You know all those doom-and-gloomers who get up before Congress and testify about how terrorists are going to attack America's electric grid, sending blackouts toppling across the country like dominoes? Well, here's what Seth Blumsack, a power-system expert at Pennsylvania State University, has to say about the terrifying prospect: "That's a bunch of hooey." Blumsack and his colleague Paul Hines at the University of Vermont have just published a report in the journal Chaos — and we can only imagine what the deadlines there are like — that refutes the drumbeat of warnings, many of which ... Read More
Researchers Tackle the ‘Hipster’ Phenomenon
October 29, 2010 • By • Leave a Comment
At long last, science has tackled the phenomenon of the hipster, the contradictory symbol of coolness that strives for nothing other than complete "hipsterness" while firmly rejecting any association whatsoever with the term "hipster." As Zeynep Arsel of Concordia University and J. Craig Thompson at the University of Wisconsin-Madison write in the Journal of Consumer Research: "This iconic category has evolved from its countercultural roots, originally aligned with beat sensibilities, to a trend-seeking über-consumer of the 2000s." Think of all the innocent berets that have been worn ... Read More
Study: Canadian Parents Enforce Fewer Rules
October 15, 2010 • By • Leave a Comment
As if year-round ice fishing and being weaned on Molson weren't enough, a new study has pinpointed an additional benefit to being a Canadian kid: Your parents are probably awesome. A paper in the Journal of Adolescence compared how parents in three different countries — Canada, France and Italy — raised their teenage children, connected emotionally with them and exerted control over their behavior. The three countries were selected because they each share a Catholic history, speak a Latin language and boast advanced industrialization. For the study, teenagers were asked to describe ... Read More
Use the Phone While Driving, Get Dumped
August 27, 2010 • By • Leave a Comment
We've all heard the warnings about using cell phones behind the wheel; several recent studies have shown that even hands-free mobiles are more distracting to motorists than driving drunk. Now a paper in Family Science Review points to another chilling threat posed by phoning and driving: Do it and you might get dumped. According to University of Minnesota professor Paul Rosenblatt's paper, communication with family members suffers for the same reasons car calling is hazardous to driving — it slows motorists' reaction times and reduces their attention spans. "A delay in the conversation ... Read More
Get Plenty of Sleep Before Imitating Rock Gods
August 20, 2010 • By • Leave a Comment
Well, the 24th annual meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies has come and gone, and we're assuming San Antonio proved an ideal choice to host. But it wasn't all napping and rapid-eye movement. One of the papers presented at the conference took a close look at how getting enough sleep improves your abilities at — wait for it — "Guitar Hero." One of the top-five best-selling video game franchises of all time — more than 38 million copies have been sold since the original was released in 2005 — "Guitar Hero" challenges gamers to play along to classic hits using ... Read More