Performance on boring tasks is aided by doodling

Discover Magazine - Bad News for Teachers: Research Says Doodling Boosts Concentration

This article reviews the other news sources; A small (40 person) study reveals that if there is a choice between doodling and doing 'nothing', doodling improves performance. The participants were asked to listen and write down various names and places during a boring phone message. After, they were given a surprise memory test of the names they wrote down. Those asked to color in the shapes of the words and such (ostensibly to relieve boredom) scored better than the control, who probably just 'daydreamed' or stopped paying attention. The contrast here is between doodling and daydreaming, not between doodling and paying close attention or otherwise being interested in whatever you're doing. The theory here is that doodling alleviates boredom with the task but also allows just enough attention, while daydreaming is a drift in attention that negatively affects performance. [Note that the memory test the participants were given asked them to write the names they had previously doodled on-- an alternate theory is that the doodling made additional memorable connections that the control group didn't make.]

Review of lower-back studies show exercise the only good treatment

Physorg.com - Clinical trials' review finds only exercise to prevent low-back problems

Researchers did a review of the various treatments for lower-back pain and problems. They divided the studies into 'high-quality' and 'low-quality' according to 'Cochrane Collaboration Back Review Group criteria'. The high-quality studies revealed that exercise was the effective treatment for lower-back problems and that other treatments like lumbar supports, belts, shoe-inserts, and so on were basically ineffective.

Lab studies suggest that markets can work for promoting innovation if there were no patents

Physorg.com - Markets outperform patents in promoting intellectual discovery, say scientists

This article reports on small-scale lab test that contrasted a patent-system of reward (the first person with the best solution wins it all) with a market-system of reward (each participant making different bets about what the best solution will turn out being). In so-called knapsack problems, participants try on their own to fit too many items into a knapsack; there are no perfect answers, but there are optimal ones. In the 'patent' scenario, the first person to get the most items in took the entire prize. In the 'market' scenario, people traded futures-contracts based on the items that were going to go into the sack, each betting about what items would eventually fit, and which ones weren't. It was clear that many of the participants got pieces of the optimal solution right, but not the whole of it. The suggestion was that giving many groups vested (market) interest in working on an innovation may also underwrite breakthroughs.

Focus on depth in high school leads to greater success in college

Physorg.com - Study finds that students benefit from depth, rather than breadth, in high school science courses

A large study done on over 8,000 college students found that those that spent a month or more on a single topic in high school science classes got higher science grades in general than students who covered more topics over the same time period. Cryptically, the reports claim that students who focused on fewer topics in greater depth 'were impacted twice as much' as those who touched on every major topic. The results conflict with the standardized tests that tend to assess a wide range of topics. Note that this study had students self-reporting the work they did in high school.

Lack of conversational caution experienced as more enjoyable, and seen as more authenic and less racist

Physorg.com - The liberating effects of losing control

Scientists put white subjects through a battery of difficult mental tests that are designed to wear down their ability for mental discipline and self-control. The subjects then were put into a social situation with an interviewer to have a conversation about racial diversity. The hypothesis was that the subjects would be less 'guarded', a position that could be a barrier to good race relations. The control group was put into the same situation but without their self-restraint depleted. An independent group of white and black judges watched the conversations unfold. Three effects were observed: the depleted subjects were judged to be more authentic and honest vs the control; the depleted subjects rated the ensuing conversation as more enjoyable vs the control; most interestingly, the depleted subjects were judged by blacks to be less racist vs the control. The theory is that a certain element of guarded self-restraint can be a barrier to valued authentic communication.

Consuming bottled water requires >1000x the energy required for tap water

Physorg.com - How Much Energy Goes Into Making a Bottle of Water?

Bottling water includes the following steps: getting the water, making the bottles & caps, shipping it, then maintaining it at the local stores. The energy costs of making the bottles and caps is estimated to be 4,000,000 joules for a 1-liter bottle; given the current levels of consumption in the US, that equates to ~17,000,000 barrels of oil per year. One of the other factors is the two types of water sold in the US: purified water and spring water. Purified water is tap water that is treated, accounting for 44% of sales; spring water is taken from underground sources, 56% of sales. One part of the study looked at purified water (taken from taps) distributed locally in LA. The process of distribution was estimated at 1,400,000 joules for 1-liter. Obviously shipping spring water from Fiji or France (Evian) uses vastly more energy (also estimated in the study). Compare all this with the estimated 5000 total joules to get a liter of water from the tap.

Vitamin supplement protects against short-term hearing loss and possibly long-term too

Physorg.com - Vitamin supplements may protect against noise-induced hearing loss

Scientists have put together a vitamin supplement of vitamins C, E, beta carotene and magnesium and given it to animals, then exposed them to four hours of loud noises at 110 decibels. Testing afterward showed no evidence of short-term hearing loss. A second study exposed the animals to even higher sharp loud noises to test permanent hearing loss and found no damage to the ear's lateral wall (a part of the inner ear thought to be integral to permanent hearing loss). There is speculation that repeated short-term hearing loss leads to long-term hearing loss, and if the supplements can stave off short-term, then it might work for long-term as well. Limited trials in humans have shown similar results to the animal tests. In addition to the preventative power, vitamin E and salicylate have shown some effectiveness in healing the ear up to 4 days after being exposed to a 'noise insult'.

