Clipmarks | pokkets's Biology collection

Complex decision? Don't sleep on it

Mon, 11 Aug 2008 11:09:34 GMT

clipped by: Silkweaver
clipper's remarks: Since its publication two years ago by a Dutch research team in the journal Science, the earlier finding had been used to encourage decision-makers to make "snap" decisions (for example, in the best-selling book Blink, by Malcolm Gladwell) or to leave complex choices to the powers of unconscious thought ("Sleep on it", Dijksterhuis et al., Science, 2006).

But in the new study, to be published in The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, scientists ran four experiments in which participants were presented with complex decisions and asked to choose the best option immediately ("blink"), after a period of conscious deliberation ("think"), or after a period of distraction ("sleep on it"), which is claimed to encourage "unconscious thought processes".

In all experiments, there was some evidence that conscious deliberation can lead to better choices and little evidence for superiority of choices made "unconsciously".

Clip Source: www.physorg.com

Neither snap judgements nor sleeping on a problem are any better than conscious thinking for making complex decisions, according to new research.

The finding debunks a controversial 2006 research result asserting that unconscious thought is superior for complex decisions, such as buying a house or car.

If anything, the new study suggests that conscious thought leads to better choices.

"Claims that we can make superior 'snap' decisions by trusting intuition or through the 'power' of unconscious thought have received a great deal of attention in the media," says University of New South Wales psychologist, Dr Ben Newell, lead author of the new study.

"At best, these sorts of headlines are misleading," says Dr Newell. "At worst, they're outright dangerous. In stark contrast to claims made by the Dutch research team and in the media, we found very little evidence of the superiority of unconscious thought for complex decisions.

Tags: behavior, decision making, rationality, intuition

Shaking things up on Clipmarks.com

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 16:55:57 GMT

clipped by: egoldstein
clipper's remarks: Please read the entire post by clicking the source link before reacting.

Clip Source: clipmarks.wordpress.com

Unfortunately, we have recently become increasingly concerned that the site has become overly antagonistic and inappropriately controlled by a disproportionately loud group of users. In all honesty, we no longer feel that the processes of our site are producing a unique, high quality blend of content. Instead, the magical blending of diverse topics on the Clipmarks home page has seemed to dissolve into a battleground for extremely hostile politically oriented users who are overwhelming the rest of the site. Because of this we are working on making some fundamental changes to the way the Clipmarks site works. We will do our best to make changes that improve the site and will continue to iterate until we are comfortable that it is just right.

Tags: clipmarks

'Toxic time bomb' awaits OK Tedi

Sat, 06 Sep 2008 05:26:20 GMT

clipped by: pokkets
clipper's remarks: The OK Tedi Copper Mine in Papua New Guinea.
The Volume of Toxic sulpur can Wipe out an ecosystem.

Clip Source: www.abc.net.au

Anna Salleh

More attention should be given to a potential environmental disaster in Papua New Guinea near one of the world's largest copper mines, warn some scientists.

A contaminated section of river near the Ok Tedi mine (Source: Ian Campbell)

Melbourne-based river scientist Dr Ian Campbell is concerned about large areas downstream from Papua New Guinea's Ok Tedi mine being affected by acid mine drainage.

He presented his concerns at this week's River Symposium in Brisbane.

"It's a nightmare waiting to happen, I think," says Campbell, who recently advised on environmental issues for 16 months at Ok Tedi Mining Limited.

He says sulfur-laden mine waste has built up in and around the Fly River, and if the river's floodplains dry out this could trigger a mass poisoning of animals and plants.

He says his reading of company data suggests around 150 square kilometres of the Fly River floodplains, downstream from the Ok Tedi mine could be potentially affected by acid mine drainage.

Birds 'behave like football fans'

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 01:38:45 GMT

clipped by: pokkets
clipper's remarks: I'm sure the birds have more respect for each other

Clip Source: www.abc.net.au

Rival groups of birds behave like football fans, shouting chants at each other and commiserating after a loss, according to a UK researcher.

Green woodhoopoes, a South African bird, live together in gangs of up to 12 and "rival groups often engage in raucous vocal displays, akin to opposing football supporters chanting at one another", says Dr Andy Radford of University of Bristol.

The study appears in Proceedings of the Royal Society, Series B.

Radford found that the birds preen each other (allopreen) after a conflict, particularly when they have just lost or the battle lasted a long time.

