tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3110840444004126342024-03-04T22:08:24.458-06:00Zu's NewsYou know science is reading about you.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger25125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-311084044400412634.post-50387533585838611202011-05-10T06:44:00.001-05:002011-05-10T06:45:02.308-05:00Have you seen this bee?A neuroscience center in Scotland is looking for their bees, after four bee hives were stolen from their labs today, according to Reuters. <br />
<br />
One scientist is quoted as saying "Clearly whoever did this knows what they were doing and how to handle bees."<br />
<div><br />
</div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiWaFhius2_t9aSGpETa-xIJ6lldNqlpbIleK2P1e_TIS4maYbSwNpayDVTP3foR9gpgEJkurMsWYKybX-r1bMsKhEAQa-iCE0PWn4jKFG_TM0q_MzYYpw2fnXSAuJnOoZH4CiMmldn7w/s1600/bee.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiWaFhius2_t9aSGpETa-xIJ6lldNqlpbIleK2P1e_TIS4maYbSwNpayDVTP3foR9gpgEJkurMsWYKybX-r1bMsKhEAQa-iCE0PWn4jKFG_TM0q_MzYYpw2fnXSAuJnOoZH4CiMmldn7w/s1600/bee.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Have you seen me?</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div>So beekeepers of the world, beware. There are bee-nappers out there who are skilled, prepared, and apparently stealthy. I can only imagine what sort of rig you'd need to steal four hives' worth of bees, much less what kind of motivation. </div><div><br />
</div><div>Dr. Chris Connolly, the lead researcher of the project, speculated that the bees might have been pilfered for breeding purposes, or to be sold to specialty beekeepers. They're estimated to be worth about $3.3 million dollars. </div><div><br />
</div><div>I'm kind of hoping this turns into a hostage situation. A ransom note will appear at the lab, written in honey. Connolly will talk to the bee-nappers over the phone, and he'll demand to talk to one of the queen bees to confirm that she's okay. The bees will quietly plan an escape, and that one charismatic super-bee will organize the others, engaging in hand-to-hand combat with the lead bee-thief, risking her life as her sister-bees flee to safety. She'll be wounded and weakened, but she'll live! </div><div><br />
</div><div>Paramount pictures must surely already be working on the script, and I for one can't wait to see that movie. </div><div><br />
</div><div><br />
</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-311084044400412634.post-19098823121579159912011-04-26T14:06:00.006-05:002011-04-30T21:05:10.872-05:00Crowd-Sourcing Safety?<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7c/VOA_Herman_-_April_13_2011_Fukushima_Nuclear_Power_Plant-03.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="133" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7c/VOA_Herman_-_April_13_2011_Fukushima_Nuclear_Power_Plant-03.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; font-family: sans-serif; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">Guards in protective gear near the <br />
Fukushima-1 nuclear plant's main gate,</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><a href="http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia/2011/04/201142317359479927.html">Al Jazeera news reports</a> that a group of techies involved with the <a href="http://www.tokyohackerspace.org/en">Toyko HackerSpace</a> are heading a project to make information about radiation levels in northeast Japan more accurate and available to those living there. <br />
<br />
<a href="http://safecast.org/">Safecast.org</a> has been handing out Geiger counters to residents and running them around the affected areas around the damaged Fukushima Daiichi plant. The information is updated to the website, which aggregates data from government agencies and charity organizations who are also watching radiation levels. <br />
<div><br />
</div><div>The goal is to provide information that is more transparent, regularly updated, and localized than is currently available. People in Japan are already living in perpetual uncertainty, not knowing whether another plate-tectonic event is about to ravage what meager stability they have forged. The inconsistent reports of radiation levels in the air, the food, and the water leave people essentially making decisions blind. </div><div><br />
</div><div>There's a lot that could be said about the responsibility of government in disaster situations. The problem in Japan doesn't just amount to a lack of government response - it's also an issue of transparency. Numbers that are reported are hard to contextualize because the radiation-measuring process isn't clear and residents have no way to fact-check the information. </div><div><br />
</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-311084044400412634.post-45634752700236154622011-04-18T23:01:00.002-05:002011-04-18T23:32:01.244-05:00The Embargo System<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/465923main_water_bear-1-187x250.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/465923main_water_bear-1-187x250.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 17px;">A water bear, crazy-looking<br />
but decidedly terrestrial. <br />
Image credit: NASA.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>Do you know where your science news comes from? <br />
<br />
A lot of the most prestigious journals for scientific publications put out information in a cloak-and-dagger style known as the embargo system. They select media outlets that they consider appropriate or legitimate enough for their purposes and send them information on upcoming publications. The chosen media outlets get the info in advance of publication as long as they agree not to breathe a word to anyone until the embargo is lifted. <br />
<br />
It's kind of an <i>alien </i>concept for a lot of journalists, and it can be pretty problematic for news in general. In November of last year, the internet just about peed its pants over this NASA announcement:<br />
<blockquote><i>NASA will hold a news conference at 2 p.m. EST on Thursday, Dec. 2, to discuss an astrobiology finding that will impact the search for evidence of extraterrestrial life. Astrobiology is the study of the origin, evolution, distribution and future of life in the universe.</i></blockquote>Speculation about the discovery of ET ran pretty rampant. Unfortunately, the journalists who knew the truth (that scientists had discovered a certain bacteria that could exchange phosphorus for arsenic in its DNA) couldn't quell the media clamor because they were sworn to secrecy. <br />
<br />
Even worse, when the information went fully public, it seemed like a let-down. Although the findings were significant and have implications for finding life in places once considered inhospitable, the truth didn't sound anywhere near as exciting as the rumors. <br />
<br />
Ultimately the secrecy and hype did a disservice to science. Maybe it's time we rethink the system.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-311084044400412634.post-74885754259414799462011-02-24T13:52:00.004-06:002011-02-24T14:42:29.710-06:00NASA's Robonaut 2 - Sophisticated Automaton, Evidence of Nerdery<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>NASA is currently counting down to space shuttle Discovery's final launch, but this notable last is also a first. The crew aboard Discovery includes the world's first humanoid robot destined to be an active member of the ISS crew: the Robonaut 2. That's right. It's R-2. <br />
<br />
But this R-2 is much more dexterous and only slightly less adorable than the Star Wars version. And if NASA's images of the earth-bound Robonaut are any indication, space is about to get a little dorkier. Here are some of my favorite images from the R-2's website and Flickr photostream:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://robonaut.jsc.nasa.gov/images/Robonaut2-20-pound-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="blank"><img border="0" src="http://robonaut.jsc.nasa.gov/images/Robonaut2-20-pound-2.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: center;">Gotta beef up before launch, that torso-only spacesuit leaves </div><div style="text-align: center;">little to the imagination. </div></td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4019/5161876882_066c469ddb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="blank"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4019/5161876882_066c469ddb.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">R-2, you're so vain. I bet you think that article is about you. <br />
(note: it is)</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4092/4837902877_ffff26685b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="blank"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4092/4837902877_ffff26685b.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yeah, being an advanced robot is alright. But check out this sweet smartphone. <br />
(note: <a href="http://twitter.com/#!/AstroRobonaut" target="blank">R-2 maintains its own Twitter feed</a>)</td></tr>
</tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://robonaut.jsc.nasa.gov/R1/images/centaur-small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="blank"><img border="0" src="http://robonaut.jsc.nasa.gov/R1/images/centaur-small.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An earlier version of the Robonaut. His hatred for the Jedi is <br />
only mildly assuaged by his shiny new ears. </td></tr>
</tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://robonaut.jsc.nasa.gov/images/CentaurMobility.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="blank"><img border="0" height="106" src="http://robonaut.jsc.nasa.gov/images/CentaurMobility.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">If you don't come down from there, we're blasting off without you. <br />
(note: the chariot is for mobility on earth, only the torso is going to space.)<br />
<br />
<br />
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-311084044400412634.post-54612019200340905452011-02-01T15:46:00.004-06:002011-02-01T22:56:27.220-06:00Nerd WordlesIf you haven't seen <a href="http://www.wordle.net/" target="_blank">Wordles</a> yet, it's definitely worth checking out. It's a free web graphic creator that turns text into art. The interface is easy to use, and the results are fun and fascinating, whether you're probing trends in your dream journal or in the Wall Street Journal. <br />
<br />
The idea is simple: You provide the text, and the program creates an image that mashes all the words together based on how commonly they are used. The larger the word appears in the graphic, the more often it showed up in the text. <br />
<br />
Here are some wonderfully nerdy Wordles that I created. You can see more under my Wordle creator pseudonym: <a href="http://www.wordle.net/gallery?username=Salamandarzu" target="blank">Salamandarzu</a>. <br />
<br />
From Einstein's "The Meaning of Relativity," which is made up of three lectures Einstein gave at Princeton in 1921. <br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.wordle.net/show/wrdl/3077138/Einstein%3A_The_Meaning_of_Relativity" target="blank" title="Wordle: Einstein: The Meaning of Relativity"><img alt="Wordle: Einstein: The Meaning of Relativity" src="http://www.wordle.net/thumb/wrdl/3077138/Einstein%3A_The_Meaning_of_Relativity" style="border: 1px solid #ddd; padding: 4px;" /></a><br />
<br />
From the transcript of the pilot episode of Star Trek Enterprise, "Broken Bow," which originally aired September 26, 2001. In this episode, the crew first makes contact with the Klingons. <br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.wordle.net/show/wrdl/3077601/Star_Trek_Enterprise%2C_pilot_episode" target="blank" title="Wordle: Star Trek Enterprise, pilot episode"><img alt="Wordle: Star Trek Enterprise, pilot episode" src="http://www.wordle.net/thumb/wrdl/3077601/Star_Trek_Enterprise%2C_pilot_episode" style="border: 1px solid #ddd; padding: 4px;" /></a><br />
<br />
From a transcript of Richard Feynman's lecture, "There's Plenty of Room at the Bottom," presented to the annual meeting of the American Physical Society in 1959. In this presentation, Feynman envisioned future progress at the nano-scale. <br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.wordle.net/show/wrdl/3077630/There%27s_Plenty_of_Room_at_the_Botton" target="blank" title="Wordle: There's Plenty of Room at the Botton"><img alt="Wordle: There's Plenty of Room at the Botton" src="http://www.wordle.net/thumb/wrdl/3077630/There%27s_Plenty_of_Room_at_the_Botton" style="border: 1px solid #ddd; padding: 4px;" /></a><br />
<br />
<br />
From the text of "The Hacker Manifesto," also known as "The Conscience of the Hacker," sometimes called the cornerstone of the ethical hacking movement. It was written by a hacker who called himself "The Mentor," and was originally published in in 1986. <br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.wordle.net/show/wrdl/3077765/The_Hacker_Manifesto%2C_by_the_Mentor" target="blank" title="Wordle: The Hacker Manifesto, by the Mentor"><img alt="Wordle: The Hacker Manifesto, by the Mentor" src="http://www.wordle.net/thumb/wrdl/3077765/The_Hacker_Manifesto%2C_by_the_Mentor" style="border: 1px solid #ddd; padding: 4px;" /></a><br />
<br />
The transcript of the final episode of Carl Sagan's Cosmos, entitled "Who Speaks for Earth." The episode originally aired in 1980. <br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSqeZdapsHUygbvOnmWNABn-w3IBK38V_Hit81axBAY4c2OBRuaRUNefDWinLwf9oz82HjWGKOVnve4f9XVl24OP70ZW6tBWUREONC3UlR9qFDlCo-wp1UvUJyyHUzwmnpFTpgUdn2C0Q/s1600/cosmos.jpg" target="blank" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSqeZdapsHUygbvOnmWNABn-w3IBK38V_Hit81axBAY4c2OBRuaRUNefDWinLwf9oz82HjWGKOVnve4f9XVl24OP70ZW6tBWUREONC3UlR9qFDlCo-wp1UvUJyyHUzwmnpFTpgUdn2C0Q/s200/cosmos.jpg" width="144" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(This image is housed on my blog ,<br />
