Subscribe!

Don't look now, but Catholic indulgences are making quite the comeback. The article notes that "the pardons have fallen by the wayside in the past few decades, but they're being revived in conjunction with a new emphasis on the importance of charity in Christian life." Interesting! This reminds me of another article Time did on the recent revival of confession in the Catholic church.

Here's a question related to the ongoing debate of nature versus nurture: Is genius born or is it learned?

Researchers are officially convinced that anger is bad for the heart.

Facebook continues to slowly take over the world, which does not please one researcher in the U.K. Lady Greenfield, professor of synaptic pharmacology at Lincoln college, Oxford, and director of the Royal Institution, argues that sites like Facebook are ruining the minds of children. She even goes so far as to say the government should step in and intervene. Here's a potent little quote: "[These sites] are devoid of cohesive narrative and long-term significance. As a consequence, the mid-21st century mind might almost be infantilised, characterised by short attention spans, sensationalism, inability to empathise and a shaky sense of identity." Maybe it's a good thing so many people are fasting from Facebook for Lent.

In keeping with the theme of technology and kids, check out this piece on text messaging. I still can't wrap my head around some statistics the article mentions: "Nationally, more than 75 billion text messages are sent a month, and the most avid texters are 13 to 17, say researchers. Teens with cellphones average 2,272 text messages a month, compared to 203 calls, according to the Nielsen Co."

So what are teens doing when they aren't texting? Researchers have discovered that they are probably volunteering for charity work. In fact, more teens volunteer than work part-time.

Have you ever wondered what a video game based on Dante's Inferno would look like? Well, you don't have to wonder anymore.

A study reveals that Batman, Bond, and Bourne make us numb to the pain of others.

Last but not least, let's get to a few economy-related links. With the recession in full swing, we're watching more TV than ever, and we're spending more on movies than ever.

Our shopping habits are changing along with our viewing habits.

Oh - and the church's building habits might be changing, too.

We're not the only ones feeling it in our wallet. Times are hard in Taiwan. So hard that a jobless ex-con begged authorities to send him back to prison.