The science of the will to fight.
The Economist has an interesting piece on military psychology – specifically, the research going into predicting when an opponent who is outgunned and outmanned will […]
psychology
LSD use is rising among older folks – and it’s probably because people are looking for a way out. Even if it’s way out.
Scientific American analyzes the rise in LSD use and finds that it’s probably an attempt to lighten up – or at least get a new […]
Smiling behind the mask
Scientific American shares (in an interview with facial expression and emotion researcher Ursula Hess, deputy dean at Humboldt University) some of the physiology behind a […]
Eye-tracking study: Men check out other men’s chests more than women do.
PsyPost shares research from Evolutionary Psychological Science that finds that dudes, like, check out each other’s pecs all the time (comparatively): “If having a larger […]
Dogs help kids read, just by being there and listening.
University of British Columbia literacy researchers find that kids who read to a dog are more likely to stay on task and finish even challenging […]
Your cat really does love you.
Or so PopSci would have you believe. That’s their take on behaviorist Kristyn Vitale’s Oregon State University study of the bonding styles of cats: Both […]
Science Art: From Theosophia Practica, by Johann Georg Gichtel, 1696
Click to embiggen A secret body around our visible body, from the 1600s. A subtle anatomy. Planetary correspondences. This is where we get the idea […]
Toddlers tend to choose the last item in a set… (file under “parenting” or maybe “preschool politics”)
Science News has a discovery that should at least change the way research methods and court examinations are carried out. Very young kids have an […]
Deprived kids feel the effects two decades later.
Medical Xpress (via PhysOrg) reports on a long-term Boston Children’s Hospital study of institutionalized children from Romanian orphanages – the Bucharest Early Intervention Project (BEIP). […]
The more extreme your politics, the less you can think about how you think.
Popular Science follows University of London researchers as they experiment on True Believers of any persuasion – and find that those who hold extreme beliefs […]
Is polarization inevitable? Can we *not* agree to disagree?
The American Council on Science and Health thinks disagreements over facts – even ones based on scientific evidence – may well naturally lead to the […]
SONG: Picture on Your Phone
SONG: “Picture on Your Phone” [Download] . ARTIST: grant. SOURCE: Science Direct, Vol. 27, Dec. 2018, “’Selfie’ harm: Effects on mood and body image in […]
Statistics are complicated, right? Well, thinking that is why we tend to get misled.
Ars Technica keeps it simple, smart, with a new study that shows why statistics can be the third kind of lie* – sometimes the hard […]
We stick to false beliefs because reactions matter more than evidence.
Science Daily reports (factually) on a UC Berkeley study that reveals how the feedback we get makes us so certain about our wrong beliefs: “If […]
Posting selfies damages your self-image.
Science Direct has a social media study from psychologists at Toronto’s York University and Adelaide’s Flinders University, who’ve found that women feel worse about themselves […]