‘Nothing is so useless as a general maxim.’ —Thomas Macaulay
“you only have 100k because of ur url.”
“uh no i had 93k before i got this url so excuse u.”
art { Ellsworth Kelly, Diagonal lines, 1951 | James Marshall, Untitled 7, 2015 }
‘When we are tired, we are attacked by ideas we conquered long ago.’ —Nietzsche
Theory of Mind (ToM) is the ability to understand the perspectives, mental states and beliefs of others in order to anticipate their behaviour and is therefore crucial to social interactions.
Although fMRI has been widely used to establish the neural networks implicated in ToM, little is known about the timing of ToM-related brain activity.
We used magnetoencephalography (MEG) to measure the neural processes underlying ToM, as MEG provides very accurate timing and excellent spatial localization of brain processes. We recorded MEG activity during a false belief task, a reliable measure of ToM, in twenty young adults (10 females). […]
Our findings extend the literature by demonstrating the timing and duration of neural activity in the main regions involved in the “mentalizing” network, showing that activations related to false belief in adults are predominantly right lateralized and onset around 100 ms.
still { Total Recall, 1990 }
The defender must build a perfect wall to keep out all intruders, while the offense need find only one chink in the armor through which to attack
The air-support division of the Los Angeles Police Department operates out of a labyrinthine building on Ramirez Street in the city’s downtown, near the Los Angeles River. […]
The division began with a single helicopter in 1956, and it now has 19 in all, augmented by a King Air fixed-wing plane. The aircrews operate in a state of constant readiness, with at least two helicopters in flight at any given time for 21 hours of every day. A ground crew is suited up and on call for the remaining three, between 5 a.m. and 8 a.m. On weekends, considered peak hours, the number of airborne helicopters goes up to three, although in a crisis the division might send as many as four or five “ships” up at once. […]
The heavily restricted airspace around Los Angeles International Airport, Burdette pointed out, has transformed the surrounding area into a well-known hiding spot for criminals trying to flee by car. Los Angeles police helicopters cannot always approach the airport because of air-traffic-control safety concerns. Indeed, all those planes, with their otherwise-invisible approach patterns across the Southern California sky, have come to exert a kind of sculptural effect on local crimes across the city: Their lines of flight limit the effectiveness of police helicopter patrols and thus alter the preferred getaway routes.
painting { Michael Chow }
‘I wonder if Superman ever put glasses on Lois Lane’s dog & she was like, “I’ve never seen this dog before. Is this a new dog?’ —Rob Fee
Katy Perry, Billy Joel and Rod Stewart are asking the U.S. government to reform provisions of copyright law that they say enrich large technology companies at their expense.
The three are among the more than 100 artists and managers who have filed petitions asking the U.S. Copyright Office to amend parts of the 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act. The office has said it will study the effects of so-called safe harbor provisions in the law, which shield services such as YouTube from liability when users upload copyrighted material without permission. […]
The industry is stepping up its fight as streaming becomes a more significant source of sales. Revenue from such services increased 29 percent last year, according to the Recording Industry Association of America, with most of that growth coming from paid subscription services that license music. Sales of CDs, along with online purchases of music, are shrinking.
painting { Dan Witz }
Every day, the same, again
Scientists figured out how to steal any 3D printed product just from the sounds the printer make
Demolition company knocks down wrong house, blames Google Maps
Unfamiliar with irony, Swiss bankers are complaining of a “lack of transparency”
Exposed to a deluge of digital photos, we’re feeling the psychological effects of image overload.
The paradox of fiction: Emotional response toward fiction and the modulatory role of self-relevance.
What Engineers Can Learn From the Design of the Penis
This Negative Facial Expression Is ‘Universal’
How many decimals of pi do we actually need?
Poker Theory and Analytics is a graduate-level MIT course taught by Kevin Desmond, a former pro player and Morgan Stanley analyst. The school offers the course online, meaning video lectures, assignments, and class notes are available to anyone for free.
