Category: ideas

“But are evangelists like Shafer selling tiny houses short when they position them as antidotes to consumerism? After all, it’s just as easy, and perhaps both more accurate and more strategic, to position them as potent temples of consumerism, a way to revel in the materiality of day-to-day existence.”

“For the last few years, I’ve been asking students in my college classes to define the word thrift. After a few seconds of blank stares, I suggest that perhaps they have heard this word in conjunction with thrift stores. ‘So thrift means vintage or used?’ a student will venture.”

“Women, who according to studies place more emphasis and importance on a kiss, use the mouth-to-mouth moment as a way to judge the taste of the tongue, lips and saliva to see if she is with an adequate mate. Sense of smell doesn’t just provide a window into hygiene habits; it also gives women access to the unseen DNA of their chosen mate.”

“Taking a test is not just a passive mechanism for assessing how much people know, according to new research. It actually helps people learn, and it works better than a number of other studying techniques.”

“Both seem to arise from aspects of social identity that are immutable or slow to change. Both are publicly decried and privately practiced. Both are increasingly employed in ways that allow practitioners to deny that they are doing what they are doing.”

A new study claims the best way to remember something important is to remember it while you are asleep.

“In the sports that best measure athleticism — track and field, mostly — athletic performance has peaked. The studies show the steady progress of athletic achievement through the first half of the 20th century, and into the latter half, and always the world-record times fall. Then, suddenly, achievement flatlines.”

“Scientists and engineers are celebrities in most countries. They’re not seen as geeks or misfits, as they too often are in the U.S., but rather as society’s leaders and innovators. Why does this matter? Because if American students have a negative impression – or no impression at all – of science and engineering, then they’re hardly likely to choose them as professions.”

“Eighty percent of the world’s energy supply still comes from fossil fuels. But a new two-part study published in the journal Energy Policy (part 1, part 2) claims it’s possible and affordable for the world to achieve 100 percent renewable energy by 2030.”

“While it may strike many as medieval, ritual self-punishment continues to be practiced by certain groups of both Christians and Muslims. Newly published research from Australia suggests why this pain-inducing practice has survived through the centuries: It provides psychological benefits to the self-flagellating faithful.”