Fact O' The Day

[Krandall]

"A Tuscon inventor has developed a wearable television screen."


David Forbes originally built what he calls "the world's worst wearable television" for Burning Man in 2009, but the original model was bulky and monochrome (it was composed of only red LED lights, so he dubbed the project "SatanVision"). This year, he revised the concept and wound up with the Video Coat, a full-color lab-coat model with a resolution of 160x120 (half that of an iPod). Forbes offers to fill orders for video coats through his site (Cathode Corner), though the garments carry a $40,000 price tag.

[Krandall]

"Couples born very far from one another have taller children."


A study in the American Journal of Physical Anthropology found that parents born in the same town have children who are, on average, slightly shorter than the children of parents born far from one another. The explanation for this phenomenon appears to be that people born close to one another are likely to be more genetically similar. Genetic diversity, on the other hand, could result in children with genetic advantages that enable their bodies to work more efficiently, directing energy toward growth instead of expending it elsewhere.

[Krandall]

"A Georgia company produces and ships millions of pairs of chopsticks to China."


The company, Georgia Chopsticks, is responding to a shortage of the common eating utensils in China, where manufacturers already produce 63 billion sets of chopsticks a year. Started by Korea-American Jae Lee, Georgia Chopsticks aims to make and export 10 million pairs of chopsticks a day -- labeled "Made in USA"-- by the end of this year. Located south of Atlanta, the company has access to sweet gum and poplar trees; this wood is ideal for chopstick production and is a dwindling resource in the Pacific Rim.

[Peelz]

LOL take that china!!! 

[Krandall]

"The Earth may have once had a second moon."


The moon itself was likely formed when a large body collided with the Earth at some point early in the timeline of the solar system. Models suggest that this collision could have produced two separate resulting bodies, the moon and one other, and generally predict that the second body would have combined with the newly-formed moon while both were molten. A new theory now suggests that the second body may have survived in orbit, eventually colliding into the solid moon; this impact could explain the marked landscape difference in the visible and "dark" sides of the moon.

crack don't smoke itself.. isn't that right pealer.

[Peelz]

dang right 

[Krandall]

"Playing music may be more effective in treating depression than antidepressants."


A study in the British Journal of Psychiatry followed 79 people who had been diagnosed with depression, and assigned 33 of those patients to music therapy sessions -- improvising playing African drums and a vibraphone-like instrument -- in addition to their regular therapy. One out of four patients responded to music therapy, reporting fewer symptoms and better daily functioning than patients who had engaged in only regular therapy.

[Peelz]

"Playing music may be more effective in treating depression than antidepressants."


A study in the British Journal of Psychiatry followed 79 people who had been diagnosed with depression, and assigned 33 of those patients to music therapy sessions -- improvising playing African drums and a vibraphone-like instrument -- in addition to their regular therapy. One out of four patients responded to music therapy, reporting fewer symptoms and better daily functioning than patients who had engaged in only regular therapy.

it can be....pickin up the guitar and playing a few chords is quite therapeutic.

You still workin on it, or did you give up cuz it hurt you widdle fingers?

[Krandall]

Havent been practicing every week like I should.

But still goin at it.

[Peelz]

FACT: Krandall no longer cares about the website he helped create. 

[Krandall]

"Women are more likely to look for torso movements when judging a man to be a good dancer."


A Northumbria University study recorded the dancing motions of 19 male volunteers -- mapping their movements onto featureless avatars to remove physical attractiveness from the equation -- and asked female participants to rank their dancing ability. Larger neck and torso movements were judged by the participants to be more attractive, as was bending and flexing of the right knee. Dancing ability, the researchers added, is also generally correlated with overall health and attractiveness.

[funyun]

"A Georgia company produces and ships millions of pairs of chopsticks to China."


The company, Georgia Chopsticks, is responding to a shortage of the common eating utensils in China, where manufacturers already produce 63 billion sets of chopsticks a year. Started by Korea-American Jae Lee, Georgia Chopsticks aims to make and export 10 million pairs of chopsticks a day -- labeled "Made in USA"-- by the end of this year. Located south of Atlanta, the company has access to sweet gum and poplar trees; this wood is ideal for chopstick production and is a dwindling resource in the Pacific Rim.

America.... FERK YEAH!

[Krandall]

"Sad people have more accurate memories."


Being unhappy brings with it a slew of adverse effects on cognition, including a diminished ability to engage in abstract critical thinking -- but evidently facial recognition is exempt from this effect. A study in Consciousness and Cognition encouraged happy or sad moods in student volunteers (by asking them to concentrate on either happy or sad memories, while playing The A-Team theme and Mozart's "Requiem," respectively) and found that the saddest participants had the most accurate facial recognition; the happiest participants were the least accurate.

[Peelz]

"Sad people have more accurate memories."


Being unhappy brings with it a slew of adverse effects on cognition, including a diminished ability to engage in abstract critical thinking -- but evidently facial recognition is exempt from this effect. A study in Consciousness and Cognition encouraged happy or sad moods in student volunteers (by asking them to concentrate on either happy or sad memories, while playing The A-Team theme and Mozart's "Requiem," respectively) and found that the saddest participants had the most accurate facial recognition; the happiest participants were the least accurate.

that quote is reversed IMO. Someone who can hang on to many memories, will have a tendency to be sad. Ever hear the saying "ignorance is bliss"? same theory.

[rappyfreak]

I guess Iowa is the most blissful state then?  too easy