Old habits die hard… but they can be overwritten: New study raises hopes for treatment of obsessive behaviours

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2226848/Old-habits-die-hard–overwritten-New-study-raises-hopes-treatment-obsessive-behaviours.html MIT researchers identify brain region that controls habitual behaviours They find old habits never go away, but can be replaced with new ones However, the potential to switch back to the old behaviour remains By Damien Gayle PUBLISHED: 07:23 EST, 2 November 2012 | UPDATED: 07:23 EST, 2 November 2012 Old habits: MIT researchers […]

Money and Happiness: China Surveys Suggest a Limited Link

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2012/05/china-happiness/ By Brandon Keim Email Author May 14, 2012 | 5:05 pm After two decades of extraordinarily rapid economic growth, people in China aren’t much happier than when they started, suggests a new review of happiness and national income in the world’s largest, most economically accelerated country. On the whole, China’s wealthy are slightly happier than […]

Planet of the (little) apes: Save the world by genetically engineering humans to be smaller, suggests NYU philosopher

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2114430/Save-planet-genetically-engineering-humans-smaller-suggests-NYU-philosopher.html NYU professor suggests we genetically engineer babies to be smaller and more ‘energy-efficient’ Other suggestions to save the planet include making humans intolerant to meat through pills or patches ‘The Kyoto Protocol, has not produced demonstrable reductions in global emissions’ Authors of study stress they are not advocating the ideas, just opening the debate […]