Thoughty Thursday: Things that made me go hmmmm on the interwebz, Jan 3-9, 2016

January 14, 2016January 14, 2016 / Melanie Marttila / 1 Comment

Aaaannnd, we’re back 🙂

This is cool: National Park passes will be free in honour of Canada’s 150th birthday 🙂 The Edmonton Journal.

And this is weird: Dr. Michael Persinger has been banned from teaching the Introduction to Psychology course. CBC.

Linda Carroll is a life coach who has panic attacks. Here’s what she wishes more people knew. Body Mind Green.

Fifteen things you should know about people who have concealed anxiety. Thought Catalog.

Sleeping with weighted blankets helps insomnia and anxiety. Life Hack.

Is depression a kind of allergic reaction? Caroline Williams for The Guardian.

How to help someone with depression. Ink and Feet.

Clara Hughes opens up about Olympic success and her struggle with depression. CBC.

Some antidepressants cause weight gain, and not a little weight, either. Read this article about Amy Willans’ battle against hunger and fat shaming. The Globe and Mail.

Former neurosurgeon (and writer friend), Swati Chavda, shares her experience with burnout.

They say you have to get out of your comfort zone. Here’s why: Sixteen uncomfortable feelings that mean you’re on the right path. The Unbounded Spirit.

The myth of learning styles persists (and is still being taught). Quartz.

Neanderthal DNA helps resist disease, but gives you allergies. Yay? The LA Times.

The seventh row of the periodic table is completed with the discovery of four new elements. IFLS.

No, Apophis still won’t hit Earth in 2036. Phil Plait, Bad Astronomer, for Slate.

When worlds elide. Phil Plait. Slate.

The Dawn spacecraft gets up close and personal with Ceres. Phil Plait. Slate.

IFLS offers their guide to the best meteor showers of 2016.

Richard Feynman: Why science enhances the appreciation of beauty.

Artist creates an awesome image of the universe. IFLS.

Koko is one smart gorilla. IFLS.

This snowy owl is photogenic. CBC.

Michio Kaku and Noam Chomsky pwn conspiracy theorists. Open Culture.

And that was Thoughty Thursday, folks. See you Saturday!

Thoughty Thursday

Thoughty Thursday: Things that made me go hmmmm on the interwebz, March 1-7, 2015

March 12, 2015 / Melanie Marttila / 5 Comments

How gardening, and specifically the microbes in soil, can make you happy. Gardening Know-How.

How healthy gut flora (bacteria) can also have an antidepressant effect. Scientific American.

Empathy might lead to social anxiety. Spirit Science and Metaphysics.

Adverse childhood experiences (ACE) affect your health. Includes an informative self-test. NPR.

More about your ACE score and a resilience quiz (as a bonus). ACES too high news.

And a supporting article from IFLS: childhood trauma affects the brain.

Surrender doesn’t mean defeat. OM Times shares the seven habits of surrendered people. It’s related to resilience.

How physicians and psychiatrists are medicating women rather than treating the underlying issues. Some of us don’t need prescriptions. Or we don’t need the prescriptions they think we do . . . The New York Times.

For the other side of the story, Emily Landau states that she has been helped immeasurably by prescription medications and that she doesn’t believe they’ve affected her adversely. CBC.

Eleven things introverts want you to know. Elephant Journal.

Last week, I shared the Desiderata text. For those of you who were curious, here’s the version set to music by Les Crane:

Stop procrastination by asking one question and considering the answer for three minutes. Inc.

Most consistently successful creative people say ‘NO.’ Business Insider.

The strange world of felt presences links Shackleton, sleep paralysis, and hearing voices. The Guardian.

Did the human alliance with dogs drive the Neanderthals to extinction? National Geographic.

New human fossil offers more detail for our family tree. National Geographic.

Here’s what scientists think methane-based life might look like (if they find it on Titan). From Quarks to Quasars.

Ancient Mars may have had an ocean. The New York Times.

Scientists have discovered another earth-like planet. Higher Perspective.

More on what’s coming up for Neil deGrasse Tyson. The Wall Street Journal.

Cats see things that are invisible to humans. Higher Perspective.

I’ve shared posts or videos about the rabbit island and the fox village in the past, now The Atlantic features some great pictures from a Japanese cat island.

I love crows and ravens and so this story about crows gifting the girl who’s fed them since she was four made me #furiouslyhappy.

This video shares an important message about equality and diversity.

It was a thoughty week!

Hope you find something to exercise your grey matter.

Until Saturday, be resilient 😉

Thoughty Thursday: Things that made me go hmmmm on the interwebz, Dec 28, 2014-Jan 3, 2015

January 8, 2015 / Melanie Marttila / 2 Comments

Peg Fitzpatrick shares Elizabeth Gilbert’s Happiness Jar project. Write the happiest moment of your day down and put it in the jar. It’s as simple as that.

The seven habits of happy people that they never talk about. Mind Body Green.

The age of loneliness is killing us. The Guardian.

WikiHow explains how to recognize a psychopath.

Back in September, just before DevLearn, Twist recorded a conversation with Neil deGrasse Tyson about science literacy and the future of work. Awesome stuff.

The eight books Neil believes everyone should read to understand the thinking that has historically driven western culture. Brainpickings.

Moar Neil, this time from the Business Insider: Why role models are overrated. It starts a playlist, but they’re all interesting videos . . .

This article by Keith E. Stanovich for The Scientific American made me think about thinking. Metathinking? Anyway, it’s about dysrational thought and intelligence.

Thought we were more enlightened than this? I did too. Excellent reality check and novel fodder. i09.

Ten comics intended to shut down terrible arguments (but that might really only inflame the situation—please use with caution). i09.

These ten Futurama jokes will make you smarter. i09.

Another study confirms that ereaders disturb proper sleep patterns leading to various health complications. If you read anything before sleeping, make it a paper book. NPR.

The science of sleep: dreaming, depression, and how REM sleep regulates negative emotions. Brainpickings.

Why is NASA looking at your Christmas lights from space? Futurity.

We didn’t get to see this, but apparently there was a comet that could be seen with the naked (or binoculared) eye on New Year’s. The Christian Science Monitor.

There’s this star and it’s headed straight for our solar system. IFLS.

The Large Hadron Collider is coming back online at double the power to track down that tricky Higgs Boson and solve more of the mysteries of the universe. The Independent.

Archaeologists have unearthed a 6000 year old mega-temple built by a matriarchal society. World.Mic

These photographs of ancient trees are absolutely fabulous. BoredPanda.

Here are the top five National Geographic videos of 2014. Varied topics, but all fascinating.

People buy the strangest things. The Examiner.

An old-timey cover of Stay with me by Christina Gatti: