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?"