Author Archives: Chris

Journalism is a tough business–get used to it.

Posted on March 27, 2012 by Chris

Paul Krugman has a post about how the correctional industry demanded retractions to statements he made in his column. Only he didn’t make the statements that they say he made. As Krugman points out, the point is not to get … Continue reading →

New York Times limits free access even more

Posted on March 21, 2012 by Chris

The New York Times is changing their free access limit from 20 per month to 10 per month, I think that’s a mistake. I’m a subscriber, so it’s all free to me, but I think that for the paper it … Continue reading →

Posted in Publishing and Journalism | Leave a comment

The value of journalism

Posted on March 16, 2012 by Chris

I see that This American Life is retracting their Mike Daisy piece about Apple Computer factories in China because of “significant inaccuracies” and because Daisy “lied” to the TAL producers. Wow. To me this is lot about the value of … Continue reading →

Posted in Current History, Publishing and Journalism | Leave a comment

Statins may harm muscles and inhibit healing

Posted on March 14, 2012 by Chris

More evidence that exercise may be the simpler, cheaper and better alternative to drugs for cardiovascular health. An article in the New York Times points out that test in mice show that statins lower the amount of exercise they can … Continue reading →

Posted in Diet and Exercise, Science and Medicine | Leave a comment

Otzi had atherosclerosis and lyme disease

Posted on March 5, 2012 by Chris

Science magazine reports that Otzi, the neolithic iceman who was found preserved on an Alpine pass, not only had a genetic predisposition for atherosclerosis, he also had a severe case of the disorder. Since Otzi didn’t have a modern diet … Continue reading →

Posted in Diet and Exercise, Science and Medicine | Leave a comment

Sleep and nighttime awakening

Posted on February 23, 2012 by Chris

Here is an article from the BBC on the naturally bimodal sleep patterns that predominated before artificial lighting kept people up late. A pretty good review, although it doesn’t mention that this was most common in the winter, when people … Continue reading →

Posted in Neuroscience and Psychology, Sleep | Leave a comment

Exercise and the brain

Posted on February 22, 2012 by Chris

This article from the NY Times talks about research showing that regular exercise helps the brain store glycogen, which can then be broken down to provide extra brain power when needed. This may help people who are in shape think … Continue reading →

Posted in Diet and Exercise, Neuroscience and Psychology, Science and Medicine | Leave a comment

Making and unmaking memories

Posted on February 20, 2012 by Chris

Wire has a very good article on understanding memory and the potential for softening or eliminating traumatic memories. This is a subject I have written on before and is really fascinating. I think people focus on the “pill to fix … Continue reading →

Posted in Brain Hacking, Neuroscience and Psychology | Leave a comment

Human machine interface comes of age

Posted on February 7, 2012 by Chris

All new technologies find their greatest promoters in sex and war. A Guardian article about interesting report out of the UK here about mind/machine interface and brain hacking. Here is a tidbit I found most interesting: brain scanning shows that when … Continue reading →

Posted in Brain Hacking, Neuroscience and Psychology | Leave a comment

Sic transit gloria bookstores

Posted on February 7, 2012 by Chris

Keplers death spiral. As I have mentioned before, bookstores are, sadly, dead men walking in their current incarnation. A great bookstore goes into the next stage of dying: bargaining.