Brain rejects negative thoughts

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No negative thoughts here!

Good news: your brain is hardwired for good news
Bad news: your brain is hardwired for good news

Why don’t people stop smoking even after hearing bazillion public service messages that doing so will give them cancer? Why do people get married even though the rate of divorce is 50%?

Neuroscientists have the answer: it’s because the human brain rejects negative thoughts (and yes, sometimes to the detriment of the brain’s host)…

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Scientists discover the best skiing In the Solar System

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Serious powder!

…and it’s only a few hundred million miles away. Better fuel up your rocket and get started today, however, because we’re talking about Saturn’s moon Enceladus and the incredibly fine, snowy powder that covers its surface:

“The particles are only a fraction of a millimeter in size … even finer than talcum powder,” study leader Paul Schenk, a planetary scientist at the Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston, Texas, said in a statement. “This would make for the finest powder a skier could hope for…”

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Boy, 11, sets longest limbo skating-world record

Rohan Ajit Kokane

Little Rohan Ajit Kokane whizzed into the Guinness Book of World Records
after performing the furthest ever roller-skating limbo.

He managed to fly under an incredible 20 cars while performing the splits during the stunt in Mumbai, India. Rohan picked up speed before bending down and making his chest parallel to the ground…

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Paris launches a vehicle sharing program with 3,000 electric cars

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Paris is innovating again.

When Paris’ now famous bike share system Velib’ in 2007, it was a pioneer in the field. Now similar programs are popping up in major cities all over the world, and Paris is looking to break the mold again. This week the City launched Autolib’ – a car sharing system that works the same way…

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A brief history of the spork

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Is a spork the best of both worlds?

The Spork is a confusing utensil that in theory has the scooping and liquid-holding properties of a spoon combined with the food-stabbing features of a fork. However, with the spoon part too shallow to hold an acceptable amount of soup, and tines too short and stubby to properly penetrate anything firmer than a canned peach, the spork has become one of the longest standing jokes in culinary history…

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Essays on the trap of US student debt

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A growing problem.

Reclamations, a journal published by University of California students, has published a special, timely pamphlet called “Generation of Debt,” on the trap of student debt in America. Young people in America are bombarded with the message that they won’t find meaningful employment without a degree (and sometimes a graduate degree).

Meanwhile, universities have increased their fees to astronomical levels, far ahead of inflation, and lenders (including the universities themselves) offer easy credit to students as a means of paying these sums (for all the money they’re charging, universities are also slashing wages for their staff, mostly by sticking grad students and desperate “adjuncts” into positions that used to pay professorial wages; naturally, the austerity doesn’t extend to the CEO-class administrators, who draw CEO-grade pay).

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Dutch mandates alcolocks

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Netherlands has a new outlook on alcohol.

Starting December 1st, the Netherlands will be giving their drunk drivers a holiday gift. Drivers who have been pulled over with high blood alcohol content will be given “alcolocks” to install into their cars. The device acts as a breathalyzer that can keep an engine turned off…

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World remembers Apple’s Steve Jobs

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In Tokyo, Apple fans pay respect with digital candles–on iPads and iPhones, of course.

Steve Jobs, the visionary who co-founded and built Apple into the world’s leading tech company, died Wednesday. He was 56.  The terribly sad news that he has died is taking the world by storm. (Pics)

 

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Hundreds celebrate annual Twins Festival in Beijing

Hundreds of Chinese twins, triplets and quadruplets dressed in matching outfits celebrated their rare brother-and-sisterhood over the weekend in a country where most people grew up as the only child in the family.

In a bustling park decorated with gigantic red lanterns, the Beijing Eighth Annual Twins Festival featured a parade as well as music and dance performances. At least 500 pairs of twins attended the event on the second day of China’s week-long National Day holidays…

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Blind man trained to be a scuba diver along with his white stick

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Underwater exploring in a whole different way.

Despite being blind from birth, Robert Ainsley-Raffel has never let his disabilities stop him achieving his ambitions. He is already well on the way to becoming a qualified plumber, and even trains his own greyhound. Now the 25-year-old from Hexham is training as an underwater diver. Robert passed his dive theory test with a flying 100% mark and is now looking forward to his first open water dives en route to a full Ocean Diver qualification…

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Discover the Hidden Patterns of Tomorrow with Futurist Thomas Frey
Unlock Your Potential, Ignite Your Success.

By delving into the futuring techniques of Futurist Thomas Frey, you’ll embark on an enlightening journey.

Learn More about this exciting program.