Radford suggests birds act like football fans, commiserating with their friends in the pub after their team loses a match.

He believes they do this to reduce stress within the group, a trait more commonly seen in mammals.

"The receipt of allogrooming, the mammalian equivalent of allopreening, is known to decrease an individual's heart rate and tension-related activities," he says.

Why you should go with your gut feeling

Sat, 30 Aug 2008 01:39:17 GMT

clipped by: Silkweaver
clipper's remarks: To uncover this ability, Pessiglione and colleague Chris Frith, of University College London, tested 20 volunteers with a simple game based on winning and losing small amounts of money.

On a computer screen, the volunteers watched an animated abstract pattern which for a couple of tenths of a second included one of three symbols part way through. Unbeknownst to the subjects, the symbols indicated whether they would lose or gain £1 or break even if they accepted the gamble.

Surprisingly, subjects got better at predicting whether they would win or not, eventually plateauing at slightly above chance, strong evidence that volunteers do not consciously notice the symbols but are affected by them nonetheless.

Clip Source: www.newscientist.com

Next time you’re at a blackjack table trying to decide whether to hold or hit, just trust your gut. New research shows that our brains pick up on subliminal signals – a dealer’s tell, for instance – when making risky decisions.

“When you think that you are referring to your intuition, actually you just learn an association between subliminal signals in your context and the outcome of your actions,” says Mathias Pessiglione, a neuroscientist at the Centre for Neuroimaging Research in Paris, France, who led the study.

Doctors and gamblers may be used to trusting their instincts in make-or-break situations, but scientists have had a tough time proving that the brain can learn subconsciously.

Under a functional-MRI brain scanner, the researchers found that the subjects appeared to be basing their subconscious choices on activity in an area of their brains involved in conscious risk-taking – the striatum.

Tags: brain, intuition, sub conscious learning

what do 300 calorie meals look like?

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 10:23:37 GMT

clipped by: boozich
clipper's remarks: gawd!! hate to see what a curry with meat amounts to

Clip Source: muzich.blogspot.com

Breakfast - 290 Calories
1 whole wheat English muffin
2 pats low fat butter
1 hard boiled egg
1/2 cup of fruit
8 oz fruit juice
8 oz water

Baked potato - 305 Calories
1 medium baked potato
2 tablespoons sour cream
2 tablespoons salsa
1 cup sliced melon
12 oz water

Oatmeal - 325 Calories
1 cup oatmeal with raisins
1 cup of fruit
1 cup coffee or tea
1 banana

Chicken - 345 Calories
6 oz of chicken
1 cup of green beans
2 pats of low-fat butter
1 small tossed salad
2 tablespoons reduced fat oil and vinegar dressing
12 oz water

Scrambled eggs - 360 Calories
2 scrambled eggs
2 strips of turkey bacon
1 piece whole wheat toast
1 pat of low fat butter
1 coffee or tea
8 oz water

Chicken and Rice - 395 Calories
6 oz cooked chicken
2 tablespoons of barbecue sauce
1 cup of mixed vegetables
1/2 cup of brown rice
1 small tossed salad
2 tablespoons reduced fat oil and vinegar dressing
12 oz water

Researchers break open cancer enzyme code

Mon, 01 Sep 2008 08:53:13 GMT

clipped by: pokkets

Clip Source: www.abc.net.au

Researchers have broken the code of an enzyme that plays a key role in the growth of most cancers, opening a path that could lead to a new class of anti-cancer drugs, according to a new study.

Other scientists who reviewed the study hail it as a breakthrough in fundamental cancer biology, but caution that much work remains before the exploit can be translated into next-generation therapies.

The enzyme, called telomerase, "is an ideal target for chemotherapy because it is active in almost all human cancer tumours, but inactive in most normal cells," says study leader Professor Emmanuel Skordalakes of Wistar Institute in Philadelphia.

"That means that a drug that deactivates telomerase would likely work against all cancers, with few side effects."

In cancer cells, however, telomerase is activated, allowing the disease cells to replicate endlessly and achieve what scientists call "cellular immortality," the hallmark of all cancers.

Minke whales shedding blubber

Tue, 02 Sep 2008 13:56:02 GMT

clipped by: pokkets
clipper's remarks: The study is Japanese which puts the problem in a nut shell. They say the whales are 'suffering' because of a low krill number. What is significant about that?
Tuna eat krill.