because I can't rotate it on Wordle.)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-311084044400412634.post-21038537268774352322010-12-09T15:54:00.003-06:002010-12-09T16:08:03.177-06:00The Foursquare MinefieldWhat's the best thing about social networking in the digital age? Ease of stalking! <br />
<div><br />
</div><div>Let's take a look at Jessica G. and her Foursquare profile. She has provided a photo, so I can recognize her should I see her. She's the current mayor of the Boston University College of Communications, likely a student based on her age. She's the mayor of 646 E. Brookside Lane, a residential area in New Jersey (where she's also the major of a bagel shop), so this is likely her hometown and her family house. Finally, she's the Mayor of "The 157," another residential area in Brookline, Massachusetts, much closer to school. This is probably where she's living now. Furthermore, she's listed it as a "gay bar," suggesting that the girl hugging her in her profile photo is probably her girlfriend. </div><div><br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
</div><div>Maybe she's not into keeping her relationship a secret, but she probably doesn't want a random stranger (i.e. <i>me</i>) to know exactly what she looks like, where she goes to school, where she sleeps at night, and who with. </div><div><br />
</div><div>Now, let's look at Arielle V. I also get a profile photo here, for easy recognition. She doesn't appear to have her home listed on Foursquare, so kudos there. What I do get from Arielle is access to her Twitter feed, where she has a steady stream of all her Foursquare check-ins. She checked in at the BU George Sherman Union, a hang-out for BU students. She also checked in to Starbucks shortly after. </div><div><br />
</div><div>I can check out her routine with remarkable clarity. If I choose to follow her twittter stream, I get an automated update anytime she checks in anywhere. I'll know where to go and who to look for, and even how to build some common ground and trust between us. (<i>Oh, student life, the early mornings and the drudgery. So do you love coffee as much as I do?...</i>)</div><div><br />
</div><div>Finally, we have Tristanne L. Tristanne holds several mayorships, including a Starbucks, a Gamestop, a Carter's, and a Target in Massachusetts. Tristanne is also the mayor of two train stops: JFK/UMass and the Central Square station. Bus-stop mayorships aren't easy to obtain or retain because so many people cycle through there routinely with nothing to do but fiddle with their smartphones. </div><div><br />
</div><div>Tristanne, generous person that she is, has also provided links to her Facebook page and her Twitter stream. She has her Facebook page relatively locked down to strangers, but I've found her full name - and I can harness the power of the search engine to my advantage. By now I've discovered that she's from the UK, she plays soccer, and she used to live in Somerville, MA but moved to Boston within the last year. </div><div><br />
</div><div>It's not <i>necessarily </i>dangerous, but it's creepy. Foursquare provides a fun and rich service, the poster-child for gamification successfully utilized to build community, and I'm not knocking it. I've been competing for mayor of my building for a while, and it's harmless and fun, but mayorships can't be locked down to a "friends only" view. Much like in reality, being mayor makes you visible, and that's a responsibility that merits informed consent. </div><div><br />
</div><div>The lesson here is simple:</div><div><ul><li>Don't list your own house, however tempting it may be to be mayor of something. If you already have, you can log in to Foursquare via the website and relinquish your mayorship. </li>
<li>Don't check in to bus-stops, or other places you're likely to be alone and vulnerable on a dark evening. In fact, don't check in at all if you're alone and vulnerable on a dark evening. </li>
<li>Don't provide a how-to list for following your footsteps or mapping your routine. </li>
</ul></div><div><br />
</div><div><br />
</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-311084044400412634.post-18698437482834068192010-10-14T14:46:00.008-05:002010-12-09T16:09:12.701-06:00Scientists Study Dog Anxiety, Everyone Makes Same JokeIf you’ve got a canine friend, you may ascribe to the belief that your dog feels happy when you come home, depressed when you leave, or sympathetic when you’re feeling down. Well, you may be right. Recent science suggests that dogs may be prone to optimistic and pessimistic tendencies, and researchers used principles from human psychology to test this hypothesis. In the <a href="http://news.google.com/news/story?pz=1&ned=us&hl=en&ncl=dVd7yLewzIzZodMMSuU8i7rSkTB9M&lr=en&q=half&btnC=Go" target="_blank">words of dozens of like-minded news writers</a>, for some dogs “the bowl is half-empty.”<br />
<br />
<br />
<div>In the study, headed by a team at Bristol University, test-dogs were trained with two food bowls, one empty and one full. The bowls were always kept in the same place in the test room, so that the dog learned to expect a full bowl in one corner and an empty one in the other corner. After the dogs had formed these expectations, they were placed in the room with bowls arranged at random locations. Based on how enthusiastically the dogs checked the bowls, researchers classified which dogs were more optimistic decision-makers. Basically, being excited, rather than indifferent, about an unknown element belies a tendency to expect a positive outcome, rather than a negative one. <br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<br />
On its own, that wasn’t enough for me. It makes for an interesting concept, but it felt like flimsy reasoning to assume that dogs are feeling happy or sad or positive or negative based on how readily they run to check bowls for snacks. Maybe some dogs are just lazy, or confused by the bowl-misplacement. But wait – there’s more.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlsTqpPlBppedjJG5Ku_QTySs1hlXzRgV_y67560GChvbVdgtczuPsooYrTAcCjm9znNqBbA4hhgh8Rdj1YhSWCK-tNEjFS1j7kB1n5cz1yULvB3Y5SRtLdfq49QqLJKQZp4cVi0xRDcw/s1600/ennui.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlsTqpPlBppedjJG5Ku_QTySs1hlXzRgV_y67560GChvbVdgtczuPsooYrTAcCjm9znNqBbA4hhgh8Rdj1YhSWCK-tNEjFS1j7kB1n5cz1yULvB3Y5SRtLdfq49QqLJKQZp4cVi0xRDcw/s400/ennui.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<br />
The researchers found that the dogs which were more enthusiastic about the unknown bowls were also less likely to cause trouble when left alone for short periods of time. The “pessimistic” dogs were more likely to engage in chewing, barking, and other anxiety-behaviors when left to their own devices.<br />
<br />
But you don't want to get carried away by assuming that every twinge of your dog's face is the sign of some emotional state. Another study carried out in July of 2009 found that, much like in many areas of perception, we see what we want to see in our dogs. </div><div><br />
</div><div>This earlier study, which came out of Barnard College in New York, sought to determine whether the guilty face owners "recognize" on their dogs when they have done something wrong is a real phenomenon indicating remorse. Dogs were placed in rooms where it looked like they'd done something wrong - knocked over a vase or eaten something that they weren't allowed to eat, without the owner knowing whether the dog had committed an offense or not. The owners regularly attributed guilt to the dog, despite the dog often being innocent. The expression on the dog's face, if it was there at all, was a reaction to cues from the owner, not from actual feelings of regret. <br />
<br />
But what do you think? Is are dog "emotions" simply reactions to human cues and no different from the <a href="http://zusnews.blogspot.com/2010/10/from-emoticon-to-emoti-bot.html" target="_blank">Nao robot’s ability to mimic postures that we interpret as feelings</a>? Or do dogs have emotional states that are independent of conditioned responses? </div><div><br />
</div><div><br />
</div><div><a href="http://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(10)01020-1" target="_blank">Read the study on dog optimism/pessimist.</a></div><div><a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19520245" target="_blank">Read the study on guilty-looking dogs.</a></div><div><br />
</div><div><br />
</div><div><i>images to come!</i></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-311084044400412634.post-42310628980722001362010-10-13T21:08:00.010-05:002010-12-09T16:12:16.602-06:00From Emoticon to Emoti-bot<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Mid-August of this year, the news feeds exploded with stories about the <a href="http://www.google.com/#hl=en&q=nao%20robot&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=nw&fp=80834014c217cffa" target="_blank">Nao robot</a> and its ability to use emotional responses to interact with people. The little humanoid robot displays its feelings through physical postures, hunching its shoulders when it’s sad or opening up its arms for hugs when it’s happy.<br />
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It’s a fantastic technological development, and some would say a terrifying portent of our impending machine-based doom. But despite the promising work that the robot is doing with autistic children and the potential aid for the disabled, all I could think about while reading these articles <i>what do they mean by emotions</i>?<br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
<a name='more'></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> Later that month, Popular Science published an article about a computer that has independently read some of Aesop’s fables and developed an emotional response to them. It read a series of stories about birds, and responded “I feel bad for the bird,” without having been programmed to specifically respond with sympathy versus happiness or fear. It did this using a computer programming code called emotional markup language, a corollary to the better-known HTML, or hypertext markup language, which powers most of the internet.<br />
<br />
Emotional markup language is rather new, and hasn’t built up a strong repertoire of codes. In 2006 a group of developers organized a forum to “investigate a language to represent the emotional states of users and the emotional states simulated by user interfaces.” Backed by the World Wide Web Consortium, an international collaborative effort to build standards for web programming, the venture began with the premise that emotions and intelligence are intertwined, and that computers need to have emotional responsiveness since the users, humans, have emotional states. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span><br />
<div></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">The programming has a long way to go to establish any consistent format for widespread use, but will it ever be emotion? Given that science doesn’t have a definitive, widely accepted model for what emotion is or how it works, there may not be any way to know. What do we compare computer emotion to if we can’t point to or draw a picture of what emotion is in people?<br />
<br />
At best, these current machines have the affectation of emotion, displaying postures that humans recognize as being associated with certain feelings. It’s nowhere near the doomsday scenarios people worry about, with computers growing feelings of resentment toward humans and thus destroying us all. It’ll probably be much simpler and more mundane than all that.<br />
<br />
Imagine this – it’s the future and you’re strolling down a virtual-reality street in New England. You see a newly inserted café that you’d like to click into, but you can’t figure out how to work their newfangled Flash doorknob. After a few attempts, you become a little less gentle, you rattle the door and peer in the windows and maybe curse a little. The computer, sensing your frustration, offers up a little helper shaped like a paperclip that asks you “You seem to be trying to enter. Would you like help with that?” And maybe the paperclip has a comforting look on its face.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_bSwtrYp08p9AFjh3a0rmWzkzIFQwZYK9ZsAAx_2YDOJvU57XxIh3YogFq7ldzoc62L5dYopqLFEXa0LF0zpplmOuxICWkQZ-jrKd9Vme9LY2BXRt9x992OTCbFaAd6VH2VI9hzdwOJk/s1600/emotibot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_bSwtrYp08p9AFjh3a0rmWzkzIFQwZYK9ZsAAx_2YDOJvU57XxIh3YogFq7ldzoc62L5dYopqLFEXa0LF0zpplmOuxICWkQZ-jrKd9Vme9LY2BXRt9x992OTCbFaAd6VH2VI9hzdwOJk/s400/emotibot.jpg" width="250" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(<i>There, there. I understand.</i>)</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div><br />
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<div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://www.aldebaran-robotics.com/en" target="_blank">Learn more about the Nao Robot. </a></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://www.w3.org/2005/Incubator/emotion/XGR-emotionml-20081120/" target="_blank">Read the W3C report on emotional markup language.</a></span></div><div><br />
</div><div><i>Images to come!</i></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-311084044400412634.post-54789203862985457942010-10-13T19:32:00.003-05:002010-12-09T16:10:55.226-06:00Live and Streaming - The Top 5 Science StreamsThe internet age has given us access to so many vectors of useless information that some really amazing science sites go unnoticed. Luckily, I have noticed them for you.<br />
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These are the five coolest online scientific data streams, brought to you by Zu.<br />
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<b>5. Ground Control to Major Tom</b><br />
