Monthly Archives: January 2014

The Depression Trap

Posted on by

6 Lies Your Depression Wants You to Believe (& How to Not Fall Into The Trap)

depression-darkness-man

The world we have created is a product of our thinking; it cannot be changed without changing our thinking. ~Albert Camus

When depression hits, it hijacks your thoughts and feelings. It whispers seductive lies into your ears; lies that gradually start sounding like the truth. I know how that feels, because I have struggled with it too. If on the other hand, you knew the lies depression commonly uses, then you can ignore or replace them with your own inner truth. And every time you do that, you have healed a little bit.

So, here are some common ‘depression deceptions’ to watch out for:

1. It’s a chemical condition. So I can’t really do anything about it right?

Wrong

I’m a psychiatrist and so I hear this one a lot. And it dismays me. As a society, we have gone from one extreme-thinking that everything was related to your mother-to the other extreme-now everything is a chemical condition that is beyond our control. Both are too simplistic. We are complex individuals with unique and rich stories. There is no one answer that will always fit all of us.

Yes your brain is made up of electrical impulses and chemical substances that change a million times in a day and make up your thoughts and/or emotions. And yes, often times, severe clinical depression requires medications. In fact, they can be essential and life saving in some situations. But, and listen to this very closely, even when they work well, medications alone don’t keep you from getting depressed again. What they do, is give you enough relief to then workon your self, and change the things in your mind and life, so that hopefully, you don’t feel that depressed again.

In fact, some forms of therapy, such as Mindfulness based cognitive therapy, has been shown to be even better than medications at lowering the risk of relapse (as long as you’ve gotten over the worst hump).

The human mind is very powerful but much of it is amenable to change. It’s a tough process, but so worth the effort.

2. Anyone with my childhood/job/marriage/health/finances would be depressed!

Each of us lives in our own heads and so we only can feel our own pain. Yes we can empathize with others, but we can’t fully feel anyone else’s joy or pain as intimately as we can feel our own.

This can lead us to feel trapped by the pain of our own life circumstances.

I used to feel this way as well. My depression would tell me “Your mom committed suicide and your dad is a narcissist. It’s not possible for you to ever be happy”. The worst part was, I believed it for a long time.

Since then, I have been fortunate to feel my own strengths, to learn about the brain, to read books and meet amazing people who have overcome great odds, proving to me over and over again that the human spirit is greater than the sum of past events.

You have great inner strength and wisdom within you. Whatever may have happened in your past is only one part of you. Don’t let it dictate your whole life

3. I’ve tried everything. Nothing works for me.

Do you feel like you have tried every single thing to help yourself? And nothing is working?

If that’s the case, maybe you’re trying too hard. Sometimes chasing happinessmakes it more…..elusive, like a butterfly that will only come and softly sit on your shoulder when you can simply be in it’s presence without chasing it.

Try just surrounding yourself with people who seem genuinely happy. Not the Polly Anna kind of superficial happy. But the folks that exude a sense of deep contentment and peace from within. Don’t compare or force happiness to come to you. Just be in its presence.

4. I’ll be happier once I lose weight/get a raise/buy a home…

I wasted lots of my time in my 20’s hoping that if I just worked desperately toward  achieving this or that, I would live happily ever after. Well, I did achieve most of those things, and it did make me feel excited briefly, but soon I had gone back to my usual state of mind. Feeling confused, I would replace it with another “goal” and chase after that, hoping that this time, the happiness would be deeper and long lasting.

And one day I was explaining this theory to a close friend, and she said simply “What’s wrong with now? Why not just be happy now?”

It blew me away. Because she wasn’t telling me to not reach for my goals, but rather that I was missing out on the possibility of NOW.

This very moment is alive with possibility. Whenever you begin to worry about the future or connect your happiness to some elusive goal, take a moment to bring your awareness back to this moment. Use your senses to really see, hear, smell and touch your immediate surroundings. And think of one thing you are grateful for today. Maybe it’s your morning cup of coffee, the hug your son gave you or that your friend called to share a joke. Whatever it is, if you truly loved it, spend a few moments being genuinely thankful that you had that TODAY.

5. I’ve screwed up a lot. I hate myself. I’m not worthy of happiness.

This is a tough one, because when we don’t love ourselves, that’s where the work must start. No foundation, no building.

Whatever you may have done in the past, it’s gone. That moment can never come back.

