Rare Ideopathic Encephaly Tied to Higher IQ, Not Lower 58
Timothy writes Cranial deformation is commonly linked to brain dysfunction; it is one of the most common serious conditions affecting fetal growth. Multiple factors are involved, but in nearly every case on record the result is debilitating; stillbirth or neonatal death are common. A mutation, though, has been observed among members of a New Jersey family which represents a rare case of heritable encephaly tied not to dysfunction, but to higher-than-average intelligence, and with no evident negative health consequences.
Donald R. DeCicco (not his real name) and his wife Prymaat of Paramus, both French-born naturalized U.S. citizens, were born with unremarkable physical characteristics, apart from a specific constellation of physical abnormalities affecting maxillofacial and brain development. In both of their cases, brain development appears to be ordinary, but with all brain lobes occupying a volume that is both larger and narrower than typical. All medical tests (and the couple's success as educated, productive members of society) make it clear that their condition has not prevented ordinary life, and may even have enhanced it; a series of MRI and PET scans conducted by Johns Hopkins researchers indicated that their above-average cerebella are at least as active and neuron-rich as are more run-of-the-mill subjects' brains, and tests of memory, cognition, and reasoning place both DeCicco and Clorhone in the top percentile of American rest subjects. A daughter, Connie, shares both their unusual skeletal growth pattern, and is similarly highly intelligent; perhaps this form of heritable encephaly should be thought of as akin to Marfan syndrome, for its pairing of both high intelligence and a characteristic bone-growth pattern. At least one researcher quoted in the linked article believes that less extreme forms of the same anomaly can be observed in some historical and contemporary figures, citing as examples both Vladimir Putin and actor Richard Belzer as bearing some tendency toward the same characteristic shape.
First described by a family physician and described in the Journal of the Society of the Federal Health Professionals,the condition has been labeled Sandler's Syndrome.
Donald R. DeCicco (not his real name) and his wife Prymaat of Paramus, both French-born naturalized U.S. citizens, were born with unremarkable physical characteristics, apart from a specific constellation of physical abnormalities affecting maxillofacial and brain development. In both of their cases, brain development appears to be ordinary, but with all brain lobes occupying a volume that is both larger and narrower than typical. All medical tests (and the couple's success as educated, productive members of society) make it clear that their condition has not prevented ordinary life, and may even have enhanced it; a series of MRI and PET scans conducted by Johns Hopkins researchers indicated that their above-average cerebella are at least as active and neuron-rich as are more run-of-the-mill subjects' brains, and tests of memory, cognition, and reasoning place both DeCicco and Clorhone in the top percentile of American rest subjects. A daughter, Connie, shares both their unusual skeletal growth pattern, and is similarly highly intelligent; perhaps this form of heritable encephaly should be thought of as akin to Marfan syndrome, for its pairing of both high intelligence and a characteristic bone-growth pattern. At least one researcher quoted in the linked article believes that less extreme forms of the same anomaly can be observed in some historical and contemporary figures, citing as examples both Vladimir Putin and actor Richard Belzer as bearing some tendency toward the same characteristic shape.
First described by a family physician and described in the Journal of the Society of the Federal Health Professionals,the condition has been labeled Sandler's Syndrome.
I, for one, welcome (Score:1)
our cranially deformed overlords.
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I'm a cranially deformed overlord, you insensitive clod!
You have removed my news source for the day (Score:3)
What choice do I have? It is as if you have grabbed me by the base of my snarglies!
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Man I love that movie (though the critics, typically, savaged it). My favorite bit is when Beldar goes after his daughter's boyfriend:
"I find you unacceptable! If I did not fear incarceration from human authority figures, I would terminate your life functions by applying sufficient pressure to your blunt skull so as to force its collapse!"
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"Allow me to have 57 words with you..."
Fail, fail, fail ... (Score:4, Insightful)
An "April Fools Day" joke should not be something overtly ridiculous. It should be something that misdirects in a clever and misleading way.
- Try something like the "dihydrogen monoxide ban gets on the Aliso Viejo city council's agenda" joke or something similar.