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</b>Space exploration may seem alien to you (ha!), but <a href="http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/realdata/tracking/index.html" target="_blank">NASA’s Human Space Flight tracker</a> brings it home by showing you the precise location of the International Space Station (ISS). If there were any manned (personned?) shuttles in orbit right now, you’d be able to track those too. The site provides you with the status of the ISS, as well as who’s on board and your next chance to catch a glimpse of it in the sky over your town.<br />
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<b>4. Ahoy, E-Matey!</b></div><div><b><br />
</b><a href="http://marinetraffic.com/" target="_blank">MarineTraffic.com</a> keeps track of all ships at sea with free and open access to a dizzying amount of information. You can look up a specific ship and see where it has been, where it is, and where its going, or just watch the whole world cruising along. The sheer density of vessels and their dispersion throughout the globe is pretty amazing, but this site gives you so much: itineraries, vessel stats, pictures, histories, docks, and so on.<br />
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If you prefer the sky to the sea, the airliner’s equivalent is <a href="http://flightaware.com/" target="_blank">FlightAware</a>.<br />
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<b>3. Eye in the Sky</b></div><div><b><br />
</b><a href="http://science.nasa.gov/realtime/jtrack/3d/JTrack3D.html" target="_blank">NASA’s Satellite Tracker</a> provides a three-dimensional view of all the satellites currently orbiting the earth (or at least the unclassified ones...). You can view the movements in real time, with each satellite represented as one little white dot. You can actually track the motion of individual satellites, and watch as they zoom across continents and oceans with amazing speed, or see the whole mess of them careening around the earth. When you zoom out, our little home planet looks blanketed with a quivering mass of tiny objects.<br />
<br />
<b>2. I Want To Believe</b></div><div><b><br />
</b>You can lend a hand with the Search for Extraterrestrial Life's (SETI) data processing efforts and get a front row seat to the song of the spheres with <a href="http://setiathome.berkeley.edu/index.php" target="_blank">SETI@Home</a>. SETI scans the cosmos for transmissions from distant planets. The amount of data they accumulate is massive, and processing power gets expensive. In the past few years, SETI has successfully managed to crowd-source their work, and now you and your computer are an important part of their efforts.<br />
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If you opt in to participate in the project, the processing program runs in the background when your computer is idling, so it won’t get in your way while you’re trolling the web. While it runs, you get a pretty graphical representation of the information that’s passing through your machine, with information about the frequencies of electromagnetic waves that they, and now you, are processing.<br />
<br />
<b>1. Life is the Bubbles (Under the Sea)</b></div><div><b><br />
</b>Many say that the oceans are the last frontier on this planet, a realm so mysterious that we know more about the moon than about the sea-floor. Thanks to <a href="http://listentothedeep.com/" target="_blank">Lido</a> you can vicariously play deep-ocean explorer by listening, in real time, to the audio feeds from various underwater research sites.<br />
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The site is a work in progress, and not all the research facilities are streaming yet, but once you realize you are listening to underwater noises from thousands of miles away you can’t help but feel that the future is happening. If you’re patient, and a little lucky, you can hear the distinct hums and clicks of whales as they go about their daily whale lives, and the effect is pretty enchanting. You can also hear the persistent roar of commercial ships nearby, a sort of noise pollution that some marine biologists worry might be getting in the way of whale communication. Once you hear it, you might sympathize.</div><div><br />
</div><div><br />
</div><div><br />
</div><div>Do you have other favorites? Let me know, and I'll keep a compiled list of all the great data feeds out there.</div><div><br />
</div><div><i>Images to come! </i></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-311084044400412634.post-53656843387987831392010-10-13T00:07:00.014-05:002010-12-09T16:11:17.269-06:00Keeping Score: Games of the Future and the Future of Gaming (extra points for comments)Games are successful if they can achieve one vital goal: to keep you interested. Loyalty is priceless in the game world, and it’s achieved via reward systems that give you just enough satisfaction to keep you engaged.<br />
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But reward systems aren’t isolated to games. They have played a part in our consumer reality for a long time. Jesse Schell, game designer and teacher at Carnegie Mellon’s Entertainment Center, is waiting for a game revolution to take over even the mundane aspects of our everyday lives.<br />
<div><br />
He envisions a world where your toothbrush gives you points every time you brush, and a bonus for brushing for the recommended three minutes. Your health insurance can read your digital shoes for how much you’ve walked in a day, and gives you points for getting your heart-rate up. Your cereal box has digital games on the back, instead of word-searches or mazes, and the games link up through Facebook to rate you against your friends.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv9qZuZ9bjRmxMO4lSSHOLsQyVg-cwYyqfOdvBMgHoKRuuDrK1BFOo2Ivt1KoCzGrimiIriSnH7402YZ_qe3yIMwFG_zhY8qlPFVOTUJlzrNwF63bTCsBrZDdhv88DqS6dUSL1xfbHXoI/s1600/Fail-toothbrush.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="175" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv9qZuZ9bjRmxMO4lSSHOLsQyVg-cwYyqfOdvBMgHoKRuuDrK1BFOo2Ivt1KoCzGrimiIriSnH7402YZ_qe3yIMwFG_zhY8qlPFVOTUJlzrNwF63bTCsBrZDdhv88DqS6dUSL1xfbHXoI/s400/Fail-toothbrush.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(<i>Did you think there wouldn't be consequences?</i>)</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div>It may sound extreme, but credit cards have long been giving away airline miles with great success. Best Buy has a “Reward Zone” that gives you points based on how much you spend. Restaurants and cafes have punch-cards that try to push you to come back enough to win that free 10th cup of coffee or free sandwich. It’s all a game.<br />
<br />
Schell simply extrapolates that notion one step further. The reward systems that we already have are no different than the points that you accumulate by watering your digital crops in Facebook’s Farmville. He gives the example of the new 2010 Ford Fusion hybrid and the little digital plant display that lives in its dashboard. The more eco-friendly your driving habits, the more the plant grows.<br />
<div><br />
But Schell isn’t naïve enough to think that it’ll all be good-natured and healthy-habit-forming. After a talk given at Boston’s Coolidge Corner theater (after a 15th anniversary viewing of the film “Hackers,” which was awesome), he talked to me about the potential benefits and risks that he feels are inevitably coming our way.<br />
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The doling out of points is made possible by the obsessive tracking of the minutia of our lives. We’re already getting more and more accustomed to sharing our most irrelevant thoughts in the vast public forum that is social networking media. People are already sharing what they’ve eaten, read, seen, liked, and disliked with fervor. Attaching a point-value for every Tweet would hardly be a step outside the box.<br />
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Unfortunately, what this allows for is ridiculous amounts of advertising. Your toothbrush may compel you to keep better habits, but it might also start recommending a toothpaste brand and offering bonus points for making the purchase.<br />
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Schell knows that it’s coming, but he says we’ll overcome the backwash of ads and manage to do some good with reward systems. If experience points can keep kids glued to a monitor for hours on end, maybe it’ll get them a little more excited about doing their homework.<br />
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Would you feel compelled to play along if you could get experience points for taking public transportation or using a coupon? Or does it sound like a sugar-coated version of Big Brother? <br />
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<br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.jesseschell.com/" target="_blank">Learn more about Jesse Schell and link to his lectures at his awesomely-envisioned website, Schell in a Handbasket.</a> </div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-311084044400412634.post-22034923761164029642010-10-01T18:55:00.005-05:002010-10-14T14:56:36.952-05:00I Can Imagine this Experiment Ruining RelationshipsIn breaking news from the world of that-confirms-what-I'd-suspected and well-isn't-that-depressing, scientists have discovered a disparity between the physical shape of people's actual significant others and that of their ideal significant others. Researchers at the Institut des Sciences de l'Evolution in France performed an experiment involving 116 "human couples," and found that, on average, men preferred their women much slimmer, and women preferred their men slightly beefier. <br />
<div><div><br />
</div><div>In the tests, each participant was given two silhouettes to modify - one that represented themselves, and one that represented the body shape of their ideal mates. Each member was granted freedom - no worried loved ones looking over their shoulders - to alter the ideal mate silhouette to whatever looked most attractive to them. The researchers then took the dimensions of the idealized silhouettes and compared them against the measurements taken from the participants and their actual mates. </div><div><br />
</div><div>The findings break down as follows:</div><div><ul><li>The men's ideal mates were generally significantly slimmer and slightly taller, thus having lower BMIs (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_mass_index" target="_blank">body mass index</a>)</li>
<li>The women's ideal mates were slightly larger and a little taller, with similarly proportioned BMIs</li>
</ul>The paper concludes that no one had just what they wanted, which isn't particularly surprising. </div><div><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOV5MPXyk4xNf3hAWJn0Caydcm_rH9i9hcdf_1iD3J1j-3iCT6FHcRvfJVFFe-VLv2Gyh0O-x_1eqZip5y8kVs7UXdiO_HkuPFeeXx3nwWmw2fltBZ1njYA3Tv0OMUyjHYKSM1Fk7JZFg/s1600/journal.pone.0013010.g001.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="286" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOV5MPXyk4xNf3hAWJn0Caydcm_rH9i9hcdf_1iD3J1j-3iCT6FHcRvfJVFFe-VLv2Gyh0O-x_1eqZip5y8kVs7UXdiO_HkuPFeeXx3nwWmw2fltBZ1njYA3Tv0OMUyjHYKSM1Fk7JZFg/s400/journal.pone.0013010.g001.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>(Dreamy.) </i></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div><br />
</div><div>What's troubling, however, is that the preferred silhouette that the men drew had an average BMI of 18.4, just below the cut-off for being officially underweight by the <a href="http://apps.who.int/bmi/index.jsp?introPage=intro_3.html" target="_blank">standards of the World Health Organization.</a> Women drew silhouettes with an average BMI of 23.5, well within range and for their partners. </div><div><br />
</div><div>While the study can do little to tease out the cause of these disparities, it's easy to let speculation lead us astray. There weren't many controls in the experiment, and there aren't other similar tests that compare both mate preference and mate choice, so it's hard to draw any solid conclusions. </div><div><br />
</div><div>What the researchers did conclude is that mate preference is a poor predictor of mate choice. Basically, you're not likely to end up dating the body of your dreams. Perhaps it's best to focus your preferences on non-physical attributes then, eh? </div></div><div><br />
</div><div><a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0013010#pone-0013010-g003" target="_blank"><b>Read the actual study.</b></a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-311084044400412634.post-26987203003498035222010-09-30T22:22:00.004-05:002010-10-14T14:57:10.068-05:00In the Basement with Boston's BUILDSers<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #474b4e; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 18px;">(The headline isn't a typo, it's just not a very good headline.) </span><br />
<br />
Walking in, it's pretty much what I expected; the room is crowded with college kids, hunched around tables and over computers, nose-deep in books or tearing apart electrical equipment. The walls have murals of sci-fi landscapes and old-style phone switchboards, and there are power tools and wires and metal cabinets just about everywhere you look. There are more females than I’d expected, and that's a pleasant surprise.<br />
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This is the headquarters of BUILDS, a workshop and research lab tucked away in the basement of Boston University's Math and Computer Science building. While BU has more than 550 clubs, this one in particular has something that most clubs don't - freedom. BUILDS is one of the few student-organized, student-managed, student-directed clubs at BU. While the club still has the prerequisite faculty advisor, the members are the chief decision-makers. <br />
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"BU was starved for a space like this," club treasurer and BU junior Valerie Young says, "a place for open creativity and expression."<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGhjwlY6mS7aJkRjolC3mXI_sxBbPJr6wF14WQPNqg0vpcM9vdWwtMjiglXi0Ul0B_P834qyan4gX8FhkOiLpqtJvZZBIORm4ezwBno14JUBxjMYVpr2bbcq-dzwrrevzdvT4Xt9xx1XQ/s1600/buildsrevised.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGhjwlY6mS7aJkRjolC3mXI_sxBbPJr6wF14WQPNqg0vpcM9vdWwtMjiglXi0Ul0B_P834qyan4gX8FhkOiLpqtJvZZBIORm4ezwBno14JUBxjMYVpr2bbcq-dzwrrevzdvT4Xt9xx1XQ/s400/buildsrevised.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>(It would have made my life easier if one of them had been named Bob.)</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>The club's philosophy is based around a "hacker ethic," which is deeply exploratory, constructive, and free. It’s the old hacker philosophy; the digital realm is a neutral zone, and hackers seek to test the tentative boundaries of this evolving world, illuminating security risks and contributing to the general knowledge-pool.<br />
<br />
When I first meet her, Valerie is mired in thoughts over a new campaign the club is launching to draw more female members. She pores over a drawing of a defiant, overalls-clad girl gripping a wrench and looking off into the distance. Valerie’s looking for a slogan for this future poster, for the right words to speak to the "inner badass" of women on campus. She’s also the lead on a project that will create a musical staircase in one of BU's student unions, using infrared emitters and sensors. Everyone in BUILDS has many facets.<br />
<br />
Meanwhile, the weekly BUILDS club meeting has ended and the night has turned into a study session. Most of the remaining members have a mid-term to prepare for, and they're discussing some example problem, making references to something that sounds like binary code. The group effort is effortless.<br />
<br />
One guy keeps track of the different angles of attack on a large wipe-board, and different members throw out ideas and questions and lamentations. Some follow along on computers and some are scrawling on torn-off pieces of paper-towel. I offer them some sheets of paper from my note-pad, but apparently it's a matter of personal preference.<br />
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The club is designed to bring people together and provide resources to realize visions, current vice-president and college sophomore John-Nicholas Furst tells me. It’s all about being able to bring your ideas to life, whether that means garnering team interest in a larger project, or just having access to resources for something you're doing on your own. The club has drawn attention from faculty, giving the club some great mentors, but there's an inherent freedom that was negotiated and fought for, and that's what the officers want to preserve.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9qenlfIhcF1TaCCpHT2tb8hEoQv-pNU2YVWCk4nK7fYWxnBrRRHPN5rVZTMYPl0wiu98AhLiPlpF6zvhQ8QBKj7ofyDcI0WPLJw0u2O-70arq7iHA2VdcA0MsSGH-zqOSOGaj94PVfEA/s1600/buildlogorevised.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9qenlfIhcF1TaCCpHT2tb8hEoQv-pNU2YVWCk4nK7fYWxnBrRRHPN5rVZTMYPl0wiu98AhLiPlpF6zvhQ8QBKj7ofyDcI0WPLJw0u2O-70arq7iHA2VdcA0MsSGH-zqOSOGaj94PVfEA/s400/buildlogorevised.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>(That's their name.)</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<br />
John has time to tell me this briefly before he's drawn away by another BUILDS member who has been tearing apart iPods. Apologizing, John says he has to run; he's working on acquiring a rather large transistor for the Tesla coil the club is building.<br />
<br />
Part workshop, part support-group for DIY-ers, BUILDS combines a hacker core with an engineering ambition, where members pitch, design, learn, and build for the sheer joy of it. And every Friday night, they have a lock-picking seminar.<br />
<br />
"It's mostly social," Valerie says. "Besides, you have to do it regularly or else you lose it."<br />
<br />
<div><i><br />
</i><a href="http://builds.cc/" style="color: #dd6599; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Learn more, or join the club (you don't have to be a student).</a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-311084044400412634.post-91187339475948576022010-09-22T11:59:00.002-05:002010-09-22T12:09:13.426-05:00Looming Disappointment: Jupiter is Big, but it’s Not a Big Deal<div style="background-color: transparent; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span id="internal-source-marker_0.03235923917964101" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Is it a bird? A plane? A star? No, it’s a distant gas giant.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If you’re watching the night sky this month, you’ll see a bright spot rising in the east as the sun sets in the west. It’s the planet Jupiter, and it’s making its usual pass by Earth at closer-than-usual distance, drawing much attention from the media. Mention it to astronomers, however, and you be subject to bored stares. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A Google search for “Jupiter” brings up over 400 articles for the month of September, many with phrases like “celestial treat” and “rare phenomenon.” All the major news institutions have covered it, including the New York Times and National Geographic. Telegram.com predicts, “It should be a stunning sight.” </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Professor Tom Bania of Boston University’s Department of Astronomy doesn’t see what the fuss is about. His office sits just below the Judson B. Coit Observatory, where he’d have access to views of this “celestial treat,” if he’d bother. The Earth comes relatively close to Jupiter every year, and although this year is a bit closer than most, Bania’s not expecting anything spectacular:</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Are we going to learn the secrets of the universe? No. Are astronomers throwing Jupiter-parties? No. It’s a media hype thing.” </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Jupiter is the fifth planet from our sun, an enormous, whirling gas giant that has at least 63 moons, four of which were originally discovered by Galileo in 1610. It is best known for its huge red spot, a centuries-old storm on its southern end that is physically larger than the planet Earth. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpEIEGeZv_ux7KmjGMTAyxPQ9oTkOTPtqnDDQJN79td_PYNvouvqaSHXSb9sOwYfzB8yEFbI1t7HMQIFOCJNSzIamAXPJpWEwi-zPIupldSvWjBRInbFyrGbW1f7ax3COprqLWvfKXXnw/s1600/jupiterish.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpEIEGeZv_ux7KmjGMTAyxPQ9oTkOTPtqnDDQJN79td_PYNvouvqaSHXSb9sOwYfzB8yEFbI1t7HMQIFOCJNSzIamAXPJpWEwi-zPIupldSvWjBRInbFyrGbW1f7ax3COprqLWvfKXXnw/s400/jupiterish.bmp" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">(Artistic rendering. The green ones are moons.) </span> </i><br />
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</tbody></table><div style="background-color: transparent; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Once a year, the Earth lies right in the middle of a straight shot between the sun and Jupiter, and this is called Jupiter in “opposition.” This year’s opposition happens to occur when Jupiter is orbiting closer to the sun, and thus closer to Earth than any year since 1963, but the difference is minuscule in planetary terms. During last year’s opposition, Jupiter was 374,426,315 miles away, and this year it’s 367,547,580 miles away. Ultimately, it’s less than a two percent difference. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Professor John Clarke of the Center for Space Physics at the university compares the opposition event to a birthday. “It’s significant as a historical marker, but nothing’s changed from the day before and nothing’s going to change the day after.”</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">While Clarke has focused much of his research on Jupiter, he’s far more interested in Jupiter’s ability to protect the Earth from interstellar asteroids, thanks to its much greater gravitational pull that draws objects toward it and away from us. Scientifically, he says, this year’s opposition just isn’t a big deal. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Bania worries that this type of hype draws attention away from new and important findings. “We’re in a genuine age of discovery,” he says, but he’s afraid that real breakthroughs might get lost in the media cloud.</span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-311084044400412634.post-47206546622791354772010-09-19T23:50:00.001-05:002010-10-14T14:57:54.975-05:00Did I do that? Research suggests that watching is as good as doing, as far as memory goes.<div class="MsoNormal">In a study published in Psychological Science, researchers have found that watching someone else perform an action can get jumbled in the mind and turned into a personal memory.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This study adds to a growing body of evidence demonstrating that human memory is surprisingly fallible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Isabel Lindner of the <st1:placetype w:st="on">University</st1:placetype> of <st1:placename w:st="on">Cologne</st1:placename> in <st1:country-region w:st="on">Germany</st1:country-region> led a team of scientists at <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Jacobs University</st1:city> <st1:state w:st="on">Bremen</st1:state></st1:place> in a study probing the mechanisms of memory.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The study builds on previous research which suggests that passively watching an act creates neurological activity similar to actually performing the act.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lindner and her team wondered whether passive watching could also turn into falsely remembering.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">They conducted studies on 57 participants to test whether they remembered performing an action, such as shaking a bottle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some participants watched a video in which a person shook a bottle, while others did not.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When questioned two weeks later, participants were much more likely to falsely remember having personally shook the bottle if they had watched the video.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">“We were stunned,” Gerald Echterhoff, a fellow scientist on the study, said in the press release from the Association for Psychological Science.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The researchers noted that this sort of mental mix-up doesn’t happen all the time, and it’s no reason to distrust every recollection you have, but it’s important to understand the limits of human memory.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span">“It’s good to have an informed doubt or informed skepticism about your memory performance,” Echterhoff, added, “So you don’t just easily trust whatever comes to your mind.” </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i>Images to come!</i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><a href="http://wwwback.jacobs-university.de/imperia/md/content/groups/schools/shss/echterhoff/observinflation_lindnerechterhoffetal_psychsci_inpress.pdf" target="_blank">Read the original study -></a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://www.psychologicalscience.org/index.php/news/releases/false-memories-of-self-performance-result-from-watching-others-actions.html" target="_blank">Read the press release from the Association for Psychological Science (APS) -></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-311084044400412634.post-48037486421900612010-09-15T20:37:00.009-05:002010-11-08T10:26:54.992-06:00Dancing in the Dark: Tree Frogs Illuminate the Art of Vibration as Communication<div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px;">You and I may use “no trespassing” signs to deter would-be invaders from stomping on our turf, but what if we could use something much more primitive – and perhaps more jarring – to get our message across? If we were male red-eyed tree frogs, we would shake invaders away. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> <br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt;">In a paper published in Current Biology in July, Michael Caldwell and his colleagues from <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Boston</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">University</st1:placetype></st1:place> were the first to establish shaking, or tremulation behaviors as a means of vibration-based communication among red-eyed tree frogs. While decades of research have been dedicated to visual and acoustic signals among animals, scientists have generally overlooked vibration as a means of communication. <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Caldwell</st1:place></st1:city>’s article demonstrates, for the first time, that the vibration in the male tree-frog’s aggression display is more important than the visual dance. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt;">Red-eyed tree frogs are among the most photographed animals in the world, thanks to their distinct appearance. With bright red eyes, vibrant green skin, blue bellies, and orange hands and feet, they make for a compelling image. And their rump-shaking territorial behavior makes for compelling video.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt;">Under the cover of darkness, these colorful frogs stake their claim among the leaves and use a sound called a "chack" to call for females. If a second male frog should appear on the same branch, the contest is on and the shaking begins. With hands and feet wrapped around the branch, the frog rises up on its limbs and begins shaking, engaging in what looks like a frog tantrum, as <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Caldwell</st1:place></st1:city> puts it. If the encroaching frog isn’t immediately deterred, a fearsome wrestling match ensues until one of the frogs gives in and hops away. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFOexhYzGj-C3xdkcVgVB7U1aaaqolno9rR0Fc1SJ8bwkOj6B_cw5hY0iHgizb4anBNYursD-0s9uWQ1DaxGZSENR5hgzrDKKjU-it7kYzV26f2jgd35NKxEt6ZvN4ntiYOKwC8DnKffw/s1600/Tree_Frog_by_Kiku_Stock.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFOexhYzGj-C3xdkcVgVB7U1aaaqolno9rR0Fc1SJ8bwkOj6B_cw5hY0iHgizb4anBNYursD-0s9uWQ1DaxGZSENR5hgzrDKKjU-it7kYzV26f2jgd35NKxEt6ZvN4ntiYOKwC8DnKffw/s320/Tree_Frog_by_Kiku_Stock.jpg" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"><i>Your trespassing will have consequences. Adorable ones. </i></span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px;"> </span><br />
