Category: Uncategorized

Uncategorized

Placebo effect works for HDTV’s:

a newscientist.com Want to enjoy the benefits of a super-sharp high-definition screen without buying a new TV? Simply tell yourself that you are watching HD and put up a few posters to transform your experience. That's one implication of a Dutch study into how people's expectations affect their television viewing experience. Sixty people in turn were shown the same video clip on the same television. Half were told to expect clearer, sharper pictures thanks to HD technology: an impression backed up…


1 min read
Uncategorized

The Economist: How much do big awards pay?

in over 320,000 readers. Get a free weekly update via email here. Related posts: New Neuroscience Reveals 4 Rituals That Will Make You Happy New Harvard Research Reveals A Fun Way To Be More Successful How To Get People To Like You: 7 Ways From An FBI Behavior Expert


1 min read
Uncategorized

Are twin-blade razors better than single-blade ones?

rsonally I think the twin-blade effect--technically known as "hysteresis"--is bull, but you can judge for yourself. Twin blades were first incorporated into Gillette's Trac II "razor system" in 1971. (Ah, for the days when you could buy a razor blade or a bookshelf without having to get some cockamamy "system" along with it.) What you get is two parallel blades placed 0.06 inch apart. When you run the razor over your face, the first blade slides through each whisker and…


2 minutes
Uncategorized

Technology, Umpires and the Human Element in Baseball:

feel like I write more about umpires than many people do, and it’s because I feel strongly that what happens on the field isn’t subject to interpretation. If a player’s foot hits a base before a glove with a ball in it touches that player, that player is entitled to the base, he’s safe, and that doesn’t change because some middle-management functionary says otherwise. If a breaking ball crosses the plate at a point between a batter’s knees and…


3 minutes
Uncategorized

Birth Control Pills May Alter Choice Of Partners

ere is no doubt that modern contraception has enabled women to have unprecedented control over their own fertility. However, is it possible that the use of oral contraceptives is interfering with a woman's ability to choose, compete for and retain her preferred mate? A new paper published in the October issue of the journal Trends in Ecology and Evolution reviews emerging evidence suggesting that contraceptive methods which alter a woman's natural hormonal cycles may have an underappreciated impact on choice…


1 min read
Uncategorized

Consumer Reports – List of the best credit cards (good terms, no fees):

in over 320,000 readers. Get a free weekly update via email here. Related posts: New Neuroscience Reveals 4 Rituals That Will Make You Happy New Harvard Research Reveals A Fun Way To Be More Successful How To Get People To Like You: 7 Ways From An FBI Behavior Expert


1 min read
Uncategorized

Marginal Revolution: the unusual economics of the film industry

e interesting thing that I've always found about the film business from an economic point of view is that unlike in any other business I can think of, the cost of manufacturing the product has no affect on the purchase cost to the consumer.  For example Honda can make a cheaper car with less features and cheaper finishes than BMW without losing all of their customers to the superior car because they sell their product for less.  You spend less…


2 minutes
Uncategorized

A quarter of America’s total income is earned by the top 1%:

ERICA is the wealthiest country in the world and its rich keep earning more. In 2007, the latest year for which data are available, the top 1% increased their share of the country's income to 23.5%, according to analysis of tax returns by a pair of economists, Emmanuel Saez and Thomas Piketty. The concentration of income earned by this top percentile now stands at its highest since 1928. Two-thirds of the country's total gains in the five years to 2007…


1 min read

Over 500,000 people have subscribed to my newsletter. Join now and get the beginning of my new book free:

I want to subscribe!