The holidays are here, and many of us are traveling to see family and friends for Christmas. We’ve begun to dread those TSA lines that involve the scan and the pat down, being exposed to X-rays, and taking off our shoes (NOTE: Subscribers can still listen to this show). But what’s especially confusing is what we’re allowed to take on board and what we’re not.
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When we buy someone a present, most of us try to get inside mind of the recipient, but thoughtful gifts–where you try to give someone what they want the most–are NOT the best bet. The giving of a thoughtful gift benefits the giver more than the person who receives it.
In the December 4th edition of the Wall Street Journal, Sumathi Reddy quotes behavioral scientist Nicholas Epley as saying, "It turns out it’s not the thought that counts, it’s the gift that counts."
So what DOES work best? Spending a lot of money isn’t important, thank goodness. It turns out that the gifts people like the most are things they have explicitly requested–so ask all your friends to MAKE A LIST!
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"Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" is one of those songs we hear piped into stores constantly during this season, and while we may get tired of it, we assume it’s just a children’s story. But it turns out there’s some real science behind it.
When Dutch and Norwegian traveled to the Arctic to use video-microscope and thermal imaging technology to measure glow from reindeer noses, they found that tiny blood vessels more abundant in the noses of reindeer than in those of humans.
The question we want answered is, how did the lyricist of that song get that information, since science has just discovered it?
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From Indonesia to India, there has been a wave of UFO sightings over Asia, and now this story appears in the Vietnamese English language press. Obviously, I cannot evaluate these reports, and the photo looks like a meteor, but still, they could represent an extension of the high levels of activity in the area.
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