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Maybe You Should Rise (Michael and Lebron) "Original"

All Day Andre OWNS NFL's 'Biggest Bitch'

Thank You Scientists!

Sleep is a fundamental component of animal biology. New evidence confirms that, in humans, its timing reflects intelligence. People with higher IQs (intelligence quotients) tend to be more active nocturnally, going to bed later, whereas those with lower IQs usually retire to bed sooner after nightfall.

The precise function of sleep is arguable. But, accumulating evidence shows that lack of sleep in humans and animals can result in obesity, high blood pressure and reduced life spans. Drowsiness impairs mental performance. For instance, 37 per cent of all motor vehicle accidents are caused by drowsy motorists, according to a University of Pennsylvania study. Even minor sleep deficiencies impact on body chemistry.
According to Juliette Faraco of Stanford University, sleep loss generates a proportionate need for "sleep rebound".
One of the most controversial and significant recent findings is the correlation in humans between the earliness/lateness of sleep preferences and intelligence.
Robert Bolizs at Semmelweist University, and his coworkers, have shown that encephalograms during sleep illustrate how sleep elements are directly related to "wakeful cognitive performance." Studies by researchers H. Aliasson and colleagues show the timing of intervals of sleep "correlates closely" with student academic achievement.
Extensive research by Satoshi Kanazawa and colleagues at the London School of Economics and Political Science have uncovered significant differences in sleep-timing preferences among people, depending on their IQ scores.
People with higher IQs are more apt to be nocturnal night-owls. Those with lower IQs tend to restrict their activities primarily to daytime.
People who prefer to go to bed early, and who are early-risers, demonstrate "morningness," whereas those whose sleep patterns are shifted later demonstrate "eveningness." Researchers say eveningness tends to be a characteristic of those with higher IQs.
According to Kanazawa, ancestral humans were typically diurnal, and that a shift towards more nocturnal activities is an "evolutionarily novel preference" of the type normally found in more intelligent individuals, demonstrating "a higher level of cognitive complexity" in the practitioners.
Recent studies at the University of Bologna suggest early-risers are comparatively more conscientious people. Related studies indicate eveningness is often age-related and that eveningness usually peaks at between 17-21 years of age; thereafter morningness becomes more prevalent.
A 2008 study by psychologist Marina Giamnietro and colleagues indicates evening-types tend to be less reliable, less emotionally stable and more apt to suffer from depression, addictions and eating disorders.
Morningness or eveningness are often genetically-based, according to researchers Lambertus Klei at Carnegie Mellon Univesity, Patrick Rietz at the University of Pittsburgh and their associates. In 2008, studies at Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry demonstrated sleep-time preferences are often inherited, and subsequent data indicates that 50 per cent of sleep-time choices are dictated by genetic factors.
"Hypocretins" are inextricably linked to sleep/wakefulness, according to Stanford University research. Hypocretins react with "wake-up" cell groups, including dopamine.
Sleep parameters vary among animals. Cows, for instance, sleep open-eyed. Horses sleep standing up. Some birds can sleep in flight, others while standing. Dolphins sleep in one-half of their brain while the other half remains awake. Bats need 19.9 hours of sleep every 24 hours, lions need 13.5, rats 13, cats 12.5, whales 5.3, deer 3.1, giraffes 1.9, most birds three to eight and donkeys three.

Army Staff Sgt. Salvatore Giunta: Grade A Badass

Today, President Obama awarded Staff Sgt. Salvatore Giunta the Medal of Honor, making him the first living recipient of the award since the Vietnam War.  The tale of how he earned this distinction should pretty much guarantee that this man never has to buy another beer in his life.  From President Obama’s remarks:

Salvatore Giunta’s time came on October 25, 2007. He was a Specialist then, just 22 years old.
Sal and his platoon were several days into a mission in the Korengal Valley — the most dangerous valley in northeast Afghanistan.  The moon was full. The light it cast was enough to travel by without using their night-vision goggles.  With heavy gear on their backs, and air support overhead, they made their way single file down a rocky ridge crest, along terrain so steep that sliding was sometimes easier than walking.
They hadn’t traveled a quarter mile before the silence was shattered.  It was an ambush, so close that the cracks of the guns and the whizz of the bullets were simultaneous.  Tracer fire hammered the ridge at hundreds of rounds per minute — “more,” Sal said later, “than the stars in the sky.”
The Apache gunships above saw it all, but couldn’t engage with the enemy so close to our soldiers.  The next platoon heard the shooting, but were too far away to join the fight in time.
And the two lead men were hit by enemy fire and knocked down instantly.  When the third was struck in the helmet and fell to the ground, Sal charged headlong into the wall of bullets to pull him to safety behind what little cover there was.  As he did, Sal was hit twice — one round slamming into his body armor, the other shattering a weapon slung across his back.
They were pinned down, and two wounded Americans still lay up ahead.  So Sal and his comrades regrouped and counterattacked.  They threw grenades, using the explosions as cover to run forward, shooting at the muzzle flashes still erupting from the trees.  Then they did it again.  And again.  Throwing grenades, charging ahead.  Finally, they reached one of their men.  He’d been shot twice in the leg, but he had kept returning fire until his gun jammed.
As another soldier tended to his wounds, Sal sprinted ahead, at every step meeting relentless enemy fire with his own.  He crested a hill alone, with no cover but the dust kicked up by the storm of bullets still biting into the ground.  There, he saw a chilling sight:  the silhouettes of two insurgents carrying the other wounded American away — who happened to be one of Sal’s best friends.  Sal never broke stride.  He leapt forward.  He took aim.  He killed one of the insurgents and wounded the other, who ran off.
Sal found his friend alive, but badly wounded.  Sal had saved him from the enemy — now he had to try to save his life.  Even as bullets impacted all around him, Sal grabbed his friend by the vest and dragged him to cover.  For nearly half an hour, Sal worked to stop the bleeding and help his friend breathe until the MEDEVAC arrived to lift the wounded from the ridge.  American gunships worked to clear the enemy from the hills.  And with the battle over, First Platoon picked up their gear and resumed their march through the valley.  They continued their mission.
It had been as intense and violent a firefight as any soldier will experience.  By the time it was finished, every member of First Platoon had shrapnel or a bullet hole in their gear.  Five were wounded.  And two gave their lives:  Sal’s friend, Sergeant Joshua C. Brennan, and the platoon medic, Specialist Hugo V. Mendoza.

