Did you know that most of the different languages we speak today can actually be placed in only a couple of groups by their origin? This is what illustrator Minna Sundberg has captured in an elegant infographic of a linguistic tree which reveals some fascinating links between different tongues. Source: This Amazing Tree That Shows Read more about A Literal Tree Illustration Shows How Languages Are Connected[…]

In an eyetracking experiment comparing different clickability clues, weak and flat signifiers required more user effort than strong ones. […] We conducted a quantitative experiment using eyetracking equipment and a desktop computer. We recruited 71 general web-users to participate in the experiment. Each participant was presented with one version of the 9 sites and given Read more about Flat UI Elements Attract Less Attention and Cause Uncertainty[…]

The 2017 Open Source Survey was hosted on GitHub, which “collected responses from 5,500 randomly sampled respondents sourced from over 3,800 open source repositories” and then added “over 500 responses from a non-random sample of communities that work on other platforms.” The questionnaire was also made available in Traditional Chinese, Japanese, Spanish, and Russian. Interestingly, Read more about The open source community is nasty and that’s just the docs[…]

According to a research paper published earlier this month, the supercapacitor is made up by a device called a “harvester” that operates by using the body’s heat and movements to extract electrical charges from ions found in human body fluids, such as blood, serum, or urine. As electrodes, the harvester uses a carbon nanomaterial called Read more about New Vampire Battery Technology Draws Energy Directly From Human Body[…]

“It’s well known that people can improve their aerobic endurance through training,” says senior author Ronald Evans, Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator and holder of Salk’s March of Dimes Chair in Molecular and Developmental Biology. “The question for us was: how does endurance work? And if we really understand the science, can we replace training Read more about Endurance in a pill[…]

Heart experts have been criticised for claiming it is “plain wrong” to believe that saturated fat clogs up arteries. Three specialists argued that eating “real food”, taking exercise and reducing stress are better ways to stave off heart disease than cutting out dietary saturated fat. Writing in a respected journal, they maintained that inflammation is Read more about Popular belief that saturated fat clogs up arteries is a myth, experts say – let the wars begin: others disagree![…]

Even if you aren’t elderly, your body is home to agents of senility—frail and damaged cells that age us and promote disease. Now, researchers have developed a molecule that selectively destroys these so-called senescent cells. The compound makes old mice act and appear more youthful, providing hope that it may do the same for us. Read more about Molecule kills elderly cells, reduces signs of aging in mice[…]

People tend to hold overly favorable views of their abilities in many social and intellectual domains. The authors suggest that this overestimation occurs, in part, because people who are unskilled in these domains suffer a dual burden: Not only do these people reach erroneous conclusions and make unfortunate choices, but their incompetence robs them of Read more about The Dunning-Kruger effect: why do incompetent people think they are so great? or Unskilled and unaware of it: How difficulties in recognizing one’s own incompetence lead to inflated self-assessments.[…]

“We found that broad smiles lead people to be perceived as warmer but less competent,” said Jessica Li, a KU assistant professor of marketing in the School of Business. “We ask how that can influence consumer behavior and in what situations might marketers want to smile more broadly.” […] Li said broader smiles that tend Read more about Don’t smile too big to be effective in online marketing ads, study funds[…]

For employers, this research bolsters the idea that pay and benefits—while important—are only one factor when it comes to keeping employees engaged over the long term. As pay rises, compensation and benefits become less important as drivers of employee satisfaction. Instead, other workplace factors play a more important role. Regardless of income level, we find Read more about Does More Money Change What We Value at Work? – Glassdoor Economic Research[…]

In three studies, we explored the relationship between profanity and honesty. We examined profanity and honesty first with profanity behavior and lying on a scale in the lab (Study 1; N = 276), then with a linguistic analysis of real-life social interactions on Facebook (Study 2; N = 73,789), and finally with profanity and integrity Read more about People who swear are deemed more honest[…]

