Sunlight adaptation region of Neanderthal genome found in up to 65 percent of modern East Asian population

Sunlight adaptation region of Neanderthal genome found in up to 65 percent of modern East Asian population

The Buddhist with Lynch syndrome - BBN News

The Buddhist with Lynch syndrome - BBN News

Fractal Enlightenment | Pirahã, an Indigenous Tribe Living in the Now

Fractal Enlightenment | Pirahã, an Indigenous Tribe Living in the Now

Quantum Theory Won't Save The Soul - Neuroskeptic | DiscoverMagazine.com

Quantum Theory Won't Save The Soul - Neuroskeptic | DiscoverMagazine.com

http://www.skeptic.com/eskeptic/13-09-25/#feature

http://www.skeptic.com/eskeptic/13-09-25/#feature

Good Atheists

Good Atheists December 20, 2013 Dan Barker barker-white-background-smaller The title of Rick Henderson’s December 18 Huffington Post blog, “Why There Is No Such Thing as a Good Atheist,” is false advertising. He admits in his piece that atheists can be moral: “Of course they can.” In my book, The Good Atheist, I prove this with profiles of hundreds of good nonbelievers who have lived meaningful and moral lives. Inventing a novel use for the word "good," Henderson rightly anticipates we will complain he has set up a “straw man,” because that is exactly what he has done. Atheism does not “necessitate [that] the universe is purely material,” as he claims. Atheists conclude that the universe is “at least” material and natural, because in the absence of evidence for the supernatural (so far), we have observed nothing else. Henderson could easily knock down that assumption by providing actual evidence for a god. His failure to do so justifies a continuing naturalistic worldview. I have talked with thousands of atheists, and read hundreds of their books, and I don’t recall a single one saying “The universe is scientific.” That doesn’t even make sense. It is only an epistemology or methodology that can be labeled “scientific,” not a thing, and certainly not the universe. What most of us say is that science (observation) is so far the only reliable way to obtain information about reality. And how could anyone say “The universe is impersonal” when it contains persons? We atheists do assume that the processes in the universe (outside the minds of persons) are impersonal, and that assumption is supported by observation. We atheists are open to new knowledge, and would be astonished to learn that there is “something more” out there. Since everything we know about reality can be expressed in impersonal terms, and since we have no experience or coherent concept of a “person” that is not material, we are justified in insisting that those who believe in a personal creation should assume the burden of proof. Contrary to Henderson’s dictum, I just denied all three of his straw-man assertions (as he worded them), and have yet to feel any “mortal blow” to my atheism. Henderson then makes the shocking non sequiturs that if his assertions were true, then “anything and everything that happens in such a universe is meaningless,” and that the “only reasonable conclusion is to reject objective meaning and morality.” That is plain wrong. Our lives are full of meaning and value. He is confusing “meaning” with “ultimate meaning.” We atheists happily admit that there is no ultimate purpose to our existence, but we think this adds value to life. The truly good news is that there is no purpose of life. There is purpose IN life, and that is the only purpose that matters. An “ultimate purpose” would cheapen life, turning us into servants or slaves to a mind other than our own. That would rob us of our dignity and meaning, making us second-class citizens of the cosmos. Purpose comes from solving real-world problems, not from flattering the ego or submitting to the commands of a dictator. Emily Dickinson said: “That it never comes again is what makes life so sweet.” The fact that life is brief and ultimately meaningless is what makes it valuable. We assign higher value to things that are rare (such a precious metals), so if life is eternal, then life is cheap. Here is a paragraph from my upcoming book, Life Driven Purpose: How an Atheist Finds Meaning: “Suppose you have been working hard at your job and are excitedly looking forward to an earned vacation in a few weeks. It will be a fun and refreshing break. Perhaps you are planning to ski, swim, hike, explore, travel, visit friends or relatives. But then you realize, ‘Oh! When it’s over I’ll have to come back to work!’ Would you cancel your vacation because it won’t last forever and has no ‘ultimate meaning’?” Henderson claims that “All the atheists I’ve known personally and from afar live as if there is objective meaning and morality.” That is a half-truth, because “as if” is not “actually,” and because “not ultimate” does not equate to “not objective.” He doesn’t connect the dots. To be objective means to exist independently of a mind, and we all agree that most of reality exists outside of our minds. Henderson commits the fallacy of reification and creates an oxymoron with the phrase “objective meaning and morality.” There are no such things, because meaning and morality are value functions within minds—how can you have the existence in the mind of something that exists outside the mind? What most atheists say is that although meaning and moral principles are not objects, they can be objectively justified by reference to the real world. There is no big mystery to morality. It is simply the intention to act in ways that minimize harm. Since harm is material, its avoidance is a natural exercise. Moral principles (rather than rigid commandments) are based on the objective harm that results, or could result, as a consequence of our actions. Henderson is correct that most atheists consider our evolved instincts to be an important part of the moral process, but to assume that they are our only guides is a blinkered attack. We also have reason and law to help us lessen harm. Henderson claims that secular morality does not "help us grapple with the truth that it’s always wrong to torture diseased children or rape women.” But of course it does! Torturing children and raping women—both actions, by the way, that are condoned by the Christian bible—are immoral not because “someone out there” revealed them to be evil. Is the human race so stupid it never would have dawned on us that there is something wrong with violence and brutality? Those actions are denounced because they cause unnecessary harm. Harm is the measure. Human needs and values—not the supposed holiness or jealous glory of the dictator—are the measure of morality. Henderson imagines we couldn’t condemn something like slavery without a God to teach us. Really? The reason slavery is wrong is because it is harmful, not because it is prohibited by a spirit. The Christian bible endorses slavery. Jesus (if he existed) displayed his moral compassion by declaring that some slaves should not be beaten as hard as others. He never denounced that brutal institution, which he incorporated into his parables as if it were the natural order, which it was, in the worldview of the Gospel writers. Ironically, after arguing for the existence of something outside the natural world, Henderson admits: “One sign that your worldview may be a crutch is that it has to appeal to an answer outside itself — becoming self-contradictory, unable to reasonably account for the question.” Exactly. Positing a God just answers one mystery with another mystery. It answers nothing. Tens of millions of Americans, and hundreds of millions worldwide, do not believe in God, and most of us, like most believers, are good people. People should be judged by their actions, not their beliefs. The good values that we all share, whether believers or not, are human values. The atheistic worldview has no mandates, as Henderson charges. We are free to think for ourselves. We good atheists think our conclusions are better than those of believers because they are rooted in the real world, not fantasy or delusion. Now abideth instinct, law, and reason, but the greatest of these is reason. — Dan Barker, a former Christian minister, is co-president of the Freedom From Religion Foundation, and author of the book, Godless: How an Evangelical Preacher Became One of America’s Leading Atheists. - See more at: http://ffrf.org/news/blog/item/19818-good-atheists#sthash.x9r1kj1J.QCvsTOJD.dpuf

