Subscription Center
Aug 11, 2008 | 1
Score one for athletes over sportswriters: Basketball players are nearly twice as good as sportswriters at predicting whether a shot will go in the basket.
According to new research appearing in Nature Neuroscience, 'ballers can imagine the shooting motion of another player to predict whether a basketball shot is headed for nothing but net or will brick off the rim. The key to their trick: the muscles that control the pinky finger.
Sportswriters’ pinky fingers, it seems, are too busy hitting “return” and punctuating.
Researchers at Rome's Sapienza University showed footage of a man shooting free throws to 10 players from Italy's professional basketball league, five coaches, five sports journalists and 10 college students, who do not play the game. Their task: Predict whether the shooter's next shot will go in.
See what we're tweeting about
johnrplatt Cloudy and sunny at the same time http://t.co/hyfs5zdNrm
FlyingTrilobite If I was taking a drink every time the #xboxreveal suits said "experiences" I'd be dead already.
sciencegoddess On my way to Houston #NASASocial #ISS . Going to fly around weather system. Probably smart! Longer flight. More time to read!
Deadline: Jun 29 2013
Reward: $7,000 USD
The Seeker for this Challenge desires proposals for chemical methods that could rapidly degrade a dilute aqueous solution
Deadline: Aug 31 2013
Reward: $100,000 USD
The Geoffrey Beene Foundation Alzheimer’s Initiative (GBFAI) is launching the 2013 Geoffrey Beene Global NeuroDiscovery Challenge whose
Powered By: 
YES! Send me a free issue of Scientific American with no obligation to continue the subscription. If I like it, I will be billed for the one-year subscription.
