The Associated Press
They might be giants
"Growing up, children learn to associate tallness with power, and among adults, we tend to assign power to those who are tall," The Boston Globe says. "But does this association also go the other way? Apparently it does: A new study finds that power makes people feel taller. After writing about an experience in which they had power over someone else, people significantly overestimated their height relative to a taller pole and created taller avatars to represent themselves in a computer game. Likewise, people significantly over-reported their height after being randomly assigned to be a manager (versus employee) in a business exercise."
Fuel theft in tough times
British motorists whose cars refuse to start this season "could be victims of the latest austerity trend – fuel and catalytic converter theft," The Guardian reports. "… Thieves steal fuel by cutting through fuel lines, smashing open fuel caps, removing petrol tanks or, in some cases, drilling into the fuel tanks and pumping out the contents. Big cars, such as [minivans]and 4x4s, are particularly vulnerable because they are higher off the ground, giving easier access, and they have bigger fuel tanks. … Catalytic converters are stolen because they contain precious metals – platinum, palladium and rhodium – which can be recycled."
Measuring food in minutes
"When we rip open a 100-calorie snack pack, few of us have an idea of how much energy that really is – or how much walking, biking or schlepping groceries it will take to burn it off," says the Discover Magazine blog 80beats. "But what if nutrition labels included descriptions of how much exercise you'd need to burn off that candy bar? One recent study explored that possibility by testing the effects of signs describing in one of three different ways the energy contained in a sugary drink. Researchers found that a sign that said 'Did you know that working off a bottle of soda or fruit juice takes about 50 minutes of running?' halved the number of drinks purchased from a drink cooler by African-American teenagers, while signs that mentioned calorie count or percentage of total recommended calorie intake did not have a significant effect. Though the study was pretty small, and thus should be verified with larger studies, the effect seems plausible, given that exercise is a much more concrete measure of energy value than calories."
Getting a cat? Adults beware
"While having a cat as a child may protect against future allergies, getting one in adulthood doubles the chances of developing an immune reaction to it – the first step toward wheezing, sneezing and itchy eyes, a European study found," Reuters reports. "The same study, which covered thousands of adults and was published in The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, found that people with other allergies were at extra-high risk of reacting to a new feline in the house. … 'If you are an adult with asthma and/or allergies, you should think twice about getting a cat and particularly, if you do so, letting it into your bedroom,' said Andy Nish of the Allergy and Asthma Care Center in Gainesville, Ga., who wasn't involved in the study."
Older brains can keep up
"While it has long been believed that the brain slows as people age, recent research shows it may be a conscious choice that leads older people to emphasize accuracy over speed," says Psych Central. "The research shows that healthy older people can be trained to respond faster in some decision-making tasks without hurting their accuracy, meaning their cognitive skills aren't so different from younger adults. 'Many people think that it is just natural for older people's brains to slow down as they age, but we're finding that isn't always true,' said Dr. Roger Ratcliff, a professor of psychology at Ohio State University and co-author of the studies. 'At least in some situations, 70-year-olds may have response times similar to those of 25-year-olds.' "
Thought du jour
"How pleasant it is to see a human countenance which cannot be insincere!"
Sophia Hawthorne (1809-71), painter and illustrator, on her infant daughter's smile