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Check your selfie before you wreck your selfie

That cool selfie you just posted on social media might not be getting the flattering reaction you’re expecting — and may in fact have the opposite effect, new research from Washington State University suggests.

Scientists there used hundreds of actual Instagram users to see if those who take selfies cause others to make “snap judgments about the user’s personality.”

Professor Chris Barry displays a selfie (left) and a posie (right) on two phones. Photo illustration by Bob Hubner/WSU.

“Their work shows that individuals who post a lot of selfies are almost uniformly viewed as less likable, less successful, more insecure and less open to new experiences than individuals who share a greater number of posed photos taken by someone else,” writes Will Ferguson with WSU News. “Basically, selfie versus posie.”

The study was published in the Journal of Research in Personality by Washington State University psychologists.

The lead author of the study, WSU professor of psychology Chris Barry, says that even when two feeds had similar content, such as depictions of achievement or travel, feelings about the person who posted selfies were negative and feelings about the person who posted posies were positive.

“It shows there are certain visual cues, independent of context, that elicit either a positive or negative response on social media,” Barry said.

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A dose of fact

The history of cannabis is full of myths and hype, and that’s never been more true than the present moment as medical science tries to catch up with capitalism.

Rebecca Craft.
Rebecca Craft

Medical marijuana is now legal in 22 states, while recreational use is legal in 11. A tide of claims about the plant’s healing powers has accompanied its rise in acceptance. If you believed the pervasive advertising, you might think THC and CBD are miracle cure-alls for anything that ails you.

The truth is, there are very few scientific studies to substantiate claims at this time, said Rebecca Craft, one of dozens of researchers at Washington State University studying cannabis.

On Tuesday, Craft will share what is known in the talk “Marijuana: Evil Weed or Medical Miracle” at Basalt Cellars in Clarkston as part of the Wine and Wisdom series organized by the Asotin County Library.

Because of cannabis’ federally regulated status, it has been difficult for scientists to do controlled testing on humans, Craft said. Instead, most of the testing has been done on animals and extrapolated to humans.

“Unfortunately, right now the list of what we don’t know is considerably longer than the list of what we do know,” said Craft, who has spoken around the state as part of Humanities Washington programs. In a preview to Tuesday’s discussion, the professor shared some facts with Inland 360.

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Lewiston Tribune

There might once have been life on the moon, study finds

Today, the surface of the moon is dry, dusty and uninhabitable—but in its distant past, our satellite might have had pools of water on the surface… and alien life.

Dirk Schulze-Makuch.
Schulze-Makuch

In fact, there are two times in the moon’s early history when there could have been life on the surface, says Dirk Schulze-Makuch of Washington State University’s School of the Environment and lead author of newly published research in Astrobiology.

During those periods, there might have been pools of liquid water on the surface—where life could have thrived.

The collaborative research centered on two periods: just after the moon formed from a debris disc four billion years ago, and during a peak in lunar volcanic activity around 3.5 billion years ago.

During both periods, planetary scientists think the moon was spewing out large quantities of superheated volatile gases, including water vapor, from its interior.

“It looks very much like the moon was habitable at this time,” Schulze-Makuch said.

“There could have actually been microbes thriving in water pools on the moon until the surface became dry and dead.”

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Donald Trump Didn’t Kill Political Advertising

What worked for him—social media and free media coverage of his rallies—won’t work for most candidates, especially in next year’s midterms.

The failure of campaign ads in the last U.S. presidential race became the conventional wisdom, with the general election seen as the ultimate judge. At the presidential level, the importance of ads remains an open question thanks to the sitting president.

Travis Ridout
Travis Ridout

But Travis Ridout, a government professor at Washington State University, thinks ads still matter—that they’re worth spending millions on. “There is a different dynamic at play,” said Ridout, who co-directs the Wesleyan Media Project, which tracks political ads. “When you’re dealing with, say, a House race, oftentimes the challenger isn’t someone people have heard of before. Advertising can be very effective at introducing a candidate.”

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New Republic

Opinion: Incivility rooted in resistance to compromise

Cornell Clayton
Clayton

By Cornell Clayton, professor of political science and director of the Thomas S. Foley Institute for Public Policy and Public Service at WSU

Two weeks ago five people including the Republican House Whip Steve Scalise were shot by a deranged gunman as they practiced for the annual congressional baseball game in the nation’s capital. Shocked by the violence, a rare moment of bipartisanship erupted as leaders of both parties called for greater civility in our politics. House Speaker Paul Ryan and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi even sat down to a joint television interview to show they could be nice each other.

Similar calls to change the tone of our political discourse came after the shooting of Arizona Congresswoman Gabby Giffords in 2011, when a national center for civil discourse was even established. Such calls for greater civility are sincere and sensible. We should be more civil. They are also unlikely to succeed absent a more fundamental change in how we think about politics.

Over the past decade the Foley Institute at WSU has hosted a series of conferences and research programs focused on political polarization and incivility. Here is what we know.

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The Spokesman-Review