This new android, reported on by Wall Street Daily, is designed to be a resourceful human companion equipped with an animated neck, three discs and a set of eyes.

Check out the link to the original article to view a photo of this new Anthropomorphism machine.

Polish designers are the brains behind this new devise coined  Emotive Heady System or EMYS.  Chief robot designer Professor Krzysztof Tchon comments on their creation,

“the robot is meant to accompany humans in their domestic environment or at offices…so it has to perform some functions useful for humans.  That’s why the robot is able to express emotions to a certain degree and also read human emotions and react accordingly.”

The researchers hope their robot will pave the way towards natural  and unselfconscious human-robot interactions.

This suggests that the smile is not a reflexive response mimicking a human behavior but rather an independent action.

The National Right to Life News Today has just released additional photos of facial expressions in the womb.  These photos are extremely interesting as they highlight that smiles and perhaps laughter occur even early than thought at around 24 weeks.

Peter Tallack affirms in In the Womb for National Geographic that, “Whatever the fetus is feeling, at 20 weeks she is certainly capable of demonstrating lots of facial expressions. 4D scans have revealed babies not only grimacing but also seeming to smile and even laugh.”

Sergeant Harris emphasizes that coercive interview techniques are ineffective when trying to illicit information from a suspect: “I treat them with dignity,” he told ABC News’ Chris Cuomo. “If they can see me as a person that views them with dignity, the chances of communicating are starting to open up.”

Indeed it’s true: when trying to illicit information from someone, research shows that non-coercive interview techniques based on rapport building have been proven to be the most effective.  One extremely important part of rapport building involves reading emotions and then reacting to those emotions appropriately.

Take a look at the video below for Part 1 of “Inside the Interrogation Room”.

Also, don’t forget to take a look at Dr. Matsumoto, Dr. Hwang and Dr. Frank’s front cover article “The Role of Emotion in Predicting Violence” in this month’s edition of the FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin.

Thanks to VisualEmotion for the video!

Click here to view the embedded video.

Many people are relieved to hear of the austere and ruthless dictator’s death.  People from varying countries especially democratic countries such as the United States feel relief that the wave of oppression, which has engulfed North Korea for over 4 decades (Kim Jung-Il reigned from 1994-2011) is hopefully now over.

However, the scene within the country reveals a very different interpretation of the epic event.  Mourners for former North Korean leader lined streets and public squares outwardly lamenting his death.  Cries could be heard at every corner and tears were seen dripping down the faces of North Koreans everywhere.

How can that be, one might ask themselves, if their government was so oppressive?

Understanding different cultures is the key to understanding the reactions of many North Koreans.

IntelliCulture Humintell’s newest cross-cultural adaptation course is designed to help the individual broaden their understanding of culture, where it comes from and how it influences behavior.

IntelliCulture provides useful tips on how to leverage cultural differences and think critically when encountered with a difficult cultural situation.

In spite of what seems to be, for at least some, genuine lament for Kim Jung-Il’s death, the Washington Post National has reported that strict punishments will be dealt out to North Koreans who did not seem genuine in their lamenting of the former North Korean leader. 

They purport that punishments will include either six months in a labor camp or a re-education camp.  The North Korean government; however, reports via their news agency KCNA that this is a mere smear campaign.  They officially stated that even bears and magpies lamented their former leader.

Photo Courtesy of REUTERS/Kyodo taken on December 19, 2011

The 25 year-old from Fort Worth, Texas is doing very well.  Mail Online News has reported that since his surgery a handful more have received the full face transplant paving the way for the argument that it should more widely available.

The surgery is revolutionary.  After two dozen surgeries and still no recognizable features of a face,  Dallas Weins decided to receive the full face transplant.

He commented, “Having a new face has changed me dramatically.”  He goes on to admit that the decision to receive the transplant was more for his daughter than for himself.

In 2008 a high-voltage power line accident badly burned Weins’ face off.  Not quite four years later, he has now regained his sense of smell and is able to control his lips.

A study on Wein’s case as well as two others verifies, “The procedure can correct ‘severe deformities in a single operation’ rather than years of reconstructive surgery.”

‘To undergo a face transplant and regain normalcy allows me to do whatever I want to do,’ Weins said. ‘It’s a journey that I’ve just started.’

To see before and after photos of Dallas Weins click here.

Published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, the study focused on the facial expression of the emotion of anxiety and claims to have found the facial characteristics that are connected to the display of that emotion.

