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Titled as ' Jump 'n Bump '‚ this game was originally released for free by Brainchild Design in 1998 for MS-DOS.&;nbsp; It supported 4 players and was about bunnies crushing each other to death to get the highest score. So why are we mentioning this now? Well not only was the game released some time ago as a remastered version for modern systems by Domarius Games(link). But at some point in the

You might think attractive people get preferential treatment in life – and research suggests you’d be right. Some psychologists have shown this can even help people get a lighter prison sentence. More recently‚ however‚ our own study suggests that this “halo effect” is‚ in fact‚ more complicated.The halo effect is a psychological term describing how an initial good impression of someone positively colours our subsequent perceptions of them.Our first impressions are formed quickly when we meet new people and they bias how we behave towards them. When we judge a person to be attractive‚ this can cause us to believe they also have other socially desirable traits‚ such as being interesting or funny.Studies show that‚ as a result‚ attractive people may receive more help from strangers‚ earn higher wages‚ and get more job opportunities.Cognitive biasesOne place in which you’d really hope that appearance doesn’t affect decisions is in court. The problem‚ however‚ is that jurors show biases just like other people.Studies into real cases have found that inmates who people think look less trustworthy may be more likely to receive death sentences‚ while baby-faced defendants in small claims courts may be more likely to win cases involving intentional actions. And‚ as you might now suspect‚ more attractive defendants seem to receive more lenient sentences.That said‚ it can be difficult to work out the causes of effects found in studies conducted in real-world situations‚ and there are often many possible explanations. For this reason‚ studies in the laboratory can be the best way to investigate specific research questions.In lab studies‚ participants typically feature in the role of mock jurors. Again‚ these tend to show evidence that attractive people receive more lenient punishments for most types of crime.Attractiveness doesn’t always influence mock juror decisions though. The attractiveness of the defendant may interact with other factors‚ such as the attractiveness of the plaintiff or whether the jurors have a chance to deliberate with each other.However‚ previous laboratory-based studies also show limitations. First‚ they often focus on only one type of crime‚ so it isn’t clear whether attractiveness may play a role in the sentencing of some crimes but not others. Second‚ these studies present a single image of their supposed criminals even though real juries typically see defendants moving around and from different angles‚ which could change jurors’ perceptions of defendents’ attractiveness.Finally‚ many studies investigate the impact of attractiveness by comparing decisions based on just one “high attractive” versus one “low attractive” defendant. In reality‚ attractiveness is a continuous measure‚ so this simplified comparison of the two extremes may not show what’s really going on. Plus the two faces chosen are unlikely to be representative of all such faces – a particular face might be very attractive‚ but will also have many other specific qualities that make it different.New findingsIn a recent study‚ my collaborators and I tackled these limitations by including several different descriptions of crimes‚ supposedly perpetrated by the defendant‚ for each of three crime types (robbery‚ sexual assault‚ murder).We also presented short video clips to our mock jurors rather than photos of the defendants. Finally‚ we used 60 different “defendants” varying in attractiveness. In this way‚ we hoped that our findings might better apply to the processes evident in the real world.During the experiment‚ some of the participants judged the attractiveness of the defendants. On each of the 60 trials‚ they were presented with a five-second video clip of a smartly dressed man testifying in court (with the sound removed) and rated the attractiveness using a zero (very unattractive) to nine (very attractive) scale.Other participants judged the perceived guilt of the men (again‚ with the sound removed to avoid being influenced by what was being said). Each video clip was accompanied by a crime description and participants rated whether they thought the man was innocent or guilty using a zero (definitely innocent) to nine (definitely guilty) scale. We then used the men’s