Nicholas Christakis: The hidden influence of social networks | Video on TED.com

Nicholas Christakis: The hidden influence of social networks | Video on TED.com: "We're all embedded in vast social networks of friends, family, co-workers and more. Nicholas Christakis tracks how a wide variety of traits -- from happiness to obesity -- can spread from person to person, showing how your location in the network might impact your life in ways you don't even know...."



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This 'Placebo' Could Be The Drug For You : NPR

This 'Placebo' Could Be The Drug For You : NPR:

"...researchers from Harvard Medical School and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. They conducted a study among people suffering from irritable bowel syndrome. It showed that placebos, essentially sugar pills with no active ingredients, fooled plenty.

Here's the catch - the researchers actually told patients they were taking placebos. Despite that, according to the study, they showed symptom relief, quote, 'to a degree roughly equivalent to the effects of the most powerful IBS medications.' Scientists aren't sure what to make of the findings, but suspect that the ritual of getting a pill, even a useless one, sometimes does the trick..."

African Farmers Losing Land to Investors - NYTimes.com

African Farmers Losing Land to Investors - NYTimes.com:

"Across Africa and the developing world, a new global land rush is gobbling up large expanses of arable land. Despite their ageless traditions, stunned villagers are discovering that African governments typically own their land and have been leasing it, often at bargain prices, to private investors and foreign governments for decades to come.

Organizations like the United Nations and the World Bank say the practice, if done equitably, could help feed the growing global population by introducing large-scale commercial farming to places without it.

But others condemn the deals as neocolonial land grabs that destroy villages, uproot tens of thousands of farmers and create a volatile mass of landless poor..."

Cool video but listen to the numbers--conservation not doing enough

World Trade Center Site

YouTube - I'm Training for an Ironman

YouTube - I'm Training for an Ironman: Rick sent this one along....with apologies for the wearing it is hilarious.

"A conversation between someone training for an Ironman, and someone not training for an Ironman."

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The Genius of Play | Psychology Today

The Genius of Play | Psychology Today:

"...how do hobbies and imagination help foster professional breakthroughs? 'One possibility is that people are geniuses because they are polymaths and have a huge range of talents,' says Robert Root-Bernstein. 'There's not much the rest of us can learn from that. But another possibility is that an avocation helps you learn skills.'

In the Root-Bernsteins' book Sparks of Genius they amass evidence of 13 cognitive tools, including imagining, abstracting and, yes, playing, that may contribute to creativity by helping people synthesize knowledge across domains."

Why a Happy Brain Performs Better - HBR IdeaCast - Harvard Business Review

Why a Happy Brain Performs Better - HBR IdeaCast - Harvard Business Review:

"Featured Guest: Shawn Achor, CEO of Aspirant and author of The Happiness Advantage: The Seven Principles of Positive Psychology That Fuel Success and Performance at Work.

Download this podcast

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