In other news
dmunger | March 5, 2007The Neurophilosopher has a great list of neuroscience blogs. The ones I've added to my RSS feed are listed below.
Neuroevolution.
Madame Fathom.
Channel N.
Also via Neurophilosopher: This firsthand account of having electrodes implanted in the brain to combat Parkinsons' disease.
How some brains "rewire" themselves.
When assessing research conclusions, consider who funded the work.
Homework studies: Different countries offer different results.
Today's college students: more narcissistic than ever?
Online research: it's not just for Casual Fridays anymore. One lab at Harvard hopes to conduct…
dmunger | February 28, 2007Two new articles tackle the issue of whether most research is false... Which raises the question: how do we know whether this research is true? Or whether any of the links which follow are true? Undaunted, I'll continue...
Chris of Mixing Memory has a thoughtful article discussing research suggesting religion can have harmful effects.
When it comes to piloting planes, older pilots are generally better.
Subliminal messages found in Canadian slot machines. Really. Even though they probably don't work.
Come to think of it, it's odd that they'd need to. After all, money is the best incentive.…
dmunger | February 27, 2007Chris Chatham explains a new two-part model of working memory.
Older adults have too much confidence in their memory.
Genetic research may neglect effects of environment.
Do you miscommunicate more with people you know better? This may explain why.
To spank or not to spank: The Chicago Tribune assesses the research.
A new model for consumer self-discipline.
dmunger | February 22, 2007Do you read Cognitive Daily via Google Reader's "Science" bundle? Then you'll also want to subscribe to the ScienceBlogs Select feed. It was formerly only available internally to ScienceBloggers and editors, but now it's been made public. I think it's the best science feed in the world -- it consists of two or three handpicked posts per week from each blog on the network. It aggregates the posts the bloggers themselves most want to share with each other, and now it's available to you, too. Go check it out!
Speaking of ScienceBlogs, why not check out the newest blog on the network, Rob Knop's…
dmunger | February 21, 2007Mind Hacks has an intriguing post suggesting that databases used for identification might also track personality differences.
Could, for instance, a retinal scan identify an alcoholic?
Yet another neuroscientist tackles consciousness.
Does a flock of birds have consciousness?
How smart are chickens? They're definitely tasty!
dmunger | February 20, 2007I've been accumulating "in other news" items all weekend and only just now had the time to post them all. Enjoy!
Scientific American covers the stereotype threat (discussed on CogDaily last week).
Is "reform" math responsible for declining math performance? This is more convincing than the last video, but someone should tell this guy to stop reading his talk directly from his PowerPoint slides.
A guaranteed way to destroy public education.
Doctors may have discovered a way to teach patients about probability. But can they teach long division? (For more on patients and probability, see here)…
dmunger | February 15, 2007The Washington Post on the neurological basis of love.
Chris Chatham shows why dopamine is more than just the neurotransmitter of love.
Can praising kids' intelligence backfire?
Can vasectomies backfire?
Do chimps pass down skills?
Not like humans do.
Finally, for P.Z.: I don't think squid are beautiful, but they are mighty tasty! Thank God for squid!
dmunger | February 12, 2007Lots of "other news" today!
Sense of smell keeps on sniffing, even as we get older.
How the past, present, and future are reconstructed in our minds.
Composites of "hottest" and "nottest" faces...
...and an explanation of what's going on here.
A new (to me) carnival, "Brain Blogging" -- strives to go "beyond the basic sciences."
Action video games improve visual acuity (in addition to other visual abilities).
Babies prefer faces to other images.
Do schools ignore government requirements for curricula?
Nice article on the best approach to decision-making.
How "umming" helps speech.
Darwin Day…
dmunger | February 8, 2007Should iPods be banned from crosswalks? Bloggers respond, and so does Jake Young.
A model of how the brain processes time.
Do cigarette warning labels work? Yep.
One reason to believe that IQ can be improved.
Do you like experimental psychology? How about experimental Philosophy?
Encephalon will be at Mind Hacks next week. Submit now or forever hold your peace.
P.S.: Sorry for the lack of "in other news" posts this week -- we've had a perfect storm of child illnesses and technical glitches. We should be back on a regular publication schedule for the foreseeable future.
dmunger | February 1, 2007For air travelers, a carbon tax won't make them stay home. This is bad news. Can someone please invent a fuel-cell-powered jet?
A preview of the computer jet-setters won't be allowed to buy.
How hallucinogens work.