attractiveness ratings to see if these predicted the guilt ratings they received.Our results provided some evidence that more attractive defendants were rated as less guilty of murder but more guilty of sexual assault‚ with no bias observed for robbery. However‚ these effects were all small in size. In other words‚ even if there was some influence of attractiveness on perceived guilt‚ it would be of little importance in the real world.Given that researchers typically find that more attractive people receive lighter sentences‚ we argue that the lack of an effect of attractiveness in our study is likely due to the improvements in our design. Of course‚ there are still many differences between our study and jurors’ experiences that we didn’t investigate. For instance‚ the way that defendants speak in court may influence perceptions‚ as might their gender.Since attractiveness is known to bias judgements in a number of contexts‚ why might it fail to influence decisions of guilt or innocence in court?We suggest the seriousness of the crime could trump any biases due to the defendant’s appearance. Although we may think more favourably about attractive people in daily life‚ this halo effect could dissipate when we are faced with decisions about robbery or murder.In such circumstances‚ we would hope that the evidence carries most of the weight in our decision-making processes.Although there may be good reason for jealousy when considering the way attractive people are treated in general‚ justice may overcome such things in the courtroom.Robin Kramer‚ Senior Lecturer in the School of Psychology‚ University of LincolnThis article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Some asteroids are dense. So dense in fact‚ that they may contain heavy elements outside of the periodic table‚ according to a new study on mass density.The team of physicists from The University of Arizona say they were motivated by the possibility of Compact Ultradense Objects (CUDOs) with a mass density greater than Osmium‚ the densest naturally occurring‚ stable element‚ with its 76 protons."In particular‚ some observed asteroids surpass this mass density threshold. Especially noteworthy is the asteroid 33 Polyhymnia‚" the team writes in their study‚ adding that "since the mass density of asteroid 33 Polyhymnia is far greater than the maximum mass density of familiar atomic matter‚ it can be classified as a CUDO with an unknown composition."The team looked at the properties of potential elements with atomic numbers (Z) higher than the highest atomic number in the current periodic table. Though Osmium is the densest stable element‚ elements with higher atomic numbers have been produced experimentally. Oganesson‚ first synthesized in 2002 by bombarding californium-249 with calcium-48 atoms‚ has an atomic number of 118 and is the densest element in the periodic table. Elements towards the higher end of the table tend to be unstable‚ radioactive and have incredibly short half-lives. Elements beyond the periodic table have been modeled‚ with physicists predicting their properties. The Arizona team did the same using the relativistic Thomas-Fermi model of the atom‚ attempting to estimate the mass density of elements 110 Z and higher.Looking at elements still within the periodic table‚ they could not find elements with high enough mass densities to explain what has been observed of asteroid 33 Polyhymnia‚ even if they were stable enough to be considered a candidate."However‚ elements in the other theoretical island of nuclear stability near Z = 164‚ which we predict to populate mass density values between 36.0 and 68.4 g/cm3‚ are reasonable candidates‚" the team wrote. "If some significant part of the asteroid were made of these superheavy metals‚ it is plausible that the higher mass density could be near the experimentally measured value.""Our results on mass density allow us to hypothesize that if superheavy elements are sufficiently stable‚ they could exist in the cores of dense asteroids like 33 Polyhymnia‚" the team added in the paper.While preliminary‚ it is nevertheless exciting to anyone from people with a vague interest in physics to tech bros with plans for space mining.“All super-heavy elements - those that are highly unstable as well as those that are simply unobserved - have been lumped together as ‘unobtainium’”‚ Jan Rafelski‚ an author on the paper‚ added in a press release. “The idea that some of these might be stable enough to be obtained from within our Solar System is an exciting one.”The study is published in The European Physical Journal Plus.An earlier version of this article was published in October 2023.

