By AUDREY JENKINS – STAFF WRITER
Provo, Utah: In a society that highly values digital media sharing, we the people often find ourselves Instagraming everything from our cats to our cars.
However, a new study from Brigham Young University has found compelling evidence that may make you think twice before Instagraming your next delicious meal.
Instagraming food, the study claims, causes over-exposure to food that makes the actual eating experience less pleasurable.
In a study published in the Journal of Consumer Psychology, marketing professors at BYU asked 232 people to look at pictures of sweet or salty food. Then they were asked to have a salty snack.
Those people who looked at the salty food pictures report enjoying their salty snack less than those who only looked at pictures of sweet foods. “In a way, you’re becoming tired of that taste without even eating the food,” Dr. Ryan Elder said. “It’s sensory boredom.”
Stockholm, Sweden: A 65-year-old man convicted of sexual assault for masturbating on the beach was recently acquitted by the district court of Sodertorn.
According to the court, the man could not be charged for assault because his “activities” were not directed at any person in particular.
Nosy Be, Madagascar: Three men were murdered by a mob in Madagascar for suspected involvement in the organ trafficking of a small child. On Oct. 3, local police found the body of a missing 8-year-old child, his genitals and tongue cut off.
After a day-long search, an angry local mob reportedly burned two European men to death and lynched a local on a popular tourist beach.
With tensions high in Madagascar in response to the upcoming Oct. 25 elections, government officials have publicly condemned the brutality and ordered a full investigation of the incident.
United Kingdom: Three universities in the United Kingdom—the University of Birmingham, the University of Edinburgh, and Heriot-Watt University—have conducted a joint study that has finally provided some scientific evidence to negate the phenomenon that we all know so well: the selfie.
According to the study, “Increased frequency of sharing photographs of the self, regardless of the type of target sharing the photographs, is related to a decrease in intimacy.”
According to the researchers, sharing too many photos of yourself can produce a negative alienating effect on your viewing audience.
On the plus side, the study also found that close friends do not have a problem viewing selfies of their friends.
In fact, selfies may actually produce a positive bonding effect within tight-knit relationships, leading us to posit that it may be time to move your selfies from Facebook to Snapchat.
London, England: Malala Yousafzai has been declared the winner of the 2013 RAW in WAR (Reach All Women in WAR) Anna Politkovskaya Award.
The 16-year-old from Pakistan was given this award for female advocates of human rights in times of war and conflict after rising to Internet fame for her 2009 blog about desiring a safe education in Pakistan’s Swat Valley.
After surviving an attack from a Taliban gunman a year ago, she was flown to the U.K. for treatment, and now resides in Birmingham.
Arizona: One of the world’s most gruesome drugs has finally made its way into the United States.
Banner Poison Center in Arizona reports the country’s first two known cases of Krokodil use.
Krokodil, which becae popular during heroin shortages in Russia, is a dangerous and lethal drug that ruptures blood vessels, causing surrounding tissue to die and turn green and scaly before rotting off, sometimes to the bone.
A deadly mixture of codeine, gasoline, paint thinner, and alcohol, scientists estimate that the average life span of a Krokodil user is one to two years.
Originally popularized because of cheap production compared to heroin, the drug has become particularly feared because of its ability to eliminate all rational thought or self-preservation instincts in its users, making them dangerous addicts.