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Extroverts Don’t Belong on Mars
The Atlantic: Extroverted friends are good for a lot of things—serving as deft and lively wingmen, spicing up book club, sparking interesting conversations at parties by wearing ostentatious leggings, etc. One thing they may be less suited for: Long voyages to faraway planets. Scientists are starting to think seriously about a manned flight to Mars. NASA isworking on a spacecraft that could eventually make it to the red planet and back. Netherlands-based Mars One plans to send a team of astronauts to Mars in 2024 to establish a permanent human colony. That's right: the Mars One is a one-way trip. These people are going to have to get along. ...
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Science Confirms Looking Angry Gets People To Do What You Want
The Huffington Post: If you’ve ever gotten the death glare from your parent, child or S.O., you already know the results of this new study to be true. New research in the journal Psychological Science shows that people are more likely to give in to an unfair demand when they are presented with a threatening facial expression. For one of the experiments in the study, 870 people played a negotiation game, which involved deciding how to split $1 between two people.
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A Sense of Time Requires a Sense of Space
Scientific American: We often think of the abstract idea of time in the concrete terms of space, saying we are “looking forward to the weekend” or “putting the past behind us.” These adages may be more than just metaphors. A study published in January in Psychological Science suggests that thinking of space may be a necessity to conceptualize time. When people's minds are not able to accurately understand space, researchers found, they have difficulty with time as well. ...
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Roughhousing Lessons From Dad
The Wall Street Journal: There is no question among researchers that fathers who spend time with their children instill self-control and social skills in their offspring. Exactly how dads do that, however, is largely a mystery. Thousands of studies have sliced and diced the benefits for children of a close, nurturing bond with Mom. Researchers have a harder time analyzing the ways fathers interact with children, such as rough-and-tumble play. Read the whole story: The Wall Street Journal
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Science Explains The Enduring Appeal Of Bland, Symmetrical Layouts
Fast Company: From a literary standpoint, the New Yorker is one of the most engaging publications out there. From a design standpoint, the print magazine seems to embrace the idea that less is more. It's common for full pages of text to flow through three symmetrical columns with few, if any, visual interruptions. Some might say there's a minimal elegance to the style, others might call it a little monotonous, but everyone would agree that it emphasizes words over their presentation. Whether the magazine realizes it or not, these two hallmarks--engaging stories and symmetrical monotony--might not be as unconnected as they appear.
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Literally Touching Greatness Can Increase Your Creativity
Pacific Standard: Do you wish you were more creative? Would it help if you played Mozart’s piano, sat down at Dickens’ writing desk, or switched on Steve Jobs’ laptop? If you’re the sort of logic-driven person who answered “Of course not,” then, no, it wouldn’t. But if your way of processing information is more intuitive, it just might. That’s the implication of newly published research, which finds handling an object previously used by a highly innovative person can boost the creative output of some individuals, apparently by elevating their confidence level.
