We all have our respective convictions — beliefs that we strongly hold on to. Because we firmly hold on to these beliefs, we only entertain and process information that strengthens our said beliefs, but we fail to process information that contradicts them. While scientists have understood this phenomenon for a time, they did not yet understand the underlying mechanisms behind this phenomenon.

In this study published in Nature Communications, researchers try to understand the neural processes that help explain confirmation bias.

Lead author, Ph.D. candidate Max Rollwage (Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging at UCL and Max Planck UCL Centre for Computational Psychiatry & Ageing Research) said: "We were interested in the cognitive and neural mechanisms causing people to ignore information that contradicts their beliefs, a phenomenon known as confirmation bias. For example, climate change sceptics might ignore scientific evidence that indicates the existence of global warming.

See the study over at MedicalXpress.

(Image Credit: webandi/ Pixabay)

I've started doing yoga for 8 months. My backache is gone. So I recommend some easy poses for artists/everyone who gets backache pic.twitter.com/zE0iE0ODE4

— 🦁 n a i r 🐍 FF7R楽しい (@mindcreator) January 22, 2017

Most of us are probably spending time as couch potatoes and living a sedentary lifestyle at home. You might be spending most of your time just hunched on your chair while doing your work or communicating with your pals online, a position which causes backache. This Twitter post from over two years ago might be of help to you. In this post, Twitter user @mindcreator recommends these easy poses for those who suffer from backache.

Well, what do you think?

Via 9GAG

(Image Credit: @mindcreator/ Twitter)

Redditor Alan Brendan made this enormous eyeglasses sculpture for his wife's optometry office. They advertise the company's services while protecting desk workers from airborne viral infections.

It's an impressive piece of craftsmanship. Brendan describes the process:

After measuring the front desk carefully I created it in Illustrator and sent the lenses and temple detail to a local sign maker to custom cut. I cut the rest of the frame from a piece of half-inch plywood, glued it up and spray painted it black. It honestly took a lot less time than I expected and I’m really happy with the results. We wanted to bring a little bit of fun to this very not fun situation.

[...]

I was going to order square panels to hang in front of the reception desk, but recognized that two panels = glasses. The safety measures that we were putting in place in the office were becoming overwhelming—so many new procedures, barriers, masks, and cleaning supplies. We felt like doing something fun—both for us and something that might lighten the mood of someone walking through the front door.

It probably cost about four times the price of square panels, but was totally worth it.

-via TYWKIWDBI

Baseball is a game that lends itself to statistics nerdery. Some fans know all the players and their stats, others know the long history of games in great detail. Tom Shieber at Baseball Researcher knows how to find the answers to the most obscure questions by detailed investigation. There is a scene in the 1940 movie The Great McGinty in which mayor Dan McGinty pulls out a photograph of a baseball game.   

McGinty: Now look at that crowd. How many people do you think there were at the game?
Maxwell: I’m sure I don’t have the faintest idea.
McGinty: Look again. How many people do you think there are in that photograph?
Maxwell: 10,000.
McGinty: Guess again.
Maxwell: 20,000. Mr. Mayor ...
McGinty: You’re not even warm, Mr. Maxwell.
Maxwell: Well ... [Suddenly realizing what’s really going on.] Oh. You mean it’s more like 40,000?
McGinty: It’s more like it. But that ain’t it.
Maxwell: Mr. Mayor, about that flaw you mentioned ...
McGinty: There’s no flaw in that photograph, Mr. Maxwell. It’s perfect. What was your last guess?
Maxwell: 50,000?
McGinty: [Laughs]. There were 75,000 people in that stadium. Ain’t that wonderful? 75,000 filling their lungs with nature’s own sunshine. I’ll send the guy up to see you. Goodbye.

Were there really 75,000 people in that photograph? Or, more to the point, at the game represented by the picture, which does not show the entire crowd? To find the answer, Shieber determined the exact game depicted in the movie prop through painstakingly studying the clues in the image, then linked his findings with the architectural history of the ballpark. Read what he found and how he found it at Baseball Researcher. -via Metafilter

Mother Nature may not have cooperated on SpaceX’s 1st astronaut launch for NASA, but it doesn’t mean that they are out of the game as they still could become the 9th spaceship that will carry an astronaut into orbit. Their launch, after all, was just postponed.

Space.com documents the previous spaceships that have launched astronauts into space. See information about these spaceships, as well as their photos, over at the site.

(Image Credit: NASA)

Move trailers in the 21st century tend to follow a pattern, a formula if you will, and over time began to all look alike. AD_edits did a nice job on The Empire Strikes Back, with a trailer that will make you want to see the movie again. But what if you'd never seen it before? What makes the "modern trailer" above so noteworthy is the contrast between it and the real 1979 trailer.



The production values and the use of a narrator make it seem hopelessly dated, but this one honestly gives fewer plot points away then the newer style trailer. It worked 40 years ago. -via Geekologie

During the War of 1812, actually in the autumn of 1814, the Baltimore Patriot and Evening Advertiser took ten days off from publication. When it returned on September 20th, it contained the lyrics to a new song written by Francis Scott Key, with the suggestion that it be sing to the tune of “To Anacreon in Heaven.” While clippings of that newspaper still exist, a full issue is an extreme rarity, and one is now up for auction.  

Printed under their original title, “The Defence of Fort M’Henry,” the four verses allowed the newspaper to report on the events of the titular battle with some literary flourish. “In our first renewal of publication,” the editors wrote, “we rejoice in an opportunity to enliven the sketch of an exploit so illustrious, with strains … which so fully celebrate it.” The paper also predicted that the words were “destined long to outlast the occasion,” but it’s doubtful the editors understood just how long. In June 2020, more than 200 years later, this first newspaper printing of what became “The Star-Spangled Banner” will be auctioned by Christie’s, for an expected minimum of $300,000.

