Bored? Pay Attention

Research suggests that boredom is due to attention conflict. Boredom, according to John Eastwood is, “desiring of satisfying engagement but not being able to achieve that." Attention is the interaction between our senses and our environment. Eastwood argues, therefore, that attention is at the core of boredom. When a task requires little attention, the stimulus is insufficient - we aren't spending enough effort on the task, and nothing else compensates. Similarly, if there are too many stimulus', we cannot focus either.

A previous study had people read an interesting article while a TV played. If the TV was loud, people felt frustrated— not bored. If the TV was low, more people felt bored. While in both cases attention was disrupted, the cause of the disruption was unclear when the TV was low - so boredom ensued because no apparent reason for the lack of attention existed.

Another previous study examined reactions to background conversations while people engaged in 1) a task requiring little attention, 2) an uninteresting task requiring attention, and 3) an interesting task requiring attention. With task 1, an interesting background conversation decreased boredom. With task 3, people ignored the conversation. With task 2, however, boredom rose: a boring task requiring attention while competing with background conversations stunted attention.

If the conclusion is true, boredom can be fixed.

Pricing Emotions

British & Hong Kong students chose how much they'd spend (£10 - £150), for 1 hour, to enjoy positive emotions or avoid negative emotions.

British students paid more for positive emotions: love was most valued (£95), then happiness, then avoiding sadness ... disgust was the least valued emotion to avoid (£43). Hong Kong students valued experiencing positive emotions = to avoiding negative. Head-to-head, Brits paid more for "happiness, delight and calm"; Hong Kong students paid more to "avoid regret, embarrassment and frustration."

Researchers noted, "By putting price-tags on emotions we might come closer to understanding the value of human experience in order to aid policies at enhancing well-being."

Want a Better Job? Get a Simple Name

Research reveals that people with easy to pronounce names have better job and political futures. Attorneys with easier names were promoted quicker and political hopefuls with easier names had better chances of getting elected. Ease of pronunciation, not name length or cultural origin, was the controlling factor.

Mild Dehydration = Biran Dmub

25 young, healthy, exercising women drank water the night before they walked on a treadmill. They also took various cognitive tests. Compared with dehydrated test subjects, the hydrated group did not suffer from headaches, fatigue, or difficulty in concentrating. Another study with men had similar results.

The study concludes that mild dehydration can affect mood, energy, and thinking ability. So, um, drink water.

Neuroanatomy of Freestyle Rapping

What happens inside the brain of someone like Eminem when he freestyles?

The prestigious magazine Nature has the answer.

While freestyling, brain scans revealed that areas in the prefrontal cortex associated with "organization and drive" rose in activity, while areas responsible for self-assessment and restraint froze. While freestyling, "an entire, unique network emerges ... motivation, language, emotion, motor function, sensory processing and the representation of the artists' subject experience all interact in unusual ways."

The researchers believe this activity inside the prefrontal cortex is fundamental to all expressions of creativity - not just freestyling. So, maybe man is most genuine early on in the creative process ... and as time lapses, we become less so.

The Scent That Makes You Smarter

A study shows that smelling rosemary can improve cognition.

20 participants were exposed to varying amounts of rosemary while doing subtraction and visual processing tasks. Rosemary oil didn't increase attentiveness, but those exposed to more rosemary did their tasks faster and better. The key component - 1,8-cineole - is also found in eucalyptus and sage essential oils.

Health Related to Small Business

A study shows that counties with more small businesses tend to have lower rates of mortality, obesity, and diabetes; counties with more large retailers tend to be higher. More "small business" communities exhibit higher likelihood of anti-smoking legislation, promoting community health programs, and supporting local farmers' markets.

"A place like this has a can-do climate, a practical problem-solving approach in which a community takes control of its own destiny," says lead author Troy C. Blanchard.

Depression Causes Bullying

Research shows that depression in fourth graders forecasts bullying and exclusion in 5th and 6th grade, respectively. The study tempers prevailing views that bullying caused depression.

Baboons That Can Read

A video clip summarizing a study that demonstrates that baboons can read basic English words.

Fear and Reproduction

A short video clip demonstrating the damaging effects of predation fear on prey reproduction cycles.

Respect for Rule of Law Maximizes Happiness

Research finds that nations with more "civic nationalism" (respect for laws, institutions) than "ethnic nationalism" (respect for religion, ancestry, culture) were more happy.

Forget Corruption, Power Improves!

Research finds that power can improve focus and analytical thinking.

