The Improbable Research website has so many for this thread that I don't know where to start. Many stories/articles are just plain weird, but most are verified research projects and news stories.
PROVO — Chances are, not many people in Utah would like to think of scripture as a violent medium that promotes hostility.
But a study of 490 students — 248 of them at Brigham Young University — suggests a correlation between exposure to scriptural violence that is condoned by God and increased aggression.
University of Michigan psychologist Brad Bushman, BYU professor Robert Ridge and three other researchers co-wrote "When God Sanctions Killing," which will appear in the March issue of Psychological Science magazine.
Although the study points to a correlation between scriptural violence and aggression, Ridge said the research is not meant to attack scripture study.
"We were not saying that reading the scriptures is bad, but we were pointing out that if a person was seeing that kind of (violent) literature, it could have some negative effects," Ridge said. "We weren't trying to find fault with religion or the scriptures or anything, but when you think about terrorists and they say, 'God will sit in judgment,' and they sometimes refer to a scripture, our question was, 'Could that really make a person behave more aggressively?' And the answer is, yes, it could."
About a year ago, Ridge recruited 95 male and 153 female students from BYU — a private university in Provo owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — to participate in the project. They were selected to represent a population of people who are strongly religious.
Ninety-nine percent of the students reported having a belief in God and the Bible. The students were given extra credit for their participation.
In addition to the BYU students, 110 male and 132 female students from Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, participated in the study. These students were chosen because they represented a more diverse population of people with different religious backgrounds. Of the group, 50 percent said they believe in God and 27 percent said they believe in the Bible.
To do the study, both groups of students were shown a passage of scripture from the Old Testament that contained tales of beatings, rape and murder.
Half of the students were shown an additional passage that included violent retribution as sanctioned by God. The other half was not.
The students who were not shown the additional passage were told the story came from an ancient scroll. The others were told it came from the Bible.
Members of both the religious and non-religious groups who were exposed to the additional verse responded with greater aggression in a subsequent test than did those who did not read the passage.
In the test, participants were placed in groups of two. Each person was given headphones and a "weapon" — a button that would produce a noise frequency that could be as loud as a smoke alarm.
The students each pressed a button as fast as possible for 25 trials and the slowest of the pair would receive a blast in the ears.
The winning button-pusher could choose how loud to make the sound in the other person's ears. Aggression was measured by the frequency with which the winning students blasted their partners.
The study indicated that those with a stronger religious background responded with slightly more hostility — and louder blasts — than those who were not as religious.
And Ridge says that indicates a correlation between aggression and isolated violent passages.
The correlation also mirrors studies that show the relationship between hostility and violent movies, music or video games. The key difference is that if scriptures are read as a whole and not taken out of context, the results can be the opposite, Ridge says, as the overall themes of the Bible, specifically, are peace and love.
"We're not saying that just in and of itself violent media is uniformly bad but oftentimes there is no redeeming context to it," Ridge said. "If one reads the scriptures with an understanding of context, both historical as well as with a (desire) to hear what God is trying to teach us, you can read it in a different way. But if a person dives into (a violent passage) without the context, you could probably get some increased aggression."
Daniel Judd, BYU professor of ancient scripture, who was not involved in the study, said he agrees with the importance of understanding scriptural context.
Taken by itself, a scriptural passage can wrongly rationalize negative behavior, he says.
"You can use scripture to justify anything you're looking for," Judd said.
Ridge received approval from BYU's institutional review board before he conducted his test, but the board only serves to make sure proposed research projects are scientifically sound, not politically correct. Ridge said he had some trepidation about how his report will be received, but he hopes people will read the study before making final judgment.
As a highly religious university with a scriptural curriculum requirement, the study is somewhat ironic in its setting. But BYU spokeswoman Carri Jenkins says she hopes people won't hear of the study and get the wrong idea.
"Our concern is with how people will perceive the conclusion," Jenkins said. "But like all research, it does need to be studied carefully."
WASHINGTON - Medical researchers need more marijuana sources because government supplies aren't meeting scientific demand, a federal judge has ruled.
In an emphatic but nonbinding opinion, the Drug Enforcement Administration's own judge is recommending that a University of Massachusetts professor be allowed to grow a legal pot crop. The real winners could be those suffering from painful and wasting diseases, proponents believe.
"The existing supply of marijuana is not adequate," Administrative Law Judge Mary Ellen Bittner ruled.
The federal government's 12-acre marijuana plot at the University of Mississippi provides neither the quantity nor quality scientists need, researchers contend. While Bittner didn't embrace those criticisms, she agreed that the system for producing and distributing research marijuana is flawed.
"Competition in the manufacture of marijuana for research purposes is inadequate," Bittner determined.
Bittner further concluded that there is "minimal risk of diversion" from a new marijuana source. Making additional supplies available, she stated, "would be in the public interest"...
ZURICH, Switzerland (AP) -- What began as a routine training exercise almost ended in an embarrassing diplomatic incident after a company of Swiss soldiers got lost at night and marched into neighboring Liechtenstein.
