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Study Shows How The Brain Responds To Deceptive Advertising

By Guest PostMarch 5, 2012Science, Technologyadam craig, advertisement, brain, brain response, conscious attention, deceptive advertising, fmri, fmri images, highly deceptive, jennifer vendemia, north carolina state university, precuneus, stacy wood, sts, superior temporal sulcus, temporoparietal junction, theory of mind, tom, tpj, variable, yuliya loureiro

Several specific regions of our brains are activated in a two-part process when we are exposed to deceptive advertising, according to new research conducted by a North Carolina State University professor. The work opens the door to further research that could help us understand how brain injury and aging may affect our susceptibility to fraud or misleading marketing.

The study utilized functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to capture images of the brain while study participants were shown a series of print advertisements. The fMRI images allowed researchers to determine how consumers’ brains respond to potentially deceptive advertising. “We did not instruct participants to evaluate the ads. We wanted to mimic the passive exposure to advertising that we all experience every day,” says Dr. Stacy Wood, Langdon Distinguished Professor of Marketing at NC State and co-author of a paper describing the research. (more…)

The Tales Top Bosses Tell To Keep Ahead of The Game

By Guest PostMarch 4, 2012Politicscharles harvey, economic crisis, exeter, mairi maclean, movers and shakers, newcastle, project, robert chia, saxon kings, self construction, society, Steve Jobs, storyteller, storytelling, strathclyde, top boss, winston churchill

Top bosses are expert storytellers who tell versions of the same four stories to keep ahead of the game, experts have found. Researchers from Exeter, Newcastle and Strathclyde universities have discovered four powerful messages are built into the often subtle and sometimes self-deprecating stories leaders tell about themselves.

The messages are about defying the odds, staying the course, succeeding through talent and giving back to society. The overall effect of this image-enhancing cocktail is to legitimise their positions as captains of industry.

Storytelling has long been recognised as a way leaders such as Winston Churchill or Steve Jobs maintained legitimacy. However, this research goes further, revealing how and why these stories are such a potent way of keeping stellar careers on track. (more…)

NASA Finds Sea Ice Driving Arctic Air Pollutants

By Guest PostMarch 4, 2012Environmentarctic air pollutants, bromine, bromine explosion, bromine plumes, ozone depletion, sea ice

PASADENA, Calif. – Drastic reductions in Arctic sea ice in the last decade may be intensifying the chemical release of bromine into the atmosphere, resulting in ground-level ozone depletion and the deposit of toxic mercury in the Arctic, according to a new NASA-led study. (more…)

MU Expert Predicts Hot, Dry Summer for Midwest

By Guest PostMarch 4, 2012EnvironmentAl Gore, climate pattern, drought, eastern pacific ocean, global climate change, heat dome, la niña, la nina scenario, midwest, missouri area, nobel peace prize, precipitation, purdue, rainfall, southwest united states, summer, temperature, texas to iowa, thunderstorms, tony lupo, university of missouri, weather

COLUMBIA, Mo. – For nearly a year, the Midwest and southwest United States have experienced drought and warmer than normal conditions. A University of Missouri expert is predicting no relief, as he expects drought and hot conditions to continue this summer.

“I expect one of two scenarios to play out; the first is a continued La Nina climate pattern to affect our weather this summer,” said Tony Lupo, professor and chair of the Department of Atmospheric Science in the School of Natural Resources. “This will lead to a drought and above average heat throughout the Midwest from Texas to Iowa, where farmers with parched fields can least afford dry conditions. However, it is also possible that a new El Nino pattern could develop this fall. While I don’t see this happening, it would bring more favorable temperatures and precipitation patterns to the Midwest.” (more…)

Sailing in a Sea of Microbes

By Guest PostMarch 4, 2012Sciencealgae, Arctic, atmospheric chemistry, bacteria, biogeochemical cycles, biomass, carbon dioxide, Chile, climate, daniel stolte, easter island, Environment, food production, genome, Germany, global warming, grassroots initiative, greenhouse gas, matt sullivan, melissa duhaime, microbe, ocean water, oceans, oxygen production, pacific ocean, research vessel, saguaro cacti, sequence, tara oceans, ua, university of arizona, wolves, world of viruses, world of webs

Researchers led by Matt Sullivan at the UA are among the first to dive into the world of viruses drifting through the world’s oceans.

Surrounded by the deep blue of the Pacific Ocean stretching from horizon to horizon, a lonely dot is glinting in the sun. It is the aluminum hull of a sailboat, a 118-foot schooner with white sails billowing from two masts.

On the deck, crewmembers and scientists are milling about. Commands are flying back and forth, and soon a strange contraption consisting of tubes clustered around an array of sensors dangling from a crane is lowered into the water, until it disappears in the clear blue depths. (more…)

Egyptians Want Democracy, But Not U.S. Efforts to Promote It

By Guest PostMarch 3, 2012Politicsamerican democracy, egypt for democracy, egyptian trial, promoting democracy

ANN ARBOR, Mich.— The Egyptian trial of employees of four American groups that were promoting democracy was abruptly postponed earlier this week. But the crisis in U.S.-Egyptian relations continues, for reasons, according to a University of Michigan researcher, that have a lot to do both with domestic Egyptian politics and with American Middle East policy. (more…)

Mapping Tool Analyzes How Climate Change, Conflict and Aid Intersect in Africa

By Guest PostMarch 3, 2012Environmentafrica, aiddata, austin, brigham young university, ccaps data, climate change, dynamic mapping tool, dynamics, francis j gavin, ken lipenga, malawi, minerva initiative, patterns of conflict, policymakers, stability in africa, university of texas, world bank

AUSTIN, Texas — Researchers have developed a new dynamic mapping tool that will help policymakers and other groups determine a country’s vulnerabilities to climate change and conflicts and show how these two issues intersect in Africa.

The pilot version of the tool was released this month by the Robert S. Strauss Center for International Security and Law at The University of Texas at Austin and additional data tools are expected to come online starting this spring. (more…)

Foot Bones Allow Researchers To Determine Sex of Skeletal Remains

By Guest PostMarch 3, 2012Sciencebiological sex, foot bones, forensic context, skeletal remains

Law enforcement officials who are tasked with identifying a body based on partial skeletal remains have a new tool at their disposal. A new paper from North Carolina State University researchers details how to determine the biological sex of skeletal remains based solely on measurements of the seven tarsal bones in the feet. (more…)

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