The Satisfaction of Making Money

May 24, 2004
A new study shows that people who inherit their money (or win it in the lottery) instead of working for it don?t get as much happiness from it. Behavioral scientist Greg Berns compared the brain activity of people playing two... continued

Climate Change Makes World a Duller Place

May 23, 2004
Climate change will affect the world's poor more drastically than rich nations, but the rich will suffer too. For all of us, the world will become a much duller place. Many of the impacts of global warming are not life-threatening... continued

Code May Reveal Location of Grail

May 23, 2004
The experts who broke the Nazi's secret codes are trying to decipher the mysterious 10-letter inscription D.O.U.O.S.V.A.V.V.M. on an 18th-century monument at an English country estate. Legends say it reveals the location of the Holy Grail. Jill Lawless writes that... continued

Eureka!

May 23, 2004
There?s a certain type of sudden realization that cartoonists often portray with a light bulb going on over the head?the "Eureka!" experience. What?s going on inside our brains when this happens? Mark Jung-Beeman says this happens "when you need to... continued

UFO Wave Continues

May 21, 2004
Tommy Woodard took a digital photo in Provo, Utah that appears to be a UFO hovering over some trees. He was taking photos in Provo Canyon on Tuesday while scouting for a possible film location. He didn't notice anything unusual... continued

Space Poop

May 21, 2004
A vital but unasked question is: what happens to human waste in space? Right now, astronauts bring it back home with them, but on longer space voyages, other solutions will be needed. This will become more important in the future,... continued

Vatican Astronomy

May 21, 2004
People are often surprised to find out that the Vatican owns an observatory in Tucson, Arizona. They originally had a telescope in Rome, but the growing population made the sky too bright for astronomical observations. Jesuit astronomer Guy Consolmagno says,... continued

Violent Images Make Kids Less Aggressive

May 20, 2004
The unexpected results of a new study reveal that showing children graphic images of violence makes them less?not more?aggressive. Alison McCook writes, "After seeing pictures of people treated for gunshot wounds, including a man whose stomach was ripped apart by... continued

“Dreams”?or Reality?

May 20, 2004
In our latest new Communion Letter, a reader writes, "My name is Nick and I live in western Montana. There have been quite a few strange things that have happened to me in my lifetime, although I'm only 19 years... continued

UFOs Seen in the South

May 20, 2004
Scott Corrales reports that witnesses in Havana, Cuba saw a UFO. In North Carolina, a couple saw one three days in a row, before they finally contacted the police. The Cuban newspaper Juventud Rebelde reports that a UFO was seen... continued