Body language is older and more innate for us as humans than even language or facial expressions. That’s why people born blind can perform the same body language expressions as people who can see. They come pre-programmed with our brains.
I’ve always been incredibly fascinated with body language and how it helps us achieve our goals in life. The power of body language is probably best described by Amy Cuddy’s famous quote:
“Our nonverbals govern how other people think and feel about us.”
If you are anything like me, then you’ve had a healthy obsession with body language for some time. In recent years, a few fascinating studies at Harvard, Princeton and other top universities shed new light on body language and how to use it at work. So whilst the power of language is extremely important to convey the right message. The power of body language however, might be the determining factor of how someone makes us feel.
Background Of Urban Heat Island Phenomenon
Study preview (from the introduction).
In the second half of XXth century urbanization reached significant level and because of this half of world population is under negative influence of urban environment, such as: pollution, noise, stress as a consequence of life style, modified parameters of urban climate, etc. (Unger et al, 2011a). As urban areas develop, artificial objects replace open land and vegetation. Among the parameters of the urban atmosphere the near-surface (1.5-2 metres above ground level or screen-height) air temperature shows the most obvious modification compared to the rural area (Oke, 1987). This urban warming is commonly referred to as the urban heat island1(UHI) and its magnitude is the UHI intensity (#Tu-r). This is a phenomenon where urban regions experience warmer temperatures than their rural surroundings. They are called urban heat islands because the warmer air in the city is surrounded with colder air (similar to island surrounded with water). The annual mean air temperature of a city with one million or more people can be 1 to 3°C warmer than its surroundings (Oke, 1997) and on a clear, calm night, this temperature difference can be as much as 12°C (Oke, 1987).
For the full report we have the hi-res version (warning 143 MB) Micrometeorolgy Study (hi res images) (143.19 MB 2014-06-03 14:55:33)
And a much more user friendly compressed low res version (recommended for reading) Micrometeorolgy Study (low res images) (2.14 MB 2014-06-03 14:56:13) 
When it comes to predicting world events, some of the most influential decisions are fraught with a significant amount of uncertainty: Will this national economy stabilize or crash? Will that country follow through with their promises to halt production of WMDs? Will these public demonstrations lead to democratic change or violent revolt?
“Governments rely routinely and heavily on intuitive beliefs about high-stakes outcomes,” write psychology researchers Barbara Mellers, Philip Tetlock, Don Moore, and colleagues.
Despite this, training the people who make these intuitive judgments is difficult, because there is little scientific research available that can shed light on the issue.
The ‘big 10’ global food and drink companies together emit more greenhouse gases than the Nordic countries and would rank as the 25th most polluting country in the world if grouped together, the international charity and agency Oxfam claims in a new report.
In a highly critical overview of their climate change policies, it warns the companies – which represent the world’s most famous household brands – that they are risking financial ruin if they do not do more to use their clout and size to tackle the climate crisis.
The companies are Associated British Foods, Coca-Cola, Danone, General Mills, Kellogg, Mars, Mondelez International, Nestlé, PepsiCo and Unilever.
The new report, Standing on the Sidelines, says together they churn out more than Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Iceland’s annual total of 250 million tons of greenhouse gases, according to its analysis of the Carbon Disclosure Project for company emissions and the most recent data for country emissions.
Read more: The ‘big 10’ global Companies That Are Making Climate Change Worse
Speed-reading apps for phones and tablets work by eliminating the time we supposedly waste moving our eyes as we read. But new research published in Psychological Science suggests that the eye movements we make during reading actually play a vital role in our ability to understand what we're reading.
"Our findings show that eye movements are a crucial part of the reading process," says Elizabeth Schotter of the University of California, San Diego, lead author of the new study. "Our ability to control the timing and sequence of how we intake information about the text is important for comprehension. Our brains control how our eyes move through the text - ensuring that we get the right information at the right time."
Schotter and co-researchers Keith Rayner and Randy Tran conducted a study examining the role that eye movements play in the reading process, which is negated by rapid serial visual presentation, the method used to display text in speed-reading apps.
Read more: Speed-reading apps hinder comprehension, say researchers
