Category Archives: Psychology

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Is Progress Outpacing Precaution? Experts Weigh In

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Illustration by An Arres.

No one expects the machinery of progress to roll backwards, but sometimes it seems that no one is watching the speedometer (or manning the brakes, assuming any exist).  Is this a fair assessment? If so, should we be worried — and what can we do about it?

In this feature, experts on technology, risk, science, policy and neuroscience discuss risk, innovation and how our values affect our conceptions of both.

Read/listen to my full story at KJZZ’s Arizona Science Desk:
ASU Experts Weigh the Risks of Innovation

Biochemistry, Genetics, Health, Medicine, Psychology, Science

Mitochondria-Linked Genetic Changes Might Give Early Hint of Alzheimer’s Disease

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Diagram of a mitochondrion, courtesy of Arizona State University.

Long before they develop neurofibrillary tangles or beta-amyloid plaques, brains with Alzheimer’s disease begin experiencing problems in their cells’ power plants — the mitochondria — that hinder their ability to make energy for cells.

Declines in gene expression related to mitochondria can occur in subjects as young as their early 30s.

Read/listen to my full story at KJZZ’s Arizona Science Desk:
Arizona Researchers Say Genetic Changes Could Help Spot Alzheimer’s Disease Early

Anthropology, Culture, Forensics, History, Psychology, Religion, Weird

Rude Burials Might Have Fueled Blood Feuds Among Ancient Sonorans

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Photo of cacti at sunset
Photo by Tomas Castelazo.

Bodies buried  in unusual postures and without funeral rites could suggest a history of revenge and blood feud in certain ancient Sonoran Desert cultures, according to a paper in the August 2016 edition of Current Anthropology.

The authors say a rude burial would have deeply distressed the victim’s family and community — and sent a message of dominance and defiance. Read/listen to my full story at KJZZ’s Arizona Science Desk:

Haphazard Burials May Suggest Revenge, Blood Feud Among Sonoran Desert Cultures

Culture, Forensics, History, Law, Medicine, Psychology, Science, Technology, Weird

Double, Double, Toil and Trouble: 10 Terrible Cases of Mistaken Identity

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The real this isn't quite as funny.
Oddly enough, the Katzenjammer Kids are still sometimes implicated.

It’s said that we all have a double somewhere in the world. It’s a haunting thought, but almost comforting compared to the harrowing tales of identity theft we hear on the nightly news. But, hey, we live in the age of fingerprints, DNA and CSI, right? The post-911 world of ever-more Orwellian identification requirements? Surely we’ve left cases of mistaken identity firmly in the past.

You know where this is going …

10 Terrible Cases of Mistaken Identity

Art, Computing, Consumer, Culture, History, Internet, Psychology, Religion, Technology, Weird, Writing

Found in Translation: The Risks and Rewards of Video Game Localization

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Video game localization has come a long way since a sub-par port of Zero Wing gave us the classic “All Your Base are Belong to Us” meme. As  game companies have gone international, and as their products have ballooned from small-batch text-and-sprite diversions to interactive blockbusters, the industry that makes those games accessible to other cultures has done its best to keep pace – despite too often being treated as an afterthought by game companies .

Find out how this process has evolved from basic text translation to fully embrace cultural norms, preferences and taboos as I explain …

How Video Game Localization Works