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Posts made in July, 2013

The Politics Of Denormalization: Public Smoking Bans Aren’t Evidence-Based

Over the last few years, you may have noticed more "no smoking" signs have cropped up on parks and beaches. They're part of a larger trend banning smoking at outside, public areas. In fact, smoking has been banned in 843 parks and more than 150 beaches in the last two decades.In California, where a law was passed banning smoking in bars and restaurants without a vote, they are now trying to can...

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Do Incentives Lead To Loss Of Trust?

80 percent of Americans don't trust big banks and almost two-thirds think that corporate corruption is widespread. This loss of trust is costly. Though it is said that market competition is an efficient substitute for trustworthiness and integrity, economists have claimed for years that it is expensive and wasteful to monitor and regulate a system when trust is lost. 

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Weekend Science: Beer Flavor Leads To Dopamine Release In Men

You know what happens to women when they watch Katherine Heigl movies or episodes of "The Bachelor"? Well, it happens to men also - when they think there might be beer nearby.Really, it is almost Pavlovian, except the saliva is mental too. A PET scan study found that even when no alcohol was involved, the flavor of beer caused striatal dopamine release in men.(1) The striatum in men...

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Chipotle Fake Tweet-Hacking Itself Is The Next Big Thing In Marketing

The American media loves hackers - well, sometimes. Julian Assange releasing dirt on the Bush administration - yayyyyyy - but then Edward Snowden releasing dirt on the Obama administration was a big no-no. The media were suddenly to the right of Richard Nixon when it came to national security when President Obama looked bad.

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Global Warming Is Not The World’s Top Problem, Energy Is

I've long said that energy is the biggest issue we face in the 21st century - with energy, I can solve the problems of food and water and that helps solve poverty too. I can even turn lead into gold. read...

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