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</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt;">According to Karen Warkentin, Boston University Professor and Senior Author on <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Caldwell</st1:place></st1:city>’s article, frogs have long played an important role in research on animal communication, but research into vibrations as message-carriers is pretty new. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt;">Using infrared cameras to catch the choreography (the frogs are shy – they only dance in the dark), <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Caldwell</st1:city></st1:place> found that the shaking is always at a constant rate of 12 hertz, or 12 times per second. The regularity of the shaking secures it as a clear signal to the other frogs, so it’s not easily mistakable for the effects of wind or rain. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt;">Caldwell</span></st1:place></st1:city><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt;">’s team made a robot with a faux-frog on it to test whether the real frogs were responding to the visual or vibrational aspect of the shaking. They found that the frogs did not shake back when the robot frog moved but the branch didn’t, further establishing the vibrations felt in the branch are the cue to start the fight. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt;">“Michael showed that the adult frogs use vibrations in male-male aggression more than they use sound, and I’ll be really surprised if these are the only animals that do,” said Warkentin. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt;"><i>Special thanks to Michael Caldwell and John Christy of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Karen Warkentin of Boston University, Peggy Hill of the University of Tulsa, and Paul de Luca of the University of Toronto for helping inform this article. </i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">More images to come! </span></i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
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<a href="http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/player/news/animals-news/red-eyed-tree-frogs-shaking-vin.html" target="_blank">See the frog dance caught on film at Nat Geo site.</a><br />
<a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6VRT-5045SX6-1&_user=10&_coverDate=06/08/2010&_rdoc=1&_fmt=high&_orig=browse&_origin=browse&_sort=d&view=c&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=f214ede60832305723d16ef0447cae47" target="_blank">Read the full study. </a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-311084044400412634.post-70917016867886758722009-10-15T15:06:00.000-05:002010-10-14T15:38:53.775-05:00Momma Was a Newt and Daddy Was a WeaselFindings from the scientific community are leading some (mostly me) to wonder if perhaps legendary X-Man Wolverine might be half newt. That would certainly explain the fast healing, super immune system, and bone protrusion, although the abundant body hair is distinctly mammalian.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC_14Qg74QG9ESqr0QNaw66Z2WnGk54DQYl9BIlljzFgFZ9qAE7HcZTJZ7-PHj_puh36FkuhDu4flU1CCGiENRbekRrFhjlK4wqFx2UN1dnMzGAVAv5XVRdUULjAWT88T9YSXSsQdfVGw/s1600-h/momma-was-a-newt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC_14Qg74QG9ESqr0QNaw66Z2WnGk54DQYl9BIlljzFgFZ9qAE7HcZTJZ7-PHj_puh36FkuhDu4flU1CCGiENRbekRrFhjlK4wqFx2UN1dnMzGAVAv5XVRdUULjAWT88T9YSXSsQdfVGw/s320/momma-was-a-newt.jpg" border="0" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size:x-small;">Pictured above: potential Wolverine genetic tree. Dare we wonder?<br />
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</span></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div>In 1879 a natural historian first noticed that Spanish ribbed newts (AKA sharp-ribbed newts) can use their ribs as a defense mechanism, piercing their bones through their skin to form super-sharp spines. More recently, <a href="http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/08/090828-spanish-newt-ribs-spines-wolverine.html" target="_blank">Austrian scientists using scanning technology</a> revealed that the newts are actually rotating their ribs forward up to fifty degrees away from their normal position against the spine.<br />
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The holes heal quickly thanks to fast regeneration, and a highly advanced immune system keeps the wounds from becoming infected. As far as researchers can tell, the newts are not particularly bothered by the protrusion of their ribs, despite needing to tear new holes each time.<br />
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The newts also have a secret weapon (as though concealed rib-shivs weren't enough). When the ribs protrude, the newts' skin secretes a poisonous substance that can cause severe pain, or even death, for the unlucky predator that tries to chomp down on it. Maybe this one skips a generation.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZHdZhfrE7YFu5KYMxQe3KDqVqpjaOxyUyJIEFrnLDf-2aOZ1mDcct0SclNFVfhWx5idXAuhc6jWLdZ4rnxPiYcfLK0TkmHVbbjvQCoa48F7UDYEldfh-eQbiCusVvTXk9xf2JWjQJ0tY/s1600-h/daddy+was+a+newt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZHdZhfrE7YFu5KYMxQe3KDqVqpjaOxyUyJIEFrnLDf-2aOZ1mDcct0SclNFVfhWx5idXAuhc6jWLdZ4rnxPiYcfLK0TkmHVbbjvQCoa48F7UDYEldfh-eQbiCusVvTXk9xf2JWjQJ0tY/s320/daddy+was+a+newt.jpg" border="0" /></a></div><span style="font-size:x-small;"><i>While the newt pictured above appears to be simply stretching its back, it is actually about to kick your ass. Arrows are pointing to the ends of ribs that are tearing through the skin. </i></span><br />
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"The combination of the poisonous secretion and the ribs as 'stinging' tools is highly effective," says Egon Heiss of the University of Vienna. The newts themselves seem to be immune to the poison, reabsorbing it once the threat is neutralized.<br />
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Scientists speculate that the rib-weapon mutation may be an <a href="http://coherentscience.blogspot.com/2009/08/evolutionary-basics-adaptation-aka.html" target="_blank">adaptation</a> that came from a more common lizard tendency: chest-puffing. Many salamanders have an ability to expand their ribs, puffing up to look larger and hopefully deter predators. The rib-joint mechanism for puffing-up is similar to that of the Spanish ribbed newts, suggesting an evolutionary relationship.<br />
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At the time of this writing, Zu's News is not aware of any studies done on the potential for wolverine-newt hybridization.<br />
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<a href="http://www.google.com/#hl=en&q=Egon+Heiss+newts+&fp=9733483af0cc9d26" target="_blank">We were unable to find the original study to provide for our dear readers, but you can click here for Google's findings on this topic.</a><br />
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<span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >All drawings are (obviously) original creations and are the property of Zu's News. Images may not be reproduced without express permission from Zu's News, although you could just draw something better yourself.</span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-311084044400412634.post-59264910671034503982009-10-14T15:07:00.000-05:002010-10-14T15:38:35.031-05:00Refute, Refuse, and Re-Justify<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVDGFzCPi3J9BjK8-YGyQjV9zwsDp8KzfENKWXGdutTdU0MwKotoeWnhLosBLjmsEycveEx4W5iIrF34vB9PcNR1fF-zBgAcW6pWxc7i1HiPb0WIX98KgigLhZxy92CjnXteBAzXwK4go/s1600-h/false-beliefs-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVDGFzCPi3J9BjK8-YGyQjV9zwsDp8KzfENKWXGdutTdU0MwKotoeWnhLosBLjmsEycveEx4W5iIrF34vB9PcNR1fF-zBgAcW6pWxc7i1HiPb0WIX98KgigLhZxy92CjnXteBAzXwK4go/s200/false-beliefs-1.jpg" border="0" /></a>It seems that changing our minds is harder than we think, but only because we refuse to do so. A <a href="http://sociology.buffalo.edu/documents/hoffmansocinquiryarticle_000.pdf" target="_blank">new study</a> is suggesting that misinformation isn't just a result of government propaganda or media manipulation; people just get attached to what they think they know.<br />
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<span style="font-size:x-small;"><i>Pictured left: person attached to a false belief. </i></span><br />
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Human reasoning is not a perfect system (surprise!), and without careful supervision our minds can get caught in belief ruts that eventually disconnect us from reality. Many of us think that human reasoning operates in a fashion that scientists call "Bayesian updating," meaning that we incorporate new information into what we already know and change our minds accordingly.<br />
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The researchers behind a new study, published in the journal <a href="http://www.wiley.com/bw/journal.asp?ref=0038-0245" target="_blank">"Sociological Inquiry,"</a> beg to differ. They see human critical processes as a system they call "motivated reasoning," where people "ignore challenging information altogether, discredit the information source, or argue substantively against the challenge" when faced with contradictory ideas.<br />
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The new study is taking a closer look at how people (voters in particular) handle information that relates to things they erroneously believe. The researchers interviewed individuals about the notion that Saddam Hussein had something to do with the 9/11 attacks, a relationship that has been officially negated by the CIA, the Senate Intelligence Committee, and eventually Bush himself, but remains popular for some reason.<br />
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So why do polls continue to show that people think there was a direct relationship between al Qaeda and Hussein? The findings of this study have much to say about human reasoning in general, and force us to reconsider some of the beliefs we stubbornly hold.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcuvaeZEpNq7mz_gMaCTfESxqu_IFNeB2MProeQBq65Ol86ZL7ul9BSz3tF4NtcJ1GI41H2kDTckdFvS5djJFSu77dXNjDZGvTmn_4PBVCs0MG1eDb4PDraxbU8uKU73HZe93zex4xB-E/s1600-h/false-beliefs-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcuvaeZEpNq7mz_gMaCTfESxqu_IFNeB2MProeQBq65Ol86ZL7ul9BSz3tF4NtcJ1GI41H2kDTckdFvS5djJFSu77dXNjDZGvTmn_4PBVCs0MG1eDb4PDraxbU8uKU73HZe93zex4xB-E/s400/false-beliefs-3.jpg" border="0" /></a></div><i><span style="font-size:x-small;">Polls continue to show that a significant portion of the US population holds the false belief that Saddam Hussein was directly or significantly to blame for the attacks of 9/11.</span></i><br />
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The study included interviews of various people who claimed they believed that Saddam Hussein was either partly or largely responsible for the attacks on 9/11. The researchers then presented the participants with evidence pointing to there being no relationship. Despite having the facts in their hands, including a quote from Bush himself saying that there was no relationship between Hussein and al Qaeda, all but one person insisted that the relationship must exist.<br />
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There were a few acts of mental gymnastics that the researchers noted among the participants that refused to change their minds. If any of these methods seem familiar, don't be surprised; they're ways that we all occasionally cope with cognitive tension, the name that scientists give to the discomfort that we feel when our view of reality is challenged.<br />
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One way participants handled the new information was through "counterarguing," or by disputing the facts themselves. One participant argued that there's not going to be evidence of a link between Hussein and al Qaeda because it's all very secretive. At least the believers in this category have a reason, but they are the exception.<br />
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The most popular strategy was "attitude bolstering," where the participants switched from answering the question of the link between Hussein and al Qaeda to other reasons that the Iraq war is justified. These participants answered that Saddam Hussein needed to be dealt with eventually anyway, or that Bush thought there were WMDs to worry about.<br />
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A third option was "selective exposure," where the new information was dismissed or brushed off. The participants refused to comment on it or consider it.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlYZu0hAMP8qSL-0i9EQA4HBttNTz5ARAuqRzUvGbNpAq7YkhP_q6bJQYTYZ-3UsrWJ6jdZpJpN8pK2J3EcMUKpEvgPYI_ddn6Gakzfu9pPnkes4GtS-NeBGkWDBoJsrjcH3gADPqjm4Y/s1600-h/false-beliefs-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlYZu0hAMP8qSL-0i9EQA4HBttNTz5ARAuqRzUvGbNpAq7YkhP_q6bJQYTYZ-3UsrWJ6jdZpJpN8pK2J3EcMUKpEvgPYI_ddn6Gakzfu9pPnkes4GtS-NeBGkWDBoJsrjcH3gADPqjm4Y/s320/false-beliefs-2.jpg" border="0" /></a></div><i><span style="font-size:x-small;">Study participants had various strategies for retaining their false beliefs in the face of contradictory evidence. </span></i><br />