Influencers: How Trends & Creativity Become Contagious

INFLUENCERS FULL VERSION from R+I creative on Vimeo.

And you thought you can play the drums....

Call of Duty: Black Ops TV Commercial: "There's A Soldier In All Of Us"

I don't know how well this game will actually do in market but I absolutely love this commercial, still up in the air as to if I will buy it or not.

New University of Oregon Basketball Court

As you’re well aware, Nike and the University of Oregon go together like ham and burger, thanks in no small part to counting among its alumni both Nike founder Phil Knight as well as vice president for design and special projects Tinker Hatfield. The latter just finished up some of his highest profile work in years, completing the new Oregon Ducks basketball court. The darker brown framing center-court is comprised of a tree design, honoring both the Pacific Northwest’s green image as well as the 1939 Oregon national championship team known as the Tall Firs, while three graphics along the court pay tribute to the three phases of the life (so far) of Pat Kilkenny. Kilkenny is an Oregon donor and former athletic director who is the namesake of the new floor as well as being among the people most responsible for Oregon’s new basketball stadium, Matt Arena, named in honor of Phil Knight’s late son. While the above photo shows a decent picture of the court, there’s another below the cut (enlargeable if you click it, too), and you must check out the videos below for a little more background from Tinker, and logo designer, Todd Van Horne, as well as some much better shots of the floor. The videos are definitely worth watching, as the arena, and especially the floor, are truly an accomplishment in both architecture and design.

Playstation Move: Visualized by Mashable

 

Via Mashable

The Works: John Wall Dances, and a Fool Rushes In

Colin Cowherd is an unmentionable. I don't know the man, and might not even mean it as an insult. It's a character he plays on ESPN Radio, one he's gotten a lot of mileage of. Radio is all about knowing your audience, catering to them, indulging them, and interacting with them. Throw them a bone, and they will make you rich, famous, and something of a people's god. It's the ultimate bait-and-switch, or turning-of-the-tables -- you convince them you feel like they do, and from there, the power flows like barf.

Yesterday, Cowherd let loose with his brash, take-no-prisoners assessment of John Wall's debut in DC, or at least tried to. As you'll see, ol' CC didn't bother much with the specifics of the game -- in fact, he seems to have pretty much ignored even the day-after box score -- but instead with Wall's pre-game dance routine. Wall and dancing have a long history together; he made up a rather famous move of his own at Kentucky. For his coming-out party as a Wizard, though, the ever-humble Wall decided to go with the Dougie, throwing in the John Wall as a coda. As Joey Litman put it, this one's a few months of basketball away from becoming the new Soulja Boy.

Full Article: FanHouse

Chelsea & Adidas Extend Partnership

Premier League and FA Cup winners Chelsea have announced an extension to their global partnership with adidas, that will see the sports brand continue to be an official sponsor and sportswear supplier for the club over the next eight years up to the 2017/18.

The relationship was launched in 2006 when both parties created the world's largest team photo as 8,000 Chelsea fans lined up alongside the first team squad. Chelsea and adidas have since undertaken a number of successful grassroots projects. This has included partnering with America's top youth football clubs to help develop US soccer, and the launch of 'Blue Pitches' aimed at encouraging young kids to participate in sport across London with plans to roll them out internationally after the launch of a Blue Pitch in Hong Kong last year.

Ron Gourlay, Chelsea Football Club's Chief Executive, said: "We are delighted to extend our partnership until 2018 after a highly successful first four years. Both organisations are highly ambitious and want to continue in partnership to develop globally and for us, grow in our key market territories across Asia and North America. The increased value of the deal reaffirms adidas' belief in the club's growing status in world football."

Herbert Hainer, Chief Executive Officer of adidas AG, added: "Both adidas and Chelsea have a long and proud heritage in football and we're delighted to continue our working relationship with one of Europe's elite football clubs. We look forward to many more years of success, working closely with the club on product, marketing and grass roots initiatives in the UK and around the globe."