Learning! Roundup: 100 hearts beat as one, hacking, rape culture, fuzzy dinosaurs, and more!

Imagine all their hearts beating together. CC.

Audience Heartbeats

This may be one of the most exciting (to me) studies I've read in a long time! Theatregoers heartbeats synchronize while watching a play. I can't think of a more beautiful way to describe the communal experience of watching live theatre.

Hackers

Ever wonder how hacking actually works? Motherboard has a live video of hackers doing their thing, and it's kind of fascinating to see how it really goes down. Believe it or not, it doesn't involve a scruffy dude furiously typing away at a green-and-black screen while chugging Mountain Dew.

Rape Culture, in Quotes

If you need a serious downer, or proof that rape culture is alive and well, check out this infographic with a series of quotes by American politicians about rape. You may be tempted to explain it away with US culture or conservatism, but the fact of the matter is that people can say things like, "Some girls rape easy," or, "What did they expect?" (to women getting raped in the military) and have it be a generally accepted thing.

Fuzzy Dinosaurs

It was weird enough for me to learn that many dinosaurs were actually feathered, but it turns out that the feathered dinos were probably also super fuzzy. Well, this does open up a whole new world of plushies. Cute!

Unexpected Sex Differences

Here's something to be surprised by: in experiments where ketamine is given to mice, it only has an effect when it is administered by men. If the drug is given by a woman, or if the mouse is placed in a fume hood so they can't smell the person giving them the drug, it has no effect.

Flamers' Defence

On Twitter we call them trolls, and in video games they're called flamers: people who barrage their fellow players with insults and slurs. In this interview, see four flamers explain why they do what they do. Their stories range from someone who got caught up in a dark spiral and is trying to get out to a player who thinks the other players deserve what they get for being losers.

Marriage Protects Against Dementia

Here's more fodder for the aunties out there who want to pester their nieces and nephews into marriage: people who remain single for life are more likely to get dementia. Being widowed also increases risk, but surprisingly, divorce doesn't. So here's the secret: get married (to anyone, who cares about love? Unless it's love that provides the mental protection...) and then, assuming you both survive into old age, get divorced at 78 so you don't get the increased risk from being widowed. Game the system!

Powerlessness and Assault

As we watch men in power get dragged off his pedestal by sexual assault allegations, it can be easy to think nobody is safe. Turns out the fact that rape and assault is about power still holds true: the men who are at highest risk to offend are ones who have felt chronically powerless in their lives, and then are in positions of authority. Looks like these men are the ones who really want to feel the "benefits" of their power.


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