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The Future of Brain Implants
The Wall Street Journal: What would you give for a retinal chip that let you see in the dark or for a next-generation cochlear implant that let you hear any conversation in a noisy restaurant, no matter how loud? Or for a memory chip, wired directly into your brain's hippocampus, that gave you perfect recall of everything you read? Or for an implanted interface with the Internet that automatically translated a clearly articulated silent thought ("the French sun king") into an online search that digested the relevant Wikipedia page and projected a summary directly into your brain? Science fiction? Perhaps not for very much longer.
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A Study Seeks to Determine What Makes Prekindergarten Successful
The New York Times: The teacher held up a card with a number on it, then looked at the 4-year-olds waving their hands eagerly in front of her. “Anderson,” she said, calling on a small boy in a blue button-up shirt and a sweater vest. “Five,” Anderson said, correctly. “Good boy, Anderson,” the teacher said. Then she turned to the rest of the class. “Are you ready?” she said, and then, “Go!” At that, the children jumped up and down five times as they counted: “One! Two! Three! Four! Five!” This exercise, which held a prekindergarten class in Brooklyn riveted one morning last week, was not an effort to introduce high-impact aerobics into preschool.
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Good Results Are Worth the Wait. Self-Control Will Get You There.
Entrepreneur: The ability to manage our emotions and exert self-control is considered one of the cornerstones of emotional intelligence and a key predictor of personal and professional success. Yet, it doesn’t take a marshmallow test to figure out that most of us are not that great at behavioral self-control. Plans such as saving for retirement, losing weight or studying for exams often fail due to our inability to delay gratification when a new “toy,” a delicious cupcake or a night out with friends are also options on the table. We’re often quite aware that taking a long-term view would far better serve our interests and eventually provide the bigger rewards. ...
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How A Tiny Bit Of Procrastination Can Help You Make Better Decisions
Forbes: Waiting. We’ve all done it, and pretty much all of us hate it. Can science help us do it better? Sadly, when it comes to waiting in line at Disney Land, McDonalds, or the DMV, you’re at the mercy of the machine. All you can really do is think of sunny, sandy beaches and steer clear of anothing potentially antagonizing. But when it comes to another ubiquitous form of waiting, anticipating uncertain news or outcomes, Kate Sweeny has you covered. Waiting on information regarding your health, relationships, professional prospects, or academic outcomes can be torturous. Sweeny wants to alleviate the agony.
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The poor neglected gifted child
The Boston Globe: In 1971, researchers at Johns Hopkins University embarked on an ambitious effort to identify brilliant 12-year-olds and track their education and careers through the rest of their lives. The Study of Mathematically Precocious Youth, which now includes 5,000 people, would eventually become the world’s longest-running longitudinal survey of what happens to intellectually talented children (in math and other areas) as they grow up. It has generated seven books, more than 300 papers, and a lot of what we know about early aptitude. David Lubinski is a psychologist at Vanderbilt University, where the project has been based since the 1990s.
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Studying Contagious Yawning Might Help Us Build Better Societies
Scientific American: We often turn to dogs and to chimpanzees to understand our species. Chimpanzees are our closest relatives (with bonobos), while centuries of selective breeding have turned dogs into a species uniquely suited to comprehend our own social cues. If anybody can help us understand contagious yawning, it’s them. This week, primatologists Matthew Campbell and Frans de Waal of the Yerkes National Primate Research Center at Emory University added a new chapter to the ongoing story of contagious yawning. But to understand their findings, its worth looking back at the history of contagious yawning research and the ongoing controversy over whether it reflects empathy or not.
