Bummed out? Quick—name the capitol of Idaho! First president of the United States! Fiftieth state! Now read the rest of this article really fast!

Why am I haranguing you with these absurd exercises, you might ask? Well, a new study coauthored by scientists from Harvard and Princeton suggests that speeding up cognitive processes can help induce a more positive state of mind.

Participants in the study were asked to read a bunch of statements at a fast pace and complete a questionnaire about how they felt afterward. Some of the statements were happy, like, Wow, I feel great! and some were sad, like, I want to go to sleep and never wake up. But no matter what they were asked to read, the participants reported feeling happier, more energetic, more creative and more powerful after reading quickly.

This thinking-fast-makes-you-happy hypothesis could not only be useful in treating depression, as the Harvard and Princeton guys opine, but may also help to explain the success of many a coke-addled comedian.

So…neat! I feel happier when I think really fast, too. Which is probably why, like most New Yorkers, I spend all my time racing around, doing 15 things at once, never pausing long enough to think of anything of real import—those things could make me sad. —Megan Miller

The Bubbling Cauldron

Want a real witches´ brew? Mix soap-bubble solution with dry ice, or use liquid nitrogen for bubbles that release fog when they pop. In the following video, PopSci´s contributing mad scientist, Theodore Gray, uses the help of a few young assistants to create cauldrons of toil and trouble.

Here´s how it´s done:

As you probably saw in the news today, a Maglev train—one that hovers slightly above a track using magnetic levitation—crashed this morning near Lathen, Germany. It was traveling at an estimated 120 mph, and killed at least 25 people. The train, owned by Transrapid International, a joint venture between technology giants Siemens AG and ThyssenKrupp AG, was traveling on a 20-mile test track that is mostly used for demonstrations of the technology to potential buyers—usually city governments from around the world. Rides are also frequently offered to tourists and company employees, the latter group appearing to be the bulk of
today's victims.

The Maglev system—which uses alternating electromagnetic attraction and repulsion to move the wheel-less cars forward—is capable of traveling up to 310 mph, and there is only one fully operational system in the world, a high-speed shuttle that runs between Shanghai and that city's international airport 20 miles away.

Will today's accident jeopardize the growth of this innovative
technology? Probably not, though other factors may do so. The crash appears to have been caused by human error— the Maglev hit a maintenance vehicle on the same track—as opposed to some technological failure relating to the magnetic levitation itself or to the speed of the train (many conventional train systems exceed that speed in daily service). But since transportation accidents almost always involve a string of failures, the investigation might reveal a problem unique to the Maglev system. Investigators will likely explore whether automated systems that may have operated the train or the maintenance vehicles were functioning properly, whether the elevated tracks were a factor in some of the deaths, and whether any efforts to slow down were impeded by the nature of the technology.

If the investigation turns up evidence that the system itself played a role in the accident, then todays crash could indeed hamstring the development of the Maglev. But a few factors that are certainly jeopardizing the widespread deployment of the technology are its high cost (roughly five times that of conventional rail systems), the need for precision track construction, and the lack of interoperability between Maglev and rail systems. Stay tuned for more coverage as the investigation shakes out. —Eric Adams

Related Links:

Trans-Atlantic MagLevIgnorance=Maglev=BlissSpeed vs. Need

If you ask me, any data placed into the context of a map instantly becomes more useful and interesting. That's why Google Maps mashups are the best, and why I went bonkers over Flickr's geotagging a few weeks back.

Well, now I've found a new love. Last night, while enjoying a frothy stout at my most beloved local beerhouse, a visiting Chicagoan told me about  beermapping.com—a site that has taken up the noble task of cataloging the finest breweries, brewpubs, beer stores and beer bars in US cities (23 and counting), and plotting them all on a Google Map for easy browsin'. And we're not talking any old bar with Tuesday night Bud Light specials—these are the places for serious devotees of the hops, places whose list of  Dutch Weissebiers is longer than your arm (and most bars' full rosters). Not only is it an excellent source for travelers, it can help you rediscover your own neighborhood through the eyes of an enlightened beer drinker. And seriously, what's better than a little enlightened drinking? Cheers to you, beermapping.com—this next one's on me. —John Mahoney

You think you have it bad in this age of draconian airport security? Imagine being one of the unfortunate TSA officers who has to pat down your scruffy, overfed self, not to mention rifle through your shoes and dirty laundry in search of a prohibited paperclip. Well, now you can do more than just imagine, with a frickin' funny online videogame titled, yes, Airport Security. The game pits you against an ever-growing queue of Lego-looking travelers and a down-your-neck-breathing supervisor who curses at you if you fail to comply with the TSA's increasingly unreasonable restrictions. One minute, stuffed animals are prohibited, and 10 seconds later you face an angry mob if you confiscate one by accident. Working that metal detector is tougher than I thought—my top score is 160 (a lot better than my first attempt: 10). What's yours? —Joe Brown

Celebrity guests, zombies, nudity, endearing pop ballads, giant squids-our Second Life concert featuring Jonathan Coulton had it all. Relive all the virtual memories of a night of virtual rock in this gallery of highlights. Or see what you missed spending your Thursday night in the "real" world. Suckers!

Audio:

On Monday, telecom entrepreneur and X-Prize Foundation trustee Anousheh Ansari became the worlds first female space tourist when she launched into orbit aboard a Soyuz TMA spacecraft headed for the International Space Station. Shes also one of just four private citizens of both sexes ever to hitch a ride to the cosmos. Why the small number? Well, the price is prohibitive, of course, but bucks alone wont get you a ticket—theres a waiting list to clear, health requirements to meet, and six months of training to ace before youre allowed to hang out at ISS with the cool kids from NASA. Ansari cleared all the hurdles, saying she hopes her journey will inspire girls—especially those from her native Iran—to study science.

So far, Space Adventures, the group that launched Ansari and fellow space rookies Dennis Tito, Mark Shuttleworth and Gregory Olsen, is the only tourism company sending random rich folks into orbit, but plans are underway to have Richard Bransons much-ballyhooed venture, Virgin Galactic, up and running by 2007. Ansari is reported to have paid about $20 million for her journey to the Space Station (twice the amount of the 2004 purse for the Ansari X-Prize Cup), but Virgin Galactic will offer flights for the low, low price of 100,000 (about $188,000).  The cost difference is probably due to the fact that the space-station trip is a 10-day affair, while Virgins flights will last just three hours.

If Bransons plan runs according to schedule, Ansari wont be the only female tourist in space for long. A host of other would-be rocket divas including Angelina Jolie and Sigourney Weaver have sent down payments to Virgin for the opportunity to leave Earths atmosphere. Just one caveat, ladies: a couple months back, Virgin Galactic representative Will Whitehorn said that breast implants "might well explode" if subjected to the G-forces of takeoff.  Mythbusters supposedly debunked that rumor, but no one has tested it yet in actual space. What I want to know is, which enhanced celeb is gonna be first to find out what happens? Whaddya say Pam Anderson—you're the adventurous type. Want to step up and set a space record?    —Megan Miller

After testing the first Blu-ray and HD DVD boxes to hit the market, I´m confident that the future of movie discs is clearly high-def: picture and sound quality from both players was terrific. But each had its own bugs and with studios split over the two formats and combo players at least a year away, smart consumers will hold off on that future a little longer.

Blu-Ray: Samsung BD-P1000
Price: $1,000

Number of announced movies: 132 (but wider studio support)