Violent movies & video games make us less empathetic

Physorg.com - Study: Violent media numb viewers to the pain of others

Conducting tests using confederates shortly after people are exposed to violent media, scientists found such subjects less willing to engage in helping behavior to those who are suffering or injured. To establish a situation requiring help or empathy, scientists would stage an argument which turns physical, injuring a confederate, or stage a disabled woman losing her crutch and struggling to get it back. Those who played a violent video game for 20 minutes (vs. the control, a non-violent video game) were less likely to aid the injured, less likely to notice the argument, and less likely to think the incident very severe. When providing aid, the control aided the confederate in an average of 16 seconds, while the ones who played the violent video games took an average of 73 seconds. In the case of a disabled woman without her crutch, movie-goers were divided into three groups: some seeing her prior to watching a movie, some after seeing a non-violent movie, and others after seeing a violent movie. Those who saw the violent movie took 26% longer to help her. [It was important to test movie-goers prior to seeing the movie to rule out the possibility that already desensitized people simply consume more violent media.]

Dreams seem to affect the strength of our beliefs

Physorg.com - When dreaming is believing: Dreams affect people's judgment, behavior

Studies on the way people treat their dreams is beginning to show that people are apt to give their dreams some credence. In one study, US, Korean, and Indian university students largely agreed with the theory that dreams provide important insights about themselves and the world. Another study concluded that dreaming of a bad future event was likely to cause as much anxiety as witnessing something actually occur that increases the possibility of that bad future event happening. In another, analysis of an online survey concluded that people are apt to ascribe more meaning to dreams that reinforced their existing general attitudes and beliefs rather than those that don't. Though most people acknowledge that dreams can't predict the future, it seems they treat them as reinforcing their beliefs or adding to the possibilities of what might occur.

Eggs are a high-quality protein

Physorg.com - New research shows high-quality protein in eggs contribute to power, strength and energy

Review work on all the various proteins in eggs has concluded that they offer a variety of benefits. They provide energy but do not 'surge' your blood sugar; they help preserve muscle mass and aid muscle recovery after work-outs; and they provide a greater feeling of fullness than similar-calorie carbohydrate alternatives. Though most Americans get enough protein, they may not be getting enough of this 'high-quality' protein throughout the day.

Gesturing helps grade-schoolers learn algebra

ScienceDaily - Hand Gestures Dramatically Improve Learning

A traditionally difficult algebra problem was given to 3 sets of 3rd graders, one allowed to gesture and speak, another allowed only to gesture, and another allowed only to speak. Most of them e the particular math problem wrong, and are then told the concepts they need to get it right. They were then tested 3 weeks later on the concepts involved. Of the kids in the groups that gestured, 90% of them retained the principles, compared to only 33% in the speak-only group. The theory is that gesturing makes abstract math principles more applicable through world-interaction, e.g. gesture.

Non-conscious parts of human brains are surprisingly capable

Discover Magazine - Could an Inner Zombie Be Controlling Your Brain?

This article is a popular review of a variety of psychological and neuroscience studies that have begun to develop the theory that unconscious processes in the human brain can complete daily tasks skillfully. The provocative hypothesis of zombie-brains controlling your actions isn't proved: instead it appears that tasks that rely highly on memory, spatial orientation, some amounts of pattern recognition, and simple visual cues can be completed very well without human consciousness. In fact, sometimes asking the conscious mind to come up with the answer can inhibit what the 'zombie' is already to get right. In other cases, when asked to complete a task consciously, the areas commonly associated with higher-level conscious thought seem to switch off the unconscious parts, and the opposite happens when scientists structure experiments that try to only rely on unconscious skills.

Web search users click on ads only 15% of the time

Physorg.com - Ad click-through rate lower than previously thought

A study of 7 million searches conducted on dogpile.com, a meta-search engine, revealed that the rate of clicking on ads was 15%, half the 30% claimed by some reports.  Interestingly, a full 35% of all queries resulted on no clicks at all. [If such queries are not being originated by actual users, then the click-through rate for actual users could go up to roughly 22%.]

Good experiences trump good gifts, but bad experiences are worse than bad gifts

Physorg.com - New happiness research demonstrates when material items are the best option

This study confirms the converse that previous studies on experiences/material items has found: that people remember experiences much longer than material items. Previous work has shown that giving good experiences are more memorable than giving good material items. This study showed that giving a bad experience is more memorable than giving a bad material item. The conclusion is that if you're uncertain about whether they'll like it, it might be better to give the material item.