The team at King’s College London showed that a chemical could encourage cells in the dental pulp to heal small holes in mice teeth. A biodegradable sponge was soaked in the drug and then put inside the cavity. The study, published in Scientific Reports, showed it led to “complete, effective natural repair”. […] They discovered Read more about ‘Tooth repair drug’ may replace fillings[…]

This clickable infograph lists over 50 different stretching exercises. Click on any illustration for a quick video demonstration of that exercise. Source: Periodic Table of Stretching Exercises | Strength Stack 52

The common thought that learning by experience is most effective when it comes to teaching entrepreneurship at university has been challenged in a new study. An analysis of more than 500 graduates found no significant difference between business schools that offered traditional courses and those that emphasise a ‘learning-by-doing’ approach to entrepreneurship education. The research Read more about Entrepreneurial experiences ‘no better than textbooks,’ says study[…]

A Chinese group has become the first to inject a person with cells that contain genes edited using the revolutionary CRISPR–Cas9 technique. On 28 October, a team led by oncologist Lu You at Sichuan University in Chengdu delivered the modified cells into a patient with aggressive lung cancer as part of a clinical trial at Read more about CRISPR gene-editing tested in a person for the first time[…]

For the study, Greenberg and colleagues first recruited basketball players to play two back-to-back, one-on-one games with lead researcher Colin Zestcott, another psychologist at the University of Arizona. (The players didn’t know that Zestcott was a researcher; they thought he was another study participant.) After the first game, half of the participants were randomly assigned Read more about “You’re all going to die”: A scientifically proven pep-talk for winning[…]

Sexual activity before competition has been considered as a possible cause for reduced performance since ancient Greece and Rome. Recently, the hypothesis that optimal sport performance could be influenced by a variety of factors including sexual activity before competition has been investigated. However, few scientific data are available, with the exception of anecdotal reports of Read more about Sexual Activity before Sports Competition: you can after all[…]

This article introduces social norm theory to understand online aggression in a social-political online setting, challenging the popular assumption that online anonymity is one of the principle factors that promotes aggression. We underpin this social norm view by analyzing a major social media platform concerned with public affairs over a period of three years entailing Read more about It turns out that anonymity decreases online posting agression![…]

Yuri van Gelder, Dutch gymnast, went out for a few to celebrate making the final. Apparently he got carried away and had some alcohol (shock! horror!) and came home at some time in the morning. So the Dutch team have sent him home, without allowing him to participate in the final. His behaviour sounds slightly Read more about Dutch Olympians not allowed to drink? Are they reformed religious fanatics?[…]

In comparing how well people read a square pie chart, a circular pie chart, a donut shaped pie chart or a bar chart, it turns out that people do worst on the bar and best on the square pie charts. Source: A Reanalysis of A Study About (Square) Pie Charts from 2009 – eagereyes

D-PLACE – the Database of Places, Language, Culture and Environment – is an expandable, open access database that brings together a dispersed body of information on the language, geography, culture and environment of more than 1,400 human societies. It comprises information mainly on pre-industrial societies that were described by ethnographers in the 19th and early Read more about Massive open-access database on human cultures created[…]

In the first of the two studies, the researchers sought to determine which genes out of about a thousand might still be functioning in zebrafish and mice in the immediate days following death. To their surprise, the researchers found that hundreds of genes sprung back to life. Not only that, the activity of some of Read more about Hundreds of Genes Spring Back to Life in the Days After Death[…]

A new equation, showing how our happiness depends not only on what happens to us but also how this compares to other people, has been developed by UCL researchers funded by Wellcome. The team developed an equation to predict happiness in 2014, highlighting the importance of expectations, and the new updated equation also takes into Read more about Happiness equation: New equation reveals how other people’s fortunes affect our happiness[…]

The selfies are accepted as collateral for loans up to 15,000 yuan – about US$2,200 – on a whopping 30 per cent rate of interest per week. That may, however, have to do with translation: China Daily says the interest rate is 30 per cent per year. As well as the selfies, borrowers had to Read more about Chinese loan sharks seek salacious selfies as collateral[…]