Some people like to have a few close friends, while others prefer a wider social circle that is perhaps less deep. Research suggests that the optimal approach may depend on socioeconomic conditions. More
The New York Times: In a Cairo school basement, two dozen women analyze facial expressions on laptops, training the computers to recognize anger, sadness and frustration. At Cambridge University, an eerily realistic robotic head named Charles sits in a driving simulator, furrowing its brows, looking interested or confused. And in More
In recent years, educators have come to focus more and more on the importance of lab-based experimentation, hands-on participation, student-led inquiry, and the use of “manipulables” in the classroom. The underlying rationale seems to be that students are better able to learn when they can control the flow of their More
No jar exists that is large enough to contain Planet Earth. Most social and behavioral scientists who study the planet as a whole concede that they can’t set up controlled experiments like scientists who study animals or humans in the laboratory. But one sociologist believes that scientists can build that More
Several movies have tried and failed to generate lifelike animations of humans. For example, the lifeless faces in Polar Express made people uncomfortable because they tried to emulate life but didn’t get it quite right. “There’s something fundamentally important about seeing a face and knowing that the lights are on More
msnbc: A century ago, psychologists identified “the uncanny” as an experience that seems familiar yet foreign at the same time, causing some sort of brain confusion and, ultimately, a feeling of fear or repulsion. Originally no more than a scientific curiosity, this psychological effect has gradually emerged as a profound More
