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Embarrassing ‘flops’ or true Olympians — is China moving beyond its gold obsession?
As China’s gymnasts tumbled to their worst performance in three decades of Olympic competition, state news agency Xinhua couldn’t resist a dig.<p>China’s Olympic team has significantly underperformed in Rio, slipping behind Great Britain into third place with just 17 golds at the end of Day 11. It is …
ChinaKim Jong-un has gained weight and struggles to sleep, says spy agency
South Korean intelligence service says Kim binges on food and suffers from insomnia because of fear of being assassinated<p>Kim Jong-un has gained about 40kg (90lb) in weight since becoming North Korean leader four years ago, and binges on food and drink to cope with his constant fear of being …
North KoreaStudy: How experiencing awe transforms the way you treat the people around you
From the researchers that brought you the conclusion that money makes people meaner comes a new paper: Having an awesome experience makes people nicer.<p>“Awe has an important collective function,” says Paul Piff, an assistant professor of psychology at University of California, Irvine, and the lead …
PsychologyHow colour perception could unlock consciousness
The best of the week’s long reads in science and technology, including everything you need to know about Apple Watch, and why colour could be the key to understanding consciousness.<p>Work | Keynes and hard work<p>JM Keynes was right to predict global prosperity in the 21st Century, wrong to predict that …
Apple WatchThe top brain-training apps to keep your mind sharp
As an app released this week claims to improve the memory of patients with schizophrenia, we've taken a look at the best apps for training your brain<p>IQs across the world are experiencing a steady decline, with our collective intelligence <b>dropping by one IQ point in the last decade</b>.<p>According to …
Are plants intelligent? New book says yes
A new book, Brilliant Green, argues that not only are plants intelligent and sentient, but that we should consider their rights, especially in the midst of the Sixth Mass Extinction<p>Plants are intelligent. Plants deserve rights. Plants are like the Internet – or more accurately the Internet is like …
BotanyWhy do we intuitively believe we have free will?
Free will experiments may not explain whether we are in charge of our destinies – but they can nevertheless reveal just how little we know about our own minds, says Tom Stafford.<p>It is perhaps the most famous experiment in neuroscience. In 1983, Benjamin Libet sparked controversy with his …
ConsciousnessFind Out What Colors Sound Like Through One Man’s Incredibly Rare Condition
The only time you’ve probably thought about the idea of “hearing colors” is when some medical expert talks about synesthesia or your friend regales you with their magical adventures on psychedelics. But one man’s story of his incredibly rare condition will open your eyes and ears to a new way of …
PsychedeliaWhat is it like to have never felt an emotion?
Some people seem to lack the capacity to feel joy, sorrow or love. David Robson discovers the challenges and surprising advantages of “alexithymia”.<p>Caleb is telling me about the birth of his son, now eight months old. “You know you hear parents say that the first time they looked at their kid, they …
PsychologyHow Friendship Fights Depression
A new study shows that a healthy mood can spread through friend groups.<p>“As everyone knows, depressed people are some of the most boring people in the world,” Mindy Kaling writes in her book <i>Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?</i> “I know this because when I was depressed, people fled. Except my best …
DepressionPsychologists Dig Into Link Between Autism And Creativity
A fascinating paradox lies at the heart of autism: While rigid thinking is considered a key aspect of the condition, many people with autism display exceptional creativity.<p>Now, a study published last week in the <i>Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders</i> offers an explanation for this seeming …
AutismYou Really Don’t Need To Work So Much
Recently, the New York <i>Times</i> ran a front-page story about the conditions for white-collar workers at Amazon. It revealed a workplace where abrupt firings are common, grown men and women cry at their desks, and people are scolded for not responding to e-mails after midnight. The story made clear how …
College & UniversityWhy Lego's CEO Thinks More Grown-Ups Should Play At Work
Playfulness is at the root of creativity. So why on earth have we created a corporate system where everyone feels the need to be so serious?<p>I see time and again that injecting a sense of fun into work situations gives everyone permission to be more authentic and to take risks. Out of that comes …
Academic ResearchComputers Can Predict Schizophrenia Based on How a Person Talks
A new study finds an algorithmic word analysis is flawless at determining whether a person will have a psychotic episode.<p>Although the language of thinking is deliberate—<i>let me think, I have to do some thinking</i>—the actual experience of having thoughts is often passive. Ideas pop up like dandelions; …
NeuroscienceThe surprising benefits of feeling insignificant
In the grand scheme of things, you are a tiny blip on the Earth’s surface. And recognising that fact may make you a better person, writes David Robson.<p>Take a look at the video above. Feel small and insignificant, compared to the enormous, beautiful world around you? If so, you may just have become …
PsychologyIt’s OK to be angry about racial inequality
Nicki Minaj doesn’t care if you like her tone.<p>In the midst of the incoherent, psychedelic drag queen parade that was MTV’s Video Music Awards last night, the rap queen extraordinaire confronted host Miley Cyrus in what was arguably the most interesting—and controversial—moment of the night.<p>It was …
FeminismHere’s What Happened When a Guy Put His Failures Up Front In a Job-Hunting Experiment
A warts-and-all approach to job hunting sounds dubious, but it’s something Jeff Scardino is passionate about. He advocated for mostly-warts self-disclosure earlier this year on his website, The Relevant Resume, and now he’s putting his money where his CV is.<p>In his new video, <i>A Relevant Experiment</i>, …
Does Mindfulness Mean Anything?
