Monday, October 27, 2008

The Homunculus

If the concentration of touch receptors on your skin and therefore the relative volume of the brain devoted to them determined how big the different parts of your body is, you would look something like this (it is called a homunculus):


Plato's Cave

This is an animation which shows the Allegory of the Cave from Plato's Republic. Its a bit dated now - but it does feature the voice of Orson Welles, which is never a bad thing.



The movie The Matrix is really a rip-off of Plato's allegory. Take a look at this clip which compares the two stories:

Saturday, October 25, 2008

What you need to achieve to pass your IB

  1. At least three subjects must be completed at Higher Level (HL) and three at Standard Level (SL).
  2. Should four subjects be completed at HL then only two need be completed at SL.
  3. All six subjects must have been awarded a numerical grade higher than 1, with a minimum total score of 24.
  4. The CAS requirement of 150 hours must have been completed.
  5. The Extended Essay and TOK course must have been completed and essays submitted.
    Additionally a grade D or better must have been awarded in either the Extended Essay or TOK.
  6. If the overall score is 24-27, there is no grade 2 at HL and not more than one grade 2 at SL; if the overall score is greater than or equal to 28, not more than one grade 2 at HL and no more than two grades 2 at SL; altogether, there are no more than three grades 3 or below.
  7. At least 12 points (12 for overall score 24-27; 16 if four HL subjects are taken) must have been gained on HL subjects, and 9/8 (6/5 if only two SL subjects are taken) on SL subjects.
  8. The final award committee has not judged the candidate to be guilty of malpractice.
  9. A minimum amount of hours must be achieved per year by students in order to pass. If an excessive amount of hours are missed, they may have to resit the year.

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

When Louis Theroux met Korton

In his weird weekends series for the BBC, presenter Louis Theroux meets Reverend Shaw - a man who believes he can channel the thoughts of an alien named Korton.

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Test your memory

Explore your memory with this test designed by a professor at the University of Edinburgh. This is taken from the BBC science website.

Memory test