Created, written & designed by John Pavlus / Screencasts produced by Andrew Cahill / Music by Jeff Alvarez

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Background on this week's stories:

#1. Location, location, location
If you don't care to read the whole thing, the PNAS paper that describes how where you vote can influence what you vote for was summarized in their early edition. The Telegraph (London) also has a good summary of the findings. The initiative that benefited from voters casting their ballots in schools was Proposition 301, which proposed a new sales tax to be spent on education.

Priming, the mechanism behind this effect, has also been shown to link thinking about money and selfish behavior, and may affect nearly every decision we make. When it comes to voting and political affiliation, genes may also play a role.

Credits: Locker image from Conspirator Design, classroom image from Liz Marie, chalkboard image from Don Fulano, and stained glass windows courtesy of Flickr user bigbold.

#2. Dramatic ice cores: no, seriously
Lord Monckton, the cover of whose book we feature in the opening of this segment, is a noted climate change skeptic whose views regularly draw sharp rebuke from the scientific mainstream. Scientific American last crossed paths with him at the climate change skeptic's conference in New York City last March.