Science

Why do we enjoy listening to sad music?

Sad music might actually evoke positive emotions reveals a new study by Japanese researchers published in the open-access journal Frontiers in Psychology. The findings help to explain why people enjoy listening to sad music, say Ai Kawakami and colleagues from Tokyo University of the Arts and the RIKEN Brain Science Institute, Japan.
The researchers explained that sad music evoked contradictory emotions because the participants of the study tended to feel sad music to be more tragic, less romantic, and less blithe than they felt themselves while listening to it.
"In general, sad music induces sadness in listeners, and sadness is regarded as an unpleasant emotion. If sad music actually evokes only unpleasant emotion, we would not listen to it," the researchers wrote in the study.
"Music that is perceived as sad actually induces romantic emotion as well as sad emotion. And people, regardless of their musical training, experience this ambivalent emotion to listen to the sad music," added the researchers.
Also, unlike sadness in daily life, sadness experienced through art actually feels pleasant, possibly because the latter does not pose an actual threat to our safety. This could help people to deal with their negative emotions in daily life, concluded the authors.

Shopping in high heels could curb overspending

When shopping for a big ticket item, such as a television, there is a checklist of things you should always do:
1.    Read reviews
2.    Compare prices
3.    Wear high heels
If you're uncomfortable with No. 3, you have other options. You can ride up and down the escalator, play a few games using the Wii Fit, or just go shopping immediately following your yoga class.
A new BYU study finds that consumers experiencing a heightened sense of balance are more likely to weigh the options and go with a product that falls in the middle of the high-end, low-end scale.
"If you're someone who tends to overspend, or you're kind of an extreme person, then maybe you ought to consider shopping in high heels," wrote study author Jeffrey Larson, a BYU marketing professor.
In the example of the TV, balancing consumers are more likely to go with the 42-inch TV for $450 rather than the $300 32-inch set or the 50-inch screen for $650.
The study is part of an emerging area of research that examines the relationship between physical sensations and decision making. Previous studies have looked at the role of warmth, weight and hunger.

United States lead in science and technology shrinking

The United States' (US) predominance in science and technology (S&T) eroded further during the last decade, as several Asian nations--particularly China and South Korea--rapidly increased their innovation capacities. According to a report released  by the National Science Board (NSB), the major Asian economies, taken together, now perform a larger share of global R&D than the US, and China performs nearly as much of the world's high-tech manufacturing as the US.
The report says that the US, Japan, and Europe no longer monopolize the global R&D arena. Since 2001, the share of the world's R&D performed in the US and Europe has decreased, respectively, from 37 percent to 30 percent and from 26 percent to 22 percent. In this same time period, the share of worldwide R&D performed by Asian countries grew from 25 percent to 34 percent. China led the Asian expansion, with its global share growing from just 4 percent to 15 percent during this period.

 Sending Scents

Say you forgot about Valentine's Day, and it's too late to send that certain someone some roses. Someday, you'll at least be able to send their scent.
A Paris laboratory under the direction of David Edwards, Michigan Technological University alumnus, has created the oPhone, which will allow odors -- oNotes -- to be sent, via Bluetooth and smartphone attachments, to oPhones across the state, country or ocean, where the recipient can enjoy American Beauties or any other variety of rose.
It can be sent via email, tweet, or text.
Edwards says the idea started with student designers in his class at Harvard, where he is a professor.