Multitasking Causes Serious Brain Drain

Like other new media, site beefs up brain if used wisely

(NEWSER) - It's fashionable to cry about how Twitter and other new forms of electronic media are making us intellectually lazy and downright stupid. In fact, the opposite is true, writes Harvard's Steven Pinker. "Don’t rail at PowerPoint or Google," he writes. "It’s not as if habits of deep reflection, thorough research and rigorous reasoning ever came naturally to people. They must be acquired in special institutions, which we call universities, and maintained with constant upkeep, which we call analysis, criticism and debate." More»

New study shows another negative result of multitasking

(NEWSER) - Surprise, surprise: Turns out it's not a good idea to use Facebook while studying. A new study finds that those who did so scored an average of 20% lower on exams than those who did not, the Telegraph reports. However, only one-quarter of those who used Facebook while working believed the multitasking had a negative impact. More»

*As long as you aren't using an iPhone 3G

(NEWSER) - iPhone OS 4 will at long last allow iPhone users to multitask—as long as they’re using the latest version of the device. Just double-click the home button and you’ll see a list of apps you can switch between. It’s not precisely true multitasking—apps can only access select services the phone is running in the background—but it seems fairly effective, Engadget writes. More»

(NEWSER) - Regular doses of Omega 3, found in fish oil, can help reduce memory loss, reports the Telegraph. Healthy 70-year-old subjects taking capsules containing 900 mg of the fatty acid docosahexaenoic slashed errors on a test that measured learning and memory, according to researchers. The improvement, exhibited over a six-month period, is the equivalent of turning back the clock of the brain by three years, say scientists. More»

(NEWSER) - People prefer to listen with their right ears and are more giving when addressed from that side, LiveScience reports. An Italian study conducted in nightclubs shows that almost three-quarters of people observed listen with their right ear. Moreover, the researchers cadged significantly more cigarettes when they approached clubgoers on the right, rather than left, when trying to bum a smoke. More»