Author Archives: Chris

You don’t know how to tie your shoes

Posted on May 31, 2011 by Chris

It turns out nearly all of us have been tying our shoes wrong since we learned. I’ve done it the way this guy does it now for a week and it really works–no more double knots and it still stays … Continue reading →

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One way exercise might boost memory

Posted on May 24, 2011 by Chris

It’s been shown for a while that exercise leads to increased production of nerve cells, and that exercise improves brain function. Tara Parker Pope writes about a study in which people were given memory tests while in an imaging machine, … Continue reading →

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Venture Capital and Intelligence Tech

Posted on May 18, 2011 by Chris

As part of my story on Michael Crow, I recently interviewed Christopher Darby, the president of a company called In-Q-Tel (Crow is chairman of the board), which has been around for about ten years, although I had never heard of … Continue reading →

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A fungus creates zombie ants

Posted on May 10, 2011 by Chris

Here is a story that seems more like science fiction than natural science – another case in which a parasite takes over some poor creature’s brain and manipulates the host’s behavior in a way that benefits the parasite. We’ve seen … Continue reading →

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Lions and eco myths

Posted on May 9, 2011 by Chris

Recently another mountain lion wandered out of the hills into Palo Alto and had to be shot by the police. And then came the ridiculous assertion that comes up every time something like this happens, and it makes me want … Continue reading →

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Is Sugar Toxic? Le Chatelier and Succrose

Posted on May 8, 2011 by Chris

  I’ve been meaning for a while to write something on this NY Times article asking if sugar is toxic. The basic gist is that sucrose (table sugar) is broken down into two sugars, glucose and fructose. Glucose feeds right … Continue reading →

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ASU President Michael Crow and leading with emotion

Posted on May 4, 2011 by Chris

I was just down in Arizona on Monday doing and interview with ASU President Michael Crow for a magazine piece. He is a very interesting person, a promethian character who has set out to transform ASU and higher education in … Continue reading →

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Putting anthropological running theory to the test

Posted on April 27, 2011 by Chris

One of the theories about why humans are such good runners is that they are built to run run long distance so that they can run down game. Other animals can go much faster in short bursts, but inevitably their … Continue reading →

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Self improving computers inevitably take over

Posted on April 27, 2011 by Chris

I had a fascinating coffee with my friend Steve Omohundro, a physicist, inventor and computer scientist. One of the areas he has done research on is self-aware systems and more particularly computer systems that change their own programming. What he found … Continue reading →

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How to hack a job interview

Posted on April 26, 2011 by Chris

There has been a lot of research on the psychology of persuasion, largely because of its links to advertising and sales. And that research has produced some really interesting results. One of the most interesting aspects of persuasion is that … Continue reading →

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