We are in the middle of a mindfulness revolution.<p>According to Time, The Huffington Post and a host of other media outlets, mindfulness and meditation are having their moment in the spotlight. From hospitals to corporate wellness programs, mindfulness is — supposedly — a new path to relieving …
MindfulnessCan your city survive the apocalypse?
<b>(CNN) —</b> The destruction of New Orleans by Hurricane Katrina was heralded as a wake-up call for the U.S., a catastrophe that illustrated the scale of the threat from natural disasters, and the inadequacy of preparations.<p>But for all the earnest talk of 'learning lessons' that followed, no grand …
Construction IndustryDo You Have A Mellow Music Brain Or An Intense One?
Cognitive style linked to preference in pop music<p>You truly believe that Kanye is the best musician on the planet. Is it simply a matter of taste, or is something else going on?<p>Although there’s no doubt that music preferences change over time and are shaped by social factors like what our friends …
PsychologyThe paradox of measuring happiness
The best of the week’s long reads in science and technology, including Silicon Valley’s resurgence and why suicide rates are highest in the happiest places.<p>Food | Two months of soylent<p>Consumer review of the powdered meal-replacement mix which claims to be a complete adult food. “Soylent is a …
Silicon ValleyHumans Aren’t Special: Carl Safina’s 'Beyond Words' Delves Deep Into Animal Minds
Spending hours watching whales, wolves, and elephants in their natural habitats presents wildlife biologists with mountains of data that would quickly overwhelm most animal lovers. But when the time comes to catalog it all, renowned marine ecologist Carl Safina reminds us that the work is far from …
WildlifeThe traits that make human beings unique
We’re all just animals… right? Not so fast, says Melissa Hogenboom, a few things make us different from any other species.<p>"I am become death, the destroyer of worlds." So said the physicist Robert Oppenheimer, who helped to invent the atomic bomb.<p>The two bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in …
ChimpanzeesPeople Don't Buy Products, They Buy Better Versions of Themselves
There is the famous story about Steve Jobs when he invented the iPod and everyone in the news and the rest of the tech industry scratched their head …
Product ManagementYiwu: The Chinese city where Christmas is made and sold
Forget Lapland. The real home of Christmas is a strange and unknown Chinese city called Yiwu. Tim Maughan visited the global epicentre of festive decorations and plastic gifts.<p>I’m a few hours away from Shanghai and I’ve not seen daylight for over three hours. I’m also hopelessly lost. I’ve been …
DecorationsWill religion ever disappear?
Atheism is on the rise around the world, so does that mean spirituality will soon be a thing of the past? Rachel Nuwer discovers that the answer is far from simple.<p>A growing number of people, millions worldwide, say they believe that life definitively ends at death – that there is no God, no …
Religion3 ways Steve Jobs made meetings insanely productive — and often terrifying
Steve Jobs made sure Apple wasn't one of those companies.<p>Here are three ways the iconic CEO made meetings super productive:<p>1. He kept meetings as …
11 Economic Lessons to Make You a Smarter Shopper For Black Friday
When you hit the stores this weekend, remember three things: Shopping is a sport, this is its Super Bowl, and retailers are better at playing it than you.<p>The first and last rule of prices is that nobody knows what anything is worth. Shoppers are guided by shallow clues ("this is cheaper than that") …
ISIS after al-Baghdadi: What happens if the terror leader is killed?
<b>(CNN) —</b> He runs his terror group like a CEO -- with spreadsheets on missions, assassinations and captured assets.<p>And reports from Iraq's government suggest ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi may have been hit in airstrikes over the weekend -- though it's not clear whether he was wounded, whose …
Copenhagen's piles of bicycles
<b>Copenhagen is one of the best places in the world to be a cyclist but there is a downside - thousands of parked bicycles. Sometimes it gets out of control.</b><p>When this year Copenhagen got its Cykelslangen (Cycle Snake) - a new two-lane, bicycle-only bridge across its harbour - the city edged even …
Carnaby Street