Plato thought writing would destroy memory. What will digital camcorders do?
dmunger | January 31, 2007As a lefty, how did I miss this one when it came out? Left-handers "think faster".
Why can't people tickle themselves?
Can a robot park New Yorkers' cars? It's an open question, especially since the cars aren't very good at parking themselves.
Even controlling our own limbs is a difficult problem.
The always-insightful Deric Bownds applies his reasoning to the problem of learning to play the piano.
The relationship (or lack thereof) between change blindness and attention.
Still hungry for more science links? Visit this week's Tangled Bank.
dmunger | January 30, 2007Publishers spending big bucks to try to stop the open-access publishing movement. Yes, these tactics are slimy, but are they not also a sign that open access is a real threat to commercial publishing?
Speaking of free science reporting, check out Encephalon at Sharp Brains.
Babel's Dawn describes ceremonial speech (based on my background in literary studies, I tend to call this "performative speech").
Is it always rational to think of humans as rational?
A calorie is a calorie, whether burned through exercise or saved through dieting.
Meanwhile, the search for the Holy Grail of dieting…
dmunger | January 29, 2007Are you smart or stupid? Take the test! Not scientific, but amusing nonetheless.
Another "interesting" application of IQ (Warning: photos of swastikas). Data is rather old here, but I'd be surprised if these correlations don't still hold up.
Fish may be more logical than the subjects of the previous link.
Cognitive Dissonance had a birthday. And I forgot to send a card. I'm exactly 10 years and three days younger than cognitive dissonance.
New book chronicles the rise of statistical measurement of Americans. Does Casual Fridays get a chapter?
Even if you're not an alcoholic, drinking too much…
dmunger | January 25, 2007Senses in the news:
This seems too good to be true:
But apparently it is true. See this paper and this blog post.
If you're lucky enough to have eyes, here's a good analysis of how all your visual inputs get put together into a single representation.
For robots, a sense of smell is important, too.
The next robotic challenge: door-to-door combat operations.
dmunger | January 24, 2007However you spin it, handedness changes with aging.
How Sapir-Whorf may still have life (via Mind Hacks). But see this analysis of the same data set.
How labels help us learn.
How computers help writers.
How you can get a job like Greta's -- or Chad's.
How neurons communicate with each other.
How computers might someday communicate with neurons.
dmunger | January 23, 2007Orac has an insightful post addressing concerns that Big Pharma won't develop non-patentable drugs.
Future worry: Big AI won't develop better robot nurses?
Current worry: Will Nintendo put Weight Watchers out of business?
Steven Pinker tackles consciousness.
Does the brain actually have a "resting mode"?
Is mental illness still a stigma? One answer.
Possible mechanism for the problem discussed this morning: Inability to drive well while talking.
Finally: Want to know what Greta and I were up to this weekend? More links than you'll ever manage to follow. Tip: start at the bottom.
dmunger | January 22, 2007NYT writer John Tierney discusses why women might want to be thinner than the optimal weight for attracting men.
Learning a second language impairs ability in your first language. A little bit, anyway. Apparently there is some truth to every ninth-grader's excuse for not doing his Spanish homework.
Does long-term use of narcotics for back pain lead to abuse? Is it effective? We don't really know.
Another kind of addiction?
Speaking of drugs, Jonah Lehrer examines a gaping hole in the drug-evaluation process.
dmunger | January 18, 2007A group of bloggers has begun an initiative to post on science only for the week beginning February 5. We're in, but then again, that's what we do every week!
Everything you want to know about the North Carolina Science Blogging Conference this weekend. We'll be there.
Everything you want to know about the Science Blogging Anthology. Corturnix really is good at these encyclopedic posts, isn't he?
Two new ScienceBlogs, both medical-related: Sign Out and ScienceToLife.
A great new (to me) blog on "cognitive robotics."
Truly bizarre: In some cases, shorter visual searches are more accurate than…
dmunger | January 17, 2007Industry-sponsored articles in medical journals are likely to be ghost-authored. Most often, data analysis is conducted by a person not listed among the study's authors.
New study explores why people believe conspiracy theories. Or so "they" want you to believe.
Stanford Prison Experiment on YouTube. I read the study many years ago, and that was enough for me. But if you haven't, or if you're still curious, take a look.
The concept of "nothing" existed before "zero".
"Scroll through and look for fireworks": Should neuroimaging be used more often for preventive medicine?
Note: We're trying a…