However, every new breath you take now is a new chance at life.  It’s totally fresh and alive for you to shape as you like. And if this one doesn’t do it, that’s fine, your next breath is again a fresh possibility. And the next. And the next.

Until you take your last breath, you have millions of moments to start over and become the person you want to be. It’s up to you what you do with each one.

6. Most of my life is okay, except for that one ‘X’ thing.

I once read a story that goes something like this.

A professor puts up a big white board with a black dot on it, and then asks his students to describe what they see.

Most of them come close to scrutinize the board and blurt out the answer excitedly “The black dot! There is a black dot on it!”

Finally, the professor says “It’s interesting that most of you didn’t notice the whole white board in front of you, but rather chose to focus on that one small black dot”

This is what happens when we focus solely on the negative things. I’m not saying your difficulties are just dot sized. Not at all. All I’m saying is: Don’t forget to enjoy the beautiful expanse of white in your life. Because it’s there.

Source: “6 Lies Your Depression Wants You to Believe (& How to Not Fall Into the Trap)”, from thechangeblog.com, by Kavetha Sundaramoorthy

from:    http://theunboundedspirit.com/6-lies-your-depression-wants-you-to-believe-how-to-not-fall-into-the-trap/

Media Images & Response

Posted on by

7 Negative Attitudes Pushed By The Media

tv-madness

Like it or not, we live in a media driven world. We spend 11 hours a day bombarded by television, radio, Internet, and other forms of media, a non-stop onslaught on the psyche, an ever-churning series of images, sound bites, opinions, and advertisements, but precious little substance.

The media provides shared experience, collective memory. Unfortunately, many of the ideas we’re exposed to are negative and self-defeating. The pervasiveness of these negative ideas makes them hard to ignore; easy to internalize.

If you’re curious about the cumulative effect of all this media upon the mind, here’s a list of 7 negative attitudes common in the media and tips for dealing with them.

1. Mindless Consumerism: The average American is exposed to 247 commercials everyday. Buying things has become reflex, due partly to the ideal lifestyle flickering on the television: big house, giant SUV, three-car garage, flat-panel television. There’s nothing wrong with enjoying life, but are you buying things to improve your life? Or to compensate for feelings of emptiness? Find something to believe in; fill the void with something real.

2. Poor Body Image: Never before in history have we been surrounded by so many examples of physical perfection, shaped by cosmetic surgeons, airbrushed by artists, and distributed by print and video. Remind yourself that fitness is more important than perfection.  And while it’s true that Americans outside the media are fatter than ever, even physically fit individuals struggle with a poor body image. Yes, attractiveness is an advantage, but your value runs deeper than your appearance, and those actors don’t look half as good without make-up and lighting.

3. Roaming Eye: Television gives everyone (men in particular) the idea that the world is overflowing with beautiful, willing sex partners; even if it’s true (which depends largely upon your own skills with the opposite sex), that roaming eye, that tendency to want what you don’t have, can be destructive if not monitored and controlled. Like all the elements in this list, human nature is the root here.  Remind yourself that relationships are built upon more than physical attraction.

4. Destructive Communication: Electronic media brims with insults and anger. On message boards, gentle persuasion has collapsed beneath the weight of incivility. In real life, victory is seldom obtained with witty one-liners or rude put-downs. Hone those communication skills. Learn to Persuade without offending. Connect.

5. Clique Mentality: As if cliques weren’t prevalent enough, television programs often have casts that are socially, ethnically, and racially homogenous. That’s fine; it’s free enterprise at work, for the most part, and not every story involves a melting pot. I make no bones about it; I’m simply reminding everyone not to be afraid of diversity in the real world.

6. Stereotypes: As evolved as we believe we are, television is overflowing with stereotypes: the dumb jock, the bubble-headed blonde, the geek with a pocket protector, all products of lazy writing. Most of us are smart enough to recognize a stereotype for what it is, but I question the subconscious impact of such repeated exposure. The best defense is to remind yourself that every human being deserves to be evaluated as an individual, no matter how prevalent or justified a stereotype might seem.

7. Danger Fixation: We’re wired to pay attention to danger, which is why the Discovery Channel broadcasts so many programs that show the world being destroyed by tsunamis, earthquakes, and giant asteroids; why the news leads with gunfire and bloodshed. Remind yourself that there are just as many positive forces in the world as negative; your focus on the negative is a matter of personal choice and perspective.

