Saturday, July 30, 2005

Life’s ingredients found in early universe

Life’s ingredients found in early universe
(New Scientist)
“Detecting these complex molecules such a long time ago really suggests it’s not crazy to think about life in another solar system or galaxy,” Yan told New Scientist. “There have been 10 billion years for things to form and evolve, and there are so many galaxies.”

Yawn! Tell me something new.

Friday, July 29, 2005

Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest 2005 Results

Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest 2005 Results
As he stared at her ample bosom, he daydreamed of the dual Stromberg carburetors in his vintage Triumph Spitfire, highly functional yet pleasingly formed, perched prominently on top of the intake manifold, aching for experienced hands, the small knurled caps of the oil dampeners begging to be inspected and adjusted as described in chapter seven of the shop manual.

—Dan McKay, Fargo, ND (Winner)

Thursday, July 28, 2005

Bursting the Magic Bubble

Bursting the Magic Bubble
(Guardian)
“What it shows is just how much of the picture in our head of our surroundings is a massive construction, based on expectations, what we think is important, what we normally encounter and so on,” says Wiseman. “And that’s what magicians are very good at exploiting.”

Tuesday, July 26, 2005

Ancient phallus unearthed in cave

Ancient phallus unearthed in cave
(BBC)
“In addition to being a symbolic representation of male genitalia, it was also at times used for knapping flints,” explained Professor Nicholas Conard, from the department of Early Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology, at Tübingen University.

Monday, July 25, 2005

Butterfly unlocks evolution secret

Butterfly unlocks evolution secret
(BBC)
This process, called “reinforcement”, prevents closely related species from interbreeding thus driving them further apart genetically and promoting speciation.

Although scientists have speculated about this mechanism for years, it has rarely been witnessed in nature.

Thursday, July 21, 2005

My Dog is Tom Cruise

My Dog is Tom Cruise
by Noah Baumbach (The New Yorker)
Do you know the history of crate training? ’Cause I do. Don’t talk about things you don’t understand. Like saying dogs are wild. Dogs are wild—that is glib. Dogs are . . . I’ve done the research; there are crates that they put us in to quote unquote train us. They throw rattlesnakes at us. Electric-shock tags! I’m not making this up. This is . . . it’s history.

It’s funny ‘cause it’s true. Almost.

Saturday, July 16, 2005

Prayer’s Power to Heal Strangers Is Examined

Prayer’s Power to Heal Strangers Is Examined
(Washington Post)
The study of more than 700 heart patients, one of the most ambitious attempts to test the medicinal power of prayer, showed that those who had people praying for them from a distance, and without their knowledge, were no less likely to suffer a major complication, end up back in the hospital or die.

The prayers didn’t work because I was desperately wishing for them to die. No, really. It’s quite scientific.

Thursday, July 14, 2005

Research: Third of study results don’t hold up

Research: Third of study results don’t hold up
(CNN Health)
Experts say the report is a reminder to doctors and patients that they should not put too much stock in a single study and understand that treatments often become obsolete with medical advances.

“The crazy part about science and yet the exciting part about science is you almost never have something that’s black and white,” said Dr. Catherine DeAngelis, JAMA’s editor-in-chief.

Wednesday, July 13, 2005

Herbs and breast cancer risk

Cornell breast cancer educator cautions women against using herbal supplements
(Cornell University News Service)
“Just because herbal medicines are ‘natural’ products does not mean that they are safer than conventional medicines,” he said. “The ingredients in herbal medicines can also have adverse effects and lead to health problems. Yet, there is no focused safety testing of herbal medicines or even reporting system for adverse effects, so when people do have adverse effects, there’s no mechanism to pool that data.”

We have touched upon this, in a similar story.

Email forwarding amounts to ritual gift exchange

Email forwarding amounts to ritual gift exchange
(New Scientist)
Forwarding a genuinely amusing or interesting link to a friend, for example, shows that you are thinking of them and are aware of the sort of content they like, Gross says. But passing an irrelevant or out-of-date link on to contacts can be annoying, thus lowering the sender’s social status in the recipient’s eyes.

So, watch it, you laggards!

Tuesday, July 12, 2005

Rodent Social Behavior Encoded in Junk DNA

Rodent Social Behavior Encoded in Junk DNA
(National Institute of Mental Health)
Far from being junk, the repetitive DNA sequences, which are highly prone to mutate rapidly, may ultimately exert their influence through complex interactions with other genes to produce individual differences and social diversity, according to Young.

That rules out activation of dormant potentials and intuitive faculties for these poor voles. Tragic.

Genesis 2 by Dan Beeston

Genesis 2 by Dan Beeston

Ideal Sunday school material.

