TAG: science
"What Watts and Strogatz found was counterintuitive and profound: By injecting just a few random connections into a complex network, they could make that network both more efficient and more effective."
"Communications networks increase in value as they add membersâ€â€but by how much? The devil is in the details"
Tags: networks science communication
Freeing the Dark Data of Failed Scientific Experiments
"So what happens to all the research that doesn't yield a dramatic outcome  or, worse, the opposite of what researchers had hoped? It ends up stuffed in some lab drawer."
Tags: data science research culture economics
'We have broken speed of light'
"A pair of German physicists claim to have broken the speed of light - an achievement that would undermine our entire understanding of space and time."
Tags: science
"A theory in evolutionary biology, which states that most sexually reproducing species will show little change for most of their geological history. When . . . evolution occurs, it . . . occurs relatively quickly."
Find Yourself Packing It On? Blame Friends
"The answer, the researchers report, was that people were most likely to become obese when a friend became obese. That increased a person’s chances of becoming obese by 57 percent."
Tags: health research science nytimes networks
"I’ve found if you’re looking to understand complex concepts like “stickiness of ideas�, it’s a good idea to check out how things work in the physical, natural world."
Tags: marketing insight ideas science
Martin Nowak - In Games, an Insight Into the Rules of Evolution
"Martin Nowak’s projects may seem randomly scattered across the sciences but they share an underlying theme: cooperation."
Tags: evolution emergence games science economics nytimes
Dispatches From the Hyperlocal Future
A not-so-hard-to-imagine future vision from Bruce Sterling.
Tags: blogs culture future local rfid science technology
Wayne Gretzky-Style 'Field Sense' May Be Teachable
Can you teach 'vision' in sports?
Tags: sports psychology science
Two Parts Vodka, a Twist of Science
New York Times on 'molecular mixology'
Tags: alcohol bars science mixology cocktailculture
"The problem of weightless writing was not solved by either Soviet central planning or good old American sub-contracting, but by a private investor and a good idea"
Petrol lit with a cigarette? Only in the movies
Once again science comes through with answers to the big questions.
Tags: science movies cigarettes
"Homaro Cantu's odd brand of humor, technology, shock value, and flavor has turned the fine-dining experience on its head. Now this 29-year-old reformed pyromaniac is trying to redefine the nature of food--and, oh yeah, end world hunger."
Tags: food restaurant science technology innovation cooking invention
Free Will: Now You Have It, Now You Don't
"Experiments suggest that the conscious choice is an illusion, but some philosophers and physicists choose to disagree."
Tags: philosophy science thinking nytimes
"Are our brains wired for sound? One professor has provocative theories, and they started with Blue Oyster Cult."
Tags: music psychology brain science
Brand Proving Grounds -- Oxyride Batteries
"So before you embark on creating your BPG, start by answering some simple strategic questions 1. Who are you trying to talk to? 2. Does it communicate the brand idea? 3. Will it break through the clutter? 4. Have you got a seeding strategy?"
Tags: branding marketing science
"A new theory suggests that creativity comes in two distinct types – quick and dramatic, or careful and quiet."
Tags: creativity economics innovation psychology art science
"The average half-life of a news item is just 36 hours, or one and a half days after it is released."
Tags: science internet linking research culture
Lawrence Lessig looks at An Inconvenient Truth, specifically at the way the media has handled global warming.
Tags: environment globalwarming science media journalism
A leading atheist says people must embrace rationalism, not faith -- or they will never overcome their differences.
Tags: religion culture interviews politics science
"Up until now, people thought that [shyness] was mostly related to avoidance of social situations . . . Here we showed that shy children have increased activity in the reward system of the brain as well."
Tags: science brain psychology personality research
"Why the country's reliance on imported brainpower is on a collision course with its home-grown distaste for science."
Tags: education science politics
"New Zealand reinvented its fuzzy national fruit and rebuilt a franchise."
Tags: food newzealand business science
Lactic Acid Is Not Muscles' Foe, It's Fuel
"The notion that lactic acid was bad took hold more than a century ago, said George A. Brooks, a professor in the department of integrative biology at the University of California, Berkeley. It stuck because it seemed to make so much sense."
Tags: nytimes health science sports
Magician David Blaine Hires Aquarium Man
"What happens when the city’s top aquarium man is hired by David Blaine? Either the fish die or Blaine dies. (Or, no fish.)"
Trying to answer the question: "When someone is very good at a given thing, what is it that actually makes him good?"