Welcome to the Hotel Antartica
Japan invents electric ’salt-flavoured fork’
Scientists Slowly Reintroducing Small Group Of Normal, Well-Adjusted Humans Into Society
89 flowers on their back… inventors of the Accu-jack
MasterCard and Visa didn’t make, or even look, for profits for decades. MasterCard started as a not-for-profit membership association, in 1966, and Visa did the same, in 1971. Both associations managed their brands and ran the clearing and settlement systems for banks that issued cards or helped merchants accept cards. These card networks were allowed to charge their members just enough to cover cost and provide working capital. […]
Then the banks decided to turn the associations into for-profit companies, IPO them, and cash out. MasterCard IPO’d in 2006, and Visa followed two years later. Now they are very focused on making money. […]
Many other multisided platforms haven’t made the leap to making money. […] Standard Setting Organizations (SSOs) are multisided platforms that help members reach agreements over a standard (For example, mobile carriers, handset makers, chip providers and many others have to agree on a common standard — like 4G — for what they do to work together.) The SSO usually publishes a standard and disseminates it at low cost or even for free. That standard may then become a platform for many firms that produce complementary products and their customers.
Every day, the same, again
Hackers Modify Water Treatment Parameters by Accident
Maserati Recalls 28,000 Cars For Stuck Accelerators
No more washing: Nano-enhanced textiles clean themselves with light
Male preference for female pubic hair: an evolutionary view
Most Popular Theories of Consciousness Are Worse Than Wrong
How does genetics explain non-identical identical twins?
The psychology of shoppers and return policies: More leniency on time limits is associated with a reduction — not an increase — in returns. [Washington Post]
Banned From Amazon for Returning 37 Things
Wikimedia and Facebook have given Angolans free access to their websites, but not to the rest of the internet. So, naturally, Angolans have started hiding pirated movies and music in Wikipedia articles and linking to them on closed Facebook groups.
Some security experts say that you should block online ads just to stay safe
Researchers uncover the origins of fairy tales through evolutionary biology’s methods
How Gender Neutral Is Guys, Really?
AI-written novel passes literary prize screening
Skateboarding is, among other things, a marriage of chaos and discernment. Tricks—whether a Slappy, No Comply, or Caballerial, a backside Smith grind, switch Tre flip, Madonna, Indy Nosebone, or McTwist—are exactly defined, and there’s a shared world of aesthetics, but tastes vary widely, and it’s understood that the most interesting skaters will always find ways to undo expectations.
Madonna busted for posting fake signs to hoard NYC parking spaces
Drone Gives 360 Degree View of Rainbow [Thanks Tim]
Percentage of scientific paper titles containing “observations” or “data” in the past century
Excuse me but I need a mouth like yours
Consuming alcohol, for example, really can make everyone else appear more physically attractive. […]
Also, playing hard-to-get almost never works. […]
Despite what many people think, opposites very rarely attract. In fact, decades of research has shown that attraction is most likely to be sparked when two people perceive themselves as being very similar to each other.
‘I have principles. If you don’t like them I have others.’ —Groucho Marx
264 right-handed, 246 mixed-handed and 360 left-handed students were requested to indicate on five maps of cinema halls what place they would choose. All three handedness groups showed a preference for the right and a corresponding directional bias towards the left space. However, they differed significantly from each other on the magnitude of this bias which was most pronounced in right and less in left handers. […]
It is hypothesized that right, mixed and left handers differ in a large number of behavioral choices and strategies, modeled by cerebrally lateralized mechanisms and that the cinema seating preference is only one of them.
still { Jean-Luc Godard, Nouvelle vague, 1990 }
One world, ready or not
Many situations in our lives require us to make relatively quick decisions as whether to approach or avoid a person or object, buy or pass on a product, or accept or reject an offer. These decisions are particularly difficult when there are both positive and negative aspects to the object. How do people go about navigating this conflict to come to a summary judgment? […]
We demonstrate […] that when positivity and negativity conflict, the valence that is based more on emotion is more likely to dominate.
{ Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin | Continue reading }
The metaphor of ‘the cloud’
First, they find that people who live in more densely populated areas tend to report less satisfaction with their life overall. “The higher the population density of the immediate environment, the less happy” the survey respondents said they were. Second, they find that the more social interactions with close friends a person has, the greater their self-reported happiness.
But there was one big exception. For more intelligent people, these correlations were diminished or even reversed. […]
“More intelligent individuals were actually less satisfied with life if they socialized with their friends more frequently.”
Where would an investigator look for control hairs in a missing person’s case?
Piper Jaffray analyst Stan Meyers said animated films generally cost about $100 million to make, as well as an additional $150 million to promote.
An executive producer who wants to drastically cut costs traditionally has two choices: water and hair. Those are the most expensive things to replicate accurately via animation. It’s no mistake that the characters in Minions, the most profitable movie ever made by Universal, are virtually bald and don’t seem to spend much time in the ocean.
The new What Went Wrong Foundation
This study aims to investigate the frequency and amount of female DNA transferred to the penis and underwear of males following staged nonintimate social contact with females and to compare the findings with the amount of female DNA transferred to the penis and subsequently to the underwear of a male who had engaged in unprotected sexual intercourse with a female. […]
It was possible to demonstrate that DNA can occasionally transfer to the waistband and outside front of underwear worn by a male following staged nonintimate social contact.
Every day, the same, again
Baltimore woman sues after being ‘literally covered in feces’ by toilet explosion
We feel more authentic when we’re with other people and behave as they expect us to
People who weigh more than others see distances as farther away
How often does psychotherapy make people feel worse?
Linguist analyzes Trump attack haiku
The academic publishing market that Elsevier leads has an annual revenue of $25.2 billion. According to its 2013 financials Elsevier had a higher percentage of profit than Apple, Inc.
The Man Who Sold the Eiffel Tower, Twice
Are You Orgasming Without Even Knowing It? I was, until I masturbated for science.
‘Tu as été rêvée (ouïe) dans mon rêve sans l’avoir voulu. Mais cela ne t’autorise pas à y rêver à ton tour pour me déposséder encore. Je ne connais pas les soins pour que tu ne souffres plus. Le son, la musique sont partout.’ —Jean Palomba
Researchers at Brigham Young University and Colorado State University have found that the noise your food makes while you’re eating can have a significant effect on how much food you eat.
The “Crunch Effect,” as they call it, suggests you’re likely to eat less if you’re more conscious of the sound your food makes while you’re eating. Therefore, watching loud TV or listening to loud music while eating can mask eating sounds that keep you in check.
To be clear, the researchers are not talking about the sizzle of bacon, the crack of crème brulee or popcorn popping. The effect comes from the sound of mastication: chewing, chomping, crunching.
Obsession can replace reality
Two mathematicians have uncovered a simple, previously unnoticed property of prime numbers — those numbers that are divisible only by 1 and themselves. Prime numbers, it seems, have decided preferences about the final digits of the primes that immediately follow them.
Among the first billion prime numbers, for instance, a prime ending in 9 is almost 65 percent more likely to be followed by a prime ending in 1 than another prime ending in 9. In a paper posted online today, Kannan Soundararajan and Robert Lemke Oliver of Stanford University present both numerical and theoretical evidence that prime numbers repel other would-be primes that end in the same digit, and have varied predilections for being followed by primes ending in the other possible final digits. […]
This conspiracy among prime numbers seems, at first glance, to violate a longstanding assumption in number theory: that prime numbers behave much like random numbers. Most mathematicians would have assumed, Granville and Ono agreed, that a prime should have an equal chance of being followed by a prime ending in 1, 3, 7 or 9 (the four possible endings for all prime numbers except 2 and 5).
