Archive for the Science Category


I doodle, therefore I am

Published March 22nd, 2009

NPR has a terrific story — complete with this official Barack Obama scribble-pic — about why the human brain often prompts the human hand into doodling during boring meetings and phone calls.Turns out that this aimless artistry isn’t so aimless after all. It’s keeps us from doing a full Walter Mitty when we’re not sufficiently […]

Happy Darwin Day!

Published February 12th, 2009

The future of online news . . . circa. 1981

Published January 31st, 2009

BoingBoing points to this 1981 report from KRON-TV in San Francisco about the incipient move toward online news. It’s great viewing — especially the breathless factoid that 2,000 to 3,000 people the Bay Area already have a personal computer (!) and the tag identifying one of the interviewees as someone who “Owns A Home Computer.”

10 Steps to Happiness

Published December 16th, 2008

Alternet gleans several years of research from the field of positive psychology to reveal “10 Things Science Says will Make You Happy.”  The list, paraphrased, is:

Stop and enjoy the present.
Don’t compare yourself to the Joneses.
Don’t obsess over money.
Aspire to leave an imprint.
Be intrinsically motivated on the job.
Build a supportive network of family and friends
Act optimistic even if you […]

Quote of the day: The power of “Huh?”

Published October 12th, 2008

“In science, the most exciting expression isn’t ‘Eureka!’ It’s ‘Huh?’”– Michael Hawley, a computer scientist and director of SiOnyx, quoted in the NY Times, 10/12/08 

Bored and sleepy? You’re golden!

Published August 9th, 2008

First The Times tells us that being bored pumps up our cognitive muscles. In fact, say two scientists quoted in the story, it’s time for boredom to “be recognized as a legitimate human emotion that can be central to learning and creativity.”Now Scientific American parachutes in to say that sleep is similarly essential for memory and other […]