The research, conducted by the Institute of Psychiatry (IoP) at King’s College London, was not clear if they were going to try to conduct additional research to see if this could be considered a universal facial expression.  It is clear though that further research needs to to be undertaken before any concrete assertions are confirmed.

What are your thoughts on a facial expression for anxiety?

Lead author of the study Dr. Adam Perkins affirms that many animal studies link anxiety to risk assessment behavior, suggesting anxiety can be explained as a defensive adaptation. We wanted to see if this was also the case in humans.’

In the study facial expression images were correctly matched in 89% of emotive scenario presentations on average. The facial expression generated in response to an ambiguous threat scenario was correctly matched to ambiguously threatening scenarios in 90% of scenario presentations.

The IoP researchers delineated scenarios that elicited standard emotions, such as happiness, sadness, anger, disgust and surprise to a group of participants.  Then they described scenarios containing ambiguous threats, which are known to elicit risk assessment and anxiety in rodents.

The study’s findings seemed a bit vague.  They suggest that, “anxious facial expression appears to have both functional and social components – its characteristics help assess our surrounding environment, and communicate to others our emotional state.” However, that same definition can be said of the seven universal facial expressions of emotion along with specified FACS characteristics.

What do the researchers feel are the immediate benefits of this study?

Well, Dr. Perkins states, “We hope our findings will in due course help doctors more effectively diagnose anxiety in their patients.  We also think the findings may also help security personnel identify individuals engaged in wrongdoing by means of their anxious, risk assessing facial expression.”

To see  short facial expression video click here and scroll down.

Reading tells in poker is as much science as it is art form. While many poker pros will tell you that physical tells mean very little at the highest levels of the games, for the everyday poker player, they can still provide a valuable resource.

There are a few common microexpressions (or facial expression) that you will spot in many lower stakes and inexperienced poker players. Let’s look at a few.

A common microexpression that can be picked up on is when a player catches a card on the board that makes their hand.  If you look carefully their eyes just slightly open wider as to say “that’s it!” (Perhaps an expression of surprise?) It is very brief and if you are not watching them, you will miss it.  Something that goes in tandem with this microexpression is that the player may either look instinctively at their chips or may quickly glance at you.  However, for those that just continue to stare ahead, the slight “bingo look” will give them away.

Adversely, another tell similar to the “bingo look” is when a player misses their intended card on the board.  Let’s assume they are drawing to a straight or a flush and their draw fails to get there.  When the river card hits, they might ever so slightly squint or slightly frown their brow. Another variation could be a hard blink that is noticeably different and in some cases may be hard enough to make them nod a bit.  This is many times a clear indication that they missed their draw and are disappointed in the result.

One final expression is commonly seen in conjunction with bluffing. The river card comes and as the player bets, they let an ever so slight smirk.  Chances are that they are bluffing.  Some people when they lie will give off a slight smile like they are getting away with something.

Keep in mind that the above microexpression tells are best used at lower limits and against truly inexperienced players.  Those types of players are not taking poker games seriously and are not truly worried over profits.  As you come across more experienced players, they will tend to not exhibit these traits as frequently, and if they do, you then have to figure out whether they are using them to try and fool you.

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The Week.com comments that 29 canines were used in this study.  They were shown videos of a woman who first had verbal communication along with eye contact and then verbal communication without eye contact.  The study’s findings, published in the journal  Current Biology, showed that dogs seemed to follow the woman’s gaze only when she looked directly at them and not when she just had verbal communication without eye contact.

The New York Times adds that similar studies have been conducted on infants, and the dogs responded in the same way that 6-month-old babies respond to a similar techniques.

Jozsef Topal a researcher at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and co-author of the study stated, “Dogs are receptive to human communication in a manner that was previously attributed only to humans.”

Dog lovers across the world might be mumbling to themselves that this is old news.  However, it is now being backed by science.  Canine behavior expert Stanley Coren believes that in terms of development dogs are on the same level as  2-year-olds.

“This should reinforce that if we want our dog’s attention , we should be clear about it,” says Adam Goldfarb from the Humane Society of the United States.

According to her husband Justin Adams, the pregnant mother of three was last seen after she went to go meet a friend at a local Mc Donalds and never made it home. He then later recanted his story and said his wife was soliciting ads on Craigslist and was going to meet a client.

After her initial disappearance, Justin made an emotional plea, seen below. Do you see anything suspicious?

Click here to view the embedded video.