Listen, I’m not trying to say all media is bad; it’s not. Movies in particular can be wonderful works of art or much-needed distractions, and there’s nothing inherently evil about television, radio, print, or the internet; quite the contrary, all forms of media provide wonderful channels of communication.

Furthermore, I’m not blaming the media for anything.  I want to be clear: I do not believe there is any media conspiracy. I can attest from my days in radio that the media is simply a collection of independently owned businesses, working for profit.  An argument can be made that we have ourselves to blame for all this negative media (a solid argument indeed), and that television, radio, and print are simply providing what sells.

Of course, I agree with all of that.  But in their quest for profit, the media does pander to the lowest common denominator, like a giant lens magnifying and reflecting the darkest parts of human nature.  I’m not saying it’s wrong; I’m simply saying it is.

And we’re receptive to it.

Earlier this year, I watched a short film entitled Evidence. More art film than documentary, the film focused on the faces of a group of small children as they watched television: their blank expressions, comatose eyes. Every now and then, their facial expressions hitched in response to some image on the television, but for the most part, they appeared undead.

I’ve never forgotten that film. And now, whenever I’m watching a sitcom or gameshow, I think of the way my own face must look, staring blankly up at the glowing screen. Sometimes, this compels me to turn the tube off and go outside, exchanging the gloom of the TV room for the calming brightness of sunlight, the sound of commercials for the chirping of birds; detaching from the hive mind long enough to find some peace and quiet and develop some memories (and a few ideas) of my own.

Source: “Have You Fallen for these 7 Negative Attitudes Pushed by the Media?”, from johnplaceonline.com

from:    http://theunboundedspirit.com/7-negative-attitudes-pushed-by-the-media/

2013 Airbus UFO Encounter

Posted on by

Pilot reports near miss with ‘rugby ball-shaped UFO’ near Heathrow Airport

Date
The pilot of an Airbus A320 has had a close encounter with a ball-shaped UFO.The pilot of an Airbus A320 has had a close encounter with a ball-shaped UFO. Photo: Craig Abraham

It was certainly a close encounter, but with precisely what remains a mystery.

An airline pilot has reported a near miss with a “rugby ball-shaped” UFO that passed within metres of his passenger jet near Heathrow airport.

He told aviation authorities investigating the incident last July that he was certain the object was going to crash into his aircraft and that he ducked as it headed towards him.

They have been unable to establish the identity of the mysterious craft, which apparently approached the airliner at great speed.

Advertisement

The incident occurred while the Airbus A320 was cruising at 34,000ft, around 32 kilometres west of the airport.

The investigators’ report states: “He was under the apprehension that they were on collision course with no time to react. His immediate reaction was to duck to the right and reach over to alert the FO [First Officer]; there was no time to talk to alert him.”

It adds: “The captain was fully expecting to experience some kind of impact with a conflicting aircraft.”

He told investigators the object passed “within a few feet” of the top of the jet and that it was “cigar/rugby ball-like” in shape, bright silver and “metallic” in construction. The episode was examined by the UK Airprox Board, which studies “near misses” involving aircraft in British airspace.

It checked data recordings to establish what aircraft were in the area but eliminated them all, along with meteorological balloons. Military radar operators were also unable to trace the reported object.

The sighting occurred in daylight, at around 6.35pm on July 13. It has emerged following the publication of the report, which concluded it was “not possible to trace the object or determine the likely cause of the sighting”.

The document does not name the airline or flight involved in the incident. Even though it describes the aircraft as being “just to the west of Heathrow”, aviation experts believe that at such an altitude it would be unlikely to have taken off from, or be preparing to land at, the west London airport.

Instead, the A320, which is popular with many carriers, among them British Airways and Virgin, is likely to have been travelling between a regional airport elsewhere in the UK, and another on the Continent. The aircraft typically carry about 150 passengers.

The British Ministry of Defence closed its UFO desk in December 2009, along with its hotline for reporting such sightings. Following that change, the Civil Aviation Authority took the decision that it would continue to look into such reports, from aircrew and air traffic controllers, because they could have implications for “flight safety”.

In 2012, the head of the National Air Traffic Control Services admitted staff detected around one unexplained flying object every month.

