Seven stories from Science Daily that didn't get posted or commented on:
- Step Back To Move Forward Emotionally, Study Suggests
the best way to move ahead emotionally is to analyze one's feelings from a psychologically distanced perspective. ... studies ... provide the first experimental evidence of the benefits of analyzing depressive feelings from a psychologically distanced perspective
Sometimes it helps Bob to think about his troubles in the third person...
- Steady Work And Mental Health: Is There A Connection?
When compared with those with full-time work with benefits, workers who report employment insecurity experience significant adverse effects on their physical and mental health.
On the other hand, sometimes Bob reflects that unhealthy jobs can cause chronic adverse physical and mental health problems, as he observes his reduced blood pressure and more optimistic outlook on life...
- Which political party has a monopoly on the “best” values and how does religion affect these values?
...found Republicans to be consistently higher on the extrinsic value of financial success and lower on the intrinsic value of helping others in need....Closer examination showed that only non-religious Republicans (presumably economic conservatives) differed from Democrats on the value of helping those in need. However, even religious Republicans exceeded Democrats in valuing financial success. Religious and non-religious Democrats did not differ in their values.
The real God the Republicans worship is on Wall Street...
- Illusion Vs. Reality: Age-related Differences In Expectations For Future Happiness
"The older adults appeared wiser with greater self-knowledge and a more astute sense of their past and future feelings; they may strive for acceptance of present circumstances as a way of regulating emotions"
...so older and wiser has some truth in it. Something to look forward to when I'm older...
- Dark Chocolate: Half A Bar Per Week May Keep Heart Attack Risk At Bay
The best effect is obtained by consuming an average amount of 6.7 grams of [dark]chocolate per day, corresponding to a small square of chocolate twice or three times a week. Beyond these amounts the beneficial effect tends to disappear
I don't care for milk chocolate anyway...
- Easier-to-hit 'Targets' Could Help Older People Make The Most Of Computers
Older people could make better use of computers if icons, links and menu headings automatically grew bigger as the cursor moves towards them.
Right. After you explain to them why the screen is suddenly jumping at them and getting bigger. My name is on an invention to help deal with folks that have tremors, which a lot of older adults have. Now that I'm a bit older, I find that I have that tremor. Where is the technology incorporated into the interface? All I see is my cursor jiggling all over the place, trying to hit the target. It doesn't matter how big the target is, especially if I'm try to draw something. And it doesn't help if the stupid pop up menu pops up and disappears faster than I want it to. The problem isn't old users. It's idiot designers that think that all their users are 18-23 year old video game playing kids with lightning fast reflexes that want to hit and click on "targets" so they can shoot aliens.
- Someone more paranoid than IOkay, this one isn't the one from Science Daily I intended to list. It's a scary list of rights that have been taken away since September 11, 2001 in the US. I have this paranoid fear that martial law will be declared before the elections on November 4 or before the next President is sworn in in January 2009 if Obama is elected. Of course, it's probably just a psychiatric symptom, but these sort of verifiable news stories don't help. It's not like it's a UFO conspiracy theory.
All that said and done. Happy Autumn!! The Arctic Ice Shelf may have broken off and drifted away, but it might freeze up again this winter! Another 200 days or more before it completely disappears, at least!
tags: news science research
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