omnibrain | September 17, 2007A ground breaking new study from Florida State University has determined that we look at attractive people! Who woulda thought!
But really:
In a series of three experiments, Maner and his colleagues found that the study participants, all heterosexual men and women, fixated on highly attractive people within the first half of a second of seeing them. Single folks ogled the opposite sex, of course, but those in committed relationships also checked people out, with one major difference: They were more interested in beautiful people of the same sex.
Ok.. for reals.. It is a pretty interesting…
omnibrain | September 14, 2007In what sounds like a whole lot of hand waving (but hey! I study vision what do I know!), scientists have 'discovered' that creepy old men running after their daughters friends has led to an increase in life expectancy for human kind. Just think that people like Woody Allen, Jerry Seinfeld, David Letterman, and Michael Jackson have led to your grandma living a much longer life. Ok.. maybe not M.J. since he likes little boys and they don't have babies but Woody Allen - totally!
Basically...
Human ability to scale the so-called "wall of death"--surviving beyond the reproductive years--has…
omnibrain | September 14, 2007Since it's short.... here's the entire snipit from The Onion:
BETHESDA, MD--After an extensive six-month study using an electroencephalogram and a finger, researchers at the National Institutes of Health have discovered the section of the human brain that responds unfavorably to poking.
"We found a direct link between this negative effect and our finger pressing on a particular area of the brain," said neuroscientist Matthew Redman Monday, who conducted the study on 12 healthy participants. "After analyzing our data and testing and retesting our subjects, we finally identified this region as…
omnibrain | September 12, 2007Congratulations Russia on your great new bomb that is nicknamed the "dad of all bombs" and is four times more powerful than the U.S. "mother of all bombs."
"The tests have shown that the new air-delivered ordnance is comparable to a nuclear weapon in its efficiency and capability," said Col.-Gen. Alexander Rukshin, a deputy chief of the Russian military's General Staff, said in televised remarks.
However! This isn't the exciting part of this momentous discovery!Unlike a nuclear weapon, the bomb doesn't hurt the environment
The Dad of all Bombs - now with less tree killing!
We here at Omni…
omnibrain | September 11, 2007A group funded by the Royal College of art has created an ice cream dispenser named Dr. Whippy. The good doctor will dispense a prescription for ice cream if you sound sufficiently miserable. It is based on a voice-stress analysis of various answers to questions it asks. Check it out, the more miserable you are the more ice cream it dispenses:
I would have given everyone the same amount of ice cream but inserted different amounts of Prozac. But hey - thats just me!
-via boingboing-
omnibrain | September 11, 2007Head over to Mind Hacks for more MRI madness! There you will read about the many examples of all the stupid shit people brought into the room with a big freakin' magnet and ended up flying across the room (and sometimes tragically killing someone). Here at Omni Brain we figured we'd just give you the great B movie about MRI safety.
Wow is that bad!
omnibrain | September 10, 2007A torture manual created by psychologists in the 1950s entitled The Manipulation of Human Behavior is freely available online. Included are these scary sounding chapters:
1 The Physiological State of the Interrogation Subject
as it Affects Brain Function 19
Lawrence E. Hinkle, Jr.
2 The Effects of Reduced Environmental Stimulation
on Human Behavior: A Review 51
Philip E. Kubzansky
3 The Use of Drugs in Interrogation 96
Louis A. Gottschalk
4 Physiological Responses as a Means of Evaluating
Information 142
R. C. Davis
5 The Potential Uses of Hypnosis in Interrogation 169
Martin T.…
omnibrain | September 10, 2007According to MSNBC:
A small number of companies have linked health factors to what employees pay for benefits, but the practice is expected to grow now that some federal rules have been finalized, spelling out what's allowed by law. Employee advocates worry that other anti-discrimination laws such as the Americans with Disabilities Act won't cover the person who is 20 or 30 pounds overweight.
I can't think of one legitimate reason why people shouldn't be charged more for living an unhealthy life style. After all, the inflated health care costs are in large part due to peoples unhealthy life…
omnibrain | September 10, 2007I know why I pee on myself (It usually involves wind or alcohol...or both) but I've always wondered why monkeys do it as well. Ok, I lie, I had no idea that monkeys (yeah yeah, I know it's a chimp but monkey is a more fun word) peed on themselves... well, besides this one.
According to News @ Nature, it's all about trying to get laid:
Miller and her team noticed a link between urine washing and attention-seeking.
Alpha males, for example, doubled their urine washing rates when being solicited by females. The researchers think this might be how males encourage females to continue paying…
omnibrain | September 7, 2007A boingboing reader visited Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus recently and discovered some absolutely crazy dessert delivery devices... Clown and Horse Brains!
If anyone happens to take their kids to Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus we here at Omni Brain would be eternally grateful if you'd buy us one of the clown heads! (You don't have to send along the accompanying snow cone - the FBI or whoever might think it's some sort of terror device)
omnibrain | September 4, 2007Check out these amazing pieces of 3d Fakery in a swimming pool. I'd personally get a 3d shark pool to keep those damn kids out of my yard. Well... at least I would if I were 80 and had a yard with a pool.
omnibrain | August 30, 2007According to the LA TimesCiting a fistful of studies that show teenagers among the most distracted and dangerous of drivers, the state Assembly on Monday passed a bill that would prohibit drivers under the age of 18 from using a cellphone, pager, text-messaging device or laptop while driving.
Ohh the humanity! Kids won't be able to use laptops while driving! They will be missing out on important AIM conversations, facebook messages, and new pictures of their friends posing shirtless by their cars on MySpace.
This is an abomination of law. These policy makers clearly have no idea that kids…
omnibrain | August 24, 2007Remember this guy from a few posts ago?!
Nothing is actually wrong with his face. Check out the answer (and another picture) after the break...
Here he is again with a little more telling setup.
According to the website of Lawrence D. Rosenblum and Mike Gordon at UC Riverside:
The point-light technique involves applying small fluorescent yellow cardboard dots to a speaker's face. The dots are affixed to the lips and face with a medical adhesive, and to the teeth and tongue tip with a denture paste. The speaker is videotaped under high-quality fluorescent lighting (seen on left). The…
omnibrain | August 22, 2007
Bet you can't guess what's going on with this guy's face!
I'll give you a hint.... it has to do with psychology.
Give us your best guess and I'll tell you tomorrow why all that crap is all over his face.
omnibrain | August 20, 2007Question...
How does one harness for God?
As seen on the road trip to the SciBlings first get together in NYC by Steve, Shelley, and RPM
We're all back...finally... safely... You can look forward to the fruits of many hours of silly conversations (Fetish Friday anyone?!) from the very long drive from NYC to Ann Arbor Michigan.
omnibrain | August 16, 2007According to an article in Salon, via Mind Hacks:
The American Psychological Association, the world's largest professional organization of psychologists, is poised to issue a formal condemnation of a raft of notorious interrogation tactics employed by U.S. authorities against detainees during the so-called war on terror, from simulated drowning to sensory deprivation. The move is expected during the APA's annual convention in San Francisco this weekend.
The APA's anti-torture resolution follows a string of revelations in recent months of the key role played by psychologists in the development…
omnibrain | August 13, 2007I'm all about the video this morning...This particular animated image drives me up the f'n wall!
omnibrain | August 13, 2007From the creator of Women in Art comes Women in Film. Can you pick out all the stars?
-via Neatorama-
omnibrain | August 10, 2007Is there any surprise that I'd post something like this? hehe.. yup probably not.
Via Everyday Scientist