Biofields

Ever heard, or said, something like, "I went into that room, and you could cut the tension with a knife" or, “I went into that room, and I felt at peace."

Deepak Chopra suggests this is because humans emit an electromagnetic field based on our current mood.

One study found some level of efficacy from bio-field therapies (reducing pain, anxiety, dementia-related behaviors, fatigue). Chinese medicine has long used similar techniques such as qigong. The therapy, however, remains controversial.

Geography & Voice

Each individual language has a few number of sound units (phonemes) and research suggests geography may affect which phoneme's usage become commonplace.

The ejective consonant (e.g. "P" or "K") phoneme exists in ~20% of the languages. Of 500+ languages  studied, research shows that languages spoken at higher elevations were more likely to use ejective consonants. This may be because lower air pressure eases the burst of air characteristic of this phoneme.

Price Confusion

Research finds that customers have, ironically, a harder time choosing between similar products (e.g. cereal) if the products are priced the same.When prices were different, products were seen as similar, making it easier to select one product. But identical prices made the products seem less similar.

Wolf Howls for Friends

Research shows that when separated from a pack wolf, the closeness of friendship - not the wolf's rank - dictates the howl's intensity.

IQ Not Directly Related to Economic Development

Research finds that "differences in the timing of agriculture transition and the histories of States, not population IQ differences, predict international development differences before the colonial era. " Average IQ of populations seems to be related to various stages of nations' modernization, not due to economic development.

Humans are Moody

Research finds evidence of distinct emotional periods in the 20th century, a general decrease in the use of emotion-related words, and that American English is more “emotional” than British English in the last 50 years.

Pronouns and Individualism

Researchers hypothesized that pronoun usage reflects increasing individualism in American culture. Their research found that for American books from 1960-2008, use of, "first person plural pronouns (e.g., we, us) decreased 10% first person singular pronouns (I, me) increased 42%, and second person pronouns (you, your) quadrupled."

Happiness: USA v. Other Countries

Researchers analyzed happiness' definitions in dictionaries from 30 nations and in Webster’s dictionaries from 1850 to today. Researchers also coded the State of the Union address from 1790 to 2010 and investigated the usage of happy nation vs. happy person (1800-2008). 

"Across cultures and time, happiness was most frequently defined as good luck and favorable external conditions. However, in American English, this definition was replaced by definitions focused on favorable internal feeling states."

Wikipedia vs. Encyclopedia Britannica

A study examined content-framing of encyclopedia entries of top Fortune companies in Wikipedia and Encyclopedia Britannica in 2006, 2008, and 2010. While  Britannica was predominantly neutral, "Wikipedia entries were significantly longer, were more positively and negatively framed, and focused more on corporate social responsibilities and legal and ethical issues ... The findings stress that the knowledge-generation processes in society appear to be fundamentally shifting because of the use of social media collaboration."

Got Beef? Better Make Sure It Ain't Mutual

Research finds that 3rd parties most likely intervene in fights when drunk men are mutually aggressive, and were more than twice as likely to intervene in a non-aggressive manner. The most frequent aggressive incident (male pursuing a female), or 1-sided aggression between men, triggered few interventions.

Researchers think mutual aggression triggers the most intervention because other research shows that bystanders intervene more when the situation seems more dangerous. But its also possible that avoiding embarrassment compels.

Weak Arguments for Weak Minds

Research argues that providing someone with weak arguments for a cause they believe in is more powerful than providing strong arguments.

Research found that people were more likely to persuade others to vote for their cause if provided with weak arguments because it fooled them into thinking they could also contribute. Weak arguments were found to inspire people if their self-belief was relatively low. Weak arguments against one's position also increased participation. So, to increase participation, advocacy groups may want to show their supporters weak arguments for and against their position!

To Increase Willpower, Give in

In a famous study, participants smelled and were shown cookies but some were asked to eat radishes. Afterwards, the participants were asked to solve a puzzle. Radish eaters made far less attempts and took less than half the time to solve the puzzle vs. the chocolate-eating counterparts. In other words, those who exercised will power depleted it.

So if you want to increase will power, give in every once in a while.

Judge Early

A case study finds that Israeli judges favorable rulings went from ~65% to ~0% w/in each decision session and abruptly returned to ~65% after a break.

In one case of 3 prisoners with comparable sentences, the odds favored the prisoner who appeared early in the morning — and he got parole. The Arab Israeli prisoner, and thew Jewish Israeli prisoner (whose sentence was shorter than the man released) were denied parole. They were just asking for parole at the wrong time of day. Case after case mentally tired the judges.

Swearing is ... Good?

Swearing at work, research finds, can build relationships between co-workers and relieve stress. Apparently, swearing, if not intended to degrade, can build solidarity by honestly conveying one's feelings.

Monkeys & Fairness

A fascinating video indicates that monkeys have a basic understanding of fairness - and injustice.

Air Plants

Air plants are plants that grow without soil, normally - but not necessarily - attached to other plants. Because they rely on the air to provide moisture and nutrients (decaying leaves and insect matter), they aren't considered parasitic.