Dr David Clarke, a Sheffield Hallam academic and the UFO consultant for the National Archives, said: “The aviation authorities obviously think this is something they should continue to look into and if you are a regular air traveller, you are likely to agree.”

Dr Clarke, a sceptic on UFO issues, said: “This latest sighting is interesting, because it is detailed and clear. These pilots don’t file these reports for something and nothing. There was obviously something there.”

Chris Yates, an aviation consultant, said: “Although we assume when these things happen, a UFO is responsible, there is usually an explanation that materialises at some point.”

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/travel/travel-news/pilot-reports-near-miss-with-rugby-ballshaped-ufo-near-heathrow-airport-20140106-30cgs.html#ixzz2qFCn2JJv

Your Color Vibe for Saturday, 1/11

Posted on by

Saturday, January 11:    Light Peach

Signs and omens are coming your way today.  Be aware of them when they occur and do not discount something because it might seem trivial.  There is a new energy in the air today and with that a new or renewed sense of direction.  You have been kind of chasing your tail for much of the days of this New Year, and it is high time to know what your direction is and get on with it.  This year is a journey, a quest, but like every good quest, the end is there at the beginning.  Take time today away from things and go within.  There is much there that you have known for quite sometime yet have not been willing to look at.  Why is it that things that are so beautiful can be so difficult to accept?  Ah, well.  Choice and free will are always yours.  Do as you will.

Celestial Highpoints of 2014

Posted on by

Most Interesting Celestial Events of 2014

astronomical events 2014What astronomical phenomena will be observable to people in different parts of the Earth this year?

2014 will be saturated with celestial events in respect of comets and asteroids, but less intense and interesting in respect of eclipses.

First on the list is a lunar eclipse which will occur on April 15 and will last 1 hour 19 minutes. Only the inhabitants of North and South America will be able to see the complete eclipse.

In 2 weeks after that, on April 29, a partial solar eclipse will take place when the Moon will cover the sun only partially. The eclipse will reach its maximum phase in Antarctica and will be observable to the inhabitants of Australia and Tasmania. The eclipse will last only 6 minutes.

The next eclipse will be a full moon, which will take place on October 8. This time, the eclipse will be seen to the inhabitants of North America, the eastern part of Russia, Australia, New Zealand and some other Pacific islands. This eclipse is interesting because during the total phase the Moon will cover Uranus.

Last eclipse of the list is a partial solar eclipse, which will happen on October 23 and will be visible in North America and eastern Russia.

The brightest asteroid of this year will be Vesta, one of the largest asteroids in the main asteroid belt. Its brightness is expected to peak in April when it will be visible with the naked eye. The second brightest asteroid will be Pallas, which is larger than Vesta and ranks first in size among all the asteroids in the main asteroid belt. Pallas will be seen later this month. Among the other most interesting asteroids, Hebe and Juno are worth noting.

Some sources mistakenly attributed Ceres to the asteroids and included it in the list above. However, Ceres had been considered an asteroid till August 24, 2006, when it was classified as a dwarf planet.

The bigger an asteroid is, the more sunlight it reflects. However, the brightness of an asteroid is heavily dependent on the albedo (reflectivity characteristics of its surface), which in turn is determined by the composition of its constituent species. For example, the asteroid Vesta reflects 4 times more light than the dwarf planet Ceres because of the high albedo of the surface and is the most visible asteroid in the sky, which often can be seen even with the naked eye.

The brightest comets will be 154P (P/Brewington), C/2011 W3 (Lovejoy), C/2012 X1 (LINEAR), C/2012 K1 (PanSTARRS) and C/2013 A1 (McNaught). The list may vary depending on the expected increase in brightness and the discovery of new comets.

from:    http://www.learning-mind.com/most-interesting-celestial-events-of-2014/

Where Does Consciousnes Go after Death?

Posted on by

Quantum Theory Proves That Consciousness Moves to Another Universe After Death

consciousness parallel universeA book titled “Biocentrism: How Life and Consciousness Are the Keys to Understanding the Nature of the Universe“, published in the USA, has stirred up the Internet, because it contained a notion that life does not end when the body dies, and it can last forever. The author of this publication, scientist Robert Lanza has no doubts that this is possible.

Beyond time and space

Lanza is an expert in regenerative medicine and scientific director of Advanced Cell Technology Company. Before he has been known for his extensive research which dealt with stem cells, he was also famous for several successful experiments on cloning endangered animal species.