‘Clocks can never be pushed back. It’s all a lie. And now it’s dark.’ —Daylight Saving Time
A top Chinese military contractor is building a data analytics platform to help authorities identify terrorists before they strike. […]
So far, more data has just meant more noise, security experts say.. […]
Since the Mao era, the government has kept a secret file, called a dang’an, on almost everyone. Dang’an contain school reports, health records, work permits, personality assessments, and other information that might be considered confidential and private in other countries. The contents of the dang’an can determine whether a citizen is eligible for a promotion or can secure a coveted urban residency permit. The government revealed last year that it was also building a nationwide database that would score citizens on their trustworthiness.
‘This life is a hospital where each patient is possessed by the desire to change his bed.’ –Beaudelaire
For three years, she has calculated the cost of being different—that is, how much harder do you have to work as a woman, or as a gay man, to get the same jobs and the promotions as a straight, white man? […]
[S]he built models to measure how good people were at jobs they never had. This gave her the cost, or tax, in terms of the lifetime opportunity cost of lost work, the bill for extra degrees, or the extra experience needed to have the same opportunities as men from the dominant demographic group.
These are the results a few of her calculations: it costs about £38,000 ($54,000) to be a gay man in England; women in the US tech industry pay a tax of between $100,000 and $300,000; and women in tech in Hong Kong or Singapore face an even steeper $800,000 to $1.5 million.
photo { Chip Litherland, using expired film }
Every day, the same, again
Scuba diver survives being sucked into Florida nuclear power plant
Monkeys Drive Wheelchairs Using Only Their Thoughts
Engineers develop flexible skin that traps radar waves, cloaks objects
According to a spectacularly misleading article in the Telegraph: Scientists discover how to ‘upload knowledge to your brain.’ That’s science fiction. Or rather, journalistic fiction.
High daily coffee consumption may lower Multiple Sclerosis risk
Why women’s education doesn’t always improve women’s equality
Smartwatches that allow pupils to ‘cheat’ in exams for sale on Amazon
Using geographic profiling to investigate Banksy
Nonlinear Effects of Superstar Collaboration: Why the Beatles Succeeded but Broke Up
A Physicist Is Building a Time Machine to Reconnect With His Dead Father [Thanks Tim]
How to build a time machine, from a university math professor
Mobile Robotic Fabrication System for Filament Structures
It’s a wearable LCD ‘mirror’ with facial recognition. and Behold, my new alarm clock hack. 1 shot of espresso every half hour until I wake up.
See problems as challenges, not threats
Because ovulating (i.e., high-fertility) women are both more attractive to men and also more attracted to (desirable) men, ovulating women may be perceived to pose heightened threats to other women’s romantic relationships. Across 4 experiments, partnered women were exposed to photographs of other women taken during either their ovulatory or nonovulatory menstrual-cycle phases, and consistently reported intentions to socially avoid ovulating (but not nonovulating) women - but only when their own partners were highly desirable. Exposure to ovulating women also increased women’s sexual desires for their (highly desirable) partners. These findings suggest that women can be sensitive to subtle cues of other women’s fertility and respond (e.g., via social exclusion, enhanced sexual attention to own mate) in ways that may facilitate their mate retention goals while not thwarting their affiliative goals.
{ Journal of Personality and Social Psychology | Continue reading }
Using luteinizing hormone tests to verify ovulation, across two studies (Samples 1 and 2), we found that women whose partners were relatively low in sexual desirability felt less close to their partner (Samples 1 and 2) and were more critical of their partner’s faults (Sample 2) on high-fertility days of the cycle just prior to ovulation compared with low-fertility days of the cycle. Women whose partners were relatively high in sexual desirability felt closer to their partner (Sample 1) and more satisfied with their relationship (Sample 2) on high- than low-fertility days of the cycle. There were no such shifts in women’s commitment to their relationship. Therefore, partner sexual desirability predicts women’s high-fertility assessments of relationship quality but not their intentions to stay in their relationship, consistent with the dual mating hypothesis. These findings suggest that variations across the ovulation cycle in women’s reproductive hormones play an important role in relationship dynamics.
images { 1. Frederike Helwig | 2. Bonnie and Clyde (1967), publicity still, Faye Dunaway }