Individuals were asked to remember times when they influenced or adjusted to others. A word association task was then performed to test analytical or holistic thinking. Those whose memories involved exercising power showed more in-depth, taxonomic thinking vs. the dominated who thought more generally.

For the Kids Sake, Argue with Them

Research finds that youth who were comfortable expressing their opinions at home were better at rejecting peer pressure ... especially teens who used reason to persuade their mothers instead of insults or whining.

Perhaps the independence cultivated at home carries over to school. Those comfortable in relying on their mothers when stressed are less likely to feel dependent on - and less influenced by - friends.

Crowded Store = Bad for Business

Research finds that customers accidentally touched in a store were more likely to leave the store with a negative impression.

In the study, attractive people briefly touched shoppers or stood next to them. Customers who were slightly touched spent less time in the store and were more likely to have a negative view of the products than those left alone. The effect was most observable when male strangers did the touching.

Selective Attention

This test will blow your mind

The Spacing Effect

The "spacing effect" is a simple technique to better retain information - and perform better on exams.

1. Learn the subject
2. Take a good chunk of time (e.g. couple days) to do other activities
3. Come back and attempt to retain the subject

While retaining is difficult because of the gap, it is precisely because of the difficulty long term memory improves. Note: If the interval between learning and retaining is too short or too long, there is no spacing effect.

As an example, an experiment found that an Ontario school 5th grade students remembered far more vocabulary words they learned in 2 sessions spaced 1 week apart vs. 1 lesson.

Sweet Tooth = Sweet Nature

Research finds that people who liked sweet tastes more than savory tastes tended to be kinder. College students answered a survey about their character and also ranked food preferences. Students with a sweet tooth were more likely to volunteer.

Chivalry Boosts Cricket Mating Chances

Research finds that upon seeing a threat, a male field cricket lets his mate enter their burrow first. While males fought with males, protection - not domination - helps foster long term relations with females.

Teaching Helps Writing

Research finds that science grad students who did research and taught improved their written research proposals over 1 academic year more than those who just researched. Differences in written quality "could not account for the results, because only specific skills among those analyzed showed improvement as a function of the teaching experience."

Teeth Help with Cooking History

Researchers infer that mankind discovered cooking ~1.9 million years ago - based on studies of our molar teeth.

Most large animals chew extensively so its easy to swallow. Cooking softens the food and dramatically reduces eating time to about 5% of the day (compared to ~48% if we didn't). Softer food due to cooking helped us evolve smaller molars and smaller jaws - a little less than 2 million years ago.

Exercise Increases Productivity

Research finds that employees who exercised during work were more productive than those who relaxed or worked during those hours.

Group 1 exercised 2.5 hours/week, Group 2 relaxed during those 2.5 hours while Group 3 worked through those 2.5 hours. Not only did productivity increase over 6 months and 1 year, but Group 1 employees also lost less time to sick days.

More Roads = Better Health

Research finds that after 5 years of construction, villages near a road in northern Ecuador had a larger rise in antibiotic resistance than more remote areas. Rise in resistance to ampicillin and sulphamethoxazole nearly double that in more remote areas. The road may ease resistant microbes to migrate from person to person.

Cobra Venom Coagulates Blood

Cobra venom coagulates blood - and here's the video to prove it.

The good news - this means venom can serve as a potential foundation for stopping massive bleeding following an accident.

Want Tips? Wear Red

Analysis of 700+ French restaurant customers finds that men are tip more to women wearing red. Color, however, did not affect female patrons. The same result occurred from waitresses wearing red lipstick. In another study, women photographed against a red background were rated as more attractive by men, but not by other women. Men even sat closer to a woman in a red shirt vs. a blue one.

The Science Behind Usain's Magic

How does Usain Bolt run so fast?

Bolt is basically an abberation - when you're that big, you shouldn't be able to run that fast because muscle speed is generally related to size (e.g. squirrels move faster than giraffes). Sprinters are usually short and have more fast-twitch muscle fibers so they accelerate quicker but can't run longer distances. 800m runners are usually taller but with less fast-twitch muscle fibers. Bolt, however, is tall and has the fast-twitch fibers.

Physiologist Peter Weyand divides each cycle of a runner’s leg into what happens 1) when their foot is in the air, and 2) when it’s on the ground.

• (1) is shockingly irrelevant - at top speed, every runner (even grandpa) takes ~.3 seconds to pick their foot up and put it down again.
• (2) For most, the amount of force applied when on the ground determines speed. Calf muscles, and then hip muscles, are the prime determiners for creating this force. For this, runners can either exert the same force over a longer period (e.g. like a cheetah) or hit the ground harder. Great sprinters hit the ground with a force ~2.5 times their body weight (vs. ~2 for average people). Usain Bolt, weighing 210 lbs, creates 990 lbs of force - 4.7 times his weight.