But not so long ago, the scientist became involved with physics, quantum mechanics and astrophysics. This explosive mixture has given birth to the new theory of biocentrism, which the professor has been preaching ever since.

The theory implies that death simply does not exist. It is an illusion which arises in the minds of people. It exists because people identify themselves with their body. They believe that the body is going to perish, sooner or later, thinking their consciousness will disappear too. In fact, consciousness exists outside of constraints of time and space. It is able to be anywhere: in the human body and outside of it. That fits well with the basic postulates of quantum mechanics science, according to which a certain particle can be present anywhere and an event can happen according to several, sometimes countless, ways.

Lanza believes that multiple universes can exist simultaneously. These universes contain multiple ways for possible scenarios to occur. In one universe, the body can be dead. And in another it continues to exist, absorbing consciousness which migrated into this universe.

This means that a dead person while traveling through the same tunnel ends up not in hell or in heaven, but in a similar world he or she once inhabited, but this time alive. And so on, infinitely.

Multiple worlds

This hope-instilling, but extremely controversial theory by Lanza has many unwitting supporters, not just mere mortals who want to live forever, but also some well-known scientists. These are the physicists and astrophysicists who tend to agree with existence of parallel worlds and who suggest the possibility of multiple universes. Multiverse (multi-universe) is a so-called scientific concept, which they defend. They believe that no physical laws exist which would prohibit the existence of parallel worlds.

multiverse parallel universesThe first one was a science fiction writer H.G. Wells who proclaimed in 1895 in his story “The Door in the Wall”.  And after 62 years, this idea was developed by Hugh Everett in his graduate thesis at the Princeton University. It basically posits that at any given moment the universe divides into countless similar instances. And the next moment, these “newborn” universes split in a similar fashion. In some of these worlds you may be present: reading this article in one universe, or watching TV in another.

The triggering factor for these multiplying worlds is our actions, explained Everett. If we make some choices, instantly one universe splits into two with different versions of outcomes.

In the 1980s, Andrei Linde, scientist from the Lebedev’s Institute of physics, developed the theory of multiple universes. He is now a professor at Stanford University.

Linde explained: Space consists of many inflating spheres, which give rise to similar spheres, and those, in turn, produce spheres in even greater numbers, and so on to infinity. In the universe, they are spaced apart. They are not aware of each other’s existence. But they represent parts of the same physical universe.

The fact that our universe is not alone is supported by data received from the Planck space telescope. Using the data, scientists have created the most accurate map of the microwave background, the so-called cosmic relic background radiation, which has remained since the inception of our universe. They also found that the universe has a lot of dark recesses represented by some holes and extensive gaps.

Theoretical physicist Laura Mersini-Houghton from the North Carolina University with her colleagues argue: the anomalies of the microwave background exist due to the fact that our universe is influenced by other universes existing nearby. And holes and gaps are a direct result of attacks on us by neighboring universes.

Soul quanta

So, there is abundance of places or other universes where our soul could migrate after death, according to the theory of neo-biocentrism. But does the soul exist?

consciousness parallel universeProfessor Stuart Hameroff from the University of Arizona has no doubts about the existence of eternal soul. As recently as last year, he announced that he has found evidence that consciousness does not perish after death.

According to Hameroff, the human brain is the perfect quantum computer and the soul or consciousness is simply information stored at the quantum level. It can be transferred, following the death of the body; quantum information represented by consciousness merges with our universe and exist there indefinitely. The biocentrism expert Lanza proves that the soul migrates to another universe. That is the main difference from his other colleagues.

Sir Roger Penrose, a famous British physicist and expert in mathematics from Oxford, supports this theory, and he has also found traces of contact with other universes. Together, the scientists are developing quantum theory to explain the phenomenon of consciousness. They believe that they found carriers of consciousness, the elements that accumulate information during life, and after death of the body they “drain” consciousness somewhere else. These elements are located inside protein-based microtubules (neuronal microtubules), which previously have been attributed a simple role of reinforcement and transport channeling inside a living cell. Based on their structure, microtubules are best suited to function as carriers of quantum properties inside the brain. That is mainly because they are able to retain quantum states for a long time, meaning they can function as elements of a quantum computer.

from:    http://www.learning-mind.com/quantum-theory-proves-that-consciousness-moves-to-another-universe-after-death/#sthash.JuDox31e.dpuf

