Scientists have located the specific brain region involved in the spread of ideas. Called the temporoparietal junction, it could help clarify why some ideas fall flat while others go viral.
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What is lost in our rush to personalize solutions to societal problems, says Evgeny Morozov, is the fact that broad political solutions, such as regulation of industry, can prove very effective.
If you occasionally think your phone is vibrating when it’s actually not, you are among the 80 percent of people who make the same mistake. But this error in perception is not an impending sign of madness.
The afterlife, in the words of Tennyson [1], is “that untravell’d world whose margin fades / For ever and forever when I move”. Death is the ultimate one-way trip, its […]
A city slicker attends a real Independence Day parade (a Praxis photo essay).
Researchers have found that most people confuse foods which manufacturers label as “healthy” with low-calorie meal options. As a result, it is easier for people to overeat without knowing it.
Nearly a year after going off their antiretroviral drugs, two men previously infected with HIV are still showing no signs of the virus thanks to a dramatic bone marrow transplant.
Pondering the worrisome prospect that all your quantified self data might not be private.
Researchers want to help people quit smoking by taking the fight against nicotine addiction to the nano scale. Thanks to a $3.3 million grant from the National Institute of Drug Abuse.
An Indiana-based technology startup is working to create new heads for computer hard drives that could improve their storage density and assist in the development of light-driven cancer therapies.
Japanese scientist have successfully grown human liver cells from stem cells, implanting them into mice which, for the first time, has resulted in three-dimensional functional liver structures.
I’ve read the claims that young Americans in their 20s are selfish, self-absorbed, lazy, and a cultural and moral declension of their predecessors. This generational bleat is as old as […]
Debuting this week is Stella, the world’s first solar-powered car big enough to seat four people. It was created by a team of Dutch university students as their entry in the upcoming World Solar Challenge.
It probably won’t be as fun, but you may gamble less, say researchers at the University of Waterloo, who found that slot machines’ sound effects help trick players into thinking they’ve won even when they’ve lost.
On a street where men are known to harass and molest women, tables have been set up at which “Action Heroes” invite strangers to sit down and talk one-on-one.
This week the country’s assembly voted to institute an opt-out policy for people who don’t want their organs donated upon their death. The measure was passed in response to an acute organ shortage.
A recently-formed production company is the newest in a growing line of people and organizations that are creating stage works tailored for viewing on computers and smartphones.
Well, don’t get excited. I know it really wasn’t a miracle. But the strangely persistent summer rain that took out all the other July 4th activities in this part of the […]
Rich Lee took an online DIY tutorial into the realm of body modification…and not having to worry about losing headphones is just one of the reasons.
Using bone conduction technology, two firms have created a way to pitch ads to train travelers when they rest their heads against the window.
What is that classic phrase? The one we use to describe a system that is seemingly moving forward, but always ends up moving backwards? Is it “one step forward, two […]
A recent demonstration of technology used to detect bridge stresses leads writer Stacey Higginbotham to speculate on what a connected infrastructure could mean for society.
First there was strongly-worded text, and then there were gruesome pictures. Now, Stirling University researchers have developed a cigarette pack that plays an audio clip when opened.
The Filip is an exceedingly smart smartwatch: It allows parents to monitor their kids using a smartphone app and send one-way text messages, and has an emergency button that, when pressed, broadcasts location information.
Next month, an international team of researchers will begin a five-year mission to find out more about these exploding stars and what they reveal about the age and growth of the universe.
Over 2,600 employees from the San Francisco headquarters of Genentech celebrated the anniversary of the discovery of DNA by forming a human DNA strand reportedly the world’s largest ever.
A LIVE feed from Cairo’s Tahrir Square.
If you were to orbit a black hole the sights you would see would be strange, to say the least.
Long John Silver’s “Big Catch” meal contains 33 grams of trans fat.
Positive punishment is the classic Skinnerian notion in which a stimulus is applied with the aim of reducing an unwanted behavior.