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How to fool Houdini and avoid fooling yourself
Scientific American: Last week, Alex Stone taught Wall Street Journal readers the world round how to steal a watch. It’s probably a safe bet that fellow magicians were none too pleased. Nor are they likely to have gotten a kick out of Stone’s new book, Fooling Houdini (out today), where the watch theft maneuver is but one of the effects that the amateur magician so shamelessly reveals. Shamelessly, that is, if you’re playing by the traditional rules of magic conduct, where, as Stone puts it, “exposure is seen as a form of vandalism,” something that “deadens the mystery and tarnishes the brand, shrinking all the grandeur in magic to the scale of an intellectual puzzle.” But does it really?
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La simple pensée de prendre un verre peut aider à se relaxer (The thought of a drink can help to relax)
Slate France: Lundi soir, 18 heures, votre journée a été stressante et vous vous apprêtez à ouvrir une bouteille de vin. Arrêtez tout de suite, ce n’est pas la peine. D’après une étude, le fait de penser à du vin permettrait de se relaxer, rapporte CNBC. Les chercheurs de l’université de Wellington, de Harvard et de l’université de Plymouth ont découvert ce qu’ils appellent «un phénomène de suggestion». Pour être clair, cela signifie que la simple suggestion de quelque chose, comme un verre de vin ou un médicament, peut avoir un effet réel sur une situation donnée. Read the whole story: Slate France
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The Eyes Reveal More Than We Might Think – Research Findings from Psychological Science
Our eyes don’t just take in the world around us, they can also reflect our emotional state, influence our memories, and provide clues about the way we think. Here is some of the latest research from the journals Psychological Science and Current Directions in Psychological Science in which scientists show there’s much more to the eyes than people might think. Pupil Dilation Reflects the Creation and Retrieval of Memories Many people know that our pupils shrink when our eyes adjust to bright light, but the size and movement of our pupils can also reflect what’s going on inside our brains. Psychological scientists use pupillometry to measure cognitive processes such as attention and memory.
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Happiness rooted in respect, not money
United Press International: Overall happiness is related to respect and admiration in your inner circle, not how much money a person has in his or her bank account, U.S. researchers say. Cameron Anderson of the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley, and co-authors conducted a series of studies based on the hypothesis that higher sociometric status -- respect and admiration in your face-to-face groups, such as friendships, neighborhoods or athletic teams -- might make a difference in overall happiness. In one study, the researchers surveyed 80 college students who participated in 12 different campus groups.
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Brain Games May Curb Risky Impulses
LiveScience: Certain brain training exercises could make people less impulsive, and in turn, cut down on risky behaviors, a new study suggests. The "training" involves engaging in a task that requires people to inhibit their movements. For instance, participants in the study were told to press a button when they saw a certain image, but to restrain from pressing the button if the image suddenly turned boldface. When participants took part in such "inhibition training," they were less likely to place risky bets in a gambling game two hours later, the researchers said.
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Do animals from geographically distant areas speak the same language?
The Washington Post: A friend recently asked me whether black bears in Appalachia have Southern accents and whether they have trouble understanding black bears raised in Canada or Alaska. Taken literally, those are notions more fit for a Disney movie than a scientist. In a more abstract sense, however, it’s a profound inquiry that fascinates zoologists and psychologists alike. Is communication learned or innate in nonhuman animals? Can geographically distant groups of the same species develop local culture: unique ways of eating, playing and talking to each other? I posed those questions to Darcy Kelley, a Columbia University professor who studies animal communications.