Cuba M5 Earthquake

Posted on by

Moderate earthquake along the Cuba coast – Also felt in Key West (Florida)

Last update: January 10, 2014 at 10:20 am by By

Update January 10 10:18 UTC : This is the latest bulletin of the official Cuban newspaper Granma :
Sismo perceptible en varias provincias
A las 3:57 p.m., de ayer, la Red de Estaciones del Servicio Sismológico Nacional cubano registró un sismo localizado en las coordenadas 23.39 Latitud Norte y los 80.99 Longitud Oeste a 73,7 km al Noreste de Varadero, en la provincia de Matanzas, a una profundidad de 20 km y una magnitud de 4,9 en la escala Richter.
Se han recibido reportes de perceptibilidad en La Habana, en Corralillo y Sagua la Grande en la provincia de Villa Clara, en Varadero y Jagüey Grande en la provincia de Matanzas.
No se reportan daños materiales ni humanos.
= NO damage has been reported due to this earthquake

Update 22:59 UTC : Cubans are reporting that the shaking lasted for about 30 seconds and that the Cuban Seismological agency had reduced the Magnitude of the earthquake to M4.9

Update 22:45 UTC : No reports of damage so far. The earthquake was of course felt in La Havana were 2 buildings were temporarily evacuated

Update : Such an earthquake may at max. give some current at the beaches but certainly NO tsunami. A Magnitude of M7 or more is needed to have enough energy to generate a tsunami.

Update 22:08 UTC : The picture below is from a seismograph installed in Florida and reported over the Internet by the seismological service of Nicaragua. It can be of a better quality, but one can see very well at the bottom when the earthquake started.

Screen Shot 2014-01-09 at 23.07.18

Update 21:52 UTC : We would not be surprised that minor damage would be inflicted in Cuba in the La Teja – Coralillio area. The distance from the epicenter to these cities is normally big enough to avoid damage but the location of the epicenter has always a relatively big error margin.

Typical houses in Coralillo, Cuba - Image courtesy TinTin collection

Typical houses in Coralillo, Cuba – Image courtesy TinTin collection

Request : Are you one of the people who felt the shaking of this earthquake ? If yes, please fill in the form below by clicking on the  “I Felt It” button behind the corresponding Earthquake” below. Thank you. May we also please ask our Cuban friends who have felt this earthquake to share what they felt with us. Thank you

Update 21:43 UTC : Nobody has reported damage yet in Cuba (excluded in the USA). The epicenter being into the sea, the impact of the shaking will be limited. Weak shaking was reported in Key West and in Havana.

The earthquake was in fact along the Cuban coast, but was also felt in the Key West peninsula. A very unusual location for an earthquake !

Screen Shot 2014-01-10 at 01.12.21

38km (24mi) N of Corralillo, Cuba 51km (32mi) NE of Marti, Cuba 66km (41mi) ENE of Varadero, Cuba 67km (42mi) ENE of Cardenas, Cuba 180km (112mi) E of Havana, Cuba

Most important Earthquake Data: Magnitude : 5

from:    http://earthquake-report.com/2014/01/09/moderate-earthquake-cuba-region-on-january-9-2014/

2013’s 13 Science Really’s!!!

Posted on by

Duh! The 13 Most Obvious Findings of 2013

By Stephanie Pappas, Senior Writer   |   December 26, 2013
Musician with a guitar
 This is hot, according to one of the less-surprising studies of 2013.
Credit: ollyy,

Common sense is no replacement for science; plenty of “everyone knows” knowledge has had its legs cut out from under it by a well-designed study. Nevertheless, some research turns up results that don’t exactly shock and awe.

Such no-duh research usually has a serious underlying purpose, from the study of why people cheat to the roots of racism. Researchers have to understand the basics of everyday phenomena in order to understand them, after all.

Here’s a sampling of the unsurprising research of 2013 — with a few notes on why scientists bothered.

1. The Western diet is bad for you

Wait … fried Snickers bars and hot dogs aren’t the foundations of a well-balanced diet? The “Western diet” of processed and fried foods with a side of sweets and red meat increases the likelihood of premature death, researchers reported in April in The American Journal of Medicine, to the surprise of no one.

The study was slightly different than other research into how Twinkies can kill, in that it assessed overall health in old age rather that the effect of diet on specific diseases.