What is the limit of human speed?

1. Non-physiological factors: being quicker off the block, running with a stronger tailwind, running at higher altitudes where thinner air exerts less drag
2. Mathematician Reza Noubary calculated, “the ultimate time for [the] 100 meter dash is 9.44 seconds.”
3. Weyand, however, say its not predictable - especially with gene therapy avenues out there.

Eat Fish = Brain Happy

Research finds that people who eat baked or broiled - but not fried - fish at least once a week preserved more grey matter in brain areas at risk for Alzheimer's disease and also exhibited higher levels of working memory capacity.

Yawning May Indicate Closeness

Research finds that people are more likely yawn in response to the yawn of someone they know. The "yawn contagion" was highest when responding to family, then friends, then acquaintances, then strangers - the same pattern when measuring empathy in other ways.

Dentist Visit Helps Heart

Research finds that individual who had their teeth cleaned once a year had a 24% lower risk of heart attack and 13% lower risk of stroke than otherwise.

Super Size = Status

In a study, participants judged another consumer on several attributes, including status, after the consumer selected the largest options available for products that were free or of similar price. Those selecting the biggest product were deemed those with highest status - i.e. socially insecure consumers will purchase bigger items to gain status.

Taller Candidate = More Votes?

Researchers first had participants describe and draw figures representing their concept of a typical citizen and an ideal national leader. 64% drew a leader that was taller than the typical citizen.Then, participants answered a survey about their personal perceptions of political leadership and attitudes about  running for office - revealing a significant relationship between height and perceived leadership capability and also in running for office. What's more, a preference for taller leaders exists in various societies (e.g. ancient Mayans, pre-classical Greeks), among the majority of American presidents, and even animals.

Just so you know - John McCain is 5'8", President Obama is 6'1" but Mitt Romney is 6'2"...

Key Ingredient for Success

Research has shown that practice is a necessary ingredient for success - but its not always sufficient.


In one study, 57 pianists - who had practiced from 260 to 31,000+ hours - had their working memory capacity (WMC) tested. WMC allows an individual to simultaneously juggle several thoughts. For example, "you arrive home and your neighbor greets you by your car in order to schedule a lunch date, on your way to add it to your calendar, you stop to turn on the lights, add bread to your grocery list, and feed the dog. WMC enables you to retain the lunch information through those unrelated task."

In the study, WMC was used to assess sight-reading skill and the ability to play without preparation. Higher WMC participants tended to outperform others - including those with extensive experience of the task.

How to increase WMC? Expressive writing (especially negative writing), Dual N-Back Training, reading, chess, various foods, and exercise.

Higgs Boson Particle

The Higgs Boson Particle has been found. Don't know what the big deal is? Check out the video.

Bullet Ant

Given its name because its sting can make a human feel like they have been shot, the sting from a bullet ant can last for 24 hours. The Schmidt Sting Pain index registers the bullet ant sting as the most severe, likening it unto fire-walking with a 3-inch rusty nail grinding into one's heel. The sting results in temporary paralysis of the hand and arm as well as uncontrollable shaking.

And that's why some South American tribes make men wear bullet ant gloves - up to 20 times - as a rite of passage.

Don't Gamble with Friends

MRI scans revealed higher activity in the brain's striatum, linked to rewards, when a gambler beat a friend in the lottery vs. when the gambler won alone (the medial prefrontal cortex, linked to social reasoning, showed similar patterns). Victorious group gamblers were also more likely to behave riskier in subsequent lottery trials. In other words, our brain values winning amongst others more than winning alone.

Researchers see an evolutionary correlation as strong incentives exist for high social rank, as dominant animals gain privileged access to limited resources and being alone induces risk-aversion because one bad gamble can be fatal especially without a social network.

Religion: Instinct vs. Reflection

Research sought to find out if trusting instinct over reflection affects the strength of religious conviction. Those relying on instinct to answer various questions were 1.5 times as likely to say they were convinced of God's existence vs. those relying on their analytical skills. Instinctual thinkers were also more likely to become more confident believers over their lifetimes, regardless of their upbringing vs. reflective thinkers becoming less certain.

