Thursday, June 29, 2006

brain Detecting prejudice in the brain. Three Florida teenagers recently pleaded not guilty to the brutal beatings and in one case, death, of homeless men. One of the beatings was caught on surveillance video and in a most chilling way illustrates how people can degrade socially outcast individuals, enough to engage in mockery, physical abuse, and even murder. According to new research, the brain processes social outsiders as less than human; brain imaging provides accurate depictions of this prejudice at an unconscious level. read more [Science Blog -] 11:13:35 PM    comment

games Gaming to Save the World. The recent Games for Change Conference was covered on NPR, featuring interviews with the developers of games such as Darfur is Dying and Peacemaker. The premise of these games is that to reach the Net Generation with socially progressive ideas, you need to engage them with their favorite interactive media. Since one of the familiar objectives in many of our campus' strategic plans is to develop the next generation of leaders, and to ensure that our graduates participate effectively in the political process, these new models of developing thoughtful and yet engaging game environments to teach progressive values seem worth paying attention to, both for the lessons they teach, and more generally as models of platforms for thinking about future educational environments. [Academic Commons -] 9:57:45 AM    comment

networking Research Projects You Should Know About. - sharing wifi with your neighbors -- BL [Slashdot] 9:54:09 AM    comment

persuasion Drinking coffee makes you more open-minded. Caffeine can make you more easily convinced by arguments that go against your beliefs because it improves your ability to understand the reasoning behind statements, suggests experiments at University of Queensland. ... [KurzweilAI.net Accelerating Intelligence News] 9:29:08 AM    comment

Saturday, June 24, 2006

networking Americans' circle of friends is shrinking, new study shows. Americans' circle of close confidants has shrunk dramatically in the past two decades and the number of people who say they have no one with whom to discuss important matters has more than doubled, according to a new study by sociologists at Duke University and the University of Arizona. read more [Science Blog -] 11:40:43 PM    comment

depression Brain function and negative thinking linked to late-onset depression. Late-onset depression, which first emerges in people aged 60 and over, is linked to a decline in the brain's executive functions that leads to repetitive, negative thought patterns a new study reveals. Executive functions are those that enable people to plan and control their thoughts and actions. read more [Science Blog -] 11:39:49 PM    comment

Thursday, June 15, 2006

aggression Florida Virtual School Students Win International Diplomacy Competition - Yvonne Marie Andres. “Golden Bridges: Connecting People to Peaceâ€� Project Aims to Increase Awareness of Global Humanitarian Efforts of the United Nations. Leveraging technology, an innovative learning initiative and a passion to build a better global community, three Florida [Online Learning Update] 12:12:05 PM    comment

Tuesday, June 13, 2006

abuse New theory: Child abuse can cause schizophrenia. University of Manchester researcher Paul Hammersley is to tell two international conferences, in London and Madrid on 14 June 2006, that child abuse can cause schizophrenia. The groundbreaking and highly contentious theory, co-presented by New Zealand clinical psychologist Dr John Read, has been described as "an earthquake" that will radically change the psychiatric profession. read more [Science Blog -] 9:47:04 AM    comment

audio Researchers build an ultrasound version of the laser. Researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and at the University of Missouri at Rolla have built an ultrasound analogue of the laser. Called a uaser (pronounced WAY-zer) -- for ultrasound amplification by stimulated emission of radiation -- the instrument produces ultrasonic waves that are coherent and of one frequency, and could be used to study laser dynamics and detect subtle changes, such as phase changes, in modern materials.[and people? -- BL] read more [Science Blog -] 9:44:49 AM    comment

Sunday, June 11, 2006

networking Teaching Social Software with Social Software - Ulises Mejias, Innovate Online. This article explores how the current wave of information and communication technologies (ICTs) known as social software can enable new forms of study and research, preparing students to participate in networks where knowledge is collectively constructed [Online Learning Update] 11:45:32 PM    comment

privacy Drilling Down: You've Got Someone Reading Your E-Mail. More than a third of American companies with 1,000 or more workers say they employ people to read through other employees' outbound e-mail. By ALEX MINDLIN. [NYT > Technology] 11:44:29 PM    comment

drugs Psychopharm Going 'Mainstream' In Schools?. [Slashdot] 10:43:26 PM    comment

Wednesday, June 07, 2006

violent Intermittent explosive disorder affects up to 16 million Americans. A little-known mental disorder marked by episodes of unwarranted anger is more common than previously thought, a study funded by the National Institutes of Health's (NIH) National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) has found. Depending upon how broadly it's defined, intermittent explosive disorder (IED) affects as many as 7.3 percent of adults -- 11.5-16 million Americans -- in their lifetimes. The study is based on data from the National Comorbidity Survey Replication, a nationally representative, face-to-face household survey of 9,282 U.S. adults, conducted in 2001-2003. read more [Science Blog -] 8:11:49 AM    comment

Thursday, May 04, 2006

honesty The Sound of Science: When Ideology Trumps Evidence. Know Nothing ideologues in government twist the language -- and often the facts -- to keep scientific evidence out of health and safety rule-making. read more [Science Blog -] 2:42:05 PM    comment