Monday, July 11, 2005

Losing Faith in Religion

Losing faith in religion
(Toronto Star)
“We are at war with Islam,” he writes unflinchingly. “We are at war with precisely the vision of life that is prescribed to all Muslims in the Qur’an.” He follows that up with five solid pages of citations from the Islamic holy text which purport to call for violence against the non-believer. Anyone who reads those “and can still not see a link between Muslim faith and Muslim violence should probably consult a neurologist.”

Calling Islam a religion of peace, as U.S. President George Bush has done repeatedly, “is really playing hide the ball with core dogmas of the faith: martyrdom and jihad,” he continued in the interview. “You just have to look at the example of Muhammad. He was not a hippy who was crucified. He was the Julius Caesar of the Muslim world. Clearly, many Muslims expect that kind of victory in this world by Islam.”

Human’s Rational and Irrational Buying Behavior Is Mirrored in Monkeys

Human’s Rational and Irrational Buying Behavior Is Mirrored in Monkeys
(Yale News Release)
“The economic view,” Chen added, “says people are aware, rational and in control of their major decisions. Social psychology cuts in the opposite direction, maintaining that people are often unaware of the forces that dictate their behavior. We wanted to understand the interactions of these two things. What we’ve shown is that capuchin monkeys look remarkably like us; making rational decisions in many of the same settings that humans get right, but also make many of the same mistakes we make.”

Saturday, July 09, 2005

Scientists finally study Kennewick Man

Scientists finally study Kennewick Man
(BBC)
Eight anthropologists sued to study the bones after the US government seized them on behalf of Native American tribal groups, who claim Kennewick Man as an ancestor and want to rebury his skeleton.

Friday, July 08, 2005

Dieting Linked To Increased Wealth

Dieting Linked To Increased Wealth, Study Finds
(Ohio State University)
For example, white women who dropped their body mass index score (BMI)—a standard measure of obesity—by 10 points saw a wealth increase of $11,880. White men saw an increase of $12,720 for a similar drop, while black women increased wealth by $4,480.

Demonic possession should be treated by psychiatrists

Demonic possession should be treated by psychiatrists, not just exorcists, author says
(Salt Lake Tribune)
“Even if we assume for a minute that there are such things as evil spirits and they can take over a person’s body, how do you tease that out from other conditions that might mimic it?” asks Stephen Morris, past president of the Utah Psychological Association. “Back in New Testament times, some things were reported as evil spirits that clearly were epilepsy or some other physical condition.”

Psychologists gave up the idea of evil spirits when they took up science, he says.

Adding demonic possession to the list of mental disorders would be “like teaching creationism in the schools,” Morris says.

You think?

The Coming Boom

The Coming Boom
Big Pharma has made billions pumping up the male population. Now neuroscientists are reverse engineering the female orgasm.
(Wired)
“It’s amusing to tell people that I jack off in an fMRI for science,” says Vicky, quickly adding that the process is more like work than sex. A typical day of research begins with Vicky lying on the fMRI machine’s bed; Komisaruk and his team strap down her head. Then she’s fed into the doughnut and the machine begins taking pictures, a process Vicky describes as “loud and clunky.” She stimulates herself by contracting her vaginal muscles rhythmically and controlling her breathing for 26 minutes.

Vicky and the imaging team worked out a hand signal she can flash when she starts to orgasm. “Basically, my head was strapped to a board in an extremely loud machine, and I had to let them know when I was about to come, so they could mark it on the computer,” she laughs. “Whoo—so sexy!”

A day in the life and in the lab of Frans de Waal

A day in the life and in the lab of Frans de Waal
(Science & Theology News)
Throughout his career, de Waal’s research has drawn ever-closer similarities between humans and their nearest primate kin. He says, however, that people often don’t realize exactly how alike the two are.

“I think there’s sort of two shocks from them when they see these similarities. One is that it lifts the ape up to a level that they never thought it was, and so it sort of improves the image of the apes—maybe either in a positive or negatives sense, but at least they see the ape as more complex than they thought it was,” de Waal says. “But also the opposite: It brings humans a little bit down because it makes it clear that things we consider as very sophisticated, unique to us, are part of our primate heritage.”

According to de Waal, it’s very hard to find a chimpanzee trait that is not humanlike. For example, instead of grooming, people now make small talk. Or some people may actually seek direct grooming contact by spending a lot of time at a salon or barbershop. And although physical competition is evident among humans, verbal fights have replaced much physical sparring in our culture. Even delayed retaliation or temporary control of a reaction may be observed in our chimpanzee relatives.

The Truth About Great White Sharks

The Truth About Great White Sharks, 30 Years After ‘Jaws’
(Live Science)
“Jaws” did irreparable damage to the great white shark’s reputation, and every time there’s another shark attack, some people’s minds jump to that old stereotype.

Yet there are many other animals that are deadlier to humans.

Thursday, July 07, 2005

Ovulating women favor dominant men’s smell

Ovulating women favor dominant men’s smell
(News @ Nature)
The results support a theory of mixed mating strategies, which argues that women should want different things from different men at different times. Females are expected to pair up with the males most likely to invest in parental care, but any affair is likely to be conducted with successful males who, although they may not be good dads, provide good genes.

