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Genes hold the key to how happy we are

Wed, 05 Mar 2008 23:15:12 GMT

clipped by: invictus
clipper's remarks: Mmm... I wish I had "better" genes, then.

Happiness in life is as much down to having the right genetic mix as it is to personal circumstances according to a recent study.

Psychologists at the University of Edinburgh working with researchers at Queensland Institute for Medical Research in Australia found that happiness is partly determined by personality traits and that both personality and happiness are largely hereditary.

Using a framework which psychologists use to rate personalities, called the Five-Factor Model, the researchers found that people who do not excessively worry, and who are sociable and conscientious tend to be happier. They suggested that this personality mix can act as a buffer when bad things happen, according to the study published in the March issue of Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.

Tags: genetics, genes, happiness, science

What The Hell Is This Shit!?

Wed, 05 Mar 2008 20:09:21 GMT

clipped by: skwirlinator
clipper's remarks: I think they are athletes or something?
LOL - Japanese TV

Clip Source: s59.photobucket.com

Tags: funny, classic, revival

Not Hobbits after all

Thu, 06 Mar 2008 10:41:30 GMT

clipped by: Fast T friend
clipper's remarks: “Some of the traditional stories of the local people may be an ancient memory of an otherwise forgotten time, when cretins were a common part of the human population on Flores”

Clip Source: www.sciencedaily.com

RMIT University researchers have joined the worldwide debate over the hobbit-like fossils found on the Indonesian island of Flores, with a controversial new theory suggesting their primitive features are the result of a medical condition

The small human-like fossils were said to represent a primitive species completely new to science when they were discovered in 2004

But Dr Obendorf said comparisons of the fossils with modern bones suggested that they were actually human, with their small stature and distinctive features the result of a condition related to severe iodine deficiency

“Dwarf cretinism can cause features very similar to those of the Flores hobbits,” the Senior Lecturer said.

“This extreme form of cretinism is the result of severe iodine deficiency in pregnancy in combination with a number of other environmental factors, such as eating foods that release cyanide into the body and increase serum thiocyanate.

Tags: human, species, hobbits, indonesia, iodine, deficiency

It Feels Good Lying Here

Thu, 06 Mar 2008 06:56:07 GMT

clipped by: thisnamecantbetaken
clipper's remarks: Winter is couch potato season. I can SO relate.

Clip Source: www.arcamax.com

The Garden of Forking Paths (part 2)

Thu, 06 Mar 2008 01:47:25 GMT

clipped by: syncopath

Clip Source: etcetera.stumbleupon.com

A writer -- and, I believe, generally all persons -- must think that whatever happens to him or her is a resource. All things have been given to us for a purpose, and an artist must feel this more intensely. All that happens to us, including our humiliations, our misfortunes, our embarrassments, all is given to us as raw material, as clay, so that we may shape our art.

Conversations with Borges

1981-1983

No one is anyone, one single immortal man is all men. Like Cornelius Agrippa, I am god, I am hero, I am philosopher, I am demon and I am world, which is a tedious way of saying that I do not exist.

Jorge Luis Borges "The Immortal" (1949)

The exercise of letters is sometimes linked to the ambition to contruct an absolute book, a book of books that includes the others like a Platonic archetype, an object whose virtues are not diminished by the passage of time.

Jorge Luis Borges "Note on Walt Whitman"

"Borges 2.0: From Text to Virtual Worlds" by Perla Sassón-Henry

Exploring urban soundscapes

Thu, 06 Mar 2008 14:24:01 GMT

clipped by: mona
clipper's remarks: If bloody public transport weren't on strike, I'd go sit on the metro to check this out. Sounds interesting!

Clip Source: www.thelocal.de

German installation explores urban soundscapes

A lead car of Berlin’s U6 underground train drags carriages underneath the German capital’s traditional shopping boulevard of Friedrichstrasse. While travelling between the stations of Stadtmitte and Kochstrasse, the train passes a short pipe-shaped object connected via cable to a computer terminal in a nearby gallery, which records and interprets the motion of the passing train.

So sensitive is the sensor that it can also detect the footsteps of shoppers on the pavement above. These signals not only record the spontaneous rhythmic activity of the immediate urban surroundings but also their intensity.

But the project is not limited to the gallery on Friedrichstrasse. It will also be broadcast live online at www.soundofcities.com

Gallery openings are also planned for Zagreb, Paris, Los Angeles and Tokyo

Alfred Hitchcock Tribute

Wed, 05 Mar 2008 14:47:35 GMT

clipped by: haraya

Clip Source: www.worstpreviews.com

Vanity Fair's Incredible Alfred Hitchcock Tribute

The latest issue of Vanity Fair did a tribute to Alfred Hitchcock by bringing in Hollywood's biggest stars to pose for famous shots from the director's greatest movies. Some of these movies include "Vertigo" and "North by Northwest," and while they are simply amazing, it would have been nice to see Naomi Watts in "The Birds" shot since she is currently rumored to star in the remake. In addition, the magazine has posted a behind the scenes look at the making of these great photos.

Clip Source: www.worstpreviews.com

Tags: alfred hitchcock, tribute, photos, photography, entertainment, movies, collection, classics, fiction

Can't Touch This?

Wed, 05 Mar 2008 16:33:24 GMT

clipped by: CrazyRedHead
clipper's remarks: See a nun? Grab your crotch.

Clip Source: www.slate.com

Italy's highest appeals court ruled that a 42-year-old workman broke the law by "ostentatiously touching his genitals through his clothing" and must pay a 200 euro fine

crotch-grabbing is a common habit among superstitious Italian males, who believe the gesture wards off bad luck. What does the crotch have to do with luck?

The crotch grab goes back at least to the pre-Christian Roman era and is closely associated with another superstition called the "evil eye"

men would try to block such pernicious beams by shielding their genitals

Men covered their generative organs not only to defend against direct malevolence but also in the presence of anything ominous, like a funeral procession.

The crotch grab or corno might come in handy when Italians come across traditional bad omens, like nuns or the number 17.

Women of the cloth are associated with two inauspicious places—cemeteries and hospitals.

Tags: funny, bizarre, genitalia, humor, i got yer nuns right here buddy