Clip Source: www.abc.net.au

Japanese scientists have released a study that suggests whales are losing blubber because ocean resources are growing scarce, a claim discounted by others as flawed.

The study, which was published in Polar Biology, after several other journals rejected it, was based on the research of 6779 whales, of which more than 4500 were killed - including some which were pregnant.

It found that the oceans are facing a shortfall of krill, a vital component of the food chain, due to climate change and the recovery of species such as humpback whales.

According to the study, Antarctic minke whales have shed on average 9% of their blubber during the past 18 years, corresponding to an annual weight loss of 17 kilograms.

Minke whales swim to the Antarctic every summer to feed, and to warm waters during the winter to breed.

Blubber is vital for whales because it helps to retain heat in cold waters and store energy and nutrition.

Glow worms turn on to a rhythm

Mon, 01 Sep 2008 08:49:29 GMT

clipped by: pokkets

Clip Source: www.abc.net.au

Anna Salleh

An Australian researcher has foudn that glow worms switch their prey-catching light on and off to a daily rhythm.

Glow worms hang beads of mucus from an overhang to snare their prey (Source: Anthony O'Toole/UQ)

Dr David Merritt of the University of Queensland reports his findings in the current issue of the journal Biological Rhythms.

"A biological rhythm in the animal determines when they will turn on and when they will turn off," says Merritt.

Glow worms, not to be confused with fire flies, are larvae of a particular type of fly that only lives in Australia and New Zealand.

Special cells in the rear end of the animal produce light that is used to attract prey.

The larvae use strings of silk, beaded with sticky drops of mucus, to snare their victims that are attracted to the light.

"It's like a spider with its web," says Merritt.

"In the rainforest, the daylight causes them to switch off. They only turn on at night and turn off around dawn," he says.

Researchers regrow crucial inner ear cells

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 05:14:40 GMT

clipped by: pokkets
clipper's remarks: One of the most common causes of hearing loss, is constant exposure to loud noise, which can literally snap the hairs off the base. The more exposure, the more hairs snap off, and of course now we are beginning to see the effects of the 'ipod syndrome' where the volume is maxed out. Like standing next to speakers that are turned up to 11. (You might need to know about the band Spinal Tap)
There is no doubt that prevention is better than cure, but some people wont listen. Until they reach the point where they can't listen.

Clip Source: www.abc.net.au

US researchers have used gene therapy to regrow the tiny hairs in the inner ear of mice, which they say might lead to new ways of restoring hearing loss in humans.

Dr John Brigande and colleagues at Oregon Health and Science University report their findings in today's issue of Nature.

Sensory hair cells inside the cochlea, the auditory portion of the inner ear, convert sound waves into electrical impulses that are delivered to the brain.

The loss of these minute hairs, or the nerves that control them, is the most common cause of hearing impairment and so-called nerve deafness.

In most cases, damaged hair cells do not regrow in mature humans.

"Our work shows that it is possible to produce functional auditory hair cells in the mammalian cochlea.

it remains to be determined whether gene transfer into a deaf mouse will lead to the production of healthy cells that enable hearing

we have made an important step toward defining an approach that may lead to therapeutic intervention for hearing loss."

Gene test could 'prevent' heart disease

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 06:11:43 GMT

clipped by: pokkets
clipper's remarks: I believe genetic testing should be an option, not a requirement. That may be a good principle for adults, but the call is for testing to be done on 'at risk' children under 10. I'd be surprised if they could find anyone in the world that wasn't subject to some genetic risk or another. Still, a DNA Database is as good as a chip, or an ID card, and much better than a finger print...but I'm a cynic..or perhaps an optimist with experience.

Clip Source: www.abc.net.au

Anna Salleh

News analysis Australian health authorities could prevent costly heart disease cases with a nationwide genetic screening program, suggest some experts.

To what extent will knowing our genetic predisposition to preventable diseases change our behaviour?

But others caution safeguards are needed, and such tests may not be the quick fix for heart disease.

Three Australian experts this week called for more support to screen families with familial hypercholesterolaemia (FH) - a defective gene that prevents liver cells from taking up cholesterol from the blood.

UK authorities may soon recommend at-risk children under the age of 10 years be screened for the FH gene.