Accompanying the lyrics is a reported account of the song’s conception.

Read about that newspaper edition in context at Atlas Obscura.

(Image credit: Christie's)

Indy is a curious cat. When a new contraption appears in his home, he has to investigate every inch of it. When it's turned on, he puts his best efforts into figuring it out. YouTuber Walter Santi (previously at Neatorama) documented Indy's lessons for our vicarious pleasure.  -via Digg

Reporter Kimberly Adams asked her uncle, David K. North, what he was doing to keep himself busy during the lockdown. His response was to send photos of his Doorway to the Imagination. This sculpture appropriately appears to be a magical door leading to another dimension. If you need to, peek through the window before opening the door.

You can see more photos in Adams's Twitter thread. North's incredibly charming smile makes them even better.

-via Aaron Starmer

What would happen if you spliced two Lord of the Rings characters together Tuvix style? Some anonymous person on the internet put a lot of thought into that question, produced this chart, and is prudently keeping quiet about it.

Frodalf looks like someone I'd like to party with. Gandli looks like one of my co-workers who is quite normal. But Goldo will give me nightmares.

-via Geekologie

Imagine digging in your garden and finding this lovely floor, just covered up with soil! Archaeologists knew there was an ancient villa under a vineyard in Northern Italy, but discovering this intricately-tiled floor was a surprise, just a week after the excavation resumed after a pause during the coronavirus outbreak.

The team discovered the tiles, as well as portions of the villa’s foundation, “a few meters” below the vineyard’s surface, according to the statement. To make the “archaeological treasure … hidden under our feet available and accessible,” the researchers will collaborate with authorities and the vineyard’s owners. The process will likely require both significant time and resources.

You have to wonder why and when someone decided to just have a bunch of topsoil hauled in to cover the floor. Read more about this find at Smithsonian.

(Image credit: Comune di Negrar di Valpolicella)

No, don't look! Don't look! What you'll see staring out of the mirror will turn you to stone!

Etsy seller SlipperyFishJewelry offers this fresh take on stained glass that would make a perfect gift for someone who needs to tend to their appearance carefully. At 15 inches tall, it's appropriately life size.

-via So Super Awesome

If you’ve seen the Animal Crossing: New Horizons hype train on any social media platform, then you’ve probably seen the undying fervor towards one villager in particular: Raymond. Raymond is a ‘smug cat villager’, who players can invite to live on their island either by spending a lot of time and effort looking for him in the game, or through the dark depths of a discord server. The enthusiasm for getting Raymond on the players’ island got to the point of something darker. PokéNinja felt that the fervor around the villager was wrong, so he hatched a plan to give Raymond to anyone who asks for him, as Polygon detailed: 

“When you’re a father and you see certain things happening,” PokéNinja told Polygon in a private Twitter message, “It hits a little differently sometimes.”

While New Horizons has broken into the mainstream, it also holds a unique appeal to children, who love its cast of bright and quirky animal friends. And with a growing economy where virtual items are being sold for actual tender, the temptation to buy whatever you covet is a constant one — especially when the alternative is spending dozens of hours grinding Mystery Island visits for a tiny chance of getting the villager you want.

“I kind of envision these kids begging their parents for the most popular villager in the game, and I know there are many parents (especially now) that simply can’t afford to do that,” PokéNinja mused.

And so the content creator hatched a plan. Using a save editor running a hacked version of the game, PokéNinja decided to just ... materialize as many Raymonds as he could. While it’s not possible to import the feline via the use of amiibo, there are no such restrictions in a save editor, which allows you to generate anything that’s in the game. He then put out a call on social media, letting people know that if they wanted Raymond, they could have him.

No catch. No need to follow or share the message announcing the giveaway. No bells or Nook Miles Ticket required. If you expressed interest and had an empty lot for him, Raymond could be yours.

He’s a real hero! I wonder if he still gives away Raymond? I haven’t found Raymond in my mystery island visits in the game. 

image via Polygon

We all want our lives to be better. Some of us want to be healthier, while others want to learn something new. But when one does not change anything in his life, the person won’t move forward, with his goal just as far from him as it was yesterday. This is why one needs to change his habits if he plans on achieving his goals.

So if a person wants to be healthier, he must commit himself to a healthy diet and an exercise plan. If a person wants to be promoted, then he has to commit to being an excellent employee. This is the power of habits. The question is, how do you do it?

Jeff Sanders of the 5 AM Miracle Podcast shares his experience on how a small change in his habits led to a much happier life. He also shares how to make your new habits stick.

Check out his interview over at QDT.

(Image Credit: Engin_Akyurt/ Pixabay)

Saturday, the renowned hacker group Unc0ver has released a new jailbreak tool which can unlock all iPhones that run on iOS 11 through iOS 13.5, which is basically almost all iPhones that are used today. Despite Apple having applied strict safeguards to prevent unauthorized apps from being installed in their phones, hacker communities such as Unc0ver continued to flourish over the years.

Although jailbreaks in some instances can lead to malicious activity, researchers generally support jailbreak efforts because the expanded access such tools provide helps them better test security breaches and develop stronger protective measures.

Users who install jailbreak tools may enjoy enhanced customization but also risk stealth attacks from unvetted third-party sources.

The latest utility is the first one built on a zero-day vulnerability in years. Its lead developer, who goes by the name Pwn20wnd, insists the jailbreak is stable and does not interfere with Apple's user data protections.

More details about this jailbreak tool over at TechXplore.

(Image Credit: Pixabay)