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Can Gamers help protect flights and airports?
Fox News: It’s the holiday season, which means getting on a plane goes from merely annoying to infuriating. Do you ever wonder whether those never-ending delays in baggage screening actually make you safer? An airport baggage screener who spots a dangerous item hidden in a cluttered bag can save countless lives, but how easy is it to spot a threat? A research team and a very popular app have joined forces to get you some answers. And the answer is: It isn’t easy. The results from the Duke University team just published in Psychological Science suggest that human airport screeners are more likely to miss unusual – and possibly dangerous – items. ...
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Residents of Poorer Nations Find Greater Meaning in Life
While residents of wealthy nations tend to have greater life satisfaction, new research shows that those living in poorer nations report having greater meaning in life. These findings, published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, suggest that meaning in life may be higher in poorer nations as a result of greater religiosity. As countries become richer, religion becomes less central to people’s lives and they lose a sense of meaning in life. “Thus far, the wealth of nations has been almost always associated with longevity, health, happiness, or life satisfaction,” explains psychological scientist Shigehiro Oishi of the University of Virginia.
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Museumsbesucher: Fotografieren schwächt die Erinnerung (Museum visitors: Photographing weakens the memory)
Der Spiegel: Jeder hat sie schon erlebt: Touristen, die mit der Kamera vor der Nase knipsend und filmend durchs Museum laufen. Früher machte man vielleicht fünf oder zehn Fotos pro Urlaubstag - in der Ära der Digitalkameras mit Speicherplatz für Tausende Aufnahmen aber drückt man man lieber dreimal mehr ab als einmal zu wenig. Die Fotos sollen das Gesehene festhalten - doch sie führen dazu, dass Museumsbesucher sich nur schlecht an die abgelichteten Objekte erinnern können. Dies haben Psychologen der Fairfield University (US-Bundesstaat Connecticut) bei einer Studie mit Freiwilligen herausgefunden.
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Tiny Foragers: How Do We Know What’s Safe to Eat?
The Huffington Post: It's the holiday season, and we'll soon be decorating our home with greenery -- holly sprigs, poinsettia, maybe a mistletoe, and of course the tree, probably some kind of spruce. We'll have young kids around, and most of this greenery is benign. But some of these plants are toxic, possibly even deadly, if eaten. So what we are doing in effect is creating a treacherous world for our youngest revelers to explore. Recreating, really. Our holiday home will be a microcosm of the ancient world in which our early ancestors lived and died.
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One Sibling Works for B’s; One Gets Easy A’s
The New York Times: Two weeks ago, I was hanging out after a speaking engagement, answering questions and chatting with some parents, when two women approached me with a great Parent-Teacher Conference question. These moms wanted to know how to parent siblings with differing talents and academic abilities. Specifically, one of the mothers wanted to know how she could best support one of her children, who works herself to the bone for B’s, while the other sibling seems to earn A’s with very little effort. As a parent of two boys with very different personalities, interests and skills, this is a question I’ve been itching to research myself. ...
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Standardized tests discriminate against the next Einsteins and Teslas
Quartz: At 16, Albert Einstein wrote his first scientific paper titled “The Investigation of the State of Aether in Magnetic Fields.” This was the result of his famous gedanken experiment in which he visually imagined chasing after a light beam. The insights he gained from this thought experiment led to the development of his theory of special relativity. At 5, Nikola Tesla informed his father that he would harness the power of water. What resulted was his creation of a water-powered egg beater. Tesla, who invented the basis of alternating current (AC) power systems, had the unusual talent to imagine his inventions entirely in his mind before building them.
