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Did You Ever Wonder Whether Rats Laugh?
Scientific American: Jaak Panksepp of Washington State University woke up one morning and told his students: “let’s go tickle some rats.” Panksepp wondered whether the rat chirps his laboratory had been studying were actually a form of animal laughter. Panksepp recounts what he found in this video and in an account of his work by Jesse Bering in a chapter from Bering’s new book Why Is the Penis Shaped Like That? . . . And Other Reflections on Being Human, published this year by Scientific American/Farrar, Straus and Giroux. Read the whole story: Scientific American
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To Think Outside the Box, It Helps to Have a Box
Bloomberg Business Week: Literally following metaphors of creative thinking—actually sitting “outside the box” to complete word tasks, for example—enhances creative problem-solving, according to a recent study by the University of Michigan Ross School of Business professors Jeffrey Sanchez-Burks and Suntae Kim. To draw these conclusions, they assembled a team of international researchers who conducted five studies with nearly 400 college students who literally followed metaphors. Participants, for instance, generated ideas while first holding out their left hand and then their right hand to test “on the one hand, then on the other hand.” Read the whole story: Bloomberg Business Week
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Thirtysomethings flex their number sense
ScienceNews: Even 6-month-old babies can rapidly estimate approximate numbers of items without counting. But surprisingly, an apparently inborn sense for numbers doesn’t top out until around age 30. Number sense precision gradually declines after that, generally falling to preteen levels by about age 70, say psychologist Justin Halberda of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore and his colleagues. They report the findings, based on Internet testing of more than 10,000 volunteers ages 11 to 85, online the week of June 25 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
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Why We Lie, Go to Prison and Eat Cake: 10 Questions With Dan Ariely
Wired: A professor of behavioral economics and psychology at Duke University, Ariely is the author of Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces that Shape Our Decisions, and The Upside of Irrationality: The Unexpected Benefits of Defying Logic, both New York Times bestsellers. Ariely’s new book, The (Honest) Truth About Dishonesty, explores some of the surprising reasons we lie to each other, and ourselves. Raised in Israel, Ariely holds Ph.D.s in both business administration and psychology. Wired senior editor Joanna Pearlstein spoke with Ariely as part of the Live Talks Business Forums series at the City Club of Los Angeles.
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Is Feeling Bad a Luxury Problem?
In Judith Viorst’s classic children’s book, Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, Alexander wakes up with chewing gum in his hair—and everything goes downhill from there. He trips on his skateboard, and drops his sweater in the sink. He doesn’t get a window seat in the car, and the dentist tells him he has a cavity. His mother makes him get white sneakers, instead of the blue and red-striped ones he coveted. He’s forced to eat lima beans for dinner, and there’s kissing on TV. To top it all, his nightlight burns out just as he’s getting ready for bed. Alexander's plight resonates not just for kids, but also for any adult who has ever whined about a luxury problem.
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There’s A Reason Americans Pass By Homeless People In The Street Without A Second Glance
Business Insider: Some people's willingness to accept income inequality has everything to do with their perception of choice, Pacific Standard's Tom Jacobs reports.
