Unrealistic comparative optimism: An unsuccessful search for evidence of a genuinely motivational bias.

One of the most accepted findings across psychology is that people are unrealistically optimistic in their judgments of comparative risk concerning future life events-they judge negative events as less likely to happen to themselves than to the average person. Harris and Hahn (2011), however, demonstrated how unbiased (non-optimistic) responses can result in data patterns commonly interpreted as indicative of optimism due to statistical artifacts. In the current paper, we report the results of 5 studies that control for these statistical confounds and observe no evidence for residual unrealistic optimism, even observing a 'severity effect' whereby severe outcomes were overestimated relative to neutral ones (Studies 3 & 4). We conclude that there is no evidence supporting an optimism interpretation of previous results using the prevalent comparison method

Squeezing Millimeter Waves through a Single, Nanometer-wide, Centimeter-long Slit

We demonstrate broadband non-resonant squeezing of terahertz (THz) waves through an isolated 2-nm-wide, 2-cm-long slit (aspect ratio of 10(7)), representing a maximum intensity enhancement factor of one million. Unlike resonant nanogap structures, a single, effectively infinitely-long slit passes incident electromagnetic waves with no cutoff, enhances the electric field within the gap with a broad 1/f spectral response, and eliminates interference effects due to finite sample boundaries and adjacent elements. To construct such a uniform, isolated slit that is much longer than the millimeter-scale spot of a THz beam, we use atomic layer lithography to pattern vertical nanogaps in a metal film over an entire 4-inch wafer. We observe an increasing field enhancement as the slit width decreases from 20 nm to 2 nm, in agreement with numerical calculations