Andrew Patrick

Did NASA really spend $1 million for a space pen, while the soviet’s used a simple pencil? This is a common story that, it turns out, is not quite true…

Fact or Fiction?: NASA Spent Millions to Develop a Pen that Would Write in Space, whereas the Soviet Cosmonauts Used a Pencil

During the height of the space race in the 1960s, legend has it, NASA scientists realized that pens could not function in space. They needed to figure out another way for the astronauts to write things down. So they spent years and millions of taxpayer dollars to develop a pen that could put ink to paper without gravity. But their crafty Soviet counterparts, so the story goes, simply handed their cosmonauts pencils. This tale with its message of simplicity and thrift–not to mention a failure of common sense in a bureaucracy–floats around the Internet, hopping from in-box to in-box, and even surfaced during a 2002 episode of the West Wing. But, alas, it is just a myth.

Technorati Tags: myth, NASA, space, legend

When considering magic, or fraud, people often fail to consider the most obvious and devious ways in which the deception could be pulled off. I have often hear statements like: “The couldn’t do it that way, it is too obvious.” But why not do the obvious, if it makes the deception work.

Here is an interesting article from Skeptical Inquirer about deception, improvising, and the Amazing Randi.

The Devious Art of Improvising

The great fake psychics are great improvisationists. This means that a really good pseudo-psychic is able to produce phenomena under almost any circumstance. A quick mind and a good knowledge of the techniques and psychology of deception are all that is needed. Sometimes, only a quick mind is enough.

Technorati Tags: deception, psychics, fraud, magic, James Randi

Bodyhack

Why Adam Sandler is Funny in a Theater

It could play an important role in building strong bonds between individuals in a group.”

Technorati Tags: humor, funny, social, laughter, comedy

There is an interesting article on password characteristics by Bruce Schneier on Wired News:

“How good are the passwords people are choosing to protect their computers and online accounts?

…passwords are getting better. I’m impressed that less than 4 percent were dictionary words and that the great majority were at least alphanumeric.”

Technorati Tags: security, passwords, myspace, wired, schneier

Here is a scary article about a huge phishing operation that may be responsible for half of the phishing messages on the Internet.

‘Rock Phish’ blamed for surge in phishing

No one can say for sure where Rock Phish is based, or if the group operates out of a single country. “They are sort of the Keyser Söze of phishing,” said Zulfikar Ramzan, senior principal researcher with Symantec’s Security Response group, referring to the secretive criminal kingpin in the 1995 film “The Usual Suspects.” “They’re doing some pretty scary things out there,” he added.

Technorati Tags: phishing, security

Here is an interesting article on complementary/alternative medicine. Have a look at the comments as well, since they present the usual collection of justifications, reactions, and anecdotes.

Complementary medicines are useless and dangerous, says Britain’s foremost expert

Useless. Dangerous. Even crooked. The brutal verdict on our most popular complementary cures – by Britain’s foremost expert:

A lot of interest groups were very puzzled because, surely, complementary medicine was, by and large, very safe, and mainstream medicine was where you had side-effects,’ says Ernst, who is professor of complementary medicine at the Peninsula Medical School at the universities of Exeter and Plymouth.

‘But when we did our research we found a lot of surprises – and since we started our work 13 years ago, various things have been banned from the market because they are so unsafe.’

…

his department has published well over 1,000 research papers and tested a hugely diverse number of therapies, making it the most productive research unit in the world in this field.

For Couples, Reaction to Good News Matters More Than Reaction to Bad

Scientists who study relationships have long focused on how couples handle love’s headaches, the cold silences and searing blowups, the childcare crises and work stress, the fallouts over money and ex-lovers. But the way that partners respond to each other’s triumphs may be even more important for the health of a relationship, suggests a paper appearing in the current issue of The Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. The study found that the way a person responds to a partner’s good fortune — with excitement or passive approval, shared pride or indifference — is the most crucial factor in tightening a couple’s bond, or undermining it.

Some of the best research is hard to publish, but very profound. This article talks about gathering “cool data”.

Brian Wansink on Research Design

I’m a big believer in cool data. The design goal is: How far can we possibly push it so that it makes it a vivid point? Most academics push it just far enough to get it published. I try to push it beyond that to make it much more vivid. That’s what [Stanley] Milgram did with his experiments. First, he showed obedience to authority in the lab. Then he stripped away a whole lot of things to show how extreme it was. He took away lab coats, the college campus. That’s what made it so powerful.

Here is some practical advice on protecting yourself from identity theft.

Twelve Ways to protect yourself from Identity Theft

Every year thousands of Canadians are victims of identity theft. Although the number of identity theft victims is relatively small, the financial impact to an individual whose identity is stolen can be profound. In this article, Digital Home examines what identity theft is, how it happens, suggests twelve ways you can protect yourself from it, and finally what steps to take if you think you are a victim.

Here is an interesting article on cognitive principles of aesthetics. Do a search of popular photos on Flickr, perhaps using a neat tool like Flickr Leech, and you will find lots of examples of this technique.

Creating Passionate Users: Cognitive Seduction and the “peekaboo” law

Brains are turned on by puzzles. Brains are turned on by figuring things out. Brains are turned on by even the smallest “aha” moments. And despite what some of you (*cough* men *cough*) might believe, the brain is more turned on by seeing just the arms of a naked woman behind a shower curtain than it is by seeing all of her. So if you’re trying to engage someone’s brain, don’t show everything. Let their brain connect the dots.