The study is a little small for my liking, at only 17 people, and the results seem a bit anecdotal, but they do make sense. Imagine trying to explain why you like somebody: you're bound to use vague words. "Oh, she's really, um, nice, and cool, and funny." But then explain why you dislike somebody: "Oh GOOD LORD if she says 'utilize' instead of 'use' one more time I'm just going to explode all over her and she'll have to UTILIZE all sorts of cleaning products to get my rage shrapnel off her shirt!" See what I mean? The hatred is so much more specific than the love.

So when you Apple fanboys blurt out nonsense like "No but Mac OS just works better! It's, um, well, easier!" and yet Apple haters can compose long and tiresome rants about the enclosed architecture and infuriating attitude of OS X, it's neither of your faults. It's science. Sort of.

Honestly, I'm a little dubious. Sure, I can think of situations in which the rationality of hate over love makes sense, but not in all cases, and it seems like too much generalization to make statements about "love" and "hate" like either is any one simple thing. But maybe I'm just being overly rational in my hatred of this study. [CNET]

In the program, astronauts type their various psychological problems into a console, and a pre-recorded video therapist leads the astronaut through a series of likely solutions. The robot "helps astronauts identify reasons for their depression. Then the program helps them make a plan to fight the depression."

I know you're thinking "well, this is for astronauts, and lucky me, I'm totally unqualified for that kind of job. So I'm safe!" No such luck: the Virtual Space Station is not only being tested on civilians, but the designers hope it will become a widespread tool among those for whom a real, non-robot therapist isn't an option.

The biggest problem, aside from the robot gaining independent thought and slaughtering everyone in sight, is privacy. There isn't much guarantee that the astronaut's interactions will be kept secret, and in fact it seems a pretty likely guess that they'll be analyzed extensively. My biggest concern is that a scary robot will know about my intense fear of clowns and that weird dream I have about my third-grade teacher. [AP]