Just Itching to Know
What is an itch? That insistent tickle demanding that you cease whatever you are doing and claw with your fingernails at a particular spot on your skin. It can come from anywhere—the top of your head to the soles of your feet–inside your ear to your eyeballs. NOTHING will…
Read MoreWhy does a Southern Drawl Sound Uneducated to Some?
Mark Twain’s Classic Huckleberry Finn begins with an explanation to readers: “In this book a number of dialects are used, to wit: the Missouri negro dialect ; the extremest form of the backwoods South-Western dialect ; the ordinary “Pike-Country” dialect ; and four modified varieties of this last… I make this explanation for the reason…
Read MoreThe Impact of Digital Publishing on Science
Most people are aware of the negative effects of the profound changes in newspaper and magazine publishing in the digital age, but fewer are aware of the effects the same forces are having on science. An article on the front page of yesterday’s Washington Post (November 24, 2012) concerned the corruptive influence drug companies can have on published…
Read MoreThe Power of Music: Mind control by rhythmic sound
Rhythmic sound not only affects motor function like toe-tapping, it controls how the brain takes in and processes information.
Read MoreHow to Measure Propensity for Aggression with a 6-Inch Ruler
Palm reading to measure personality? How can that be?
Read MoreBelief
A study published in the journal Science today (April 27, 2012) provides new understanding of the different cognitive strategies the mind uses in forming religious beliefs.
Read MoreObesity Caused by Non-Neuronal Cells (Glia) in the Brain
Forget about stomach staples. Treatment for obesity in the future may involve an X-ray beam to the brain. This is what researchers have discovered to keep mice slim, trim, and energetic while gorging on a fatty diet. How it works offers a fascinating new insight into the cellular mechanisms of the brain in a spot…
Read MoreDrilling for Oil in Eden: Initiative to Save Amazon Rainforest in Ecuador is Uncertain
“When you have all your needs solved you can buy a bigger house and you have a garden. The garden for us is Yasuní National Park. When you don’t have [wealth] you have to live in a small apartment without a garden. In Europe and the US there are big national parks because the basic problems of poverty are not present.” Professor Hugo Navarrete.
Read MoreDiversity Promotes Selfishness–Forced Integration is the answer
Ethnic and religious diversity in a society should undermine cooperation, but does it?
Read MoreAlarming Increase in Fatal Shark Attacks World-Wide: Science Cuts through the Hysteria for Answers
Can Science Explain the Marked Increase in Shark Attacks? Authorities in Western Australia have failed in their attempt to hunt down and kill a great white shark that took the life of a 32 year old American diver, George Wainwright last Saturday. This is the fourth fatal attack by sharks in Australia in the last 14…
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