Gift-giving, long airline flights, Albert Einstein, job interviews all make Strange But True

on May 06, 2013 at 5:59 AM, updated May 06, 2013 at 6:05 AM

einsteinJPG.JPGView full sizeAlbert Einstein looks kind of proud at this chalkboard in 1934. 

Q: You've heard the adage that when giving a gift, "it's the thought that counts." Does psychological research back this up?

A: Not really, at least going by a recent study in "The Journal of Experimental Psychology: General," as reported by Jason Kelly and Lydialyle Gibson in The University of Chicago Magazine.

Researchers Nicholas Epley and Van Zhang had subjects recall past gifts -- given and received, good and bad -- and found that people prefer receiving gifts they've asked for rather than being surprised.

"Even when thoughtfulness leads to choosing better gifts, it does not increase gift receivers' appreciation and gratitude beyond the quality of the gift itself." But, add Kelly and Gibson, the thought does count for gift givers, as the extra effort expended draws them closer to the recipients.

Q. Going by international airport distances, what's the longest possible airplane flight anyone could take?

A: Ignoring Earth's slight oblation (asphericity) and taking its circumference as 40,000 kilometers, or 25,000 miles, the longest possible great semicircle (that is, a circle whose plane passes through Earth's center) is 20,000 km, says Andrew Bristow of Lancashire, Great Britain, in New Scientist.

Two airports that come close to this separation are in Bogota, Columbia, and Jakarta, Indonesia, at 19,829 km apart. The Great Circle Mapper ( can be used to plot routes and distances between international airports.

Adds Brian King of Hampshire, Great Britain, "In one record-breaking publicity stunt a few years ago, a specially prepared 777-200LR flight with passengers flew eastward from Hong Kong to London -- a distance of 21,601 km."

Q. What was so special about Albert Einstein's brain that enabled him to become a towering scientific genius?

A. Perhaps just such a curiosity drove examining pathologist Thomas Harvey to photograph Einstein's brain after his death in 1955 and then cut it into 240 blocks, reports Science magazine.

Only recently did these newly discovered photos prompt a re-examination of the original brain, as researchers led by Florida State University anthropologist Dean Falk analyzed 14 photos never previously made public, according to the journal Brain.

When compared with records of 85 other brains in the scientific literature, the team found that Einstein's brain was indeed special: Though its size was just average, several regions displayed "unusual twists and folds," especially on the left side connected to the face and tongue. These folds were "much larger than normal," as was Einstein's prefrontal cortex, linked to planning, focused attention and perseverance.

It was this singular brain that first formulated the ground-breaking theory of relativity. Yet, adds Science magazine, "it's not clear how these many extra folds and convolutions translated into Einstein's amazing abilities."

Q. On a job interview, should you prefer the interviewer be holding a cold bottle of cola or a hot cup of coffee?

A. The principle of "sensory interaction" may come into play here, as when the smell of food influences its taste, says David G. Myers in "Exploring Psychology: Ninth Edition."

Our brains can even blend our tactile and social judgments: "After holding a warm drink rather than a cold one, people are more likely to rate someone more warmly, feel closer to them, and behave more generously. Physical warmth promotes social warmth" -- and just maybe your own job opportunities.

In other experiments, people given the cold shoulder wound up judging the room as colder than did those treated warmly.

"Social exclusion literally feels cold," Myers writes. Even just holding a heavy rather than a light clipboard can make job candidates seem more important. Make it a rough object and the social interactions can seem more difficult.

Within our ordinary sensory and perceptual experiences lies much that is truly extraordinary, Myers says.

Or as Shakespeare's Hamlet put it: "There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy."
