CNN EDITION: INTERNATIONALU.S.MÉXICOARABIC TV: CNNiCNN en Español Set edition preference Sign upLog in Submit Home Video World U.S. Africa Asia Europe Latin America Middle East Business World Sport Entertainment Tech Travel iReport SHARE THIS Print Email More sharing 9 ways Facebook changed how we talk Brandon Griggs, CNN By Brandon Griggs, CNN February 1, 2014 -- Updated 1628 GMT (0028 HKT) | Filed under: Social Media It's been 10 years of change for Facebook, the social network founded February 4, 2004, by Mark Zuckerberg, right, Dustin Moskovitz and three other classmates in a Harvard dorm room. From its awkward beginnings to an international phenomenon with a billion users, here's a look at the many faces of Facebook. It's been 10 years of change for Facebook, the social network founded February 4, 2004, by Mark Zuckerberg, right, Dustin Moskovitz and three other classmates in a Harvard dorm room. From its awkward beginnings to an international phenomenon with a billion users, here's a look at the many faces of Facebook. HIDE CAPTION A decade of Facebook changes << < 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 > >> STORY HIGHLIGHTS Facebook has contributed numerous terms to the language of modern life Many are common words that Facebook refitted with new meanings Among them: unfriend, tag, like, poke Facebook celebrates its 10th anniversary on Tuesday (CNN) -- "I'm gonna tag you in this hideous photo and then unfriend you if you don't stop oversharing and poking me." If you said this to someone 10 years ago, they'd look at you like you were speaking Klingon. Nowadays, you just sound like an active user of social media. This is how much Facebook has changed how we talk. In the decade since its birth in February 2004, the social network has introduced numerous terms and phrases to the language of modern life. Most are common words that Facebook refitted with new meanings. Some have stuck, while others have been forgotten. A few have even been recognized by dictionaries as official pieces of the 21st century lexicon. Here are nine of the most memorable. Friend Until Facebook came along, nobody used the word "friend" as a verb. Now it's not uncommon to ask a new acquaintance to spell their name so you can friend them on Facebook. Everyone likes to feel popular. That's why some Facebookers, especially in the site's early days, hoarded friends like poker chips (never mind that most of these "friends" were rarely seen co-workers, distant relatives or vaguely remembered classmates from junior high). Nobody really has 583 "friends." Facebook's "friend" also was the precursor to Twitter's "follower," which makes a user's social contacts sound like members of a cult. Unfriend Facebook giveth, and Facebook taketh away. Are you tired of your uncle's political rants? Unfriend him! By adding an "unfriend" option, Facebook created new shorthand for aborting a friendship or an acquaintance. It's a lot easier to say, "I unfriended Bob" than "I'm not going to be friends with Bob anymore because he annoys me with his daily musings about his toenails." Unfriending someone is considered a more drastic step than simply tweaking your Facebook settings to block or minimize their posts. The term was officially welcomed to the digital-age vernacular by the New Oxford English Dictionary, which named "unfriend" its Word of the Year for 2009. Status update Years ago, "status" was a measure of someone's social or professional standing. Then Facebook began asking users to post updates on their thoughts or activities, and "updating your status" suddenly meant more than just moving to a better neighborhood. To prompt updates, Facebook first asked users, "What are you doing right now?" When that produced too many mundane reports -- "Sally is eating toast!" -- Facebook changed the update question in 2009 to the broader, "What's on your mind?" Like Few things have sparked more debate on Facebook than the "Like" button, which debuted in 2009 and soon spread to partner sites. Suddenly, with a quick click you could endorse your friends' updates, jokes and cute-kid pictures. Cynics, lamenting what they saw as Facebook's forced cheerfulness, unsuccessfully asked for a "Dislike" button. Instagram, Pinterest and other social networks also adopted the Like model for favoring posts, although they used a heart symbol instead of a Like thumb. (You Like me right now! You Like me!) All this made "Like" a noun as well as a verb, as users began collecting Likes as a measure of engagement and popularity. As in, "I can't believe my cute picture of Fluffy in her Easter bonnet got only three Likes." 5 ways Facebook changed our lives, for better or worse A Facebook \ A Facebook "poke," which nobody seems to do anymore, was supposed to be a flirty gesture. Poke The weird Poke feature was sort of a thing in Facebook's early days. Nobody knew what it was for, exactly -- even Mark Zuckerberg once said of the Poke, "We thought it would be cool to have a feature without any specific purpose." Some saw it as a flirty invitation to an online chat or real-world hookup. But the obvious sexual innuendo made it awkward to use in conversation. "I poked Aunt Betty" just sounds all kind of wrong. Amazingly, the Poke function is still active on Facebook. But nobody uses it anymore unless they're being ironic. Share (and overshare) Sharing used to be something we did in school when there weren't enough textbooks to go around. Then came Facebook, and everyone -- not just the generous -- became sharers. Or over-sharers. Soon it wasn't enough to just experience a memorable moment in our daily lives: We had to share it with everyone, RIGHT NOW! Share buttons popped up all over the Web. Share this! Tweet this! Pin this! Snap this! Sooo much sharing. The word "share" has always implied a selfless, charitable act. But the more we share our every move and thought on social media, the more self-centered we can tend to sound. Not me, of course. Other people. Wall For years, Facebook encouraged visitors to a friend's profile to "write on their Wall." It sounded sort of illicit, like an invitation to scribble graffiti. The idea of a digital "wall" seemed odd at a time when other social networks were promoting pages. Maybe that's why it never really caught on. In 2011, Facebook replaced the Wall with the current Timeline format, which displays updates chronologically. It's complicated This ambiguous answer to Facebook's "What's your relationship status?" could apply to almost any romantic entanglement between "single" and "married" and is more interesting than either. It's become a common response to the "How's your love life?" question and even inspired a 2009 romantic comedy with Meryl Streep. Tag Tag, you're it! No, you're it! What was once just a child's game is now a way to get people to notice your posts, or to embarrass them by flagging them in unflattering photos. Come to think of it, maybe Tag is the new Poke. 323 Comments » SHARE THIS Print Email More sharing We recommend Beauty queen's killers nabbed, Venezuela says Beauty queen's killers nabbed, Venezuela says And the world's safest airline is ... And the world's safest airline is ... Six odd and crazy technologies at CES Six odd and crazy technologies at CES Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde: 10 things to know about 'Omosexy' Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde: 10 things to know about 'Omosexy' Recommended by Most Popular Today's five most popular stories Sources: Nearly 50 envelopes of suspected heroin in Hoffman's apartment Castaway claims he drifted 13 months in Pacific Earthquake strikes off western coast of Greece, USGS says Report: Hotels company apparently hacked, exposing guests' credit cards Woman abducted by Michigan escapee tells harrowing tale More More from CNN Video See Scarlett's rejected Super Bowl adPlay Video See Scarlett's rejected Super Bowl ad Blueprint for 'Noah's Ark' found?Play Video Blueprint for 'Noah's Ark' found? Philip Seymour Hoffman's memorable scenesPlay Video Philip Seymour Hoffman's memorable scenes Cities fight for Chinese tourism moneyPlay Video Cities fight for Chinese tourism money More from CNN Does Twitter's Vine have a porn problem? Does Twitter's Vine have a porn problem? Samsung: Galaxy S5 out by April, may scan your eyes Samsung: Galaxy S5 out by April, may scan your eyes How Beats headphones changed the audio world How Beats headphones changed the audio world From Around the Web Recommended by 43° HI 46°LO 38° London, United KingdomWeather forecast Search Powered by Google Home | Video | World | U.S. | Africa | Asia | Europe | Latin America | Middle East | Business | World Sport | Entertainment | Tech | Travel | iReport Tools & Widgets | RSS | Podcasts | Blogs | CNN Mobile | My Profile | E-mail Alerts | CNN Shop | Site map | CNN Partner Hotels CNN en ESPAÑOL | CNN Chile | CNN México | العربية | 日本語 | Türkçe © 2014 Cable News Network. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Terms of service | Privacy guidelines | Ad choices | Advertise with us | License our content | About us | Contact us | Work for us | HelpCNN TV | HLN | Transcripts

