Plus: Managing workplace stress; bad allergy season
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Lead story Hollywood loves a photographic memory. You can see how it can be a great plot device. “The idea of photographic memory is simple and powerful,” writes College of Charleston psychology researcher Gabrielle Principe. “Experience is captured objectively, stored completely and retrieved perfectly. See it once, keep it forever.” There’s one tiny hitch: Photographic memories are fictional. They don’t exist outside of all the movies, shows and books that lean on the idea that human memory works just like a camera. Instead, memory is a reconstructive process. You’re not just accessing pristine slices of your past when you remember something. “The search cues you use; your present knowledge, attitudes and goals; and your current state of mind or mood” all influence what you recollect, writes Principe. She explains why that’s a good thing – and suggests you should let yourself off the hook when your memory doesn’t provide you with perfect total recall. [ Sign up for our weekly Global Economy & Business newsletter, with expert perspectives from around the world. ] |
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Maggie Villiger Senior Science + Technology Editor |
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Your memory is not a camera. F.J. Jimenez/Moment via Getty Images
Gabrielle Principe, College of Charleston Hollywood loves a character who has the perfect total recall of a photographic memory. But this idea is a fantasy. It’s not how memory works – for good reason.
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Environment + Energy |
Levi Keller, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus Two big factors influence the length of the allergy season and how bad people’s allergies will be, and both are expanding. Steph Tai, University of Wisconsin-Madison The Supreme Court limited the ability of people to sue government contractors in state courts.
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Health + Medicine |
Danielle Wilhour, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus A high-pressure work environment can exacerbate headaches, but taking steps to manage stress throughout the day can help. Lindsay Stark, Washington University in St. Louis; Ilana Seff, Washington University in St. Louis Disease outbreaks can make women and girls especially vulnerable to violence, but health surveillance systems do a poor job tracking these trends. |
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Politics + Society |
Gretchen E. Ely, Stony Brook University (The State University of New York) A Kentucky woman was arrested for ordering abortion meds online. Her case shows how bad policy can trap people just trying to cope with an unintended pregnancy. |
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International |
JB Bae, Colorado State University A study found that South Koreans who received donated US vaccines during the COVID-19 pandemic were more in favor of their government giving to other nations. |
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Science + Technology |
Ingrid C. Romero, Smithsonian Institution; Scott L. Wing, Smithsonian Institution Pollen, algae, insects, radiolarians – each unique microfossil holds clues to how Earth has changed over millions of years. Combining AI with digital scanners helps researchers piece it all together. |
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Education |
Mark E. Wildmon, Mississippi State University; Kenneth V. Anthony, Mississippi State University Homeschooling trends are on the rise, bucking the narrative that most of its growth was caused by the pandemic.
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Ethics + Religion |
Sonali Chakravarti, Wesleyan University AI is making its way into the courtroom, but it can never replicate the moral legitimacy of a human jury.
💬 Comments open Nausheena Hussain, Indiana University; Young-Joo Lee, Indiana University Research shows discrimination often reduces civic engagement among marginalized groups. These women are bucking that trend. |
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