Yo is the hottest new app that will leave you scratching your head. The entire premise of the app is to send other users a single word: Yo. […] Without ever having officially launched, co-founder and CEO Or Arbel managed to secure $1.2 million in funding. [Tech Crunch]
That $1m funding should cover costs for a year to find out whether Yo really can succeed, Mr Arbel says. […] “It’s not just an app that says Yo,” says Mr Arbel. “It’s a whole new means of communication.” [FT]
The present research provides empirical evidence that drug names may entail implicit promises about their therapeutic power. We asked people to evaluate the perceived efficacy and risk associated with hypothetical drug names and other secondary related measures. We compared opaque (without meaning), functional (targeting the health issue that the drug is meant to solve) and persuasive (targeting the expected outcome of the treatment) names. Persuasive names were perceived as more efficacious and less risky than both opaque and functional names, suggesting that names that target the expected outcome of the drug may bias the perception of risk and efficacy. [Applied Cognitive Psychology ]
A new study suggests that free will may arise from a hidden signal buried in the “background noise” of chaotic electrical activity in the brain, and that this activity occurs almost a second before people consciously decide to do something. [Live Science]
Searching for the “Free Will” Neuron
Instinct Can Beat Analytical Thinking
Is group brainstorming more effective if you do it standing up?
What is episodic memory good for?
Is finding that 'new' invention a massive mental leap from point A to point B, or are there scores of unnoticed intermediate steps in between? Pitt psychology researchers explore how engineers create
How often do men really think about sex?
Is It Really True That Watching Porn Will Shrink Your Brain?
The basic unit of neuronal communication and coding is the spike (or action potential), an electrical impulse of about a tenth of a volt that lasts for a bit less than a millisecond. How does the brain speak to itself?
Neuroscience patients who changed how we think about the brain
Participants had lower levels of physiological stress when at work than at home.
Human Foreskins are Big Business for Cosmetics
A man with almost no hair on his body has grown a full head of it after a novel treatment by doctors at Yale University. The patient has also grown eyebrows and eyelashes, as well as facial, armpit, and other hair, which he lacked at the time he sought help.
Time Travel Simulated by Australian Physicists
Big Bang backlash: BICEP2 discovery of gravity waves questioned by cosmologists
Blue Light Exposure before Evening Meal Linked to Increased Hunger
Ambient temperatures can influence the growth or loss of brown fat in people
Does temperature affect economic performance? Has temperature always affected social welfare through its impact on physical and cognitive function? While many studies have explored the indirect links between climate and welfare (e.g. agricultural yield, violent conflict, or sea-level rise), few address the possibility of direct impacts operating through human physiology. This paper presents a model of labor supply under thermal stress, building on a longstanding physiological literature linking thermal stress to health and task performance. […] We find that hotter-than-average years are associated with lower output per capita for already hot countries and higher output per capita for cold countries: approximately 3%-4% in both directions. [SSRN]
Causes of accidents by soy sauce squeezing residue and ?sh meal
On How Hygiene and Authenticity Shape Consumer Evaluations of Restaurants [PDF]
All-you-can-eat sushi restaurants should not exist. So why do they?
Why We Enjoy Chili Peppers, S&M, Gruesome Movies, and Other Unpleasant Experiences
Readers come to a page to consume content, not ads — so, does higher engagement with a part of a page actually correlate with higher engagement with the ad that's in view at that position?
How smartphones and sitting at a computer can ruin your posture
Why do your earphones get tangled in your pocket?
A 1999 outbreak of diarrheal illness affected 44% of patrons (an estimated 4800 people) who visited a new local interactive water fountain in a beachside park. Water recreation illnesses
This French tech school has no teachers, no books, no tuition
See how borders change on Google Maps depending on where you view them
NY Lawmakers Pass Bill Banning Pet Tattoos, Piercings
New York lawmakers approve ban on ‘tiger selfies’
New Yorkers are prone to wrinkling, a new study has found. Largely thanks to long, hard commute.
Safest and riskiest areas of New York's subway system