Torture on the Brain
Flaying, burning, boiling, crushing, beating, ripping, and stabbing—the horror of physical torture throughout history is still cringe-worthy centuries later. But what about the effects of such torture on the...
Does ADHD Exist? The Logic behind the Controversy
As of 2011, 6.4 million children in the United States were diagnosed with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). From 2003 to 2013 alone, America saw a 41 percent increase in ADHD diagnoses in...
Brain Disease Found in 96% of Former NFL Players
Researchers have found widespread brain disease in dead NFL players. New figures from the Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) Center in Boston — the country’s largest brain bank focused on studying...
Is Everyone Really a Little Bit Racist?
And what can we do about it? James Comey, director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, recently caused a stir when, during a speech at Georgetown University, he quoted one of the main songs in the hit...
The Lie that Could Not Be Cloned
In 1979, University of Geneva Professor Karl Illmensee announced the success of a groundbreaking experiment: the cloning of mice from early embryos. Since 1952, scientists had repeatedly tried and failed to...
Can a Computer Speak Chinese?
The Potential and Limits of Artificial Intelligence Is the human brain essentially a computer? And is a sufficiently advanced computer, with all the right inputs and outputs, essentially a human...
The Most Beautiful Color I’ve Ever Heard
“It was red and yellow and green and brown and scarlet and black and ochre and peach. And ruby and olive and violet and fawn and lilac and gold and chocolate and mauve. And cream and crimson and silver and...
Pepsi or Coke? Ask Your Brain
One of the age-old questions, as controversial as or Apple vs Microsoft or puppies vs kittens, was addressed in a famous neuroscience study: sixty-seven participants had their brains scanned while blindly...
Great Minds and Their Sleep Routines
Beep. Beep. Beeeeeep. As college students, we are all familiar with the sound of our morning alarm, set to jolt ourselves from slumber into the hustle and bustle of the day. Sleep is a prized commodity, but...
Caught Twice?
Fooling the Lie Detector: The Condom Thief When I was 10, I snuck into the TV room in our house to watch a bit of Ocean’s Thirteen with my older brothers. Before my parents discovered my own egregious...