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‘Shrimp On A Treadmill’: The Politics Of ‘Silly’ Studies
NPR: Biologist Lou Burnett was in his car when his cellphone rang recently. It was a CNN reporter, asking about the fact that his research had been featured in a new report about wasteful government spending. That was news to Burnett, who works at the College of Charleston in South Carolina. "I was pretty irritated," he recalls. The report, put out by Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK), blasted the National Science Foundation, a major government funder of research, saying it squandered taxpayer money on questionable science projects, including one pursued by Burnett and his colleagues that involved putting shrimp on a tiny treadmill.
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The Spoiler Paradox: How Knowing a Spoiler Makes a Story Better, Not Worse
Huffington Post: Storytelling is a universal human trait, spanning cultures, civilizations and time. We love a good story, and since we have been telling stories for thousands of years, we know what makes for a good story and exciting experience. Or do we? One of our favorite parts of a good story is the ending, and we go through great lengths just to avoid overhearing the ending of a movie we haven't seen or a book we haven't read. And when we unfortunately do overhear the end, we feel our experience is now spoiled. After all, that's why they call them "spoilers." Read more: Huffington Post
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No Surprise for Bisexual Men: Report Indicates They Exist
The New York Times: In an unusual scientific about-face, researchers at Northwestern University have found evidence that at least some men who identify themselves as bisexual are, in fact, sexually aroused by both women and men. That conclusion outraged bisexual men and women, who said it appeared to support a stereotype of bisexual men as closeted homosexuals. In the new study, published online in the journal Biological Psychology, the researchers relied on more stringent criteria for selecting participants. To improve their chances of finding men aroused by women as well as men, the researchers recruited subjects from online venues specifically catering to bisexuals.
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Marriage tied to longer survival after heart bypass
CBS News: Married people have a better shot at long-term survival after heart bypass surgery. In fact, happily married husbands and wives who have the surgery are more than three times as likely as single folks to be alive 15 years later, a new study showed. The life-sustaining benefit of marriage is "every bit as important to survival after bypass surgery as more traditional risk factors like tobacco use, obesity, and high blood pressure," study author Dr. Harry Reis, a professor of psychology at the University of Rochester, said in a written statement.
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Rethinking The Five Stages Of Grief
Hartford Courant: More than 40 years after psychiatrist Elisabeth Kübler-Ross developed her theory on the five stages of grief, bereavement experts are questioning how well her theories have held up. "It just doesn't work anymore," said Joseph Nowinski, of the Kübler-Ross model. "Technology has transformed death." Nowinski, a University of Connecticut professor of psychology, and Barbara Okun, a professor of counseling psychology at Northeastern University, co-wrote "Saying Goodbye," a book about what they call "the new grief." As advances in medicine allow people diagnosed with terminal illnesses to live longer, the grieving process is also extended.
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Book explains why people do poorly under pressure; video captures bicycle stunts
The Washington Post: When the going gets tough, sometimes the tough make embarrassing last-minute mistakes. In her book, newly available in paperback, psychologist Sian Beilock examines the mental forces that drive golfers to miss easy putts, cause businessmen to bungle presentations and may have caused you to nuke yourself during that Mario Cart match against your housemates last weekend. Read the whole story: The Washington Post
