The atomists held that there are two fundamentally different kinds of realities composing the natural world, atoms and void. […] In supposing that void exists, the atomists deliberately embraced an apparent contradiction, claiming that ‘what is not’ exists. [ The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy]
Scientists discover how to turn light into matter after 80-year quest. [ The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy]
Families infuriated by ‘crass commercialism’ of 9/11 Museum gift shop
9/11 Memorial has banned soap, gum chewing, and a lot of other things
Man in his underwear steals NYC bread truck, makes deliveries
Personal judgments are swayed by group opinion, but only for 3 days
The brain systems that modulate “that loving feeling” are only just beginning to be understood, but neuroscience research is pointing more and more to the idea that the sensation of love relies on the same brain circuitry that goes awry in addiction. Love is a drug, basically — because only a drive as strong as an addiction could keep couples together through the stresses of parenting and keep parents tied to their kids. Research has found, for example, that people in love are similar to those suffering from obsessive-compulsive disorder — not only in terms of their obsessive thinking and compulsive behavior, but also the low levels of the neurotransmitter serotonin in their blood. So in a sense, love may be a special case of addiction. “The bottom line is that a lot of data on people rejected in love show that the major pathways linked with addiction become activated,” says Helen Fisher, a biological anthropologist at Rutgers University. If love is a drug, however, love’s chemistry can be chemically manipulated — those who are in love but don’t want to be could potentially take a pill that simply makes the formerly loved one seem no more special than a stranger. [NY mag]
“Love hurts”—as the saying goes—and a certain amount of pain and difficulty in intimate relationships is unavoidable. Sometimes it may even be beneficial, since adversity can lead to personal growth, self-discovery, and a range of other components of a life well-lived. But other times, love can be downright dangerous. It may bind a spouse to her domestic abuser, draw an unscrupulous adult toward sexual involvement with a child, put someone under the insidious spell of a cult leader, and even inspire jealousy-fueled homicide. […] Modern neuroscience and emerging developments in psychopharmacology open up a range of possible interventions that might actually work. These developments raise profound moral questions about the potential uses—and misuses—of such anti-love biotechnology. In this article, we describe a number of prospective love-diminishing interventions, and offer a preliminary ethical framework for dealing with them responsibly should they arise. [ Taylor Francis Online]
There is no point faking it in bed because chances are your sexual partner will be able to tell. A study by researchers at the University of Waterloo found that men and women are equally perceptive of their partners’ levels of sexual satisfaction. […] Couples in a sexual relationship develop what psychologists call a sexual script, which forms guidelines for their sexual activity. “Over time, a couple will develop sexual routines,” said Fallis. “We believe that having the ability to accurately gauge each other’s sexual satisfaction will help partners to develop sexual scripts that they both enjoy. Specifically, being able to tell if their partners are sexually satisfied will help people decide whether to stick with a current routine or try something new.” [ University of Waterloo]
This paper studies gender differences in strategic situations. In two experimental guessing games - the beauty contest and the 11-20 money request game - we analyze the depth of strategic reasoning of women and men. We use unique data from an internet experiment with more than 1,000 participants. We find that men, on average, perform more steps of reasoning than women. Our results also suggest that women behave more consistently across both games. [SSRN]
How Males and Females Differ in Their Likelihood of Transmitting Negative Word of Mouth
Women's use of red clothing as a sexual signal in intersexual interaction [PDF]
Mutations in a particular gene can cause indecision in flies
Ever-rising IQ scores suggest that future generations will make us seem like dimwits in comparison
A hormone associated with longevity also appears to make people's brains work better.
Important peculiarities of the human memory system: A remarkable capacity for storing information is coupled with a highly fallible retrieval process; What is accessible in memory is highly dependent on the current environmental, interpersonal, emotional and body-state cues; Retrieving information from memory is a dynamic process that alters the subsequent state of the system; Access to competing memory representations regresses towards the earlier representation over time. [Robert Bjork]
Resveratrol, a polyphenol found in grapes, red wine, chocolate, and certain berries and roots, is considered to have antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anticancer effects in humans and is related to longevity in some lower organisms. Objective: To determine whether resveratrol levels achieved with diet are associated with inflammation, cancer, cardiovascular disease, and mortality in humans. Results: Resveratrol levels achieved with a Western diet did not have a substantial influence on health status and mortality risk of the population in this study. [JAMA]
Red wine may not be as good for you as hoped, say scientists who have studied the drink's ingredient that is purported to confer good health. [ BBC]
New plastic surgery installs 'internal bra' under the skin for 'firm, young-looking breasts'
Researchers are a step closer to demonstrating that explosives – rather than water – could be used to extinguish an out-of-control bushfire. Dr Graham Doig, of the School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, is conducting the research, which extends a long-standing technique used to put out oil well fires. The process is not dissimilar to blowing out a candle: it relies on a blast of air to knock a flame off its fuel source. [University of New South Wales]
Plastic That Can Repair Itself
A startup aims to let you charge your gadgets without plugging them in.
1,730 cash machines in Poland are to be given 'Finger Vein' technology
Darkcoin, the Shadowy Cousin of Bitcoin, Is Booming
Forget ‘the Cloud’; ‘the Fog’ Is Tech’s Future
Shopping online: Why do too many photos confuse consumers?
While both tourism research and photography research have grown into substantial academic disciplines, little has been written about their point of intersection: tourist photography. In this paper, I argue that a number of philosophically oriented theories of photography may offer useful perspectives on tourist photography. […] When I was observing photographing tourists on the Pont Neuf and in the Jardin des Tuileries in Paris, one of the things that struck me was the fact that some tourists, when they came across a sculpture, first took a picture of it, and only started looking after the picture had been taken. Perhaps Sontag is right to argue that the production of pictures serves to appease the tourist’s anxiety about not working; in any case, this type of predatory photographic behavior promotes the accumulation of images to a goal in itself rather than a means to produce meaning or memories. [Dennis Schep/Depth of Field]
Time Inc. Starts Selling Ads on Magazine Covers, Breaking Industry Taboo
How Much Does It Cost to Book Your Favorite Band?
Fridge magnet research update: Why the fridge?
A Multiplayer Game Environment Is Actually a Dream Come True for an Economist
‘Zodiac’ The Film Vs The Real Zodiac Killer Case
'Bring Out The Gimp': The Man Behind The Mask In 'Pulp Fiction'
Meek, who believes that Cyrus communicates with him through her songs…
There's how you see yourself. And there's how the rest of the world sees you.
Levi CEO's jeans go unwashed for year; no 'skin disease' yet
A GIF of a Vine of a video of a Flipbook of a GIF of a video of a roller coaster.