Milky Way Gets Downsized

Research reveals the Milky Way has only two major spirals of stars - not four as previously thought.

Snowflake Computers

The next generation of computers will be a little larger than a snowflake.

Such tiny computers (or "smart dust") will have "tiny CPUs that run programs on a skeleton operating system and be able to access equally small banks of RAM and flash memory." Smart dust will forage subsist off power from its surroundings - e.g. smart dust near light will have a solar panel, while smart dust in high temperatures will convert heat into electricity.

Smart dust will primarily be used to monitor every movement of big structures like bridges or skyscrapers, or report on the environment inside a home - or even our bodies. It might be possible to run an internet search like "Where is my remote?"

Naps Improve Memory ... if You Dream

Research suggests an afternoon power nap improves memory ... if you dream. Dreaming apparently allows the brain to make connections overlooked while awake.

In the study, 99 college students memorized some information - but only half took a 90-minute nap afterwards. Nappers retained the information 10x better than their counterparts. Dreamers did, however, perform poorly on their first test. This may be because the brain knows the task in question is difficult, so it needs more attention - hence the dreaming about it.

So study the basics, then take a nap. Or, go to bed early, wake up early and review - and then take a nap.

Turkish English

Science has published a study revealing that modern Indo-European languages - which includes English - originated in Turkey 9,000 years ago. This rejects the prevailing theory of the language family originating 5,000 years ago in SW Russia.

Researchers studied "virus epidemics to create family trees of ancient and modern Indo-European tongues to pinpoint where and when the language family first arose."

Linguists identify language families by looking for similar sounding (and, often, meaning) words in modern languages (e.g. water & wasser - German) - the closer the words, the closer the languages.

Gangster Frog

The hairy frog breaks its bones so that claws can pierce its toe pads, probably for defense. The closest counterpart mechanism is found in frogs whose bones actually grow through the skin, or salamanders which force their ribs through their skin for defense.

Happiness Formula

According to Harvard psychologist Dan Gilbert,

Happiness = marriage, money, and no children

1. Marriage: People in good marriages are happier, healthier, and live longer than unmarried 
2. Money: Some money buys a lot of happiness, a lot of money only marginally increases it ... with the golden per capita income hovering between $50,000 to $75,000. Richer people can increase happiness by staying active and spending their wealth on others.
3. Children: childless couples are happier than their counterparts

Lonely? Update Your Facebook Status

Participants posted more Facebook status updates than normal for 1 week and, unlike the control group, they

1. Lowered feelings of loneliness
2. Said the lowering was due to feeling more connected daily to friends, and
3. Said the effect was independent of friends feedback

Don't Smile if You Want to Beat Someone Up!

Research finds that MMA fighters who smile are more likely to lose and fighters with neutral expressions were more likely to win. This supports the idea that smiles involuntarily signal submission.

How Big is the Universe?

This easy to understand video clip explains.

Russian Meteor

Neil deGrasse Tyson explains what happened with the Russian meteor.

Cute Aggression

Researchers found that people looking at a slideshow of cute animals popped more bubbles on bubble wrap vs. people watching funny/neutral pictures (120 bubbles for cute pictures, 100 for neutral pictures, 80 for funny pictures). Cuteness, in other words, cultivated aggression in people - not tenderness. Researchers don't yet understand why the nexus exists, but surmise it exhibits a loss of self-control.

Stressed? Clench Your Left Fist

Research finds that athletes perform better under pressure if they clench their left hand (and, also, instead of their right hand).

Panicking is primarily due to the brain's left hemisphere; the right hemisphere controls the body's left side's movements (and the left hemisphere controls body's right side's movements). Researchers correctly posited that if the right hemisphere is triggered (e.g by squeezing your left hand) physical performance will improve and the panicky thoughts of the left hemisphere will fade.

The study suggests its findings can extend beyond sports to all mechanical activities.

Stressed? Smile!

Researchers used chopsticks to manipulate participants faces into holding a neutral expression, a regular smile, or a Duchenne smile (smiles expressed through the mouth and eyes). In addition to the chopstick manipulation, some were told to smile. While holding the smiles (or not), they did various stress-inducing, multitasking activities.

Participants who voluntarily (in addition to, or only because of, the chopsticks) smiled better recovered from stressful activities than those with neutral expressions. Duchenne smile participants were the most relaxed.

Analytical Thinking Increases Atheism

Watch the short news clip on the research.

Invisibility Cloak

The Harry Potter invisibility cloak is now a reality.

Dubbed Quantum Stealth, the material bends light waves - sans batteries, mirrors, or cameras. The cloak wearer is invisible to the naked eye and to thermal and infrared imaging as well.

Diamond Planet Discovered

A planet twice the size of earth has been discovered - and its made at least 1/3rd of pure diamond.

Cloning Dinosaur Impossible

Research discovers that it is impossible to clone dinosaurs because DNA half-life is only 528 years - i.e. it decays too quickly to get the required genetic information for cloning.

DNA Photographed!

Scientists photographed the DNA for the first time in history!