REKALL – False Memory Induction
If you ever need to identify a mad scientist just ask him or her for their scifi movie collection and it will tell you all you need to know. Take Mark Mayford of the Scripps Research Institute in San Diego who – with his colleagues – genetically engineered mice so that neurons that fired would fire again when the brain was injected with More...
Why your keyboard influences your mood
People responsible for naming new products, brands, and companies might do well to consider the potential advantages of consulting their keyboards and choosing the ‘right’ name. More...
Project Avatar
In the James Cameron movie, set far in the future, human soldiers use mind control to inhabit the bodies of human alien hybrids as they carry out a war against the inhabitants of a distant world. Fantasy Scifi? More...
The psychological consequences of seeing the ‘self’ acting independently
The Psychologist has an article on the surprising effect of seeing a digital avatar of yourself – as if looking at your body from the outside. The piece covers a range of effects found in psychology studies, from More...
Human pheromones: wishful thinking
As marketers we all know too well the powerful use of scent. The smell of fresh bread or the more subtile fragrances used in stores all help to market our products or make people change their behavior. As humans More...
The Scent of History
Think of some of your most powerful memories, and there’s likely a smell attached; the aroma of suntan lotion at the beach, the sharpness of freshly mown grass, the floral trail of your mother’s perfume. But More...
The Internet as an Extension of Our Brain
According to a study done by Science Magazine reliable and constant access to online information is affecting how we use our memory. Instead of remembering facts ourselves we remember where we can find those facts. This More...
A Virtual Look Inside Your Body
There have been many attempts in the past few years to help doctors and patients connect through medical technology, like digitizing and centralizing medical charts; personal monitors that send vital health information More...
Hate is Stupid
Humans don’t like being pushed around, especially when it’s some smart brochure or slick movie doing the pushing and it’s telling them not to – let’s assume a popular global topic – ‘hate’ More...
The Matrix Reality
It seems the sci-fi industry has done it again. Predictions made in novels like Johnny Mnemonic and Neuromancer back in the 1980s of neural implants linking our brains to machines have become a reality. Back then More...