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A fourth way that participants maintained their positions was by "disputing rationality." These believers did not produce a reason for continuing to believe, but maintained that they had their own opinions.<br />
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Finally, participants surprised the researchers by creatively justifying their belief through "inferred reasoning." These participants used a backward chain of reasoning to argue that there must be a reason that we went to war with Iraq and remain at war with Iraq, and that reason must be because Saddam Hussein was responsible for 9/11.<br />
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While it's easy to criticize, it's best to take this information and use it to assess your own thinking. Without vigilance and honest self-analysis, it's all too easy to get caught up in these types of justifications when something we personally want to believe is challenged. But being open-minded means being able to consider new information and critique your own mind. It's not always easy, but it's the only way to get smarter.<br />
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Read the actual study, <a href="http://sociology.buffalo.edu/documents/hoffmansocinquiryarticle_000.pdf" target="_blank">"There Must Be a Reason: Osama, Saddam and Inferred Justification."</a><br />
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<span style="font-style: italic; font-size: 85%;">All drawing are (obviously) original creations and are the property of Zu's News. Images may not be reproduced without express permission from Zu's News, although you could probably just draw something better yourself.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-311084044400412634.post-91790231237510205902009-09-29T19:49:00.005-05:002010-10-14T15:02:11.526-05:00Marcia's Nose, or "The Subject Was Bruises"<span style="font-family: inherit;">Gather around everyone; it’s time for a family meeting. We had a bit of an incident earlier today, but let’s see if we can’t turn this accident into a learning opportunity. <br />
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Marcia, please come to the front of the room; don’t be shy. Marcia took a direct hit from a football today, smack in the nose. This type of injury, where there is nothing penetrating the skin, is called blunt trauma, and bruises are a very common physical response. If you look around the area of impact on Marcia’s nose, you can see where the skin appears discolored and swollen, and may be sensitive. Oh, sorry dear, I suppose it is sensitive, then.</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKQpyzgun77Irdh61ZSpM9nuuZFYGT77LJ82eEsWZ-bSkyKmGRnHtJoMrj6mGsQa94FaYh3RI2uX6yeuUaj0QT4bR3PIsSG_iCnHM-kVUHHtVOfwSsWVF6EFkvqlo9lzB5uYPr4-Sn9tg/s1600-h/subject-of-bruises-4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKQpyzgun77Irdh61ZSpM9nuuZFYGT77LJ82eEsWZ-bSkyKmGRnHtJoMrj6mGsQa94FaYh3RI2uX6yeuUaj0QT4bR3PIsSG_iCnHM-kVUHHtVOfwSsWVF6EFkvqlo9lzB5uYPr4-Sn9tg/s200/subject-of-bruises-4.jpg" /></a><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>The incident. "Oh, my nose!"</i></span><br />
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</div><span style="font-family: inherit;"> Can anyone tell me why Marcia’s face looks so funny? Oh, don’t be offended, dear, this is merely for the sake of science. <br />
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The force of the football hitting Marcia’s face broke blood vessels, causing blood to collect beneath her skin. Blood vessels run underneath every inch of your skin to provide blood to different areas, keeping your body healthy and alive. The tiniest of these blood vessels are called capillaries, and they are the closest to the skin. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilDTuVjbpj2ZVPze-jEEteE0iRce-w3c4Op9uVFbgKJec08eV5o_QdwjpuQARHMqN-1-W-ZBTf9Fgve0-Vmi6vatnePqCpBVSjz0bglroW-QL9ej5sNlhBPNJcYIFmhpCQITwTdOr2vXA/s1600-h/subject-of-bruises-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilDTuVjbpj2ZVPze-jEEteE0iRce-w3c4Op9uVFbgKJec08eV5o_QdwjpuQARHMqN-1-W-ZBTf9Fgve0-Vmi6vatnePqCpBVSjz0bglroW-QL9ej5sNlhBPNJcYIFmhpCQITwTdOr2vXA/s320/subject-of-bruises-1.jpg" /></a><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> <i>The offensive instrument. </i></span><br />
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Blood vessels are generally pretty good at staying intact, but when that football hit Marcia in the face, it caused some of her capillaries to break. Blood spilled into the surrounding tissues, where it clotted and formed a bruise. The darker color of the blood is visible beneath her skin, and that’s why Marcia’s nose is a different color than the rest of her face at the moment. <br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
All bruises have a shared cause: internal bleeding, during which blood escapes the vessels and collects inside the body. Don’t worry Cindy, your sister’s going to be fine. Marcia’s contusion, which is just a fancy name for a bruise, will clear up on its own in a matter of weeks. </span><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ2KHYfFYcgt390CDbu_qd989oal2FWlf3qZK6DoHpwd1J2VGlo74mY5y4TCa5ZYclACZKxuXscr_2kxz7rGPqTiqNeqr-GKklGkxVBI6obQR1DXtC7G-FGatOEJ3ZRxCtp6MlbgejNAs/s1600-h/subject-of-bruises-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ2KHYfFYcgt390CDbu_qd989oal2FWlf3qZK6DoHpwd1J2VGlo74mY5y4TCa5ZYclACZKxuXscr_2kxz7rGPqTiqNeqr-GKklGkxVBI6obQR1DXtC7G-FGatOEJ3ZRxCtp6MlbgejNAs/s320/subject-of-bruises-3.jpg" /></a><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>The injury. She can't possibly go to the dance with Doug this way! She just can't! </i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Since the football whacked Marcia’s face recently, the escaped blood is still visible just below the skin and the bruise looks dark and reddish, but over the next couple days Marcia’s body will break down the bruise and reabsorb the blood. As this happens, the bruise will turn from the darker reddish color that it is now to a blue-ish or purple-y color. After about a week, the bruise will look green, a few days later it will be yellowed, and then it will disappear entirely. Marcia may even be healed in time for the dance! Don’t get too excited Marcia; I only said “may.” <br />
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At this point, the damage is done and Marcia’s body has already begun the process of recuperating. There is no way to “undo” a bruise, but if you act quickly you can minimize the damage. An ice-pack or cold compress can help keep down swelling and might slow down blood flow to the area so that the bruise won’t end up being as large. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Any cold treatment should be applied immediately after the accident for about ten to fifteen minutes at a time, and only through a paper towel or cloth, as direct contact can cause frostbite. If possible, it’s a good idea to keep the injured area elevated above your heart so that gravity isn’t making the bruise bigger by helping blood pool there. <br />
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Now only time will heal these wounds, and Marcia’s nose will be a lovely mural of color for the next few weeks. Let’s all be sure to watch out for errant footballs in the future. </span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDQaTvNoth_ijA76BAqDgZU7dhyphenhyphena8BpaOt7EMfwZDTYUEzkjVF6NJ7exZxf3JXvjgaEwwR_bdMJqwzEwYN2J3cguFSHRHBjR6zdQwHYh_TXwll362pv59dbGhWjl7KO10RvDH17aas_NE/s1600-h/subject-of-bruises-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDQaTvNoth_ijA76BAqDgZU7dhyphenhyphena8BpaOt7EMfwZDTYUEzkjVF6NJ7exZxf3JXvjgaEwwR_bdMJqwzEwYN2J3cguFSHRHBjR6zdQwHYh_TXwll362pv59dbGhWjl7KO10RvDH17aas_NE/s320/subject-of-bruises-2.jpg" /></a><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>The lovely family, plus witty house-slave. </i></span><br />
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<a href="http://www.medicinenet.com/bruises/article.htm" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: inherit;">More information from MedicineNet</span></a><br />
<a href="http://www.sultry-leather.com/bruises.html" target="_blank">More information from Lady Sultry (don't stray from the bruises page...)</a><br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0531148/" target="_blank">More on Marcia and her tragic incident </a><br />
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editor's note: this article got me in A in class, and it didn't even include the awesome pictures. booyah. <br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;">All drawings are (obviously) original creations and are the property of Zu's News. Images may not be reproduced without express permission from Zu's News, although you could just draw something better yourself.</span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-311084044400412634.post-38555042885701280402009-09-20T18:06:00.006-05:002010-10-14T15:02:35.789-05:00The Force is Strong With This OneWe say that astronauts in space are experiencing “zero-gravity,” but there is really no such thing, not in our universe anyway. The weightlessness that astronauts experience is actually a state of constant free fall, which is caused by the presence of gravity, not the lack of it.<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQGXueo9QVMeCG5pAYgr5eGfMvvxcWryK49LmEp-UVGg8RZEoX3wklPfUl_cm9m9z90hOCa9RxARCoF6K_NSezs1GlpGrVcJSIJwH6zGFCPecM1gFEwX76HV3yLgeEZfJADvFezTYx3kk/s1600-h/freefaaaallin-astronauts.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQGXueo9QVMeCG5pAYgr5eGfMvvxcWryK49LmEp-UVGg8RZEoX3wklPfUl_cm9m9z90hOCa9RxARCoF6K_NSezs1GlpGrVcJSIJwH6zGFCPecM1gFEwX76HV3yLgeEZfJADvFezTYx3kk/s320/freefaaaallin-astronauts.jpg" /></a><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Astronauts at the space station float around freely, seemingly unaffected by any sort of gravity, but it's an illuuuusion...</span><br />
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</div>Yet we have images and videos of astronauts floating about in and around space stations; they aren’t being pulled toward the Earth and neither is the space station. One might be compelled to say, "How can anyone claim there is no such thing as zero-gravity when NASA has 'zero-gravity' simulations and testing for astronauts?" Many scientists regret the use of the term 'zero-gravity' for this very reason; it's misleading.<br />
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The astronauts and the space station are actually falling together, always at the same rate (equally accelerated by gravity), so they only <span style="font-style: italic;">appear </span>weightless. It’s the same with satellites and celestial bodies; they are always influenced by gravity. In fact, there is no place in our universe where gravity does not exist, because gravity is a property of mass, not some disembodied force. Everything that has mass also has gravity, including you.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQAs8YnmKf8c-VEelviYkuEKePWUmC1YARZFFqOA5NXd8DrKGbtbUhQxmxbBZcGTK9EeTCfb2B1cj79bOIOhae2iuXeKCzMxuX_x_UUkSZF-eE7IdfDNjuNXQ1KvZkt4rS1EtctvHjMSU/s1600-h/freefaaaallin-around-the-earth.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQAs8YnmKf8c-VEelviYkuEKePWUmC1YARZFFqOA5NXd8DrKGbtbUhQxmxbBZcGTK9EeTCfb2B1cj79bOIOhae2iuXeKCzMxuX_x_UUkSZF-eE7IdfDNjuNXQ1KvZkt4rS1EtctvHjMSU/s320/freefaaaallin-around-the-earth.jpg" /></a><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>The space station is traveling horizontally, while also being pulled toward the center of the earth by the force of gravity. The result is the curved trajectory that we call "orbit." Objects are not drawn to scale. For a scale, see the next illustration. </i></span><br />
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Constant free fall works because objects in orbit (like the moon, the space station, and satellites) are traveling horizontally as well as vertically (relative to the surface of the earth). Imagine that you are up incredibly high (more than 200 miles up, so you don’t have to worry much about air resistance) and are moving forward with incredible speed (more than 17,000 miles per hour).<br />
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The force of gravity is constantly pulling down on you, but the earth is not flat, it curves away from you. As you’re falling, the Earth is literally retreating beneath your feet, so you never hit land. You're falling at an angle that matches the curve of the earth. This is constant free fall.<br />
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Imagine this (only imagine, do not attempt): You are going to jump off the edge of a cliff, riding on a bathroom scale (repeat – <span style="font-style: italic;">only imagine</span>). You leap off the ground with the scale at your feet, and you try to read the little dial telling you your weight. Since you and the scale are both falling at the same rate (remember Galileo dropping things off of the leaning tower of Pisa to show that size makes no difference to how fast you fall?), the scale would register a whopping nothing! You have achieved the appearance of weightlessness.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoa_VYOVhtPIpZDVoHTyBOHAM4lBtdWtMzHhgdmSfETvqEgi7_-a8JobQVAgj4XPEhAtEN2Tm9AjnfJhWlqZW1yCPPuuuvWqszn0SeOB9ReYI9fOM56K6doYKqPGK79ZImP8IL71mPFwk/s1600-h/freefaaaallin-off-a-cliff.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoa_VYOVhtPIpZDVoHTyBOHAM4lBtdWtMzHhgdmSfETvqEgi7_-a8JobQVAgj4XPEhAtEN2Tm9AjnfJhWlqZW1yCPPuuuvWqszn0SeOB9ReYI9fOM56K6doYKqPGK79ZImP8IL71mPFwk/s320/freefaaaallin-off-a-cliff.jpg" /></a><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">A thought experiment where a person on a scale (there it is) falls off the edge of a cliff, demonstrating how the appearance of weightlessness is created while gravity is still acting on the body. This is not to be attempted outside of your imagination. </span><br />
