Studies on babies prove difficult to conduct - a lot depends on the willingness of the baby to comply, and actually luck and good timing might be a better word than willingness.

But there have been a number of recent studies at Yale University that study babies’ perceived perceptions of right and wrong based on the motion of their eyes and reactions to certain circumstances. 

The NY Times published an interesting article earlier this month, read it here.

A recent study in the Journal of Marketing Communications compared peoples’ responses to advertisements that featured clean-shaven men and bearded men. The results: men with “neat, medium-length beards” were found to be more trustworthy and have greater expertise than men without beards.

As GOOD pointed out, this may have implications for those recent college grads in search of a job! 

Some noteworthy beards: Sam Beam (of Iron & Wine), Abraham Lincoln, Dumbledore, Santa Claus, possibly Jesus.

WHAT. The planet Mercury slows down and appears to move in reverse. 

WHEN. Starting today, April 17th, through May 11th. Mercury was in retrograde at the turn of the new year, but this is its first turn into retrograde in 2010. 

WHO. Followers of astrology believe this affects everyone on earth. Mercury represents communication, and allegedly when a planet moves in retrograde, what it represents tends to go a bit haywire. This applies to interpersonal relationships, day-to-day interactions with strangers, and communication involving technology (you may have bad luck with the internet, computers, or your phone). 

WHY. Many people dismiss astrology’s credibility, but the moon affects the tides coming in and out, so why should humans be above influence from the planets? (Did you know police departments in many major cities deploy more officers on the night of a full moon?)

So what can you do? Be self-aware, smile at strangers, be gentle on yourself and on the people in your life. Enjoy the chaos!

According to this simplified version of the Myers-Briggs personality test, I am an ENFP type (Extroverted Intuitive Feeling Perceiving). According to the career-indicator results, I should be a songwriter, bartender, comic book author, or massage therapist, but should steer clear of careers related to data analytics, the government, investment banking, or networking engineering. Thank goodness, now I know!

What did you get?

Hillsboro, Oregon man John McAllister just broke the 27-year-old world record for the old school arcade game, Asteroids. As of Monday evening (according to the Portland Mercury) he had nearly four days of continuous game play, and was still playing.

I find new reasons to be proud of Oregonians every day!