This article first appeared in Issue 16 of our free digital magazine CURIOUS. Dreaming is an almost ubiquitous human experience. When we drift off each night‚ imagery fills our sleeping minds – sometimes it’s vivid and realistic‚ other times nonsensical or nightmarish. Some dreams are consigned to memory‚ to be shared‚ laughed at‚ or perhaps even Googled‚ while others are quickly forgotten. Despite their universality‚ there are still many unanswered questions surrounding dreams. Maybe the most pressing of these‚ for anyone who’s had a particularly intriguing one‚ is: “What does it mean?”These days‚ we know a fair bit about what is happening in our brains as we sleep – we even have some insight into what dreaming might look like in other species – but as for why we dream and what those dreams could mean‚ there remains a lot of mystery.In light of this‚ we decided to dive into the science of decoding dreams and ask: Is there really any merit in it? If you’ve ever dreamt about snakes or your teeth falling out (as‚ apparently‚ lots of you have) and wondered what‚ if anything‚ it might be able to tell you about the inner workings of your brain‚ this one’s for you.What are dreams?“Dreams are sensory experiences we have while asleep‚” David Billington‚ a psychotherapist and Director of the Dream Research Institute‚ told IFLScience. “They can range from feeling impressions or subtle colours to complex narratives to the consciously-willed lucid dream experiences‚ in which you are aware that you are dreaming even though you are physiologically asleep.”Anything is possible in dreams‚ Joseph De Koninck‚ Emeritus Professor of Psychology at the University of Ottawa‚ who has been studying dreams for 50 years‚ added‚ which has led him to deem them “open season for the mind”.We’re still learning what happens in our brains while we dream‚ but we do have some idea‚ Billington explained.“We can see that there is almost as much activity in the brain during dreaming as during wakefulness‚ though of somewhat different types. The visual‚ memory‚ and motor areas of the brain are active (though sleep hormones block most people from acting out their dreams)‚ but the logic areas of the cortex are less active‚ which might be one reason for the bizarreness of many dreams.” Dreaming can happen at any time while we’re snoozing‚ but our most vivid dreams happen in a stage of sleep known as rapid eye movement (REM)‚ during which – surprise surprise – our eyes move about rapidly.It’s thought we spend around two hours dreaming each night‚ although quite why we do is debated. “There is so far no scientific demonstration that [dreams] serve a biological function‚” De Koninck told IFLScience.It has been suggested that dreaming may help us to process emotions and memories‚ and aid us in solving problems in our waking lives. Other theories‚ posit that dreams may benefit our perception of reality‚ or‚ à la psychologist Sigmund Freud‚ that they serve to protect sleep from disruption or represent the fulfillment of unrealized wishes. Francis Crick‚ who dabbled in dream theory after his work identifying the structure of DNA‚ came up with an explanation deemed “reverse learning” in which “we dream in order to forget.”Even with these numerous theories‚ some of which hold more water than others‚ the question of why we dream still doesn’t have a definite answer.Do they really have meaning?Our old friend Freud would say – perhaps unsurprisingly given that this is Freud – that they represent repressed‚ often sexual‚ desires.If you thought the question of why we dream was convoluted‚ the question of what they may mean is even more so‚ complicated further by the fact that it largely depends on who you ask.If you happened to have the ability to time travel and asked the ancient Greeks or Romans‚ they’d probably tell you that yes‚ dreams have meaning‚ and that they acted as omens or predictions of future events.Our old friend Freud‚ as we touched on above‚ would say – perhaps unsurprisingly given that this is Freud – that they represent repressed‚ often sexual‚ desires.Carl Jung‚ who founded the field of analytical psychology‚ meanwhile‚ might remark that “dreams are messages sent up from the unconscious” and as such can help us understand our inner psyche.But what do modern psychologists and psychotherapists have to say on the subject? Do dreams really have meaning? “‘Meaning’ is a slippery term in the context of medicine‚” Billington told us. There is no scientific consensus on what specific dreams mean‚ but that doesn’t mean they’re not useful.“One can also say in a very broad sense that dreaming of specific things means that those things are related to your waking preoccupations – be that consciously‚ semi-consciously‚ or unconsciously‚” Billington added.Subscribe to our newsletter and get every issue of CURIOUS delivered to your inbox free each month.