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</div>Although the term “zero-gravity” is thrown around with abandon, it is a really the opposite of what is happening to the space station and the astronauts inside. Without the force of gravity pulling objects toward one another, the space station, satellites, and even the moon would just fly off into space, never to be seen again.<br />
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<a href="http://www.physicsclassroom.com/Class/circles/u6l4d.cfm" target="_blank">More from the Physics Classroom</a><br />
<a href="http://blog.dotphys.net/2008/09/gravity-weightlessness-and-apparent-weight/" target="_blank">More from Dot Physics</a><br />
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<span style="font-size: 85%;"><span style="font-size: 85%; font-style: italic;">All drawings are (obviously) original creations and are the property of Zu's News. Images may not be reproduced without express permission from Zu's News, although you could just draw something better yourself.</span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-311084044400412634.post-27084585318735631622009-09-11T16:50:00.014-05:002010-10-14T15:04:06.567-05:00Can We Play Something Else Now?<div face="Georgia,""><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9-nZEesyaOnCgycdoSuFhNExUyLyHNI6JfVCzEAnpb8Cxejy-pXIqndu1YM6COaT56Z1Dx8LN0pLYStx2aX5UogcODsnI7uYD6LXT_9d3BGqVL-ot_IWqijD0s541P4NW01Cj3ii-NvE/s1600-h/waldo-robot-found.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9-nZEesyaOnCgycdoSuFhNExUyLyHNI6JfVCzEAnpb8Cxejy-pXIqndu1YM6COaT56Z1Dx8LN0pLYStx2aX5UogcODsnI7uYD6LXT_9d3BGqVL-ot_IWqijD0s541P4NW01Cj3ii-NvE/s320/waldo-robot-found.jpg" /></a>You can stop holding your breath (unless you're still searching underwater), Waldo is safe and sound. The researchers at Mote Marine Laboratory received a signal from the <a href="http://zusnews.blogspot.com/2009/09/robot-goes-missing-everyone-makes-same.html" target="_blank">misplaced robot</a> early yesterday morning when Waldo casually resurfaced and made a call home.<br />
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</div><div face="Georgia,""></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,";"><span style="font-size: small;">Mote had spared no effort in looking for "</span><span style="font-size: small;">the 115-pound, canary-yellow robot," spending "more than 10 days using side-scan sonar, VHF, hydrophones, airplane surveys, snorkelers and divers.</span><span style="font-size: small;">" Ultimately, Waldo was found about 50 feet from its last known whereabouts. </span>Yes, five-zero feet.<br />
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</div><div face="Georgia,"" style="font-family: georgia;"></div>This is very good news for Florida's Mote's marine biologists, as the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission had probably told them they would not be getting any new toys until they could take better care of the ones they have.<br />
<div style="font-family: georgia;"></div><div style="font-family: georgia;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Pictured: A marine biologist (you can tell from the glasses) happily reunited with a favorite toy. </span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
</span></i></div><div style="font-family: georgia;"></div><div style="font-family: georgia;"></div><div style="font-family: georgia;"></div><div style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="http://www.mote.org/index.php?src=directory&view=magazine&srctype=detail&refno=977" target="_blank">Read the full news release from Mote Marine Laboratory.</a><br />
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<span style="font-size: 85%;"><span style="font-size: 85%; font-style: italic;">All drawings are (obviously) original creations and are the property of Zu's News. Images may not be reproduced without express permission from Zu's News, although you could just draw something better yourself.</span></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-311084044400412634.post-8042846203814622222009-09-09T19:07:00.001-05:002010-10-14T15:04:57.297-05:00Robot Goes Missing, Everyone Makes Same JokeAn underwater robot nicknamed "Waldo" has gone missing off of the Gulf Coast of Florida, much to the dismay of Mote Marine Laboratory scientists. As can be expected, statements made about the hilarity of the subsequent search for Waldo have been <a href="http://www.google.com/#hl=en&source=hp&q=missing+robot+where%27s+waldo&aq=f&aqi=&oq=&fp=3aa7f458acaa2672" target="_blank">abundant and predictable</a>.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFqHOmbTzK_ZRv9zniHHN3mjclsUumfY7fzJDHqCoEhCu5yAS7UuzhYCsHnlHbd6aThziPYksZMg0AUovW98fTuzKYhC0BMCJklt-iND5PdU14jhb1F-BbrDRqmOfbV5S8FNHUJvG-CXM/s1600-h/robot-waldo-no.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFqHOmbTzK_ZRv9zniHHN3mjclsUumfY7fzJDHqCoEhCu5yAS7UuzhYCsHnlHbd6aThziPYksZMg0AUovW98fTuzKYhC0BMCJklt-iND5PdU14jhb1F-BbrDRqmOfbV5S8FNHUJvG-CXM/s200/robot-waldo-no.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Thanks, Every News Station in Existence, we saw that coming. </i></span></div><br />
After nearly a week of fruitless searching which enlisted the help of other robots (it's like Finding Nemo, but in the future), the scientists are turning to the public. Mote Laboratory is offering a $500 reward in hopes that Labor Day boaters will keep an eye out for Waldo.<br />
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Waldo costs about $100,000 and is carrying a red tide detector worth another $30,000, so finding it is important enough to bring scientists out in the public eye to abashedly ask for help.<br />
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Prior to disappearing, Waldo had spent five days reporting on conditions in the coastal waters of Florida. Every two hours Waldo sent communication back to the laboratory as it sought out traces of red tide, an ocean phenomenon that has yet to be fully understood. On Monday, August 31st Waldo suddenly went silent, and has been missing ever since.<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic_TKrnr40wL_BpKDHqR3UJiYnHrJZkkuX0Yn_RINYS0w5lRx308_ufefCopIuD-lh61j_X75EaCa9CQzyhWzVIRBaudyb7fRfW1fsTrNistDihNmP1kXuEPXpKzJR-7JVU8uNC-MpzNE/s1600-h/robot-waldo-yes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic_TKrnr40wL_BpKDHqR3UJiYnHrJZkkuX0Yn_RINYS0w5lRx308_ufefCopIuD-lh61j_X75EaCa9CQzyhWzVIRBaudyb7fRfW1fsTrNistDihNmP1kXuEPXpKzJR-7JVU8uNC-MpzNE/s400/robot-waldo-yes.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>May currently be aimlessly floating, stuck at the bottom of the sea, or in the back of a pick-up. </i></span></div><br />
Mote scientist Gary Kirkpatrick, inventor of the red tide detector, explains that the robot may have sprung a leak, causing it to sink to the ocean floor. If Waldo only had a failure in the communication systems, it may still be floating around at the surface.<br />
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The press release also mentioned that Waldo may have been picked up by "an unsuspecting boater who didn't realize the device was a scientific instrument." The lab added that the reward is offered "No-Questions-Asked."<br />
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If the robot remains elusive, scientists will likely try to find a cane, a cup, or three protruding tongues before moving on to something more fun.<br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;">If you have knowledge of robot-Waldo's whereabouts, please contact Mote Marine Laboratory at (941) 388 4441 x271. </span><br />
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<a href="http://www.mote.org/index.php?src=news&submenu=Newsroom&srctype=detail&category=Newsroom&refno=295" target="_blank">Read the full press release from Mote Marine Laboratory.</a><br />
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<span style="font-size: 130%;"><br />
<a href="http://zusnews.blogspot.com/2009/09/can-we-play-something-else-now.html" style="font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">Update to story, Waldo found!!</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 85%;"><span style="font-size: 85%; font-style: italic;">All drawings are (obviously) original creations and are the property of Zu's News. Images may not be reproduced without express permission from Zu's News, although you could just draw something better yourself.</span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-311084044400412634.post-18710418127986100062009-08-19T01:40:00.037-05:002010-10-14T15:08:07.510-05:00Nurture 1-Ups Nature in Bee StudyIt's a classic debate: do we hold nature or nurture more responsible for the end result that is an adult organism? The findings of a recent study published through the University of Illinois suggest that long-term evolution in <a href="http://coherentscience.blogspot.com/2009/08/basics-fitting-in-your-genes.html" target="_blank">gene</a> expression can be linked to more short-term changes that result from the environment. To put it plainly, maybe nurture can alter nature.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHBs2JHM8NUfz1qrOHIlIKyvRa7XsTcXzlOXQgSg1fSG-YAXWrYqaBbm9PszRDHOgdQrojRIWx15jAiHyLexyAw9jpuxCgHes4_12bQt65yZnNguqbh1W-TGKMfE_LzyLEyEMLJmWGpKA/s1600-h/bee.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5371919665657083410" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHBs2JHM8NUfz1qrOHIlIKyvRa7XsTcXzlOXQgSg1fSG-YAXWrYqaBbm9PszRDHOgdQrojRIWx15jAiHyLexyAw9jpuxCgHes4_12bQt65yZnNguqbh1W-TGKMfE_LzyLEyEMLJmWGpKA/s320/bee.jpg" style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 193px; width: 209px;" border="0" /></a><br />
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Pictured above: Bee</span></span><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">.</span></span><br />
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By looking at aggressive responses in different types of bees, the researchers were hoping to find some important relationships between behavior, the environment, and heredity. In short, they were looking for signs of behavioral evolution.<br />
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Researchers looked at two different types of bees: (1) European honeybees (EHB), the more common and docile variety, and (2) Africanized honeybees (AHB), a hybrid of African and European honeybees, notoriously known as "killer bees" due to their aggressiveness. To observe how aggression looks in the brain, the researchers exposed the bees to a pheromone that usually alerts the bees that there is danger to the hive.<br />
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This study suggests that forces in the environment may be able to stimulate changes in the genes that have long-term effects on the organism that may then be passed on to offspring. Let that sink in for a moment.<br />
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Among other things, the researchers noted that the resting brain state of Africanized honeybees shows heightened activity of certain genes:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNdwAhvQaWutKwFjYWuzXQO8ivLZnTVaSU_FBdufzY4uoKy7LqHkd1YjOEUm0shY8tss0mQ3qBcrKx0ppTnWi4zISCbxi-b8xZnWHMaVr9oP4piz1SvW-4ILMvwLw5Vs6wwQH49xD7ufU/s1600-h/bee-brains-1.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5371916752584725890" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNdwAhvQaWutKwFjYWuzXQO8ivLZnTVaSU_FBdufzY4uoKy7LqHkd1YjOEUm0shY8tss0mQ3qBcrKx0ppTnWi4zISCbxi-b8xZnWHMaVr9oP4piz1SvW-4ILMvwLw5Vs6wwQH49xD7ufU/s320/bee-brains-1.jpg" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 208px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Pictured above: EHB with resting brain state and AHB with resting brain state.</span></span><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-style: italic;"> The AHB innately has more activity in genes related to aggression, even when no danger is present. </span></span><br />
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More interestingly, the study showed that European honeybees exposed to alarm pheromones have brain activity that shows many similarities to the resting brain state of Africanized honeybees.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHIXxJJtz99lIMt_wRmo1zUe_sDGE52T31chzNG77zEOSrlXBaiE3Z2kKxP7RIQlEB4SACJY55KABDUrhecgj8aiaQWrA1SzLykskoGW6spdeJU63lu4mz13b4ls7kTolKYY04GKSnWlc/s1600-h/bee-brains-2.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5371916763358012242" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHIXxJJtz99lIMt_wRmo1zUe_sDGE52T31chzNG77zEOSrlXBaiE3Z2kKxP7RIQlEB4SACJY55KABDUrhecgj8aiaQWrA1SzLykskoGW6spdeJU63lu4mz13b4ls7kTolKYY04GKSnWlc/s320/bee-brains-2.jpg" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 210px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Pictured above: EHB with aroused brain state and AHB with similar resting brain state. The similarities suggest a common molecular basis between inherited aggression and stimulated aggression. </span></span><br />
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The researchers also noted that an Africanized honeybee living in a European bee colony will actually become less aggressive over time, and a European honeybee living in an Africanized colony will become more aggressive.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUwRRCEnSHsia8G6QQi7JVH92qz5mkhqCRjpx9CxicPKyjtD_FasRX7mFb3Y6rVR5V_mQrI70pikq2CqoQ4FO4DEjDsTtReYlup86wU8UOYqa_luUsUVe-JeX87etmbPQ3_EdrXianC_g/s1600-h/bee-brains-3.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5371916771193132114" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUwRRCEnSHsia8G6QQi7JVH92qz5mkhqCRjpx9CxicPKyjtD_FasRX7mFb3Y6rVR5V_mQrI70pikq2CqoQ4FO4DEjDsTtReYlup86wU8UOYqa_luUsUVe-JeX87etmbPQ3_EdrXianC_g/s320/bee-brains-3.jpg" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 145px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Pictured above: An AHB living in a EHB hive will become less aggressive over time. </span></span><br />