2. Sleeping beauty is no myth

News bulletin: Baggy eyes, puffy skin and a bleary expression do not make for a hot look. Research published in September in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine reveals the better you sleep, the better you look.

Obvious on a day-to-day basis, no doubt — and the reason make-up was invented. But this study went beyond the morning after to find that several months of good sleep make a difference in a person’s appearance. The participants were patients being treated for sleep apnea and heavy snoring, breathing problems that can disrupt sleep without a person knowing it. After treatment, independent raters judged the participants as younger and more attractive compared with photos taken before treatment.

3. Racists are close-minded

Few would associate racism with open-mindedness. A study published in January in the journal Psychological Science reveals that, sure enough, racism produces a closed mind.

People prompted to believe racial stereotypes by reading a false scientific study became less open-minded. Interestingly, this close-mindedness led to less creativity overall, even in activities having nothing to do with race. Rigid, categorical thinking underlies both racist beliefs and a lack of creativity, the researchers said.

4. Morbid alert! Hanging is bad for the heart

Few people probably hang themselves for the cardio benefits. A January study in the Emergency Medicine Journal confirmed, indeed, hanging is not good for the heart. The study researchers reviewed emergency medical records in Melbourne, Australia, and found that 4 percent of cardiac arrests treated were the result of hanging.

The treatment findings, however, revealed some possibly life-saving information. Resuscitation saved the lives of 3 percent of the patients, suggesting that emergency medical technicians should give it a shot.

5. Cheating men have strong sexual urges

No, really?! Guys who cheat do so because they experience strong sexual impulses, according to a study published in the journal Personality and Social Psychology in September.

This no-duh finding comes courtesy research on college students who had to reflect on sexual temptations and participate in a game in which they had to reject or accept potential dates based on photographs. The study revealed the male impulse to accept a potential partner was much stronger than the female impulse.

The study explains the gender difference in cheating, the researchers said. It’s not that men have less self-control than women; it’s that the urges they’re trying to control are stronger.

6. Shy teens find friends online

It’s so cliché as to be a stereotype: the mousy, shy teen, turning to Tumblr and online message boards to make friends rather than going out in real life.

Turns out, the cliché is true, according to a study published in January in the European Journal of Personality. There’s good news, though: Online friendships boosted shy teens’ self-esteem, which prompted them to find more friends both online and offline.

7. Take smaller bites, eat less

Who knew? Taking smaller bites leads to eating less, according to a study published in the journal PLOS ONE in January. But wait, there’s more to this study than meets the eye. Researchers had participants take either small or large spoonsful of soup while they watched a 15-minute cartoon, so that they were distracted while eating. Eating while distracted is known to make people scarf more food than they think, a big problem in a world full of big-screen TVs and smartphones at the table. Taking smaller bites offset this increase in intake, so the findings might be helpful for those who have to multitask at meals.

8. Umbrellas protect you from the sun

Intrepid scientists tested the idea that umbrellas provide shade. Turns out they do. Case closed.

OK, a little more detail: Researchers wanted to know if umbrellas, which are typically designed to shield from rain, not sun, could block harmful UV rays that cause skin damage and cancer. They found that black umbrellas blocked at least 90 percent of the harmful rays, and all blocked at least 77 percent, with white performing the worst. So if summer shade is the goal, pick a black umbrella, the researchers suggested in March in the journal JAMA Dermatology.

9. People buy more fruits and veggies when they’re cheaper

What’s it going to take to get fruits and veggies onto people’s plates? A price cut could help.

In an unsurprising finding, researchers reported that discounts drive purchases of healthy foods. People given coupons bought 9 lbs. (4 kilograms) more fruits and veggies over a six-month period compared with people given only a cookbook of healthy recipes or free phone calls with a nutritionist. When the coupons were paired with cookbooks, the amount of extra veggies bought rose to 12 lbs. (5 kg), Reuters reported. What a shocker — people like deals. Still, the study points to a need to back up education with access to healthy food, the researchers said.

10. Bad relationships depress people

Your girlfriends are right: It’s better to be alone than to marry a loser.

In a study published in April in the Journal PLOS ONE, researchers used a large national study of 5,000 Americans to find that people with unsupportive spouses were more likely to be depressed than unmarried people. To be fair, the study is the first to link bad relationships with depression in the general population, rather than in people already seeking help for the mental disorder. Couples therapy might be useful when one-half of a partnership is experiencing depression, the researchers said.

