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Cute Baby Photos Can Help Recover Lost Wallets [Evolution]
Consumerist —
... generations. "The baby kicked off a caring feeling in people, which is not surprising from an evolutionary perspective," he said. Scientists argue that it would be difficult to genetically code for feeling empathy exclusively towards your own child and much easier to code for feeling empathy towards all children. If you find a baby alone, there is a good chance it belongs to you, making it an effective evolutionary trait, said Dr Wiseman. Who knew wallet photos could be so useful? Want to keep your wallet? Carry a baby picture [Times Online] (Photo: ...
Public Service Announcement: Babies deter theft
CrunchGear —
Flickr
Who knew? Apparently would-be thieves have a soft spot for baby photos. A research study conducted in Edinburgh found that lost wallets containing baby photos were returned nine out of ten times.
According to UK’s The Times:
Hundreds of wallets were planted on the streets of Edinburgh by psychologists last year. Perhaps surprisingly, nearly half of the 240 wallets were posted back. But there was a twist.
Richard Wiseman, a psychologist, and his team inserted one of four ...
Baby pictures in lost wallets increase the chance they will be returned
Boing Boing —
... the charity card and control wallets had the lowest return rates.
Overall, 42 per cent of the wallets were posted back -- more than the team had anticipated. "We were amazed by the high percentage of wallets that came back," said Dr Wiseman.
Scientists have also found evidence for a baby instinct in brain scanning experiments. A recent study at the University of Oxford examined how people responded when they were shown photographs of baby or adult faces.
Want to keep your wallet? Carry a baby picture
(via Derren Brown)
(Image: ...
Lunch Links
The Agitator —
... to disqualify him as “science czar.” Talk about ignoring hard science in favor of ideology.
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My new pup inspires another rescue. Nice!
South Carolina judge rules the state’s 21 drinking age unconstitutional. But under the state constitution. And his ruling pertains to possession, not purchase.
Interesting study finds that people are much more likely to return a found wallet if it includes a ...
