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Submission + - A Virtual Reality Train Ride Reveals a Link Between Height and Paranoia (vice.com)

Daniel_Stuckey writes: As anyone who’s been to a gig and isn’t six feet tall has probably experienced, being surrounded by people taller than you—why does that always happen?—can be annoying at best, and kind of scary at worst. There’s a certain vulnerability that comes with suddenly feeling shorter than those around you. A paper published online today in the journal Psychiatry Research looks at part of this phenomenon, by investigating the relation between height and paranoia.

The study, which was led by researchers at Oxford University and funded by the Medical Research Council, found that being shorter made people feel more mistrustful of those around them. They came to this conclusion after a virtual reality experiment in which participants took two virtual rides on the London Underground; one at their own height, and one with their height artificially reduced by 25cm (about a head). They weren’t told that their line of sight had been lowered until after the study.

Submission + - Antioxidants Could Increase Cancer Rates (sciencemag.org)

sciencehabit writes: Many people take vitamins such as A, E, and C thinking that their antioxidant properties will ward off cancer. But some clinical trials have suggested that such antioxidants, which sop up DNA-damaging molecules called free radicals, have the opposite effect and raise cancer risk in certain people. Now, in a provocative study that raises unsettling questions about the widespread use of vitamin supplements, Swedish researchers have showed that moderate doses of two widely used antioxidants spur the growth of early lung tumors in mice.

Submission + - Edward Snowden and the Death of Nuance

Trailrunner7 writes: As the noise and drama surrounding the NSA surveillance leaks and its central character, Edward Snowden, have continued to grow in the last few months, many people and organizations involved in the story have taken great pains to line up on either side of the traitor/hero line regarding Snowden’s actions. While the story has continued to evolve and become increasingly complex, the opinions and rhetoric on either side has only grown more strident and inflexible, leaving no room for nuanced opinions or the possibility that Snowden perhaps is neither a traitor nor a hero but something else entirely.

In some ways, the people pushing the Snowden-as-traitor narrative have a decided advantage here. This group comprises politicians, intelligence officials, lawmakers and others whose opinions carry the implicit power and weight of their offices. Whatever one thinks of Obama, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and Alexander, they are among the more powerful men on earth and their public pronouncements by definition are important. If one of them declares Snowden to be a traitor or says that he should spend the rest of his life in prison for his actions, there is a sizable portion of the population who accepts that as fact.

That is not necessarily the case on the other side of the argument. However, many members of both the hero and traitor crowds formed their opinions reflexively, aligning themselves with the voices they support and then standing pat, regardless of the revelation of any new facts or evidence. They take the bits and pieces of Snowden’s story arc that fit with their own philosophy, use them to bolster their arguments and ignore the things that don’t help. This, of course, is in no way unique to the Snowden melodrama. It is a fact of life in today’s hyper-fragmented and hype-driven media environment, a climate in which strident opinions that fit on the CNN ticker or in a tweet have all but destroyed the possibility of nuanced discourse.

Comment Microsoft (Score 0) 309

I highly suspect that this is completely due to Micro$haft. Look at all the forum posts complaining about it; the posters have like 1 post. ONE SINGLE POST WTF. The PS4 seemed much more anticipated than the XBOX One, so it seems a very possible strategy for Microsoft to sabotage the PS4s reputation. They should have been more creative than the Blue Light of Death, though, as this is just a product of their never-ending butt-hurt from the RRoD. I will believe the Blue Light of Death when I see it, but until then it is a myth in my eyes. I think we can all agree that Sony and Microsoft and relatively evil corporations at times, but IMO Sony is the lesser evil of the two.