According to Swiss daily Blick, the 170 infantry soldiers wandered 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) across an unmarked border into the tiny principality early Thursday before realizing their mistake and turning back.
A spokesman for the Swiss army confirmed the story but said that there were unlikely to be any serious repercussions for the mistaken invasion.
''We've spoken to the authorities in Liechtenstein and it's not a problem,'' Daniel Reist told The Associated Press.
Officials in Liechtenstein also played down the incident.
Interior ministry spokesman Markus Amman said nobody in Liechtenstein had even noticed the soldiers, who were carrying assault rifles but no ammunition. ''It's not like they stormed over here with attack helicopters or something,'' he said.
Liechtenstein, which has about 34,000 inhabitants and is slightly smaller than Washington DC, doesn't have an army.
Well, he could play the whole Iraq war off as a joke! Then he could have Saddam come out from behind a curtain and be all like, "You should've seen the looks on your faces!".
Man goes for squat thrust record: Atop an elephant
CHIANG MAI, Thailand (AP) -- New Yorker Ashrita Furman looked around for a record he could break, and settled on doing the most squat thrusts in one minute. Then he decided on a place -- the back of an elephant in northern Thailand.
He achieved both goals Thursday as he climbed onto a platform on the back of an obliging pachyderm in blazing heat and powered through 40 of the vigorous kicks in a minute. The previous squat thrust record -- achieved on level ground in Britain without an elephant in sight -- was 30.
Furman, 52, is accustomed to setting bizarre records. By his own count, he holds 54, and has held 144 in total. These include the record for the fastest 11 meters (yards) on a space hopper -- a heavy rubber balloon on which children bounce -- and the fastest mile balancing a pool cue on his finger.
"To me the real beauty of this record is that I did it on the back of a live elephant," he said. "I've had this dream of doing a record on the back of an elephant for many, many years but I've had no way of really accomplishing it until I came to Thailand."
The movements of Kamee, a 40-year-old female elephant, initially created difficulties as Furman practiced his routine. But for the actual record-setting bid, Kamee was solid as a rock.
Furman's new claim for a record will be forwarded, along with witness statements, to the Guinness World Records.
WHAT!? 40 is a record!? I can't believe that 30 was a record before that. We used to be required to do 25 in a minute to get a passing grade in high-school gym. I'm pretty sure there were some guys who did 40, and I know even I got over 30 a few times.
Yes, they always had to be done in a minute. Unless they're adding the push-up in there, I'm guessing it's a result of not enough people knowing there was a record to be broken.
Yeah, they must have some other type of squat-thrust or something because I just did 25 in 45 seconds. I stopped because I just ate about 4 minutes ago and my stomache didn't like that. So, correct me if I'm wrong, a squat-thrust consists of squatting down, shooting your legs out so you are in a push-up position, bringing them back so you're in a squat and standing up again. Unless I'm wrong, I should just start training now so I can set the new record.
Instead of lying down after being shot with a tranquilizer dart, a moose charged a hovering helicopter used by a wildlife biologist, damaging the aircraft's tail rotor and forcing it to the ground.
A helicopter is not necessarily a match for an angry moose.
I just found the above sentence somewhat amusing and that's about the only thing amusing. The poor thing had to be euthanized. Now that's real sad. At least, no one else was hurt. I wonder why they shot it with a tranquilizer dart in the first place.
This article sounds misleading. The companies that sell the RED products (Apple, American Express, Motorola, etc) handle their own advertising, so this isn't an expense on Product RED's part. Those companies would be advertising their products regardless of whether a portion went to charity or not. I always thought it was a neat charity idea, and £9 million is certainly not to be sneezed at.
Also, the article misspelled "AIDS" in the worst way possible. They must watch too much South Park.
I initially misread the article title as suggesting that she decided she was done with the whole "live crocodile girdle" fashion scene, and ceased wearing them for good. Oh how wrong I was.
Comments
Why not on an elephant?
Yeah, they must have some other type of squat-thrust or something because I just did 25 in 45 seconds. I stopped because I just ate about 4 minutes ago and my stomache didn't like that. So, correct me if I'm wrong, a squat-thrust consists of squatting down, shooting your legs out so you are in a push-up position, bringing them back so you're in a squat and standing up again. Unless I'm wrong, I should just start training now so I can set the new record.
Ha! Topped!
Alright, which one of you little turds went and stole part of our mantle cover?!
I just found the above sentence somewhat amusing and that's about the only thing amusing. The poor thing had to be euthanized. Now that's real sad. At least, no one else was hurt. I wonder why they shot it with a tranquilizer dart in the first place.
I just think it goes to prove that Bono is not the ambassador to disease-stricken thrid world countries everywhere. Not the right one, at least.
I also just think it's funny.
Also, the article misspelled "AIDS" in the worst way possible. They must watch too much South Park.
The results support the existence of animal laughter. Watch the video! It's really cute.
I initially misread the article title as suggesting that she decided she was done with the whole "live crocodile girdle" fashion scene, and ceased wearing them for good. Oh how wrong I was.