Students and Incentives

Student performance in low-performing schools was tested against promises of financial and non-financial incentives for good grades. The results:

1. Size matters: Students were willing to work much harder at $80/hour, but not at $40/hour
2. Punishment > Reward: Rewards were most powerful if framed as losses, demonstrating our stronger attachment to what we possess
3. Non-financial incentives (e.g. trophies) worked best with youth
4. Immediacy is everything: Promises of future rewards was largely ineffective

Drooling Over Everything

Research finds that men salivate when seeing material objects when feeling powerless or if looking for mates. In other words, all types of desires may activate the same neurological reward systems.

In one trial, participants were tricked into feeling powerful or powerless, their drooling in response to money then tested. In another, photos of high-end sports cars replaced money and showed images of attractive potential dates who are drawn to luxury goods. The control group was told to imagine going to the barber shop.Money caused more salivation during a low-power state. Men in the car trial drooled more than those told to think of getting a haircut when shown images of sports cars.

The Twitter Algorithm

Research discovered a method to predict a tweet's popularity with 84% accuracy, allowing tweeters to maximize their content exposure pre-tweeting. The algorithm has 4 factors:

• The news source of the article: i.e. brand reflects trustworthiness
• The new category: Technology ranked 1st, Health 2nd, Fun Stuff 3rd (see full chart)
• Objective language = Emotional language: surprisingly, emotional rhetoric doesn't affect popularity ... so STOP WITH THE CAPS LOCKS!!!
• Mentioning celebrities, brands, etc

Research finds that infants can be trained to improve their concentration skills.

For 15 days, 11-month-old infants were trained to focus on images on a computer screen. In one lab, a butterfly appeared as long as the infant focused on the butterfly and ignored distractions. An infant control group watched TV. Infants cognitive abilities were tested with toys at the beginning and end of the trial. Trained infants could focus for longer periods, better shift their attention from one point to another, and spot more patterns and smaller changes while playing with toys.

Metallica and Mood Swings

Columbia University professor and psychiatrist Galina Mindlin believes that listening to songs with a certain number of beats per minute can trigger specific mental states (e.g. productivity, relaxation, etc). She argues that changing the type of music is a cheap - and no-side-effect - remedy to the ups and downs of life.

Metallica, according to Mindlin, can help relieve depression. Mindlin also noted one patient who was a B student who became an A student after switching the type of music she listened to when she studied. Also, fast-frequency music can help ADHD patients whose brains enter a dreamlike state when overwhelmed.

Heavy Metal and Intelligence

A study reveals that many intelligent teenagers - 1,000+ of the smartest 5% teenagers - listen to heavy metal to deal with the self-esteem issues, social awkwardness and, in some cases, family problems.

Participants said they liked the complex, and sometimes political, nature of heavy metal music.

Metallica and Monkeys

A study revealed that cottontop tamarins listened to a variety of music (Bach, Led Zeppelin, Miles Davis, etc.) but only calmed down when listening to Metallica.

Like in music, in human speech, changing the tone of one's voice, the rhythm, pitch or speed allows one to gauge the emotional state of the speaker. For example, we use long tones for calming a baby while using short tones to indicate seriousness. The study found that monkeys, "interpret rising and falling tones differently than humans."

Traffic Cameras Save Lives

Research finds that traffic cameras not only prevent speeding tickets, but accidents as well. In Barcelona, 12,000+ injuries occurred every year in traffic accidents. Over two years, 364 fewer accidents and 507 fewer injuries occurred - saving the city at least $9 million.

Marmosets Like Their Quiet Time

Marmosets in a Brazil city park favor quietness - even if it meant losing the best eating spots. On weekdays, marmosets rested far away from traffic, and on Sundays they rested far away from crowds

Armor Harmed Soldiers

Research finds that the extra work required to move around in medieval armor may have outweighed its benefit. A 1400s soldier wore 60 lbs-110 lbs of steel. The weight distribution in the armor required more energy to moves one's arms or legs than carrying the same weight in a backpack. Armor wearers also took short breaths - not regular deep breaths.

Loudest Animal

The water boatman insect makes the loudest sound for its body size ... its 2 mm long but its chirp registers at 99 decibels - the same as that of a snowmobile.

Financial Crisis Explained

Easy to follow video on the financial crisis.

Toddler Economics

Steven Levitt's toddler outsmarts his incentive scheme when being potty-trained - a lesson for governments.

Music Makes Kids Nicer

Research suggests music can develop empathy within children. Kids played games demanding rhythmic coordination, others composed music together, others asked kids to copy the music another child played. Other kids routinely met to also play games emphasizing empathy but through words. Only those kids who played musical games significantly increased their empathy. The other kids had slightly higher levels of empathy to begin, but at year's end the music group beat them handily.

Summer Science

Fun video clip on 3 basic questions about the summer.