Southpaw Antidepressants Catch Cross-Wired Permafrost Robbery

The Great Train Robbery by Mark Pullham (Crime): For me, the Great Train Robbery in England in 1963 is one of those things that I’ve been vaguely aware of - mostly because of the publicity around Ronnie Biggs - but never really knew the details of. So here’s the details (including that the police might have planted evidence on some of the suspects). [via]

As Permafrost Thaws, Scientists Study The Risks by Justin Gillis (New York Times): Across the frozen Arctic wastes in places like Canada and Siberia, there’s a whole lot of carbon trapped inside permafrost. And as that permafrost slowly melts, it’s releasing carbon and methane. And if this keeps happening, it’ll make global warming significantly worse. So scientists are frantically trying to figure exactly how much carbon there is trapped in the permafrost that will decay and add to the atmosphere, and the news is not good.

The New Science Of Our Cross-Wired Senses by Courtney Humphries (Boston Globe): We have our senses (and there’s more than five, by the way), but they’re not separate things. Most of the time, you’re not thinking about sight and sound as separate - you’re using all the sensory info you have to understand the environment as best as you can. And the way the senses are organised and integrated reflects this.

Do Antidepressants Make Some People Worse? (Neuroskeptic): Well, maybe. It’s perfectly possible. But we don’t know, because the research suggesting that antidepressants can make some people worse is making statistical errors.

Southpaw Grammar by David Yourdon (Los Angeles Review Of Books): These days, being left handed isn’t very special. I mean, it’s not like we ever really write very much - it’s all computers, and there’s not a huge amount of stuff that a lefty like me really needs to get from leftoriums. And the research suggesting that lefties die earlier is overrated. It’s just one small thing that happens to be different for some people, and which doesn’t really actually mean much. [via]

You’re More Likely To Catch A Yawn From A Relative Than From A Stranger by Christian Jarrett (BPS Research Digest): Title sums up research. Which suggests that yawning - something that we and other apes do - has something to do with empathy. Apparently children with autism seem to be immune to yawning contagion, and autistic people seem to have some trouble with empathy (though the exact nature of this is pretty controversial). And so if we’re more likely to yawn because someone we’re emotionally close to, this also provides evidence that yawning is about empathy.