readings in psychology for october 6th 2010

One of the articles reminded me of riding the runaway train at Disneyland with my daughters!

• are we surprised? but neanderthals had feelings, too

“Pioneering new research by archaeologists at the University of York suggests that Neanderthals belied their primitive reputation and had a deep seated sense of compassion.”

• losing sleep limits how much weight you can lose

“When dieters in the study got a full night’s sleep, they lost the same amount of weight as when they slept less. When dieters got adequate sleep, however, more than half of the weight they lost was fat. When they cut back on their sleep, only one-fourth of their weight loss came from fat.”

• illustrators ‘cats’ became threatening as he became mentally ill

“Surveys show that pictures of cats are more popular than pictures of dogs or horses. So it is not surprising that ceramic cats are popular with collectors. A famous illustrator of the 1880s named Louis Wain created popular scenes of anthropomorphic kittens and cats. The cats did human things like walk on their hind legs, dress up in human clothes or play games like golf”

• Mapping on-line communities shows big changes over time

“People love to cite that all-interesting factoid: If Facebook were a country, it would be the third largest in the world. Well, now — thanks to geeky-yet-popular web comic XKCD — you can unlock a whole lot more geographical goodness with the “Updated Map of Online Communities.”  The first map hit the scene back in 2007, and was basically a whimsical view of social media at the time. We’re embedding it below. Note the relative size of communities like MySpace (much bigger than Facebook) and notable lack of Twitter. Oh, how times have changed — Twitter’s now getting more traffic than MySpace.”

• world’s scariest rollercoaster  (watch the video,too!)

“The fall season isn’t exactly the same in Southern California as it is across much of the country, but that doesn’t mean that theme parks in the area don’t get in on the Halloween fun. Knott’s Berry Farm is all about celebrating the season, and although it might not be as scary as some of its steel cousins, Ghostrider is the perfect coaster for this spooky season. Ghostrider is an older wooden coaster, so expect the creeks and squeaks to send shivers down your spine. You’ll hope that all the wood has maintained its strength through the years of tourist abuse especially when you descend down the ride’s 100-foot initial drop. There’s no upside-down effects here to get you disorientated—they’re not necessary—as there are plenty of drops, turns, and hills along the almost 5,000-foot long track. Just hold on as you reach speeds of close to 60 miles per hour.”