a recent study asking about the relationship between images and text. It found that, when images that confirmed a reader’s stereotypes about a place were paired with a complex textual narrative, they detracted from the ability of the reader to appreciate the way that the text undermined those same stereotypes. In fact, even if there were a diversity of photographs, if any of those photographs confirmed pre-existing stereotypes, learning was undermined.  And, if one only looked at photographs, those disconfirming your preconceived notions were likely to be overwhelmed by those confirming them.

That partnership between content provider and consumer is exactly what's missing in the Western world's debate over intellectual property, where movie studios and record labels talk about their customers as potential criminals. In Asia, media companies have a much closer and more interactive relationship with fans, treating them as partners in evangelizing their products -- even when that means blurring the lines of copyright restrictions. Kai-Ming Cha, manga editor of Publishers Weekly, notes that Japan's media industry has "developed a detente" with fans. She points to the example of doujinshi -- amateur "homage" publications that depict popular anime and manga characters in original, sometimes pornographic storylines. "They realize these unauthorized spinoffs help to build the fandom, and ultimately drive sales of the original," she says.

The opening was overshadowed partly by transport minister Seiji Maehara's recent comments that the government wants to turn Tokyo's Haneda airport into an international hub.

Showing popular historical dramas in a classroom setting can be a double-edged sword when it comes to helping students learn and retain factual information found in textbooks, a new study finds. “We found that when information in the film was consistent with information in the text, watching the film clips increased correct recall by about 50 percent relative to reading the text alone,” explains Andrew Butler, a psychology doctoral student at Washington University in St. Louis. “In contrast, when information in the film directly contradicted the text, people often falsely recalled the misinformation portrayed in the film, sometimes as much as 50 percent of the time.”