January 2010
93 posts
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Expression through points of light →
A really fun tool for people who are interested in movement and physical expression of emotion and other characteristics. Biological motion is yet another example of how completely awesome psychology really is.
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reckless-abandon:
3stripedsocks!
you’re my 300th follower. wow. hi.
:]
Woohoo! Do I get a prize?
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Architecture for Humanity's "Steal this Plan" for... →
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Geographic fractal →
An island in a lake on an island in a lake on an island. Seriously.
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When your brain gets the joke →
The neurology and cognitive processes involved in humor and getting jokes.
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Self-Control and Peer Groups →
Ego-depletion - or the hypothesized temporary depletion of willpower - was the topic of my thesis. I wonder how resistance to ego-depletion is affected by social modeling…health psychology people, get ye to thy labs!
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WatchIt’s an Eleni Mandell kind of night tonight.
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Shoes may have changed the way we run →
H/t Gerry.
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Massive Earthquake Reveals Entire Island... →
God bless The Onion. H/t Spork.
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PechaKucha and Architects for Humanity: Haiti →
“In a matter of seconds, thousands of lives and dreams were destroyed in Haiti.
In response, the global PechaKucha family is coming together with Architecture for Humanity to lend a hand in rebuilding Haiti. Please help us spread the word about our global event in February: 20 images, 20 seconds, 200 cities, 2,000 presentations, 200,000 people.”
A description of PechaKucha:
...
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Willpower and the prefrontal cortex →
More ego-depletion research in the news!
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Moscow stray dogs riding subways →
“For every 300 Muscovites, there’s a stray dog wandering the streets of Russia’s capital. And according to Andrei Poyarkov, a researcher at the A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution, the fierce pressure of urban living has driven the dogs to evolve wolf-like traits, increased intelligence, and even the ability to navigate the subway.” (via)
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Carnivorous clock powers itself by eating flies →
“The duo’s projects were designed to be slightly uncomfortable, with a malignant edge, Loizeau says.
“‘What we’re doing with this is asking people if they would be interested in using living things as fuel — things we normally consider pests and things we normally dispose of, but once it’s actively used as a fuel, how comfortable they feel with...
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The obituary to the last double nuclear survivor →
“WHEN he had stopped crying, Tsutomu Yamaguchi would tell you why he called his book of poems “The Human Raft”. It had to do with the day he forgot to take his personal name-stamp to work, and had to get off the bus. Much was on his mind that morning. He had to pack his bags to leave Hiroshima after a three-month assignment as an engineer in the Mitsubishi shipyard; there were goodbyes to...
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Charity recommends mindfulness meditation as a... →
Mindfulness meditation was one of the main subjects of my master’s thesis, and it’s a topic I can talk at great lengths about. A few comments about this article: First of all, I know it’s an article written for laypeople, but don’t use the word “proven” in terms of a therapy technique…or really in general. You don’t prove things in the sciences,...
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Homeopathy skeptics plan massive overdose →
“More than 300 people who style themselves as “homoeopathy sceptics” will each swallow an entire bottle of homoeopathic pills in protest at the continued marketing of homoeopathic medicines by Boots, the high street chemist chain.” (via Whitechapel)
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Magnetic brain activity to diagnose PTSD →
Really interesting idea, but much further research would be needed (in my opinion) before turning it into a diagnostic tool. For example, I would like to see how this activity changes over time with treatment, or the activity in those with acute stress disorder (PTSD of less than a month). H/t Gerry.
WatchThe Daily Show on the Scott Brown win.
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“If Back to the Future were made today (in 2010), Marty would have travelled back...”
– kottke (via thatisawesome)
This made me choke when I read that. WAY TO MAKE ME FEEL OLD, KOTTKE.
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Doctor with Partners in Health: "There are no... →
With the reports of “looting” in Haiti, I think this is an incredibly important statement to make. PIH is a very credible organization, founded by Paul Farmer and others giants in the field of global health practice. Via my buddy Stephen.
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The role of "neutral" journalism among the urban... →
An incredibly timely piece, particularly with the current reporting in Haiti. Also, there’s this choice quote:
“However, out-of-touch reporters endanger the potential of information as an instrument for change by alienating poor populations, who feel they are the subject of voyeurism, are endangering themselves or that reports never benefit them.”
This seems touches on a theme...
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Handwriting research: detecting liars →
Those of you who have known me for a while know I did a handwriting analysis (“graphology”) internship for 6 months in high school. I thoroughly believed in the validity of the field at the time, but I’ve gotten significantly more skeptical of it after having studied psychology for a while. This article describes a study done at an Israeli university looking at pressure and...
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Long term consequences: mental health and Haiti →
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Propaganda research →
Why it works, how it works.
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The act of charity as social connection →
This article discusses the different parts of the brain that are involved in making a decision to give to charity or not, and why social media have been changing the emotional impact of a disaster in another part of the world. Really interesting.