Science

  • A Breath of Fresh Air

    Do gadgets that help you focus on conscious breathing work?  I found three that worked for me: Resperate, Helicor's StressEraser, and Heart Math's emWave.

    My biggest complaint is that once I learned the relaxation techniques each of these devices teach,  I didn't need the device to get the results.  That also is a positive, isn't it?

    I think, feel, and communicate better when I'm calm.  Learning to access that state at will is an important skill … in business and personal life. 

    So, with that in mind, here are my impressions and experience with each.

    090403 Resperate
    Resperate
    .

    The Resperate unit is a little bigger than a portable CD-ROM player, with a built-in elastic strap that goes around your ribcage to monitor your breathing.  The concept behind this tool is very simple.  It relaxes you by helping you slow your breathing down. 

    Resperate starts by pacing your in-and-out breaths with higher and lower pitched sound cues.  Over time it moves these tones farther apart, leading you to breathe slower and more deeply.

    How did it work?  It helped me move easily from 6 to 10 breaths-per-minute, down to two or three breaths-per-minute.  This promotes much deeper breathing and relaxes the body and mind.  I find that I enjoy using this tool for about 10-minutes at a time; and I definitely feel relaxed after using it.  

    While Resperate provided the most relaxation, it is the one I use least.  Perhaps because it is a little bigger and requires the belt.  Not big hurdles; but apparently big enough.

    090403 StressEraser
    Helicor's StressEraser

    The StressEraser is a portable biofeedback device, smaller than a deck of cards.  On the top, there is a hinged slot to put your finger.  The finger reader measures your pulse and galvanic skin response. There is also an LED screen on this device that helps you pace your breathing, and shows your level of stress or relaxation.

    Without focusing, the line is erratic and jagged.

    However, with only a little bit of training, it's easy to create a very smooth sign wave that indicates a steady breathing and a healthy heart rate pattern.

    With this tool, I get the best (most relaxing) results with an
    in-breath of about five seconds and an out-breath of about the same length. I like doing this for five minutes or so; it is a nice break in the middle of the day, before an important phone call, or a decision-making session. 

    I
    find that it
    helps me focus. Of the three tools, this is the one I find myself using most often.  This might be because I like the graph and how it gives me instantaneous feedback about my breathing and focus.

    090403 emWave
    HeartMath's emWave
    .

    This is the smallest of the tools.  The emWave relies on either a thumb sensor or, my preference, a clip that attaches to your earlobe. The technique is very similar to what you learn with the StressEraser. It involves steady breathing and a focus on reducing heart beat variability.  It has four levels of challenge.

    It sounds strange, and I don't claim to understand the science behind it, however focusing your attention on your heart while doing the breathing exercise seems to make a difference.  Somehow, when you focus your attention on your heart, that is when the machine changes color to indicate that there is "coherence". And, in my experience, this is the most relaxing part of the exercise. More coherence equals less stress.

    I tend to use this tool less than five minutes at a time to feel calm and refreshed.  It was also the easiest for me to have success with (in this case, to get the "green light" to come on).  So, the emWave is the smallest, easiest and quickest of the three … and it works.  I'm going to use this more often.

    So why did I use one that is more challenging?  Habit, or perhaps that defines part of the reason I need to relax?

  • Shift Happens

    Here is the newest version of a great presentation.  Click to watch.  It includes new and updated statistics, thought-provoking questions and a fresh
    design. 

    090109 Did You Know
    Here is the direct link to the YouTube video.
    Here is a link to the presentation file.
    Here is a link to the Shift Happens Project.

    We are moving forward quickly.  What you thought you knew about the economy, technology, innovation, and the world are probably out-of-date. I can't wait to see what comes next.

  • Shift Happens

    Here is the newest version of a great presentation.  Click to watch.  It includes new and updated statistics, thought-provoking questions and a fresh
    design. 

    090109 Did You Know
    Here is the direct link to the YouTube video.
    Here is a link to the presentation file.
    Here is a link to the Shift Happens Project.

    We are moving forward quickly.  What you thought you knew about the economy, technology, innovation, and the world are probably out-of-date. I can't wait to see what comes next.

  • Can A Beautiful Mind Create a Beautiful Face?

