Why play is vital no matter your age
A pioneer in research on play, Stuart Brown says humor, games, roughhousing, flirtation and fantasy are more than just fun. Plenty of play in childhood makes for happy, smart adults — and keeping it up can make us smarter at any age. (Recorded at Serious Play in May 2008, in Pasadena, California. Duration: 26:42.)
People with thicker heads ‘are more intelligent’
A study has found that the thickness of the insulation of our brain’s white matter is directly linked to IQ. Memory, self-control, planning, logic and mathematical ability are all linked to the quality of myelin sheath that protects nervews of white matter from damage, according to New Scientist magazine.
Scientists at the University of California in Los Angeles examined the brains of 23 sets of identical twins and the same number of fraternal twins using a new type of magnetic resonance imaging scanner called HARDI. MRI scans usually show volumes of different tissues in the brain by measuring the amount of water present.HARDI determines water levels diffusing through white matter – an indirect measurement of myelin integrity.
Quirkology update
Psychologist, magician, and author of The Luck Factor and Quirkology
We have just launched two online experiments looking at the psychology of
ghosts. In the first study we are inviting people to come online and give their
opinion about the photographic evidence for ghosts. We have posted some
interesting ‘ghost’ photographs on:
http://scienceofghosts.wordpress.com
Please feel free to visit the site and let us know what you think.
Also, there is a quick survey into ghostly experiences, and further details
about a special one day event on the science and history of Hauntings, at:
http://www.scienceofghosts.com/
Both studies have received lots of media attention, including pieces in The
Daily Telegraph, The Daily Mail and The Scotsman.
Best wishes
Richard
West end tour poster
In my inbox this morning, very nice it is too!
The Psychology of cuteness
Interesting video about why we find things cute.
Aw buh…buh..buh..buh.buuuuh!
Saudi Arabia Sentences Elderly Woman to 40 Lashes
And you thought the Catholic church was scary!
Is anyone else as concerned as I am?
at the following link on the Telegraph website?
Type it in for yourself if you don’t believe me!
Scientists find a “God spot” in the brain
Scientists searching for the so-called “God spot” have identified parts of the brain which control religious belief. A study involving practising Christians, Muslims and Jews found that some areas of the cortex “light up” in response to religious statements.
Scans carried out on volunteers as they processed a series of remarks about God showed how areas of the brain which evolved more recently and not present in other animals were often more heavily involved – suggesting that faith is uniquely human.
Radical innovation
Innovation literature, drawing on the work of JosephSchumpeter, the economist who is most associated with the key role of innovation, draws a conceptual distinction between incremental and radical innovations. Incremental innovations result from linear progression where each innovation can be to some extent predicted from innovations that precede it, such as the sequences that make internal combustion engines more efficient.
In contrast, radical innovation results from discontinuous change – that is, the innovation could not result from a linear extrapolation or progression from the initial conditions. For example, incremental innovations in coal-fired power generation could never have led to nuclear power, nor could incremental innovations to cathode-ray tubes lead to flat plasma screens.
