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Editor's Selections: Front Lawns, Running, and Synesthesia

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Here are my Research Blogging Editor's Selections for this week:

  • "In the front yard, lawns still rule," writes Tim de Chant at the Per Square Mile blog. But why? People spend more time hanging out in the backyard. It makes more ecological sense to do away with front yard turf.

  • Is there a relationship between brain size and athleticism? Are those with bigger brains able to run farther, faster? At Science-Based Running, Dave Munger explores this question. This answer (with caveats, of course) appears to be: yes.

  • Do you see what I hear? At the Try Nerdy Blog, read one blogger's personal account of childhood synesthesia, and learn about the brain-basis for this fascinating phenomenon.

That's it for this week... Check back next week for more great psychology and neuroscience blogging!

Jason G. Goldman is a science journalist based in Los Angeles. He has written about animal behavior, wildlife biology, conservation, and ecology for Scientific American, Los Angeles magazine, the Washington Post, the Guardian, the BBC, Conservation magazine, and elsewhere. He contributes to Scientific American's "60-Second Science" podcast, and is co-editor of Science Blogging: The Essential Guide (Yale University Press). He enjoys sharing his wildlife knowledge on television and on the radio, and often speaks to the public about wildlife and science communication.

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