - Redbook