New Jersey's judicial system now requires judges to read a new set of instructions to the jury in any trial that included eyewitness testimony. The instructions tell the jurors that human memory is complex and not at all like playing a recording back. They also tell them that witness identification of a stranger from a different race is significantly more likely to be in error than one of a stranger from the same race.
Elizabeth Loftus, a hero of mine whose research focuses on memory, was on NPR this afternoon talking about this big development. Worth a listen.
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An astounding chart from USA Today, of all places, about the microscopic inhabitants of our bodies. (Favorite list of facts: "About 60% of the solid matter we excrete each day isn't food, but microbes. Over a lifetime, people flush away 25 tons of bacteria. That's the equivalent of five full-grown elephants.") The story that accompanies it is pretty darned interesting, too.
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Maggie Koerth-Baker provides a handy list of questions to help figure out the difference between a crackpot and a genius. Nothing earth-shatteringly startling to the skeptically inclined, but it's a succinct bit of writing to have on hand when you need a link to share with a gullible friend.
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An excellent infographic about the TSA. A couple of facts from it: TSA spending equals $6 million per gun found; not one of which belonged to a terrorist. Seven out of every 10 weapons gets by a TSA screener.
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You know those stupid QR codes you see everywhere these days? They are now appearing in a new kind of location: gravestones. I can't think of a worse mismatch of the eternal and the faddish.
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