Good Atheists - Freedom From Religion Foundation

Good Atheists - Freedom From Religion Foundation

Spanking children slows cognitive development and increases risk of criminal behavior, expert says

Spanking children slows cognitive development and increases risk of criminal behavior, expert says

Spooky Physics Phenomenon May Link Universe's Wormholes | LiveScience

Spooky Physics Phenomenon May Link Universe's Wormholes | LiveScience

Simulations back up theory that Universe is a hologram : Nature News & Comment

Simulations back up theory that Universe is a hologram : Nature News & Comment

Scientists discover second, secret DNA code | News24

Scientists discover second, secret DNA code | News24

Reversible wound closure: Dissolvable dendritic thioester hydrogel for sealing wounds

Reversible wound closure: Dissolvable dendritic thioester hydrogel for sealing wounds

Nanoparticle-infused speaker could mean better sound in a smaller package | ExtremeTech

Nanoparticle-infused speaker could mean better sound in a smaller package | ExtremeTech

The Problem of Antimatter | Clues | TimeOneTimeOne

The Problem of Antimatter | Clues | TimeOneTimeOne

Fractal Enlightenment | Alter Your Genes and Cure any Disease

Fractal Enlightenment | Alter Your Genes and Cure any Disease

People Are Making 'Human Cheese' Using Belly-Button Bacteria - John Metcalfe - The Atlantic Cities

