Five companies control more than half of academic publishing BY RALPH TURCHIANO

A study at the University of Montreal shows that the market share of the five largest research publishing houses reached 50% in 2006, rising, thanks to mergers and acquisitions, from 30% in 1996 and only 20% in 1973. “Overall, the major publishers control more than half of the market of scientific papers both in the natural and medical sciences and …

Microsoft: Humans have shorter attention span than a goldfish – Brooks Hays

A small study by researchers at Microsoft has found the human attention span is shortening. At just 8 seconds, they say it is now shorter than the attention span of the average goldfish. The study, which featured a combination of surveys and mind games, was an apparently genuine attempt by scientists with the software company to better understand how mobile …