Tags: learning nytimes psychology science
A chat with the science-savvy writers behind "The Simpsons" and "Futurama"
Tags: science television cartoon comedy interviews
"Are you capable of multiplying 147,631,789 by 23,674 in your head, instantly? Physicist Allan Snyder says you probably can, based on his new theory about the origin of the extraordinary skills of autistic savants."
"A graphical look at what we've done and where we're going"
Tags: environment science visualization inspiration design
Explaining Ice: The Answers Are Slippery
"What makes Olympic ice skaters slide across the ice? Physicists still disagree over the answer to this seemingly simple question."
Instant Study Hints Advertisers Should Objectify Women
"Your brain's favorite Super Bowl ads may not be the ones you wanted to like the most."
Tags: commercial advertising brain science
Nearly 100, LSD's Father Ponders His 'Problem Child'
Albert Hoffman, inventor of LSD: "LSD spoke to me. He came to me and said, 'You must find me.' He told me, 'Don’t give me to the pharmacologist.'"
A plant that grows with a word on it. If you buy 5,000 you can get any word you want.
Tags: business science marketing plants posted
The 11-Year Quest to Create Disappearing Colored Bubbles
"Chemical burns, ruined clothes, 11 years, half a million dollarsâ€â€it's not easy to improve the world's most popular toy. Yet the success of one inventor's quest to dye a simple soap bubble may change the way the world uses color"
Tags: business colors design innovation science toys posted
"In the first study of its kind, researchers have found that peyote -- for now, the only legal hallucinogenic drug in the United States -- doesn't rob regular users of brain power over time."
Tags: science brain drugs posted
Why people believe in alien abductions
When compared with regular people, most abductees scored higher in belief in the paranormal and a tendency to hallucinate. Uhh . . . . duh.
Seven Technologies That Change Everything
Everything from AJAX to biogenerics
Tags: ajax business internet science technology posted
A cognitive analysis of tagging
" "Or how the lower cognitive cost of tagging makes it popular"
Tags: branding tags interface science usability posted
"Six Degrees of Separation" Theory Explained in New Algorithm
"It is remarkably efficient at finding the short paths between nodes without knowing the central network’s structure, say the researchers"
Tags: networking science mathematics culture posted
"Six Degrees of Separation"€� Theory Explained in New Algorithm
"It is remarkably efficient at finding the short paths between nodes without knowing the central network’s structure, say the researchers"
Tags: networking science mathematics culture posted
Indie-rock hero Frank Black goes one-on-one with his literary hero, the indomitable Ray Bradbury.
Tags: interviews music books scifi science posted
Put up stickers in support of Darwin and evolution
Tags: art evolution history politics religion science posted
Opting Out in the Debate on Evolution
Scientists are opting out of state debates on evolution because they feel it only strengthens the idea that there's actually something worth debating.
Tags: evolution science politics education posted
"The line that has long separated human beings from the machines that assist them is blurring as complex technologies become a visible part of people who depend upon them."
Tags: nytimes science health cyborg posted
My short, scary career as a sperm donor
Tags: culture science sex posted
Surviving a lightning strike.
Tags: strange science health posted
Creationism: God's gift to the ignorant
As the Religious Right tries to ban the teaching of evolution in Kansas, Richard Dawkins speaks up for scientific logic
Tags: history evolution politics religion science posted
The female orgasm as evolution's happy accident.
Tags: sex science books posted
Wired: "Scientists are scanning brain activity in the hopes of catching sight of the physical mechanisms that determine whether you prefer Coke over Pepsi."
Tags: brain marketing science posted
New Scientist: "There are lots of tricks, techniques and habits, as well as changes to your lifestyle, diet and behaviour that can help you flex your grey matter and get the best out of your brain cells."
Tags: brain creativity health lifehacks science posted
In a new interview series, NEWSWEEK talks to a leading ecological architect whose goal is nothing less than eliminating waste and pollution.
Tags: design interviews environment science architecture posted
One law rules dedicated followers of fashion
New Scientist: "The magnetic model predicts that when people have a strong tendency to imitate others, shifts in behaviour will be faster, and there may even be discontinuous jumps, with many people adopting cellphones virtually overnight."
Tags: trend science culture behavior posted
Wired News: "A harmless bacterium that binds to the HIV virus has been discovered by medical researchers. The find may lead to a cheap way to control infection."
