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The emoticon on your face
Boston Globe: What’s in a face? We generally see it as a window into our inner lives — so much so that it’s possible to read our emotions from our facial expressions. And in recent decades, we have become enchanted by the notion that with a little specialized knowledge, we can read these feelings very, very accurately. A program launched at Logan Airport last year has trained security personnel to converse with passengers while scanning their facial movements for suspicious emotions. Companies like Affectiva, a spinoff of MIT’s Media Lab, are developing ways to automatically judge a person’s mood in part by observing the movements of facial muscles.
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Valentine’s Day shoppers spending more this year
USA Today: Cupid wants your money, and he'll get more of it than ever this Valentine's Day. John Smith of Alexandria, Va., plans on dropping about $400 treating his wife to flowers, jewelry and dinner. And he isn't the only one splurging. Consumers are expected to spend more this Valentine's Day than in the last 10 years, making February's ode to Cupid second only to the Christmas season in consumer spending, according to a National Retail Federation survey of more than 8,000 people, conducted by consumer surveyor BIGinsight. Those celebrating Valentine's Day will spend an average of $126.03, up 8.5% from 2011 and the most since NRF began the survey 10 years ago.
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Internet Cupids often miss their mark: researchers
Chicago Tribune: Combing dating websites for that perfect love match can be very frustrating, and a group of U.S. psychology professors released a report on Monday explaining why there is no substitute for meeting face-to-face. "Online dating is a terrific addition for singles to meet. That said, there are two problems," report author Eli Finkel, an associate professor of psychology at Northwestern University, said in an interview. First, poring over seemingly endless lists of profiles of people one does not know, as on Match.com, does not reveal much about them. Second, it "overloads people and they end up shutting down," Finkel said. Read the full story: Chicago Tribune See Eli J.
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“Likes long walks in the woods on autumn days”
Valentine’s Day is for many just a cruel reminder that they have not yet found the love of their life, their soul mate, their life partner. And let’s face it, finding that special person can be tough in 21st century America. The village matchmakers are long gone, along with the villages themselves, and most of us are spread far and wide, without the traditional networks of family and old friends. That’s why millions are turning to on-line dating services, which promise to use math and science to find people dates—and often more than dates, life partners. But how reliable are these popular services, and the matchmaking algorithms they use?
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Study Proves the Last is the Best – Last Chocolate, Last Kiss and Last Interviewee
International Business Times: They say the best is yet to be and now psychologists say the best is the last! Psychologists at the University of Michigan claim to have proved that whether it is a chocolate or sweet or even a kiss, it is the last one which is the best. In a new study published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, lead psychologist Ed O'Brien has explained that while endings affect us in many ways, the "positivity effect" theory could have the best impact. O'Brien noted that the "last-is-best" theory, when applied in daily life, did have some significance. "It doesn't even have to be a real last one to be experienced as best".
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How a Book about the Future Inspired Me to Look into the Neural Underpinnings of the Past
Scientific American: I’m about to make an embarrassing (to science fiction fans) confession: until last week, I had never read Dune. I wasn’t even aware that I was supposed to have read Dune. Nor did I know I should be embarrassed at the failure. Consider me properly chastised. Fifteen or so years too late, I have finally finished the book that calls itself—on the cover of the 40th anniversary edition—“science fiction’s supreme masterpiece.” I wouldn’t go quite that far, but I will say that I was surprised by the accuracy of some of its insights into the human psyche, especially when it comes to our ability to deal with stressful situations. Read the full story: Scientific American
