Tall people are generally happier, according to a study performed by an independent research team. The study found that each additional inch in height had approximately the same effect as a 4 percent increase in yearly income, in terms of scores on a quality of life survey.
The Harvard Bookstore will soon be able to print books on demand, in four minutes. The recently produced Espresso Book Machine will have access to some two million public-domain works digitized by Google.
A study performed at the University of Florida found that students who observed rude behavior directed towards a classmate were less productive, scoring lower on memory and creativity tasks. While previous research had assessed the affect of rude or confrontational behavior on the target of the behavior, this is one of first studies assessing the affects on those not directly involved.
Tufts University recently enacted a rule prohibiting students from engaging in any sex act in a dorm while one’s roommate is present. A school official said that the rule is “intended as a tool to facilitate conversation and compromise between roommates,” (quoted from uwire.com).
A study performed at the Mind Research Network in Albuquerque, New Mexico, has found that playing Tetris significantly altered the brain structure of adolescent girls. Study participants who played Tetris each day for 50 days were found to have thicker cortex in areas of the brain associated with visual-spatial processing tasks, and to have increased amounts of cortical grey matter, which facilitates analytical and reasoning tasks.
Last Friday, the United States Food and Drug Administration approved the first clinical trial using stem cell treatment for Lou Gehrig’s disease, also known as ALS. The treatment involves the injection of stem cells to the spinal cord, which will protect motor neurons endangered by the disease, and may cause the reconnection of already-severed neurons.
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