The converse, however, hasn’t been verified. You know, the one about ovulating men and dominant women.

Getting the Monkey off Darwin’s Back

Getting the Monkey off Darwin’s Back
Four Common Myths About Evolution
(Skeptical Inquirer)
In examining how evolution is portrayed in the mass media, we found many problems; chief among them was the use of inaccurate expressions. In this article we examine the commonly-used phrases “evolution is only a theory,” “the ladder of progress,” “missing links,” and “only the strong survive.”

The Bait and Switch of “Intelligent Design” Creationism

The Bait and Switch of “Intelligent Design” Creationism
(American Daily)
Its advertising to the contrary notwithstanding, “intelligent design” is inherently a quest for the supernatural; only one “candidate for the role of designer” need apply. Dembski himself, even while trying to deny this implication, concedes that “if there is design in biology and cosmology, then that design could not be the work of an evolved intelligence.” It must, he admits, be that of a “transcendent intelligence” to whom he euphemistically refers as “the big G.”

Oh, the big G? I know the dude.

Wednesday, July 06, 2005

Who Do You Trust?

Who Do You Trust? Men And Women Answer That Differently
(Ohio State Research)
“For women, this in-group is me and my friends and family and their friends and family. For men, the in-group is my team or my company or my club. These are the people we feel we can trust.”

‘Celestial Drops’ no cure for canker

‘Celestial Drops’ no cure for canker
(Orlando Sentinel)
Researchers worked with a rabbi and a cardiologist to test “Celestial Drops,” promoted as a canker inhibitor because of its “improved fractal design,” “infinite levels of order” and “high energy and low entropy.”

But the cure proved useless against canker. That’s because it was water—possibly, mystically blessed water.

The “product is a hoax and not based on any credible known science,” the state’s chief of entomology, nematology and plant pathology wrote to agriculture officials and fellow scientists after testing Celestial Drops in October 2001.

Tuesday, July 05, 2005

Online Dating? Thin and Rich Works Here, Too

Online Dating? Thin and Rich Works Here, Too
(New York Times)
What are people looking for? The most important variable, for both men and women, is looks. Furthermore, posting a photo is a big help: women who post photos receive about twice as many e-mail messages as those who do not, even when they report that they have “average looks.”

Having a lot of money is good for attracting e-mail messages, at least for men. Those men reporting incomes in excess of $250,000 received 156 percent more e-mail messages than those with incomes below $50,000. Women like men with a higher income than they have but men do not want to date women who earn more than they do.

Women feel pain more than men, research shows

Women feel pain more than men, research shows
(University of Bath)
“While most explanations concentrate on biological mechanisms, such as genetic and hormonal differences, it is becoming increasingly clear that social and psychological factors are also important,” said Dr Keogh.

One example of this is the different strategies men and women use to cope with pain. Whilst women tend to focus on the emotional aspects of pain they experience, men tend to focus on the sensory aspects, for example concentrating on the physical sensations they experience.

Monday, July 04, 2005

Where Belief is Born

Where belief is born
(Guardian)
And depending on the level of significance of a belief, there could be several networks at play. Someone with strong religious beliefs, for example, might find that they are more emotionally drawn into certain discussions because they have a large number of neural networks feeding into that belief.

Fundamentalism seen hurting AIDS effort

Fundamentalism seen hurting AIDS effort
(The Japan Times)
In the U.S., the past several years have seen much funding for AIDS prevention go to groups with a fundamentalist Christian agenda that emphasizes abstaining from homosexual or drug activities. Governments of other countries like India have faced pressure from fundamentalist Hindu and Muslim groups to curb the availability of condoms and to stop assistance policies for those affected by the epidemic.

Summer Camp That’s a Piece of Heaven

Summer Camp That’s a Piece of Heaven for the Children, but Please, No Worshiping
(New York Times)
At Camp Quest, children age 8 to 17 take part in all the usual summer camp activities. But in addition to horseback riding, organized water balloon fights and outdoor survival lessons, the camp’s volunteer staff aims to promote a healthy respect for science and rational inquiry, while assuring campers that there is nothing wrong with not believing in the Bible and not putting stock in a supreme creator.

TV ads show smoking is ‘unsexy’

TV ads show smoking is ‘unsexy’
(BBC)


Another of the ads shows stark images of the effect of smoking on women’s appearance and attractiveness to men, with messages such as “If you smoke, you stink,” “Minging teeth” and “Cat’s bum mouth.”

Year in U.S. shifts Muslim teens’ views

Year in U.S. shifts Muslim teens’ views
(International Herald Tribune)
Kaoutar said that “from the movies and the music videos, I thought all girls in America were like Britney Spears.” And unlike the impression created by some news media, she said, the U.S. government is “not the absolute voice of the whole country.”