D-brief

Seat of Selflessness Found in Brains of Extreme Altruists

Altruism has posed a puzzle for psychologists and evolutionary biologists for centuries. Why is it that humans will help others even to their own detriment?

A new study sheds light on the answer to that question by studying the brains of extreme altruists – people on the extreme end of the caring continuum. In this case researchers chose to study people who donated a kidney to a complete stranger. They found that not only are extreme altruists’ brains different from a normal person’s …

Science Sushi

3 Quarks Daily Science Prizes have been announced!

The 3 Quarks Daily Science Prizes have been announced. Top Quark went to the ever-amazing Eric Michael Johnson for his deeply-researched and thought-engaging post on how Promiscuity Is Pragmatic. The second place slot, The Strange Quark, went to… ME!

I’m honored to be chosen for this award, judged by none other than the esteemed Frans B. M. de Waal. Eric and the third-place winner, Carl Zimmer, are both incredibly talented writers, and I’m truly humbled to be in such good company. For the  …

Citizen Science Salon

Your Citizen Science Idea Could Fly to Mars and Win You $20,000 from NASA!

Buckle up folks, ‘cause NASA is coming to you with a challenge. On Saturday, NASA announced at the World Maker Faire in New York that it has opened up registration for the ‘Mars Balance Mass Challenge’. The space agency has had a history of engaging citizen scientists through online crowdsourcing initiatives such as Target Asteroids!, Planet Mappers and Be a Martian and on the ground challenges such as its annual Sample Return Robot Challenge. In August this year, they partnered with E …

ImaGeo

Every Day Wonders: Look Who Came Knocking

In early September, I launched a new semi-regular feature here at ImaGeo, “Every Day Wonders,” with a photo of a blossoming thundercloud over unusually verdant fields here in Colorado.

The image above is the second installment.

Doing her (or his?) best to imitate a leaf, this katydid was clinging to my front door here in Niwot, Colorado on Sunday. I spotted her when a neighbor also came knocking to return my dog, Moe, who had escaped the back yard through an open gate. (That’s Moe  …

Inkfish

This Robot Can Plug In a USB But I Still Can't

Why is it that every time I try to insert a USB plug it’s backward? Shouldn’t it be right at least half the time by dumb luck? Whatever my problem is, a dextrous new robot doesn’t have it. The robot’s advantage is that its fingertips don’t just feel—they see, too.

Researchers at Northeastern University and (where else?) MIT created the plug-savvy bot. They started with an existing factory-worker robot called Baxter and gave it a pair of pinching fingers. Then on one finger, they added a s …

Seriously, Science?

Dining with an overweight person makes you eat more.

It’s well known that you eat more in general when with other people. But how can the weight of your eating companions affect how much you eat? In this study, the researchers hired a professional actress to put on an overweight prosthesis (AKA a “fatsuit”) and then serve herself some food in front of a group of study participants. They then had the participants serve themselves some food (pasta or salad). It turns out that when the actress took food while wearing the fatsuit , the participant …

Collide-a-Scape

The People's Climate March

Everything you need to know about today’s climate march, in tweets.
Climate change march rolls through NYC and other events in 150 countries http://t.co/q5Y0uA7KiR @npr #climatechange #climatemarch

— KQEDscience (@KQEDscience) September 21, 2014
  The NYC turnout was huge.

.@foxnews on #PeoplesClimate : “March attracts more than 310,000 people” http://t.co/gwXpSOIEn6 — Eli Kintisch (@elikint) September 21, 2014

Amazing crowd shot of @Peoples_Climate March by @cynr …

Neuroskeptic

Warning: This Post Will Change Your Brain

Last week I gave a talk in Brazil called Why Is It So Hard To Think About The Brain?, Well, no sooner have I returned than a story appeared that illustrates my point all too well.

A neuroscience paper made headlines around the world on Friday. Here’s Time’s take:
One Dose of Antidepressant Changes the Brain, Study Finds

One dose of antidepressant is all it takes to change the brain, finds a small new study published in the journal Current Biology.

The study authors took brain scans of  …

Collide-a-Scape

To Score Quick, Cheap Points, Label Someone as Anti-Science

When I was interviewing Robert Kennedy Jr. for my recent Washington Post magazine profile, there was one charge leveled against him that he deeply resented. “I am not anti-science,” he insisted on numerous occasions, and my suggestion a year ago that he was anti-science perturbed him more than anything.

After all, Kennedy, like many greens, embraces what science says about climate change and other pressing environmental issues. So how could he be anti-science?

Similarly, GMO opponents hol …

ImaGeo

And Here's Another Astounding View of Cali's #KingFire

INCREDIBLE photo from #LakeTahoe last night of the #KingFire pyrocumulus!(via Steve Ellsworth) pic.twitter.com/OipOYGAQbA

— NWS Boise (@NWSBoise) September 18, 2014
No sooner had I hit ‘Publish’ on my earlier post than I found this mind boggling photograph of California’s King Fire. It’s so dramatic that I decided to share it with you in a separate post.

I found it on Twitter while searching on #KingFire. Head over there for more compelling photos of the blaze. And for stunning satellit …