    Beauty Function 470p
    A team of scientists recently developed software that, using a carefully tested and proven understanding of facial proportion, greatly improves the attractiveness of your face without damaging your defining features or whether people will recognize that the picture is of you.

    Ever seen a picture of yourself that was a little too good? You’re still you, just a tiny bit better than the real-life you. That’s what this software supposedly does. 

    The inventor says this technology could become a product or web service where people upload their photographs and have them enhanced or beautified by the software. 

    So, if there was an “optimize portrait” button on Facebook, would a lot of people use it? Probably.

    Here is a short video.

    Here is a direct link to the video.

    Related Articles:

  • Can A Beautiful Mind Create a Beautiful Face?

    Beauty Function 470p
    A team of scientists recently developed software that, using a carefully tested and proven understanding of facial proportion, greatly improves the attractiveness of your face without damaging your defining features or whether people will recognize that the picture is of you.

    Ever seen a picture of yourself that was a little too good? You’re still you, just a tiny bit better than the real-life you. That’s what this software supposedly does. 

    The inventor says this technology could become a product or web service where people upload their photographs and have them enhanced or beautified by the software. 

    So, if there was an “optimize portrait” button on Facebook, would a lot of people use it? Probably.

    Here is a short video.

    Here is a direct link to the video.

    Related Articles:

  • A Brief Look at Ideas Worth Spreading

    I enjoy the TED website, whose tag-line is "ideas worth spreading." They host one of the "cool" conferences for thinkers and doers. Recently, they opened their content vault and offer a wide range of free videos on technology, business, science, culture, and global issues.

    This video is of a presentation by Jill Bolte Taylor. She shares a powerful story about how our brains define us and connect us to the world and to one another.

    Jill is a neuro-scientist who had an opportunity few brain scientists would wish for: One morning, she realized she was having a massive stroke. As it happened — as she felt her brain functions slip away one by one, speech, movement, understanding — she studied and remembered every moment.

    I found it interesting and inspiring, and hope you do too.

  • Market Commentary from April 18th

    Froghorse_252p_2
    This week I’m going to use an optical illusion to help make a point about the publics’ perception of what is happening in the markets.

    Instead of Bulls and Bears, perhaps the market is like a frog or a horse. 

    It simply depends on your perspective. 

    As you look at the picture on the right, you’ll see a frog sitting on the edge of a pond. 

    However, if you turn the picture (or your head), you’ll see a horse that is poking his head out of the stable.

    Things are not always as they seem on first glance.

    Markets At The Crossroads:  Decision Time:

    As it stands, the Markets have been acting
    quite well.  They continue to rally, even when there is bad news in the
    marketplace.  From a technical point of view, though, we are at a
    crossroads. 

    I prepared the following chart to show the arguments for both the bull and the bear cases.  It is a daily chart of the S&P 500.  The market’s downtrend line, since October, is marked in blue.  The red horizontal line shows that this is the fourth time we’ve hit this area since late January.

    080418_sp_crossroads_630p_2

    The question is whether we go up or down from here.

    Like a serial cliff-hanger, we’ll have to tune-in next week to see if
    anything gets resolved.

  • Market Commentary from April 18th

    Froghorse_252p_2
    This week I’m going to use an optical illusion to help make a point about the publics’ perception of what is happening in the markets.

    Instead of Bulls and Bears, perhaps the market is like a frog or a horse. 

    It simply depends on your perspective. 

    As you look at the picture on the right, you’ll see a frog sitting on the edge of a pond. 

    However, if you turn the picture (or your head), you’ll see a horse that is poking his head out of the stable.

    Things are not always as they seem on first glance.

    Markets At The Crossroads:  Decision Time:

    As it stands, the Markets have been acting
    quite well.  They continue to rally, even when there is bad news in the
    marketplace.  From a technical point of view, though, we are at a
    crossroads. 

    I prepared the following chart to show the arguments for both the bull and the bear cases.  It is a daily chart of the S&P 500.  The market’s downtrend line, since October, is marked in blue.  The red horizontal line shows that this is the fourth time we’ve hit this area since late January.

    080418_sp_crossroads_630p_2

    The question is whether we go up or down from here.

    Like a serial cliff-hanger, we’ll have to tune-in next week to see if
    anything gets resolved.