Science & Technology at Scientific American.com: "information displays should be documentary, comparative, causal and explanatory, quantified, multivariate, exploratory, skeptical."
Tags: design science visualization posted
What is the one thing everyone should learn about science? Spiked asked 250 scientists - here we bring you some of the most provocative responses
Tags: ideas science lists education lifehacks posted
Life's top 10 greatest inventions
This list includes such popular inventions as the "brain" and "symbiosis"
Tags: lists science invention posted brain
Brain chip reads man's thoughts
A paralysed man in the US has become the first person to benefit from a brain chip that reads his mind.
Tags: brain health science technology posted
Microstructure in the Long Tail
The Long Tail: "I've assumed that demand can shift down the tail and quality can rise up it, almost without limit. But there may indeed be a threshold at which this egalitarian mobility no longer works."
Tags: business economics longtail science posted
Describing and predicting behavior: The Big Five
Kuro5shin: A look at methods of explaining personality. "I will focus on the trait-based approach, which is one attempt at describing individual differences and predicting individual behavior."
Tags: personality science posted
13 things that do not make sense
13 of science's unanswered questions
Meant for Space, but Useful on Earth
NYTimes: "fter nearly two decades of research, NASA is testing a device that would recycle astronauts' sweat, urine and even the moisture from their breath into drinking water."
Tags: science innovation space posted nytimes
Aubrey de Grey is helping humans live forever, whether or not he's a real biologist.
Tags: health science aging posted
Why Logic Often Takes A Backseat
The study of neuroeconomics may topple the notion of rational decision-making
Tags: brain economics science posted
How much can your mind keep track of?
"It's difficult to measure the limits of processing capacity because most people automatically use problem solving skills to break down large complex problems into small, manageable "chunks.""
Tags: brain organization research science posted
Is religion hard-wired into the brain?
Tags: brain science religion posted
Fascinating LA Times article about the effects of marketing on the brain
Tags: science brain marketing posted
The Way We Live Now: Unintelligent Design
Asking questions about intelligent design theories
Tags: nytimes science religion posted
A response to the MIT Technology Review article on him and his belief that we can reverse the aging process
MIT Technology Review article on Aubrey de Grey
Are humans hard-wired to be religious?
Tags: religion science posted nytimes
You There, at the Computer: Pay Attention
New York Times examines the attention issues associated with using computer and the internet
How To Talk When You Can't Speak
Is it possible for people to communicate with their unconscious mind?
Everything you ever wanted to know about snowflakes and snow crystals
Tags: photography science posted
For Some Girls, the Problem With Math Is That They're Good at It
Former science editor for the Times talks about the stigma still attached to women being good at math and science
Monkeys Pay to See Female Monkey Bottoms
A new study found that monkeys will actually pay, in the form of juice, to see pictures of good looking monkeys
Tags: science strange posted sex gender
Wired profile on Einstein a century after he made some of his biggest breakthroughs
The Strongest Force? Any Parent Can Tell You
A physicist suggests that love may be the strongest force in the universe
Useless knowledge brought to you by the New York Times
Scientists said on Monday they have come up with a cell phone cover that will grow into a sunflower when thrown away.
Third of Americans Say Evidence Has Supported Darwin's Evolution Theory
Almost half of Americans believe God created humans 10,000 years ago
Tags: religion research science
NASA photo analyst: Bush wore a device during debate
Physicist says imaging techniques prove the president's bulge was not caused by wrinkled clothing.
Body plasticization . . . one of the coolest things I've ever seen
Tags: science
Coke takes over parts of the brain that Pepsi can't reach
Scientific research has shown the connection people have with brand imagery
Tags: branding marketing research science
If You Drop It, Should You Eat It?
Scientists Weigh In on the 5-Second Rule
Tags: science
Swimming in syrup is as easy as water
I'm glad that there are scientists out there doing the experiments that matter
10 real inventions from science-fiction
Tags: science technology
Phenomenon: The Roach That Failed
Payback Time: Why Revenge Tastes So Sweet
Intelligent life up there? Wait 20 years
Tags: science
Army rations rehydrated by urine
Hand preference decided in the womb
Tags: science
Ken Jennings and multiple intelligences
Tags: nytimes science television
Perception of self in question
Tags: science
Hawking cracks black hole paradox
I love how we can believe one thing for 30 years and it just turns out to be wrong, yet science is the most respected field in existence
Tags: science
When spliff gets in your eyes . . .
Cannibis helps night vision
Tags: science