Shooting Violence: A Reason Why?

November 06, 2009

Horrible news about Fort Hood yesterday. As an alumnus of VA Tech who followed that tragedy from afar, I found this latest shooting extremely painful to watch.  Our hearts go out to the victims and their families and friends.

As we learn more about the identity of the shooter, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, we're wondering what drives someone like that to do something so horrible. And is that thing - whatever that thing is - something shared by all people who commit these crimes? And finally - what happens at the breaking point.

To find out, I asked Clinical Psychologist Jill Weber if she had any insight. (You'll need to have Flash enabled to hear them...)

First of all, are there common elements between Hasan and other people like the Columbine shooters?

Jill Weber Answer 1

But lots of people feel marginalized and isolated and they aren't becoming violent...

Jill Weber Answer 2

Reports say that Hasan was a mental health therapist himself, so shouldn't he have had the knowledge and tools to process those feelings?

Jill Weber Answer 3

I asked Weber if there was anything else to add. She said this...

Jill Weber Answer 4

Which Halloween Ghoul Is Eco-Friendliest????

October 30, 2009

 

I'm trying to figure out which monster has the smallest carbon footprint. Here's my list from most eco-friendly to Eco-Scourge Of The Earth.

GHOST: Look...I don't think it's fair to count you in this, ghost, because you don't have an actual physical presence, you don't eat or consume things or do anything except just be there so big deal. If you wanna be a baby about it..FINE - YOU WIN. BLEH. But it's lame. You're just made of air and who knows what else and you're taking the fun out of this for all the other monsters.

*ghost leaves*

OKAY - Now onto the REAL competition (don't tell ghost).

MUMMY: Hey mummy - you WIN! Hands down. CONGRATULATIONS!!! Let's start with your wrappings - presumably hemp - so they're organic and produced locally (way back when). You've reused your wrappings for thousands of years, so kudos for not swapping out when chain mail or polyester or corduroy or spandex hit the scene. On top of THAT you walk everywhere....no transportation-related pollution or costs. You don't even need lights to see, so you are completely off the grid. Well done, mummy. You are a model for eco-friendly haunting.

WITCH: There can't possibly be carbon emissions from spell-casting. Bravo! You reuse EVERYTHING in your cauldrons (name another use for newt eyes. you can't. there aren't any.) Bravo! You travel on a broomstick  - zero emissions! Bravo!  BUT - I'll bet that broomstick ain't FSC Certified (although locally made???) and you still make your mark on the world by way of clothing every so many years (no amount of magic will keep those duds clean that long with all that newt-stewing going on) and you still eat stuff...so you aren't AS carbon friendly as the mummy. But you're close! (DO NOT cast a carbon-free spell on me for coming in 2nd, witch. Seriously - I'm keeping this list as honest as possible and 2nd place is where you landed. Not my fault.)

FRANKENSTEIN: Eco-friendly as all-get-out at first glance. Everything about you is made with recycled parts which were initially powered by renewable energy (lightning).  And you don't seem to change your clothes much, so there's some reuse going on there (although Frank - IF you happen to sweat a lot when you walk, I'm sure others would appreciate a quick laundering...just sayin'). But here's the thing - you still eat food and what kind of energy went into your creation BEFORE the lighting strike? Your doctor spent YEARS working on you, using tons of carbon-based energy and because of that I can't make you first. Plus I don't trust that those bolts in your neck aren't made of some toxic metal like arsenic or something that makes frogs grow extra limbs. You frighten me. Sorry.

WEREWOLF: You are just like a normal person except you turn into a wolf and need new clothes every time you Wolf Out in a track suit or whatever you wear most of the time. Here's where you have an argument (I guess...). You consume locally grown food (your neighbors) and don't waste your victims...UNLESS you let them live which makes more werewolves which then creates the need for more new clothes, which are likely being transported from overseas using fossil fuels. So nevermind. You have no argument.

ZOMBIE: You have some strong points working in your favor. You eat locally (neighbors, unsuspecting baby-sitters, anyone you see at the supermarket), you walk everywhere and you seem content to reuse what you have when it comes and apparel and tools. However, you are very wasteful when you do eat (would it kill you to eat any other parts? oh wait...you're Undead already) and you create such a mess around you as to require replacements of windows, walls, cars, more windows, etc. That is LANDFILL FAIL. In this sense you are like a mini-hurricane that creates piles of refuse for very selfish reasons. Then you go and create more zombies like you who do the exact same thing in other places. We are not impressed with your behavior, Zombie. You are extremely wasteful.

DRACULA: Sorry Drac - you lose.  Fangs down. You stay alive for however many hundreds of years and use houses and cars and iPods and TVs and suck power from the grid as much as you do blood from your victims' necks. Plus you don't use sunlight as natural light since you only roll at night, which means you have to have things turned on all night long. ELECTRICITY FAIL.  And as if that wasn't enough!!!! - every time you bite someone, you suck their blood and leave all the other parts - wasteful! And if you don't kill your victim then you create a new energy/blood sucking vampire which only creates a positive feedback loop wasting even more energy over the long run. I give you kudos for turning into a bat to travel, but I wouldn't even consider bumping you up the list if your coffins were produced with eco-friendly reclaimed wood. Which they probably aren't because you don't care about anything other than bloodmeals. LAME LAME LAME!!!! Dracula is Eco-Scourge Of The Earth.

