Emotional memory not lost during alcohol
intoxication

post from Top stories on 20 August 2012 11:40:00 PM. © Top stories

Although certain memory processes are impaired during alcohol intoxication, the brain does appear to retain emotionally charged images, particularly in unconscious memory processes, a new study in the September issue of the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs suggests.

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ion

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Bipolar disorder and creativity found to be
linked

post from Top stories on 20 August 2012 11:33:32 PM. © Top stories

Story Source

Does some fine madness yield great artists, writers, and scientists? The evidence is growing for a significant link between bipolar disorder and creative temperament and achievement.

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http://machineslikeus.com/news/bipolar-disorder-and-creativity-found-be-linked

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First evidence of planet's destruction by its
star

post from Top stories on 20 August 2012 11:17:50 PM. © Top stories

Story Source

The first evidence of a planet's destruction by its aging star has been discovered by an international team of astronomers. The evidence indicates that the missing planet was devoured as the star began expanding into a "red giant" -- the stellar equivalent of advanced age.

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http://machineslikeus.com/news/first-evidence-planets-destruction-its-star

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Stroke disrupts how brain controls muscle
synergies

post from Top stories on 20 August 2012 10:40:22 PM. © Top stories

Story Source

Distinctive patterns could allow doctors to develop better rehab programs for stroke patients.

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s

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Big Bang theory challenged by big chill

post from Top stories on 20 August 2012 10:03:29 PM. © Top stories

Story Source

The start of the Universe should be modeled not as a Big Bang but more like water freezing into ice, according to a team of theoretical physicists at the University of Melbourne and RMIT University.

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People who think the end of the world is imminent

post from Top stories on 20 August 2012 10:00:47 PM. © Top stories

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There are a lot of crazy people out there.

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NASA Selects InSight Mars 2016 Lander

post from Planetary Society Blog on 20 August 2012 07:15:00 PM. © Planetary Society Blog

NASA has selected JPL's InSight mission to Mars as its next Discovery mission. The first geophysics mission to Mars, InSight will use a Phoenix-like lander to deploy a seismometer and a heat probe and give us our first detailed insights into the interior of the Red Planet.

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http://www.planetary.org/blogs/bruce-betts/20120820-InSight-Mars-Mission-Selected
.html

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NCBI ROFL: Hey med students, apparently you can
publish your mnemonic devices!

Musculoskeletal mnemonics: differentiating features.

“Mnemonics are often used in musculoskeletal radiology to help radiologists remember long differential diagnoses. However, unless the specific appearance of each entity on a differential is also recalled, mnemonics become useless. This article presents 8 mnemonics with their corresponding differential diagnoses and distinguishing features. Bubbly lucent lesions of bone are recalled with the FEGNOMASHIC mnemonic, but when only lucent lesions of the diaphysis are included, a more appropriate mnemonic is FEMALE. The lucent lesions of bone differentials often can be narrowed based on specific characteristics of the lesion but radiographic findings elsewhere and clinical information often help. Osseous metastases may present as lucent or sclerotic lesions; when sclerotic, the differential is best remembered with the mnemonic 5 “BEES” Like Pollen. The mnemonic for Wormian bones is PORKCHOPS. The Wormian bones in most of these entities are indistinguishable, so one must rely on radiographic findings outside the skull for diagnosis. By contrast, differentiating causes of acro-osteolysis is often possible with findings seen only on the hand radiographs; the mnemonic for acro-osteolysis is RADSHIP. In skeletally immature patients with frayed metaphyses, the mnemonic is CHARMS. Although the appearance of ...

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We're going back to Mars in 2016!

Today, NASA announced the newest Discovery-class mission, a Mars lander called InSight. It's not a rover; it's a drill that will go down 5 meters and help us figure out what happens in the core of our neighboring terrestrial planet.

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http://www.planetary.org/blogs/bill-nye/were-going-back-to-mars-in-2016.html

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Best Majors for GRE Scores: Still Physics and
Philosophy

Fall is just around the corner, and that means many college seniors will soon face an enemy more daunting than senioritis itself: the Graduate Record Examinations. Many schools require GRE test scores for admission to their graduate programs, and the tests are supposed to be one of the most objective measures of prospective students.

GRE scores can make or break a graduate school application, so how should students prepare? Although there are a plethora of study books and materials available, decisions made freshman year may determine your score more than your cramming habits weeks before the test.

Ever year, the Educational Testing Service ? the organization behind the GRE ? releases scores for the general test and categorizes them by the test takers' intended graduate major. Although the GRE made significant revisions to the test this academic year, one fact remains: Physics and philosophy students still rocked the test. Physics majors tied for first in the math section, and philosophy students topped the verbal and writing sections.

Physicists even beat most majors in the verbal and writing sections ? a measure of physics majors' stereotypically weak communication skills. Maybe physicists are more well-rounded than pop culture suggests.
The quantitative reasoning section measures mathematical ability and data interpretation skills. The score scale ranges from 130-170. Data from ETS (PDF) for August 2011-April 2012.

The quantitative section has problems covering relatively basic math (for a physics major at least) such as algebra, number comparisons and graphical interpretations.

Physics requires substantial knowledge of mathematics, so physics majors unsurprisingly topped the charts in the quantitative section. They weren't alone, however; physics majors tied math majors and materials engineers for the highest average score. (Note: In all of these graphs, I chose seven majors in different areas of study to give a fairly representative picture of the score distributions. These are not the top seven majors.)

The verbal section requires students to fill in the blank for sentences and answer comprehension questions about short passages, among other problems. The score scale ranges from 130-170. Data from ETS (PDF) for August 2011-April 2012.
Physicists have a way with numbers, but they also fared pretty well on the verbal section, beating all other science and engineering majors. Philosophy majors excelled in this category, beating English students by three points.

The analytical writing section requires two essays: an analysis of a flawed argument and a more general position paper on an issue. Scores range from 0-6 in half-point increments. Data from ETS (PDF) for August 2011-April 2012.
Half of the analytical writing section requires students to find the flaws in an argument, likely contributing to the philosophy majors' #1 spot. But physicists' training in analytical thinking helped them too. Physics majors beat all of the other hard science majors in this section, and they even beat several liberal arts majors as well. Computer science majors seem to prefer writing code to writing essays.

The GRE's may not be the best test of intellect or even success in graduate school, but we can pretend that it is. Consequently, physicists and philosophers reign supreme in academia, and those who majored in both areas (such as myself) must be the smartest people on the planet. That's a sound argument, right?

Maybe not. But I would argue that physics majors develop several skills that prepare them for a variety of careers outside of physics research. I wouldn't suggest picking your major solely based on how well it will prepare you for the GRE's, but there's plenty of other reasons to study physics.

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If you want to keep up with Hyperspace, AKA Brian, you can follow him on Twitter.

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ors-for-gre-scores-still.html