Comment Because intelligence is actively suppressed and ce (Score 1) 610

It's because the so-called "revelations" of NSA spying (which anybody who pays attention to current events already knew about) have been dramatically and actively suppressed in many, many, subtle ways. Such ways include the swaying of public opinion all over on the internet, including here, but also YouTube, Facebook, online news sites, forums, etc. by the deployment of forum spies. The 'higher-ups' are adamant about controlling public opinion, and so far I think they've done a pretty good job with suppressing or preventing the anger that SHOULD be present in the average US citizen. I see no hope in said average US citizen coming to, as they are all too engorged in their MTV and Facebook.

Comment Re:THIS JUST IN... (Score 1) 3

I am very aware of that. I know Turktrust and the like are legitimate CAs, but there is documentation of accidentally released certs by them, and all of the certs I am examining have the same issue/expiration dates as the untrusted/malicious ones. I believe my network may be the victim of a fairly stealthy MITM attack, as every single device on my network has these certs, and I know for a fact that they are malicious ones accidentally released or 'stolen' by the respective cert authorities.

Submission + - Will Fear of Spying Drive Us to the Dark Side of the Web? (ibtimes.co.uk)

DavidGilbert99 writes: Prism and the NSA spying scandal has made a lot of people jittery about what they do online. Who is watching them and what are they doing with the information they steal? In a paranoid world like this, many people could begin to consider the deep web as a way of anonymising their online activities, but as David Gilbert says in IBTimes UK, the dark internet is not a place for the faint-hearted

Submission + - Ask Slashdot: Reccurent malicious certificates on all devices on home network? 3

bmxer4130 writes: I have noticed a most peculiar symptom of all devices on my network. Every computer, laptop, tablet, android device, etcetera on my network is filled with malicious certificates, and there seems to be no way to get rid of them, despite my valiant security measures. Even after wiping my Android devices as thoroughly as possible, even doing 'NAND Erase All' through Odin, I still find these certs in my CA store. On my Desktop computer, which is currently running Qubes R2 Beta, my Firefox CA store lists all of the exact same questionable certificates. I am beginning to believe this is most likely due to my poor choice of a rather insecure Linksys WRT54G firmware: DD-WRT, which is extremely exploitable. Although it is clearly a bad idea to continue using it, I'd like to be able pinpoint the exact source of these certs in hopes of bolstering my defences. Among the certificates include recorded compromised 'TURKTRUST' certs, GoDaddy, Taiwan Govt, Japanese Govt, etc, etc. I can make an archive of the exported certs if anybody is interested in analysing them. I would greatly appreciate any technical advice, specifically pertaining to: possible causes of these certs, protection from them, and observing how these certs are travelling to my devices and from where. I would also highly enjoy any discussion related to this problem and anybody's personal experience with similar situations.

Comment Solanaceae members pharmacological profile (Score 1) 161

Solanaceae is the nightshade family, and has many psycho-pharmacologically active alkaloids. The most famous of these of course are nicotine,atropine, scopalamine, and hyoscamine, among others. It appears most of these alkaloids affect nicotininc acetylcholine (NACh) receptors. Nicotine agonizes this site, and the anti-histamines antagonize it, along with other ACh receptors, and of course histamine receptors. Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease are strongly correlated with declining ACh receptors, and are remedied/treated by a class of drugs which acts similarly to nicotine, such as galantamine. Acetylcholine helps cognition and also is LARGELY implemented in dreaming. Native Americans used tobacco for spiritual visions in their sleep. Oddly, however, studies suggest that excess ACh levels influence depression; the more one has, the more likely they are to be depressed and/or suicidal. Nicotine agonizes NACh, and this results in the body downregulating NACh receptors and releasing less ACh, thusly nicotine has an anti-depressive effect, until one withdraws from it and ACh floods the body. Varenicline (Chantix), the combusted-nicotiana-foliage-inhalation cessation aid, agonizes NACh receptors, albeit differently (IIRC it also affects muscarinic ACh) and has the nasty side-effect of extremely messed up dreams and constant suicidal thoughts. TL;DR: Solanaceae affects acetylcholine and its receptors, so it's no surprise its members help prevent Parkinson's.

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