Category: ideas

“Working on the principle that every object emits a distinct vibration, each piece of art or cultural artifact is fitted with a network of sensors, then tapped with a small rubber hammer. Recorded vibrations form a unique sonic fingerprint capable of distinguishing even works made in pairs or series. The process is noninvasive, takes just a few hours and can be used on stone, wood and ceramics.”

Danes score higher than other Westerners on life satisfaction, and scientists think they know why. “In a paper appearing in the Dec. 23 issue of the medical journal BMJ, researchers review six likely and unlikely explanations, and conclude that the country’s secret is a culture of low expectations. … Danes continually report lower expectations for the year to come, compared with most other nations. And ‘year after year, they are pleasantly surprised to find that not everything is getting more rotten in the state of Denmark,’ the paper concludes.”

There’s a “distinction between feeling good, which according to positive psychologists only creates a hunger for more pleasure — they call this syndrome the hedonic treadmill — and doing good, which can lead to lasting happiness.” Maybe they ought to teach this in college?

“The one social factor that researchers agree is consistently linked to longer lives in every country where it has been studied is education. It is more important than race; it obliterates any effects of income. And, health economists say, those factors that are popularly believed to be crucial — money and health insurance, for example, pale in comparison.”

“Did you know that architecture can be bad for your health? It’s an idea that the government advisory body, the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (Cabe), will be urgently promoting this year. Cabe argues that town planners and architects must help tackle Britain’s obesity epidemic by designing cities and housing that encourage exercise.”

Some researchers say that men can have ‘women’s brains’ and that women can think more like men. A test you can take online suggests where your brain stacks up on the male/female continuum.

A new study reports that people find it easier to lie using technology. “The research by UK pollsters 72 Point found that ‘techno-treachery’ was widespread with nearly 75 percent of people saying gadgets like Blackberrys made it easier to fib. Just over half of respondents said using gadgets made them feel less guilty when telling a lie than doing it face to face.”

There’s a new game that is controlled by brainwaves. “The game is supposed to measure each player’s brain activity with a band of electrodes worn above the eyes. These pick up the faint electrical signals that emanate from inside our heads. Mindball’s designers at the Interactive Institute in Sweden configured their system to register only a few of these signals–the low-frequency components known as alpha and theta waves. Alpha and theta, they tell us, are generated when the brain is ‘calm and relaxed.’ To win a game of Mindball, then, you have to out-calm your opponent.”

“From ‘brain gyms’ on the Internet to ‘brain-healthy’ foods and activities at assisted living centers, the programs are aimed at baby boomers anxious about entering their golden years and at their parents trying to stave off memory loss or dementia.”

A new book compares the free market-driven culture of the United States with the government-supported model of France. “Americans defend cultural diversity at home and deny it abroad, while France defends cultural diversity around the world and refuses it at home.”