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We can't assume that these types of relationships translate the same way when it comes to humans and our social behaviors and genetic expressions of aggression, but this study helps us understand how behavior is influenced by both our environment and our genes.<br />
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Read the full paper, <a href="http://news.illinois.edu/WebsandThumbs/Robinson,Gene/PNAS_Robinson.pdf" target="_blank">"Honey Bee Aggression Supports a Link Between Gene Regulation and Behavioral Evolution."</a><br />
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<span style="font-style: italic; font-size: 85%;">All drawing are (obviously) original creations and are the property of Zu's News. Images may not be reproduced without express permission from Zu's News, although you could probably just draw something better yourself.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-311084044400412634.post-44642429775433300162009-08-14T23:40:00.026-05:002010-10-14T15:08:50.249-05:00Infection + The Undead = MathMathematical models are valuable tools for all aspects of life, from determining when it's safe to cross the street to creating supercomputers that map genomes. Mathematicians in Canada have just published a new model that may provide insight into a phenomenon that all of us have had to worry about at one time or another:<br />
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Zombification.<br />
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<div style="text-align: left;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCHDu7QnJ0UbDBO5Vwd4gC9MQHY3qzCj5ogUH5nHFZB0ek7Gv7GOCnJyTPJ1xe-x3TGY7nndp5ca8KSBPY2YzgtOh9O51MPdLjmp8W8TPVmlywsfKpe6C3PH7xqmOWh7lPASWUQ_1-k8E/s1600-h/zombie-math.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 166px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCHDu7QnJ0UbDBO5Vwd4gC9MQHY3qzCj5ogUH5nHFZB0ek7Gv7GOCnJyTPJ1xe-x3TGY7nndp5ca8KSBPY2YzgtOh9O51MPdLjmp8W8TPVmlywsfKpe6C3PH7xqmOWh7lPASWUQ_1-k8E/s200/zombie-math.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5370063707757443074" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><br />
Pictured above: flesh-eating zombie. </span></span><br />
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Models of infectious disease are often used to determine rates of infection and the expected impact of intervention. This latest model takes into account a new variable: what if the infected-but-dead stay in the system, and can continue to spread disease?<br />
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The authors consider different scenarios and potentials for human survival, noting that the only real way to vanquish the disease is through "impulsive eradication." Quarantines are (ironically) unrealistic and vaccination will only allow a handful of uninfected to survive while the zombies grow in number. The only mathematically plausible solution is to "act quickly and decisively to eradicate them before they eradicate us."<br />
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While the paper seems to poke fun at math, it appears in a book that contains various models and case studies relating to infectious disease, the rest of which are more traditional and very serious. So why the zombie-models? According to the authors, "This demonstrates the flexibility of mathematical modelling (<span style="font-style: italic;">sic</span>) and shows how modelling can respond to a wide variety of challenges in biology."<br />
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Think you're up to the math? See for yourself:<br />
<a href="http://www.mathstat.uottawa.ca/%7Ersmith/Zombies.pdf" target="_blank">www.mathstat.uottawa.ca/~rsmith/Zombies.p</a><a href="http://www.mathstat.uottawa.ca/%7Ersmith/Zombies.pdf">df</a><br />
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<span style="font-style: italic; font-size: 85%;">All drawing are (obviously) original creations and are the property of Zu's News. Images may not be reproduced without express permission from Zu's News, although you could probably just draw something better yourself.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-311084044400412634.post-52531114066948722072009-08-14T01:31:00.023-05:002010-10-14T15:09:16.550-05:00Get More Than You Pay ForYou often hear that “you get what you pay for,” but when you pay extra for brand-name drugs, what you’re getting in return is nothing more than the brand-name. According to numerous studies and the FDA itself, the only difference between the brand-name drugs and the generic drugs is the price, and there is no evidence that spending money has a positive effect on your health.<br />
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The FDA has officially stated that generic drugs are, in all important aspects, the same thing as their brand-name counterparts. The differences are really only in the inactive ingredients, things like coloring and flavoring that have become part of the trademarked image of the brand company, and which the generic companies aren't allowed to copy. According to the FDA's website, "Generic drugs work in the same way and in the same amount of time as brand-name drugs."<br />
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Still, there is the relentless notion that the more expensive item must be better; after all, it costs more! Well, here’s where the price difference comes from:<br />
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<span style="font-style: italic;">A Brand-name company spends tons of time and money o</span><span style="font-style: italic;">n research and development of a new drug, which they patent. Drug patents currently last for 20 years.</span><br />
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<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrMqOxlvuKnYE_ACSnXDHcqvGckDwCFZYA9QeNgf_HLd_ogljDNaJSsezwjZjR9SfifucN03eXmB2GDpkuDVtbTd2GFCu1XKUN5Q4g6876-93EI8wVU8Uft1DfwHyvtLvHjQ8kpWNx7ZE/s1600-h/step-1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrMqOxlvuKnYE_ACSnXDHcqvGckDwCFZYA9QeNgf_HLd_ogljDNaJSsezwjZjR9SfifucN03eXmB2GDpkuDVtbTd2GFCu1XKUN5Q4g6876-93EI8wVU8Uft1DfwHyvtLvHjQ8kpWNx7ZE/s320/step-1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5369703628745918738" border="0" /></a><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">Once the Brand-name company demonstrates that their </span><span style="font-style: italic;">drug is up to standards, they get permission from the FDA to manufacture their drug for the public. They will have the exclusive right of production for as long as their patent</span><span style="font-style: italic;"> lasts.</span><br />
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<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS0aRwUbnV3FtPYefGlJxobMvOMmJh9chzhuT5bA2CwfOc5G1oxD1quohcSQqnk5VsCwXb0pIstZOdHjxb6fhGJSVVvOeaYcVdH94fxT9CTpw-hfNeuUyzXUFqLZRXgamM0AZ3aBVr0UQ/s1600-h/step-2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS0aRwUbnV3FtPYefGlJxobMvOMmJh9chzhuT5bA2CwfOc5G1oxD1quohcSQqnk5VsCwXb0pIstZOdHjxb6fhGJSVVvOeaYcVdH94fxT9CTpw-hfNeuUyzXUFqLZRXgamM0AZ3aBVr0UQ/s320/step-2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5369703921698741682" border="0" /></a><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">The Brand-name company then shells out tons </span><span style="font-style: italic;">more money to market the drug to consumers,</span><br />
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<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho7T124m58fJPhBTNFQbyro16C2kfmMdgsFP5fVdMfIUS72FakwDzwlbLHN5COsZjJwEKJ2yD8MA6GT8zEM2NwH7vN2aTIxbPMtnBzqVgYnUXQcy5pJIxS-LxNIcpeva5svaHaJ7jBqNA/s1600-h/step-3.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 222px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho7T124m58fJPhBTNFQbyro16C2kfmMdgsFP5fVdMfIUS72FakwDzwlbLHN5COsZjJwEKJ2yD8MA6GT8zEM2NwH7vN2aTIxbPMtnBzqVgYnUXQcy5pJIxS-LxNIcpeva5svaHaJ7jBqNA/s320/step-3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5369704061018630306" border="0" /></a><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">as well as to doctors and hospitals.</span><br />
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<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglRCnvkgE-TyWSiOmUt0A7-yqeegEfJD-mOUL9DdFJlZDXBXIGRd0YEdp5GK94Ba_PGQd7rEi2WufSU0lSLJ1GF3X9x1lnzgGFu-M_eXuaZnbnPH6eeq9vN8DmCMzhpTv4vdrrrvdfrrc/s1600-h/step-4.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 235px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglRCnvkgE-TyWSiOmUt0A7-yqeegEfJD-mOUL9DdFJlZDXBXIGRd0YEdp5GK94Ba_PGQd7rEi2WufSU0lSLJ1GF3X9x1lnzgGFu-M_eXuaZnbnPH6eeq9vN8DmCMzhpTv4vdrrrvdfrrc/s320/step-4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5369704232319032386" border="0" /></a><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">The Brand-name company sells the drug at a relatively high cost to so they can pay for all the research and marketing and still try to make a profit.</span><br />
<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6mP10Gx3eE1YNwhuCN4FROgtwldNyycqeDJyvYdiiY_gb_vCA_EDRLyyLnW9Fu3LzlymJa-1XTpGSIybl4K3smk86ZenYTwdoGeT2Eg7OFiXpIjJSI8RrPqr2M_jZAY-gkFVv9Zlc9BY/s1600-h/step-5.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 271px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6mP10Gx3eE1YNwhuCN4FROgtwldNyycqeDJyvYdiiY_gb_vCA_EDRLyyLnW9Fu3LzlymJa-1XTpGSIybl4K3smk86ZenYTwdoGeT2Eg7OFiXpIjJSI8RrPqr2M_jZAY-gkFVv9Zlc9BY/s320/step-5.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5369704381070030786" border="0" /></a><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">When the patent expires, other drug manufacturers apply to the FDA to get permission to make the drug themselves. The FDA requires all the same standards from the generic manufacturers as they do from the original brand-name company. Generic drugs are required to be just as safe, strong, fast, and effective as the original drug.</span><br />
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<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEUFEQZkV11F4HrjcFoHI146jDJeDkOszmR9ioGvuiM-wpnb85SpC3NEeQOSBrvhGb6N-5MXy7jniWoM2y6IzOw0zbaMfzz5sYinbMf9Hf-t2ww_wqqLIMbN-J5CHGrw0Pi5CJUiD2Jtk/s1600-h/step-6.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 201px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEUFEQZkV11F4HrjcFoHI146jDJeDkOszmR9ioGvuiM-wpnb85SpC3NEeQOSBrvhGb6N-5MXy7jniWoM2y6IzOw0zbaMfzz5sYinbMf9Hf-t2ww_wqqLIMbN-J5CHGrw0Pi5CJUiD2Jtk/s320/step-6.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5369704571188260738" border="0" /></a><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">Since the generic manufacturers didn't spend money on development and marketing, they can afford to sell their version of the drug for much less than the brand-name company. Competition among the generic manufacturers tends to drive the price down even more. For trademark reasons, the generic drug has a different look and a different name, but all the medicinal qualities are exactly the same.</span><br />
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<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4n6MD1vh9bE_FTAGW9mEz1mU2NeOL8Z0kWCQ38QohWx6EVzZEktcumRxB2D-ZTbojwneyEp710AwuBVmE9exJsZ0PStfMwwMNzafqbmnSgZSDBNQvhJ4kJ3ICDvGBlJ0AlxxF5URR-WU/s1600-h/step-7.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 210px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4n6MD1vh9bE_FTAGW9mEz1mU2NeOL8Z0kWCQ38QohWx6EVzZEktcumRxB2D-ZTbojwneyEp710AwuBVmE9exJsZ0PStfMwwMNzafqbmnSgZSDBNQvhJ4kJ3ICDvGBlJ0AlxxF5URR-WU/s320/step-7.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5369704741936384898" border="0" /></a><br />
In the end, the real difference in price exists because people are still willing to pay more for the brand-name drug. The brand-name companies can leverage their reputation to make it seem like their products are safer or more reliable. However, the FDA noted that half of all generic drugs are actually made by the brand-name companies.<br />
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The system is intended to allow the drug creators to compensate for the extraordinarily expensive process of development, but then allow for competition that will drive drug prices down. The generic label drugs are the result of a system that is meant to help the consumer. So let yourself be helped; next time you have the sniffles, go for NyCare or Sudacold. You'll get as much cough-suppressant and decongestant as you would from the more expensive versions, plus a bonus: saving money is a natural mood enhancer.<br />
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<span style="font-weight: bold;">For more info:</span><br />
FDA generic drug FAQ<br />
<a href="http://www.fda.gov/Drugs/EmergencyPreparedness/BioterrorismandDrugPreparedness/ucm134147.htm" target="_blank">http://www.fda.gov/Drugs/EmergencyPreparedness/BioterrorismandDrugPreparedness/ucm134147.htm</a><br />
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<span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >All drawing are (obviously) original creations and are the property of Zu's News. Images may not be reproduced without express permission from Zu's News, although you could probably just draw something better yourself.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-311084044400412634.post-75325363102908698762009-08-10T02:28:00.005-05:002009-08-10T03:01:24.136-05:00hello worldThus I make my grand entrance into the blogosphere, light years behind the early adopters.<br /><br />Yet here I am, because I care about science, and I care that other people care about science. Let's make that our impromptu motto: I want you to care about science. Because science certainly cares about you.<br /><br />While this posting is primarily a test, it is also an introduction. I am introducing the web to me and introducing myself to the blogging experience. So far, so good.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0