- Another more practical example for everyone is to grab each employee where you work as they arrive and have them call in sick. After a few minutes the management should be frantic.
Listing plot lines from popular sci fi stories as news articles fails so badly on all fronts except for topping the "lame meter". Come on guys. Try something CLEVER! (Oh, and something that is funny would be nice too.)
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They did the dihydrogen monoxide thing years ago. They try to mix it up a bit every year.
I miss OMG PONIES!
c'mon editors (Score:3, Insightful)
SJWs tied to lower Story quality, not higher (Score:1, Insightful)
Jesus. If ever there was proof positive that Slashdot is overrun with killjoy SJWs, this April Fools is it. I've never seen such a display of painful submission, barely related to tech. A 4th grader wouldn't find these funny.
Now we follow up with this sob story, neo-aspergers savant dreck. Literally, literally submitted by Timothy and approved by samzenpus. Everyone has given up trying to submit stories. Everyone. This place has gone so far downhill it's underground.
Let the record show: If you're running a
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You could just not show up on April 1. I've largely avoided /. today, but dipped my toes in a few times.
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I didn't show up on April 1. Hell, it's getting towards the end of April 2 and this shit is still going on.
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If you say so, Tokyo.
Remember? (Score:2)
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No. When did that ever happen?
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Re:April FAGS day (Score:5, Funny)
Man, the funniest thing about this whole thing is how incredibly angry people are getting. And I thought people were freaking out over beta!
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No, you're just angry.
Take your meds, have a nap. Come back tomorrow when you are bright and shiny.
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Amazingly, when analyzed by an advanced comedic interpreter, this comment is scored as the funniest of the day.
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Here's a better April Fool's submission: "Slashdot reader has sex!"
Its Thursday. (Score:2)
Its Thursday the 2nd. I have not had my coffee yet. Not funny.
I thought this junk was supposed to stop at noon local time. Was it posted from some Pacific Island near the Date Line? [i.cbc.ca]
Lets just bring back OMG Ponies every year and be done with it.
We are from France... (Score:2)
Must consume mass quantities...
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No, the references are pretty obvious. It's just not funny.
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That or you've lost your sense of humor. I'm kind of enjoying the nostalgia in this.
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No, my sense of humor is just fine. There were jokes I laughed at but Slashdot's have never been funny. The whole point of April Fool's is to be subtle in order to trick people by the joke. Slashdot's "jokes" on the other hand are just beating you over the head.
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What I find interesting is the opacity of this submission.
I read the summary, and based solely on how the summary is written, it comes off as a plausible story. I went to the comments and saw folks talking about AFD jokes, and then I thought, this was a joke? How is it funny?
Then, of course, I clicked a couple links and saw the reference and at this point ... and here's the interesting bit ... it actually got less funny.
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Sociopathy is not uncommon to be paired with high intelligence.....
KGBs selection criteria (Score:1)
Putin wouldn't have been able to gain the rank of a KGB colonel in a xenophobic country like the Soviet Union was/is with a deformity. The researcher may have not read about the blunt way Putin interacts with people after the flash lights to state such comparisons. In the related news, childhood brain development have been noticed to diverge into to two separate groups in a study comparing the speed of development of certain brain areas at the East Coast area. The slower development of the brain correlates
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I got that the links were jokes, but even after clicking the link to the Coneheads IMDB entry I didn't realize that the whole blurb was referring to the Coneheads.
I guess I'm just not one of the people with this ideopathic encephaly.
Sadly, not Flowers for Algernon (Score:2)
A much more literate reference, and more suited to an April Fool's fake story.
sigh....
Not ideopathic (Score:2)
Ideopathic means from unknown cause. This is clearly congenital.
Putin? (Score:2)
"citing as examples both Vladimir Putin and actor Richard Belzer as bearing some tendency toward the same characteristic shape"
So is Putin Braniac or Professor X(avier)?
Call my inverse phrenologist! (Score:2)
So Phrenology might make its way back into style.
Serious post (Score:2)
Larger brain size would mean higher energy consumption by the brain, so it wouldn't be downside-free.