What happened to Einstein's brain

Background

When Einstein died, his brain was removed seven hours after his death. It has been stated that the regions of his brain that supported numerical processing was different from the other brains.

According to Wikipedia “ The brain has attracted attention because of Einstein's reputation for being one of the foremost geniuses of the 20th century, and apparent regularities or irregularities in the brain have been used to support various ideas about correlations in neuroanatomy with general or mathematical intelligence.” This post contends the above argument.

Real Story

When Einstein died in 1955, his autopsy was conducted by Thomas Harvey, a pathologist at Princeton Hospital. He was alone in the room while conducting the autopsy. For some strange reason he removed Einstein’s brain and kept it in his lunch box. He took the brain to his home. When asked to return it, he blatantly refused. He was threatened with dismissal from Princeton. Even this could not change in mind. Nevertheless, he was dismissed from Princeton although he got a lot of media attention. He promised to unveil the mysteries in the brain. He, however, forgot that he was a pathologist and not a neurologist. At that point neurology was not even developed.

He used to keep the mind on his kitchen table and cut it with his knife. He used to observe it with his microscope. It may be stated at this point that under a normal microscope the mind of a genius and that of a dump person would look exactly same.      

It is said that Harvey dissected the brain in 240 parts. He used to keep the parts in 11.4% formalin. It took him a while to realize the fact that he has chewed more than he could digest. his life was not the same after that. His wife left him, he faced financial crunch. Ultimately in late 90’s he returned the brain. He died in 2007.

When researches were conducted on the brain the neurologists found that the number of”glial” cells was more in his brain.

Problems with the results

The following points need to considered

·         Harvey kept the brain in his lunch box when he removed it. There could have been bacteria in the lunch box.

·         He used to keep the brain in mason jars filled with alcohol, that too in his kitchen.

·         The researches were carried out many years after the brain was removed.

·         The argument that Einstein had more glial cells that any other person suggest that the number of such cells have been noted for all the persons whose autopsy had been conducted.

Conclusion                

It seems to me that the scientists made up their mind and were looking for something different in his brain and that too so many years after his death. The reason for Einstein’s intelligence could have been the structure of his neurons or any other.