[QUOTE=Xyzzy;378198][url]http://www.webmd.com/alzheimers/news/20140714/study-1-3-alzheimers-cases-preventable[/url][/QUOTE]

[URL="http://news.yahoo.com/brain-protein-tied-alzheimers-disease-135852899.html"]New brain protein tied to Alzheimer's disease[/URL]

[QUOTE]Dr. Keith Josephs of the Mayo Clinic led work on the new brain protein, called TDP-43. Everyone has it, but the abnormal form is found in different parts of the cell and in ball-like deposits in certain areas in the brain. It's already been linked to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig's disease, and frontotemporal dementia.[/QUOTE]

Conductivity image hints supervolcano plume is bigger than thought
 

[url]http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/04/110411083533.htm[/url]

[QUOTE]Geophysicists have made the first large-scale picture of the electrical conductivity of the gigantic underground plume of hot and partly molten rock that feeds the Yellowstone supervolcano. The image suggests the plume is even bigger than it appears in earlier images made with earthquake waves.[/QUOTE]

DIY 30m radio telescope
 

[url]http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/next/physics/build-radio-telescope/?utm_content=bufferf687d&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer[/url]

:tu: Nice!

[URL="http://news.sciencemag.org/brain-behavior/2014/07/nanoparticles-may-harm-brain"]Nanoparticles may harm the brain[/URL]

[URL="http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/video/celebrity-doppelgangers-science-alike-24501548"]Celebrity Doppelgangers: The Science of Looking Alike[/URL]

[URL="http://www.chicagotribune.com/health/sns-rt-us-brain-aging-sleep-20140710,0,962425.story"]Shorter sleep may speed brain aging[/URL]

[URL="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/a-shortage-of-scientists-and-techies-think-again/"]A shortage of scientists and techies? Think again[/URL]

[URL="http://exclusive.multibriefs.com/content/who-wins-in-teslas-patent-move/transportation-technology-automotive/education"]Who wins in Tesla’s patent move?[/URL]

[URL="http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/jul/09/new-jane-austen-waxwork-forensic-science-model-real-jane#"]New Jane Austen waxwork uses forensic science to model 'the real Jane'[/URL]

[URL="http://mashable.com/2014/07/17/lucy-brain-activity-myth/"]Hollywood Myth, Busted: Humans Use Far More Than 10% of Their Brains[/URL]

This made me go "Hmmmm" but it is probably more at home here.

[url]http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/monkeys-use-researchers-as-human-shields-to-avoid-leopards-and-big-cats-in-the-wild-9626354.html[/url]

Lionfish - and the selfish
 

This theme had already come up a few times.
[URL="http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-28490099"]Why the internet is so taken by 'child prodigy' <insert the latest one>[/URL]

[URL="http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/news/local/girls-science-project-nets-international-recogniti/ngRbD/"]Girl’s science project nets international recognition
[/URL]
On this forum alone, we already had discussions about a child prodigy who found a cure for cancer, or another one who built cell phone battery prototypes that would run ten times longer... Some ask how did this get in the news, others insist that if it wasn't true it wouldn't have been in the news.

Who is to blame? The media is finely tuned to the public demand of "freak news" and "freak shows" -- these generate clicks and sell ads. The chicken and the egg. It is probably important to remember that these articles have entertainment value only (a.k.a. human angle), not scientific, and as such 1) are not vetted deep enough (there is no liability, there will be no need for retraction, or better yet, if public will get too heated, there is an opportunity to write five more follow-up articles!), 2) are written by the same people who write about fishing records or, say, a cow that wondered in the middle of a highway (and you get occasional gems like 'The largest know prime has 11 digits'), 3) are forgotten tomorrow.

[QUOTE=rogue;379158][URL="http://mashable.com/2014/07/17/lucy-brain-activity-myth/"]Hollywood Myth, Busted: Humans Use Far More Than 10% of Their Brains[/URL][/QUOTE]

From the article:
[i]
Of course, the idea that “you only use 10% of your brain” is, indeed, 100% bogus. Why has this myth persisted for so long, and when is it finally going to die?
[/i]
Um, "when it stops working as a vehicle to sell pop entertainment"?

I would guess that the persistence of this (and other) myths and delusions is strong evidence, however, that most folks use less than 10% of their reasoning faculties in terms of critical thinking. There are powerful vested interests helping to keep this so, of various stripes: religious, political, commercial, &c.


[QUOTE=Batalov;379161]and you get occasional gems like 'The largest know prime has 11 digits'[/QUOTE]

In a suitably large base with a correspondingly large digit set, that is indubitably true. (Admit it, you just H8 child prodigies!)

[URL="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960982214008392"]Asymmetric Predictability and Cognitive Competition in Football Penalty Shootouts[/URL]
[QUOTE]We examined all 361 kicks from the 37 penalty shootouts ... and show that goalkeepers displayed a clear sequential bias. Following repeated kicks in the same direction, [U]goalkeepers became increasingly likely to dive in the opposite direction on the next kick[/U]. Surprisingly, kickers failed to exploit these goalkeeper biases.[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=Batalov;379536][URL="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960982214008392"]Asymmetric Predictability and Cognitive Competition in Football Penalty Shootouts[/URL][/QUOTE]

Didn't read beyond the above blurb (yet), but isn't the "repeated kicks in the same direction" bit an example of precisely such exploitation? Just keep kicking to one side, watch the goalie overthink himself and start diving the other way, "because I'm due for a heads on the next flip".

"Just 'cos it doesn't look like a strategy, don't mean it ain't."

[URL="http://aeon.co/magazine/nature-and-cosmos/why-is-einstein-the-poster-boy-for-genius/"]Why is Albert Einstein the Poster Boy for Genius?[/URL]

[URL="http://www.wired.com/2014/07/a-clever-maze-that-actually-gets-less-confusing-as-you-reach-the-center/"]A Clever Maze That Actually Gets Less Confusing as You Reach the Center[/URL]

[URL="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/27/magazine/why-do-americans-stink-at-math.html?_r=0"]Why do Americans Stink at Math?[/URL]

[URL="http://www.fastcodesign.com/3032886/innovation-by-design/this-is-the-physics-lesson-of-the-future-and-it-looks-insanely-fun"]This Is The Physics Lesson Of The Future, And It Looks Insanely Fun[/URL]

[URL="http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/07/140724141608.htm"]DNA mostly 'junk?' Only 8.2 percent of human DNA is 'functional', study finds[/URL]

[URL="http://news.yahoo.com/can-video-games-and-comics-clean-up-their-super-sexist-image-161839336.html"]Radical change to video games to target women[/URL]