“But what a specific dream experience or image means to a specific person is highly subjective‚ just as what we make of waking experiences is highly subjective: a moment of conflict with a stranger might be highly disruptive for a librarian‚ but is just part of every day for a nightclub doorman.”De Koninck agrees: “Dreaming of a train will not always mean death but will have different meaning depending [on] if you travel often by train‚ or if you are a train driver‚ or if you are afraid of taking trains‚ or if you have never been on one.” “In other words‚ the meaning depends on the waking experience of the dreamer [and] what the dream content resonates with you.”Dreams can be a very useful source of self-knowledge‚ De Koninck believes‚ and can be used in various ways in psychotherapy.“They have meaning in the sense that […] it's your brain‚ with your memory bank‚ and your emotions that are expressed‚ it's just that they're expressed in a different way.”What can we learn from our dreams?We might not be able to glean that dreaming about spiders universally means a fear of the unknown‚ as a quick Google might have you believe‚ but there’s still a lot that we‚ and particularly professional psychotherapists‚ could learn from them.“Our dreams are part of our overall consciousness‚ but they happen in the absence of external stimulation‚ so they are in some ways a clearer picture of our ‘inner’ psychological selves‚” Billington said.As mentioned‚ dreams often reflect our waking lives‚ though they are not a replication of waking‚ just contiguous with it. They could therefore reveal things our minds have been ruminating on‚ with or without our knowledge. “[Dreams tend] to reflect your current concerns and amplify them. And that's where‚ in psychotherapy‚ it's interesting‚” De Koninck said.This is in keeping with the Continuity Theory of Dreaming‚ Billington explained. “Related theories are the Threat Simulation Theory and the Social Threat Simulation theory‚ which posit an evolutionary use for dreams: that they let us rehearse responses to threatening situations (be they physical or social) without actually putting ourselves at risk.”In this sense‚ they could help us to adapt. “There could be a survival advantage to being able to ‘try out’ responses to situations before they happen‚” Billington continued.Dreams‚ or more specifically nightmares‚ can also be linked to trauma faced in our waking lives and “may be symptoms of broader disorders‚” said Billington.“Repeated dream recollections of frightening‚ damaging‚ or harmful memories‚ leading to disrupted sleep and physiological symptoms of stress (elevated heart rate‚ elevated levels of cortisol) are a sign of unresolved trauma.” Occasional or idiopathic nightmares can be normal‚ Billington added‚ but when “frequent and disruptive might be signs of other non-trauma psychological disruption‚ including Nightmare Disorder.”Dreams are perhaps allegorical tales or myths about ourselves.Persistent nightmares could be indicative of other conditions‚ such as PTSD or schizophrenia‚ according to De Koninck. They could also be a risk factor for suicide. “When someone has a lot of nightmares it has some meaning for us. Meaning towards saying: ‘Oh‚ you got to pay attention‚ there's something wrong there.’”It’s also possible that suppressed thoughts and feelings‚ which we may not be aware of‚ could come back to us in our dreams. “It can therefore be useful to spend a little time reflecting on what comes up in our dreams‚” Billington recommended‚ be that individually‚ with someone close to you‚ or‚ ideally‚ with a therapist.“Is that dream of a colleague turning into a werewolf perhaps a dramatization of a side of them we are only peripherally aware of? Their volatile‚ changeable‚ aggressive side‚ perhaps? Or was it just that you watched An American Werewolf in London last weekend?”It’s not just us who can learn from our dreams. When we share them with others we tell them things about ourselves that even we aren’t aware of‚ “because our vulnerability is shared via metaphor and symbol rather than directly‚” Billington explained. “In this way‚ dreams are perhaps allegorical tales or myths about ourselves.”All things considered‚ maybe we could all do to pay a little more mind to our nighttime imaginings‚ but best not to get too bogged down in unpicking them‚ particularly if you can’t remember them‚ De Koninck stressed.“It can be important to pay attention to [dreams]. But if you don’t‚ no big deal. Sleep well – just get a good night's sleep.” CURIOUS magazine is a digital magazine from IFLScience featuring interviews‚ experts‚ deep dives‚ fun facts‚ news‚ book excerpts‚ and much more. Issue 19 is out now.