07 APR 2015 by ideonexus
Evidence on Creatine
Strong scientific evidence for this use
Enhanced muscle mass / strength: Several high-quality studies have shown an increase in muscle mass with creatine use. However, some weaker studies have reported mixed results. Overall, the available evidence suggests that creatine does increase lean body mass, strength, and total work. Future studies should include the effect of individual differences such as fitness levels, sex, and age.
Unclear scientific evidence for this use
Athletic performance...
1 03 APR 2015 by ideonexus
Mindfulness Programs Improves Learning
This is the first systematic review and meta-analysis to summarize data available on the effects of mindfulness-based trainings for children and youths in a school setting. Twenty-four studies were located that report a significant medium effect size of g = 0.40 across all controlled studies and domains. Remarkably, the ES of studies using pre-post designs only is very similar, with g = 0.41. The effects are strongest in the domain of cognitive performance with a large and significant ES of g...Folksonomies: education mindfulness
Folksonomies: education mindfulness
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notes16 FEB 2015 by ideonexus
Religious Children Less Capable of Distinguishing Fantasy...
In two studies, 5- and 6-year-old children were questioned about the status of the protagonist
embedded in three different types of stories. In realistic stories that only included ordinary events,
all children, irrespective of family background and schooling, claimed that the protagonist was a
real person. In religious stories that included ordinarily impossible events brought about by divine
intervention, claims about the status of the protagonist varied sharply with exposure to religion.
C... 1 notes
notes30 DEC 2013 by ideonexus
Men of Science Must Combat Errors
After those few observations upon the properties of matter either organized or inert, (to which I know every Chemist in the country, whose science has conquered the bigotry of his education, will give his assent) I would call upon them all and every one to stand forward and teach mankind those important, those plain truths, which are so clear and so familiar to their own minds. It is the Man of Science who is alone capable of making war upon the Priest, so as to silence him effectually. It is... 1 notes
notesOr else what reason is their to all their studies?
14 OCT 2013 by ideonexus
Introverts Thrive Online
Studies have shown that, indeed, introverts are more likely than extroverts to express intimate facts about themselves online that their family and friends would be surprised to read, to say that they can express the “real me” online, and to spend more time in certain kinds of online discussions. They welcome the chance to communicate digitally. The same person who would never raise his hand in a lecture hall of two hundred people might blog to two thousand, or two million, without thinki... 1 notes
notesPossibly because it is a world of ideas?
21 JUL 2013 by ideonexus
People Who Take Supplements are Less Healthy
Antioxidation vs. oxidation has been billed as a contest between good and evil. The battle takes place in cellular organelles called mitochondria, where the body converts food to energy, a process that requires oxygen and so is called oxidation. One consequence of oxidation is the generation of electron scavengers called free radicals (evil). Free radicals can damage DNA, cell membranes, and the lining of arteries; not surprisingly, they've been linked to aging, cancer, and heart disease. To ... 1 notes
notesPeople who eat lots of fruits and vegetables have lower incidence of cancer and other diseases, but people who take nutritional supplements meant containing high doses of the nutrients found in fruits in vegetables die at much higher rates.
18 JAN 2013 by ideonexus
The Journalist's Responsibility in Health Science Reporting
Given that published medical findings are, by the field’s own reckoning, more often wrong than right, a serious problem with health journalism is immediately apparent: A reporter who accurately reports findings is probably transmitting wrong findings. And because the media tend to pick the most exciting findings from journals to pass on to the public, they are in essence picking the worst of the worst. Health journalism, then, is largely based on a principle of survival of the wrongest. (Of... 1 notes
notesIf 2/3rds of research papers are wrong, then reporters are communicating bad and dangerous data to readers of their health news. Even worse, with conflicting research on different health issues, reporters are able to craft any thesis they like by cherry-picking for the journals.
26 JUN 2012 by ideonexus
Survey of Studies on the Benefits of Meditation
...there has been a growing body of research over the last years examining various cognitive abilities related to mindfulness, most of which focusing on various measures of attention and memory... Although some studies did not find differences between meditators and non-meditators in rigidity related tasks (e.g [47], [48]), others have found that meditators exhibit decreased Stroop interference [49], [50](in a Zen meditation sample). The Stroop task requires participants to name the ink color...Folksonomies: meditation
Folksonomies: meditation
Decreased Stroop interference, superior visual perspective switching, superior verbal fluency, improved category production tasking, and reduced rumination.
18 MAR 2012 by ideonexus
Dunning–Kruger effect
People tend to hold overly favorable views of their abilities in many social and intellectual domains. The
authors suggest that this overestimation occurs, in part, because people who are unskilled in these
domains suffer a dual burden: Not only do these people reach erroneous conclusions and make
unfortunate choices, but their incompetence robs them of the metacognitive ability to realize it. Across 4
studies, the authors found that participants scoring in the bottom quartile on tests of hum...
2 People who are unskilled in domains grossly overestimate their abilities compared to those who are skilled.
28 JAN 2012 by ideonexus
Scientists Must Remain Modest
Vulnerable, like all men, to the temptations of arrogance, of which intellectual pride is the worst, he [the scientist] must nevertheless remain sincere and modest, if only because his studies constantly bring home to him that, compared with the gigantic aims of science, his own contribution, no matter how important, is only a drop in the ocean of truth. Because they must know that their contributions to the body of knowledge are just drops in an ocean.
