Cognitive Resonance: How Do We Come Up with New Ideas?
BY MICHAEL GOTTESMAN, DDIR
Some claim that acquiring and remembering information is no longer an essential element of learning, because so much is at our fingertips through search engines and the World Wide Web. We merely download the information onto our computers or our handheld gadgets. But what are the consequences of filling our brains with ways to obtain information rather than with the information itself?.
Scientists have had little success in their search for an effective, long-lasting treatment for metastatic melanoma, a common form of skin cancer that is often fatal once it has spread. An NIH-led team of researchers has found that mutations in the gene for metabotropic glutamate receptor–3 (GRM3) cause some cases of the cancer.
The Bioethics Interest Group gathers monthly to discuss complex bioethical issues that arise within biomedical research. The Biomedical Computing Interest Group has a book club that features intriguing titles like Power, Sex, Suicide: Mitochondria and the Meaning of Life (by Nick Lane).
I was inspired by the NIH Research Festival committee’s efforts to create smartphone-friendly Web sites, documents, and applications (a.k.a. “apps”). You know the saying: There’s an app for that. But actually, many apps we could use at NIH haven’t been created. Here are my top five ideas:
5. Boring warning: I need an app to give me personalized warnings about whether the lecture or meeting I’m about to attend will bore me to tears. An e-notification of whether my PI is in attendance would be key, too.