11. Reality TV skews reality

In a year wrapping up with a controversy over anti-gay comments made by the patriarch on the A&E reality TV show “Duck Dynasty,” it seems appropriate that scientists observed a not-so-surprising pattern this October. Young adults who watch reality TV are likely to believe the shows reflect, well, reality. Reality TV viewers are more likely than non-viewers to think women are nasty gossips and that fighting in relationships is common, researchers reported in the journal Psychology of Popular Media Culture.

12. Drugs and driving don’t mix

Getting drugged up and getting behind the wheel is a very bad idea, according to a study from Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health published in September.

Drivers who test positive for drugs (other than alcohol) are three times more likely to get into a fatal car crash than people who are sober. Mix drugs and alcohol, and the risk of a fatal crash leaps by 23 percent.

Obvious, perhaps, but important, given that there are about 30,000 fatal car wrecks a year in the United States, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Drugged driving is less well-studied than drunk driving, and unlike the blood alcohol levels used to measure alcohol impairment, no universal measures of drug impairment exist, the researchers said.

13. Women find musicians hot

Many an adolescent boy has taken up guitar in hopes of getting chicks. It’s not a bad strategy, according to research published May 1 in the journal Psychology of Music. This absolutely delightful study had a man ask women on the street for their phone numbers while holding either a sports bag, a guitar case or nothing. The guy got more digits when holding the guitar case. Rock on.

– See more at: http://www.livescience.com/42178-obvious-science-findings-2013.html#sthash.3fFgwpVt.dpuf

Time Travelers & Social Media

Posted on by

Searching for Time Travelers, Scientists Look to Social Media

By Denise Chow, Staff Writer   |   January 10, 2014
time travel, wormhole
 art interpretation of traveling through a wormhole.
Credit: Les Bossinas

Time travelers, if they exist amongst us, have yet to betray their period-hopping ways online, according to a fun, new study aimed at finding visitors from another time, based on their digital footprints.

Theoretically, the idea of time travel forward in time should be possible according to Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity. In fact, scientists have already sent teensy particles called muons forward in time. But sending a large object, such as an entire person, into the future remains in the echelons of science fiction, for now.

Even so, over a summer poker game, Robert Nemiroff, an astrophysicist at Michigan Technological University in Houghton, sparked an amusing discussion with his students by asking: If time travelers were living in our midst, would they leave traces of their presence online?

The researchers chose two recent events — the March 2013 election of Pope Francis to lead the Catholic Church, and the sungrazing Comet ISON, which was first spotted in September 2012 — to search for premature online references to time travelers. Perhaps careless time travelers made mention of Pope Francis or Comet ISON on Twitter or Facebook before they were supposed to know about them, the researchers said.

“The Internet is essentially a vast database, and I thought that if time travelers were here, their existence would have already come out in some other way, maybe by posting winning lottery numbers before they were selected,” Nemiroff said in a statement.

Nemiroff and his students combed through results from search engines, such as Google and Bing, and social media sites, including Facebook and Twitter. Ultimately, their hunt came up empty.

“In our limited search we turned up nothing,” Nemiroff said in a statement. “I didn’t really think we would. But I’m still not aware of anyone undertaking a search like this.”

The researchers did find one blog post that mentioned a “Pope Francis” before Jorge Mario Bergoglio, then-Archbishop of Buenos Aires, was elected to lead the Catholic Church, but they think the reference was accidental, rather than a message from a time-traveling visitor.

Nemiroff and his students even created their own special blog post in September 2013 that asked potential time travelers to email or tweet “#ICanChangeThePast2” or “#ICannotChangeThePast2” a month earlier, on or before August 2013. But, they again found no signs of time travel.

Still, Nemiroff, whose research typically covers more serious topics such as gravitational lensing and gamma-ray bursts, said the study, while focused on a seemingly far-out concept, was an enjoyable undertaking.

“I’m always doing stuff on space and time,” he said. “This has been a lot of fun.”

Nemiroff said the study was conducted during his students’ own time, and without the use of any grant funding. The researchers presented their findings (or lack thereof) during a poster session Monday (Jan. 6) at the 223rd meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Washington, D.C.

– See more at: http://www.livescience.com/42476-time-travelers-social-media.html#sthash.7QoufPcd.dpuf