December 30, 2011 won’t occur in Samoa. Samoa is 20 miles from the International Dateline – an imaginary longitude marking a date change when crossed. The dateline was created more than a century ago when it was decided Samoa would be 3 hours behind Los Angeles because being on a similar time zone to the Americas would benefit Samoan business. In 2011 Samoa does most of its business with neighboring Australia – a country 21 hours ahead of it. However, when Samoa skips December 30, it will be just 3 hours ahead of Sydney – exemplifying a new kind of “day care”.
Approximately 1 in 15 American adults intentionally commit fraud by lying about personal information. According to a 2011 report by ID Analytics – a data collection firm – 8 million Americans used 2 or more social security numbers, 16 million used multiple birth dates and 10 million co-mingled their personal information with their spouse’s. The fraud included professional ID theft; trying to get government benefits not entitled to; evading creditors’ background checks; and applying for cell phone service, auto loans and credit cards. When it comes to personal information, it seems 8% of Americans “lie in wait”.
Fingers wrinkle when they get wet in order to provide a near-perfect drainage system. According to a study published in the journal Brain, Behavior and Evolution, these wrinkles act like rain treads on tires. The wrinkles create channels that drain water from our fingers, giving them a better grip. This conclusion is substantiated by the fact that the wrinkles are controlled by the nervous system – they don’t occur if the nerves in fingers have been cut. Supposedly the wrinkles occur only after sustained water contact to prevent incidental wrinkling – like when we’re eating fruit. That response would cause wrinkles in foreheads.
Looking at pictures causing negative emotions helps in remembering new information. In a study published in Psychological Science, 40 college students were tested on 100 Swahili words and their English translations. When the students answered correctly, they were shown a negatively arousing image such as a dead cat, a neutral image such as shoelaces or a blank screen. If they answered incorrectly, they were shown a neutral image or a blank screen. Because the emotional centers of the brain are closely linked to its memory centers, recall was much better after seeing negative images. Maybe looking at a 10-year-old, personal photo would help our memories.