Oliver Blackburn's column at the Guardian is amazing.  Check it out here.  For example:

Physicalists may lead healthier lives than mind-body dualists

The language you speak, and how it parses talking about present and future, may affect how often you exercise

Researchers are finding that self-esteem boosts are not always good, but can have both good and bad consequences.  Better than spewing praise upon children is praising them for genuine accomplishments, and helping them develop the willpower to achieve those accomplishments.  Further, studies are supporting the age-old wisdom that helping others (compassionate action) is the best way to help yourself (boost your self-esteem).

The curse of Generation Me   New Scientist

Interpersonal goals, others' regard for the self, and self-esteem: The paradoxical consequences of self-image and compassionate goals   European Journal of Social Psychology

A spate of articles in New Scientist reveals recent experimental findings relating religiosity and anxiousness, sexual competitiveness, and analytical thinking.  Those primed with tasks raising feelings of anxiety and sexual competitiveness were more likely to rate their religious beliefs higher than before priming, while those primed with analytical thinking tasks rated religiosity lower.

This suggests, first, that religiosity varies by situation, and second, that it plays a role in managing such feelings.

Religious people less anxious, brain activity shows   New Scientist
Anxious or sexually competitive? Try God   New Scientist
Analytical thinking erodes belief in God   New Scientist

This article investigates the history and science behind pharmaceutical drugs that treat depression.


Post-prozac nation    NY Times

Christoff Koch, an associate of the late Francis Crick, offers the rudiments of a scientific investigation of consciousness.

Most interestingly, he refers to Tononi's idea that consciousness is a function of the complexity of an entity, and can be quanitifed precisely in terms of phi, or bits of information among interacting parts.  An electron, which cannot be subdivided and therefore has no interacting parts, has zero phi.  Meanwhile, our rich consciousness is a result of our highly complex brains, which can shift to a vast number of different states, each of which corresponds to a different "feel" of consciousness.

We're closing in on consciousness   New Scientist

Not quite.  But a recent study showed they can recognize four-letter words, and discriminate words from non-words, even when presented with words they've never seen before.  This suggests they are able to develop a rudimentary grasp of the rules of word formation.

This is not quite reading because there is no association with sounds or comprehension of meaning.  But it may point to one of the fundamental building blocks of human language.

It likely has more to do with object recognition than linguistic abilities.

Baboons and 4-letter words point to origins of reading  New Scientist
Baboons recognize words on a screen   BBC News

It's hard to believe, but it may be true.

There is a growing body of research that political orientations may be partly genetic.  Differences in fear responses, openness to new ideas, as brain structures is revealing politics might be biological.  Twin studies are showing that identical twins, that share all their DNA, are more politically similar than fraternal twins, that only share half their DNA.

Political divide begins in the brain   New Scientist

Conservative politics, "low-effort" thinking linked in study   Huffington Post

After 19 years of unrest, a city reduced to rubble is rising from the ashes.  After eight month of peace and stability under the protection of the African Union, construction is on the rise.

A taste of hope in Mogadishu    NY Times

Last time, she was elected, the military government ignored the results and placed her under house arrest for 15 years.  When I visited Burma, a taxi driver told us that no one dared speak her name in public, "but we all speak her name in our hearts." 

Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi has been fighting for freedom and democracy for decades in Burma, the government of which has earned a reputation as one of the most repressive regimes in the world.  Aung San Suu Kyi ranks up there with Martin Luther King and Ghandi.

Burma and Aung San Suu Kyi set for elections   BBC News

UPDATE:  Suu Kyi won by a landslide, with her party taking 40 out of 45.
Burma's Aung San Suu Kyi wins landmark election   BBC News

UPDATE:  General Turned President Begins Transformation   NY Times

UPDATE: US to ease sanctions against Burma   BBC News