On:

We may not want to admit it (even to ourselves), but talking about ourselves gives us a "high." About 40% of everyday speech is devoted to telling others about what we feel or think, because it triggers the same parts of the brain as food and money. This is one of the secrets of being popular: Ask other people questions about themselves.

In the May 7th edition of the Wall Street Journal, Robert Lee Hotz quotes neuroscientist Diana Tamir as saying, "Self-disclosure is extra rewarding. People (are) even willing to forgo money in order to talk about themselves."
read more

On:

Researchers have provided the first molecular evidence that Neanderthals not only ate a range of cooked plant foods, but also understood its nutritional and medicinal qualities. Oetzi, he prehistoric "iceman" (who was not a Neanderthal), carried mushrooms with him, which were clearly meant to be used for medicinal purposes.

Until recently Neanderthals, who disappeared between 30,000 and 24,000 years ago, were thought to be predominantly meat-eaters. However, evidence of dietary breadth is growing as more sophisticated analyses are undertaken.
read more

On:

If the Mars rover Curiosity finds carbon-based molecules in the Martian soil, researcher Gilbert Levin will feel vindicated, since he promulgated the theory that life on Earth was seeded by an asteroid from Mars 36 years ago.

A Titan/Centaur vehicle was sent to Mars on August 20, 1975 and picked up a soil sample there. Levin mixed the Martian soil with a nutrient containing radioactive carbon.
read more

On:

This is a very good article that points out what I see every day: the vast majority of UFO videos that appear online are either crude hoaxes or impossible to pin down. I often wonder about the hoaxers. What are they trying to accomplish, I wonder? Drunks, maybe, trying to have a little fun between beers?
read more