"[The UK proposals] represent an approach we would like to see in Australia," says Dr David Sullivan, president of the Australian Atherosclerosis Society, who spoke at a forum organised by the Australian Science Media Centre

a genetic test could help identify FH early so people could take action to prevent heart disease

Scientists identify childhood cancer gene

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 09:19:41 GMT

clipped by: pokkets
clipper's remarks: They are beginning to find genes that are believed to be involved in a number of types of cancer. The study of these genes may not only tell us how they work, but why they are there, and how they are related to some essential, and regular metabolic functions, what exactly can turn a regular/benign cell cancerous, so potential sufferers can be Identified early.

Clip Source: www.abc.net.au

Researchers in the US have identified the gene mutation that may be the cause of a deadly form of childhood cancer, opening the way to genetic tests for high-risk families.

The same wayward gene has been previously linked to lymphoma and lung cancer in adults, so afflicted children could benefit from experimental drugs designed to suppress its activity, according to the study which appears in Nature.

"This very important discovery not only helps us understand the genetic roots of this terrible disease, but also has led to dramatically new ideas for curative therapy," says lead researcher Dr John Maris, head of the Center for Childhood Cancer Research at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

Neuroblastoma attacks the nervous system. While fairly rare, it accounts for 7% of all childhood cancers, and 15% of non-adult cancer deaths

Because there are already drugs in development that target the same gene in adult cancers, we can soon begin testing those drugs in children with neuroblastoma

Human Taste Buds May Recognize a Sixth Flavor...

Fri, 22 Aug 2008 05:22:57 GMT

clipped by: einbar

Clip Source: blogs.discovermagazine.com

Human Taste Buds May Recognize a Sixth Flavor: Calcium

Researchers have found specialized receptors on the tongues of mice that detect calcium, leading them to hypothesize that humans have the calcium-dedicated receptors, too. It may be time to add calcium to the types of tastes — sweet, sour, salty, bitter and savory — that can be detected by humans

The new findings,

may explain why many people have strong reactions to calcium-rich foods like spinach and brussel sprouts

The discovery could allow scientists to tweak the taste of foods to make them more palatable. Alternatively, drugs that block the bone-strengthening mineral’s taste could be created, making it easier for us to eat [these foods]. Dr Tordoff said: “People don’t consume as much calcium as nutritionists would like and one reason for this is that foods high in calcium don’t taste good to many people

Nemo's nose helps find way home

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 04:20:11 GMT

clipped by: pokkets
clipper's remarks: They discovered some of the scents that attracted the clown fish to to the reefs that provide a suitable habitat. The scent from the leaves of one coastal plant Xanthostemon, a kind of myrtle attracted them. They also found scents, such as the leaves from the Melaleuca Nervosa, a kind of paperbark which is another type of myrtle, that repelled them. They say this could have implications regarding tree planting and reforestation near marine habitats.

Clip Source: www.abc.net.au

Darren Osborne

The animated clownfish Nemo may have found his way home a lot sooner if he had trusted his nose

research by scientists from Australia, France and the US, has revealed that a species of clownfish (Amphiprion percula) uses its olfactory senses to help it locate a suitable habitat.

The findings appear in the latest edition of the Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

Professor Geoff Jones of James Cook University, Townsville, says that although previous research has shown clownfish can smell, these new findings identify the scents they are using.

"We've actually narrowed down the chemical signals that they may be using to find their home."

Almost all exhibited a strong preference for water collected from reefs that contained islands.

The researchers then used water that contained the scent of an anemone or leaves from coastal plants such as Xanthostemon.

When given a choice between scented or unscented water the fish spent more than 90% of their time in the scented water.

Study shows when to manage species

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 15:53:50 GMT

clipped by: pokkets

Clip Source: www.abc.net.au

Stephen Pincock

Conservationists should carry on managing the environment as if a seemingly vanished species is still around, rather than rushing to check whether it is extinct, say researchers.

The research, headed by Dr Iadine Chades from the University of Queensland, appears online in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Science.

Research group leader, Professor Hugh Possingham, says animals or plants that have not been seen for some time are known to scientists as "cryptic species".

"A lot of threatened species are cryptic," he says. "The question is how do you know how to best protect them?"

The researchers found that assuming the species is still around, even though it has not been seen for some time, is the most cost-effective strategy.

The bottom line, however, was that money should be spent first in managing the environment to give a threatened species the best chance of survival, rather than engaging in efforts to survey for its presence, the researchers say.