Credit where credit is due: Thanks to Lauren for making sure I included all the ghouls.

Home Improvement Tips from the Solar Decathlon

October 23, 2009

My house was built in 1941. It's a great little Cape Cod that has everything you need. My only real problem with it is that, quite frankly, it's dumb.

I recently went down to the National Mall in DC on a rainy, overcast day to check out the 2009 Solar Decathlon. And wow - those houses are smart. And filled with cool, green technology. Radiant heat and cooling, induction stovetops, LED lights, and of course solar panels. The systems in these homes talk to the appliances, which talk back to the systems, which talk to you!

So basically, you know how much energy they're using, where it's going, and how you can manage it to leave a smaller carbon footprint. Awesomeness.

And while photovoltaic panels are - yes - still expensive for the average homeowner, there are lots of other things you can add to your house that won't break the bank. And thanks to the folks at the Solar Decathlon, you can get a complete product list on their web site.

Here's the video I produced with Discovery Tech blogger Alyssa Danigelis. Click on the image!

- Jorge

Can Science Explain Public Outbursts?

September 14, 2009

Nothing new about people behaving badly in public – but lately, news headlines seem dominated by sensational stories of outbursts and temper tantrums. 

Tennis star Serena Williams verbally attacking a line judge during the U.S. Open – costing her the match. 

Congressman Joe Wilson shouting “you lie!” at President Obama during President's health care address last week – leaving political decorum on the House floor.

Musician Kanye West climbing on stage to dispute the results of an MTV Video Music Award – humiliating winner Taylor Swift. 

And this was just in the past week! 

I spoke to University of Maryland psychology professor Michael Dougherty to find out if there’s more than just big egos or bad tempers behind these raw moments.

Dougherty says that our brain’s highly developed prefrontal cortex is what helps us control our mental processes… most of the time. But even the occasional outburst is pretty normal human behavior.

The only difference is most of us aren’t pop music stars, pro athletes or politicians. So that little meltdown you had in your car when the driver on your left cut you off? Yeah… that’s not all over YouTube. 

But could this breakdown in social niceties be explained as vestigial behavior carried over from when early man was in constant fight or flight mode?

That’s still probably no excuse for anyone who's ever thrown a chair across a basketball court or yelled at their colleague. But let’s face it, we're emotional creatures, and sometimes they do get the better of us. 

Of course, not every tantrum has to do with stress or fear…

Hmmm... who does that bring to mind?

(Photos: Getty Images)

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This Is Your Brain Hearing The Beatles In Stereo. Or Maybe Mono.

September 09, 2009

Trying to decide whether to buy the stereo or mono version of the new Beatles album? Well….we asked Daniel Levitin, Professor of Psychology and Music at McGill University AND the author of This Is Your Brain On Music, what the big difference is between the two as far as your brain is concerned…

So for stereo the record producers virtually “place” each source of sound in a specific location that your brain can detect...the guitar sound is coming from 40 degrees off to your right, the bass is 25 degrees off to your left, etc. With mono there's no differentiation - all the sound comes from the same "location".

He says stereo also sounds more realistic to us…

BUT…how does your brain distinguish what’s coming from where?

All this means I should buy the Beatles album in stereo, right?  Because it’ll sound better that way…or NOT!

So the bottom line is that (in general) stereo mimics how we hear things in nature while mono (in this case) is what the Beatles actually intended us to hear. Do you really want to upset the Beatles???  I asked Levitin which version he chose – mono or stereo?

He took no chances. He bought one of each.

For more info on Daniel Levitin's work you can visit www.daniellevitin.com or send him a tweet: @danlevitin.

Monkey Music and Metallica

September 02, 2009

Check out this article about monkey music by Jennifer Viegas:

Non-human animals usually prefer silence to our music. However, when cotton-top tamarins heard songs based on their own calls, the diminutive, fluffy primates listened with interest to the monkey music, which even altered their moods, according to a new study.

Here are monkey music samples composed by David Teie used in this research:

Monkey Threat Music!

Monkey Soothing Music!

So how does Metallica fit into the mix? Apparently that was the only human music that soothed the Monkey. If we're talking the guitar solo in Master Of Puppets...I can see their point...it starts at 3:55.

Track Asteroids Before They Hit Us!!!

July 30, 2009

This is neat:

Keep track of our potential doom-ed-ness thanks to Space Bloggers!!!

Not science...but very cool...

July 24, 2009

Image Of Memory Being Made In Your Brain

June 23, 2009

I wonder where this research will lead...it's crazy to think we can see a memory created.

Details here.

Snake Gets Fish To Swim Into Mouth

This snake uses a sly technique to get little fishies to swim into its mouth. It moves its body to scare the fish from one direction. As the fish tries to swim away from the movement, it ends up going straight into the snakes mouth waiting on the other side. This snake is both gross looking and a genius.

Read more about it here.