Most salt used on roads ends up in our waterways

Physorg.com - Research: Most road salt is making it into lakes and rivers

A study conducted in the twin cities traced rising salinity in the rivers, streams and other fresh water bodies to a similar rise in use of road salt since 1984. The estimate was that nearly 70% of the salt applied to melt snow and ice is flowing and staying in watersheds. Even small amounts of salt in water can affect the ecosystem and threaten fish, amphibians and other aquatic animals. In addition, it is expensive and difficult to desalinate water. Researchers also offered some solutions: apply salt more intelligently, and refrain from salting when the pavement temperature is below 15F, since it is generally ineffective.

Common houseplants can reduce indoor formaldehyde in air

Physorg.com - Indoor plants can reduce formaldehyde levels

Formaldehyde is commonly found in newer structures in glues, plywood, carpeting, etc. The materials eventually release it into the air, which degrades air quality. It was shown that some common types of houseplants reduce formaldehyde by 80% compared to the control (no plant) of about 7% over a 4-5 our period.

Students have a gender bias against female science teachers

Physorg.com - Gender bias found in student ratings of high school science teachers

College freshmen who had just began their studies were asked to reflect on their high-school science courses in this relatively large study across 63 different colleges and universities. Despite relatively equal teaching ability between male and female science teachers, male physics teachers were rated as more effective than female physics teachers by both male and female students. In the case of chemistry and biology, female teachers were rated as less effective by male students, but relatively equally by female students. Overall then there was a negative bias against female science teachers by students. The theory is that students are internalizing a negative cultural stereotype about a woman's place in science despite having evidence to the contrary.

Vocabulary development aided when children gesture

Discover Magazine - Grandma Was Wrong: Gesturing Babies End Up With Better Vocabularies

This link-rich aggregator article reports on a study that was done on 14-month old babies from 50 families of varied socio-economic backgrounds. While there were no detectable differences in vocabulary at that age, there was almost a double amount of gesturing in the higher-status families compared to the lower ones. When the same children were tested at age 4 1/2, the gesturing children had a better vocabulary. There are at least a few possible explanations: that physical communication begins earlier than speech does and thus helps form concepts to be speech-ready or perhaps that gesturing offers more 'teaching moments' to parents/caretakers.

Sleep is not only important for memory but also for learning

Physorg.com - Learning while we sleep and dream

For a less interesting overview, see also: Physorg.com - Scientists explore the mysteries of why we sleep

Good memory might be considered accurate recall, but learning is also placing new beliefs into the broader context of what you already know. Previous work has shown that sleep is an important factor in good memory; this study focused on learning as well. Scientists showed 5 pairs of abstract pictures of 'eggs' to groups age 18-30 and asked them to recall not just what they looked like but also a seemingly unrelated label for each. It turns out the labels were part of an underlying pattern that the subjects weren't told about. Tests on whether they recognized this pattern then took place on one group 20 minutes later, another 12 hours, and another after 24 hours. The groups that slept on it did remarkably better at intuiting and recognizing the hidden pattern than those tested 20 minutes later or those who waited 12 hours but hadn't slept during that time. The conclusion was that sleep is not only useful in memory but also in making connections between new data and old, essentially a crucible for learning.

Practiced Zen meditators have a higher pain threshold

Physorg.com - Study finds zen meditation alleviates pain

This study picked out about a dozen 1000+ hour Zen meditators and a random dozen and pressed all their calves with hot plates from 109 to 127 degrees Fahrenheit.  On average, those who were experienced in meditation had about an 18% reduction in pain (based on how much pain they would accept) vs the control (random selection of people).  Note that the meditators averaged fewer breaths per minute (12) vs the control (15).  In this article is was unclear whether the test was administered in relaxed, quiet, calm (meditative?) conditions or not.  Though it is established that the 'emotional' aspects of pain are reduced by meditation, here the qualitative painfulness also seems to be reduced in practiced meditators. 

Forensic science conclusions overstate their accuracy

Discover Magazine - Verdict on Forensic Science: It's Quite Bad

see also NewScientist - Forensic science 'too unreliable', says report

The National Academy of Sciences issued a report on the state of forensic sciences and their relation to legal proceedings, finding that the state of the art is 'fragmented' and takes an undeserved air of certainty in criminal investigations and court proceedings. Of note is the use of the same term 'match' for disparate comparative procedures on things like hair samples, fingerprints, DNA, and fibers. For instance the error rate for DNA is small and quantifiable, yet the error rate on fingerprints and hair is much larger and mostly unquantified. But the same blanket terms are applied to all, giving the less-reliable methods a gloss of reliability. Crime labs are also seriously underfunded and a positive recommendation is to create an independent department for forensic science that is free from crime investigations to reduce potential bias.

Twitter is the hot new communication trend

The Guardian - Life is tweet: How the Twitter family infiltrated our cultural world

Twitter is rapidly growing as a way to create a 'watercooler' of the 21st century. While some like Tim Ferris (author of the 4-hour work-week) sneer at it as a time-waster, it has become a new way to spread information, news, and, probably soon, to advertise, promote, and become a trend-setter. Article lists some places where Twitter has gone: TV shows have created twitter accounts based around the shows' plots, celebrities of all sorts (film, writers, artists, politicians) write to their fans, companies use them to monitor and promote their image.