Monthly Archives: June 2009

Note to those working on the reinvention of newspapers — stick to the weather.  Evidently, that’s what we Americans really care about most, or so the numbers in a just-released study seem to show.  From the LiveScience article about the … Continue reading →

Conventional wisdom has it that one of our mightiest competitive motivators is social comparison: we begin competing with others as soon as we compare ourselves to them. Whether the stakes are minuscule or massive, something in us wants to measure up inch for … Continue reading →

It’s a cruel fact of human existence that with enough time, we can become bored with just about anything.  Whether it’s a new car or a new dog, a great Indian dish or a great song, eventually the initial pleasure fades … Continue reading →

In a recent post, I discussed a study that showed how using a safety checklist in hospitals can significantly reduce hospital-acquired infection deaths.  One of the most important items on that checklist — washing hands. It seems a simple item, but to … Continue reading →

SLEEP 2009, the ultimate sleep research event, wrapped up this week with a slew of intriguing studies about the benefits of bedtime. The one that has my eyes perked is about sleep’s role in memory formation. Researchers, led by Jessica … Continue reading →

A new study suggests that emotional involvement with our favorite television shows might be worth a kidney or two. Organ donation, when depicted favorably in popular television dramas, gets a boost in the public sphere. This might be good or bad, … Continue reading →