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J.K. Rowling’s characters turn up in medical literature, too
Los Angeles Times: For more than a decade, the phenomenally popular Harry Potter series has provided grist for medical studies on topics including genetics, social cognition and autism. PubMed, an online database of medical studies, lists 30 studies that invoke the young wizard. There's "Harry Potter and the Recessive Allele," "Harry Potter and the Structural Biologist's (Key)stone," and even "Harry Potter Casts a Spell on Accident-Prone Children." That last study found that children's emergency department visits decreased significantly when new Harry Potter books went on sale.
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Seek value, not status, when shopping
China Daily: I was in the States recently wearing my Armani suit that I bought in Beijing. Friends commented how great I looked and a stranger or two even stopped me to pay a compliment. Now I'm pretty sure Armani suits cost more than the $50 or so I paid and that probably holds true for my $75 prescription designer glasses, my $5 Polo shirts, and the $30 Adidas running shoes that have a Nike Swoosh on the front end. Or maybe I just got great deals. Read more: China Daily
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Horizon stare still best option to find sea legs
New Zealand Herald: There is little doubt that the dreaded mal de mer or seasickness is one of the worst and most debilitating of ailments that strike those trying to enjoy a day at sea. It is a peculiar malady, seemingly attacking people at random. Some of the worst boaties I have known - in terms of their ability, seamanship and knowledge of how things work - are the least affected by seasickness and can happily party on in the worst of conditions. Read more: New Zealand Herald
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Is Google Ruining Your Memory?
Wired: By now, you’ve probably heard about this smart study showing that Google is making you stupid, led by Betsy Sparrow at Columbia. The scientists demonstrated that the availability of the internet is changing the nature of what we remember, making us more likely to recall where the facts are rather than the facts themselves. Patricia Cohen of the Times summarizes the results: Dr. Sparrow and her collaborators, Daniel M. Wegner of Harvard and Jenny Liu of the University of Wisconsin, Madison, staged four different memory experiments. In one, participants typed 40 bits of trivia — for example, “an ostrich’s eye is bigger than its brain” — into a computer.
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Internet Use Affects Memory, Study Finds
The New York Times: The widespread use of search engines and online databases has affected the way people remember information, researchers are reporting. The scientists, led by Betsy Sparrow, an assistant professor of psychology at Columbia, wondered whether people were more likely to remember information that could be easily retrieved from a computer, just as students are more likely to recall facts they believe will be on a test. Dr. Sparrow and her collaborators, Daniel M. Wegner of Harvard and Jenny Liu of the University of Wisconsin, Madison, staged four different memory experiments.
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Baboon Study Shows Benefits for Nice Guys, Who Finish 2nd
The New York Times: At last, good news for the beta male. From the wild to Wall Street, as everyone knows, the alpha male runs the show, enjoying power over other males and, as a field biologist might put it, the best access to mating opportunities. The beta is No. 2 in the wolf pack or the baboon troop, not such a bad position. But conversationally, the term has become an almost derisive label for the nice guy, the good boy all grown up, the husband women look for after the fling with Russell Crowe. It may now be time to take a step back from alpha worship.