People Are Making 'Human Cheese' Using Belly-Button Bacteria - John Metcalfe - The Atlantic Cities

The 50 Most Brilliant Atheists of All Time

The 50 Most Brilliant Atheists of All Time

How, If, and Why Species Form | The Scientist Magazine®

How, If, and Why Species Form | The Scientist Magazine®

Effective Learning - Tips for Effective Learning

Effective Learning - Tips for Effective Learning

Nurture impacts nature: Experiences leave genetic mark on brain, behavior

Nurture impacts nature: Experiences leave genetic mark on brain, behavior

 

Decoding Breast Cancer Drug Resistance

http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/38155/title/Decoding-Breast-Cancer-Drug-Resistance/

27 Genius New Products You Had No Idea Existed

27 Genius New Products You Had No Idea Existed

The Survivorship Bias convinces people that psychics are real

The Survivorship Bias convinces people that psychics are real

7 Gorgeous Space Images From The NASA Archive | Popular Science

7 Gorgeous Space Images From The NASA Archive | Popular Science

Far-Off Planets Like the Earth Dot the Galaxy - NYTimes.com

Far-Off Planets Like the Earth Dot the Galaxy - NYTimes.com

6 Graphs That Show Why The “War” on Fat Was a Huge Mistake

6 Graphs That Show Why The “War” on Fat Was a Huge Mistake

NTT researchers entangle photons 300 kilometers apart using fiber optics | ExtremeTech

NTT researchers entangle photons 300 kilometers apart using fiber optics | ExtremeTech

Ruthless Truth: One Song

Ruthless Truth: One Song

BBC News - Blow to multiple human species idea

BBC News - Blow to multiple human species idea

Limbic Revision: How Love Rewires the Brain | Brain Pickings

Limbic Revision: How Love Rewires the Brain | Brain Pickings

Telescope captures starbirth | News24

Telescope captures starbirth | News24

Your Liver May Be 'Eating' Your Brain | LiveScience

Your Liver May Be 'Eating' Your Brain | LiveScience

Astronomers discover most distant galaxy yet | News24

Astronomers discover most distant galaxy yet | News24

3D magnetic storage breakthrough enables 100TB+ hard drives | ExtremeTech

3D magnetic storage breakthrough enables 100TB+ hard drives | ExtremeTech

"Many-Body System" Helps Stabilize Quantum Systems Against Decoherence | SciTech Daily

"Many-Body System" Helps Stabilize Quantum Systems Against Decoherence | SciTech Daily

How to Get “High” Without Drugs | Collective-Evolution

How to Get “High” Without Drugs | Collective-Evolution

Duke Biomedical Engineering Department

Duke Biomedical Engineering Department

Shape of Huge Asteroid with 2 Moons Revealed By SETI, Amateur Astronomers | Space.com

Shape of Huge Asteroid with 2 Moons Revealed By SETI, Amateur Astronomers | Space.com

BBC News - Making Time: Does it matter why we help others?

BBC News - Making Time: Does it matter why we help others?

Thermoacoustic Headphones Make Sound With Hot Nanotubes | Popular Science

Thermoacoustic Headphones Make Sound With Hot Nanotubes | Popular Science

A Powerful Particle Accelerator The Size Of A Speck Of Glitter | Popular Science

A Powerful Particle Accelerator The Size Of A Speck Of Glitter | Popular Science

Construction Begins on New Carbon-Capture Plant: Scientific American

Construction Begins on New Carbon-Capture Plant: Scientific American

BBC News - 'TomTato' tomato and potato plant unveiled in UK

BBC News - 'TomTato' tomato and potato plant unveiled in UK

First Estuary Discovered Under Antarctic Ice | LiveScience

First Estuary Discovered Under Antarctic Ice | LiveScience

Evolution

The Namibian Fog Basking Beetle lives in the Namibian Desert, where water is scarce. Seeing as water is necessary for the survival of any form of life, this poses a challenge to organisms. The Namibian Fog Basking Beetle has an extremely innovative method of obtaining moisture in its harsh environment.

The Namib Desert is the site of a remarkable natural phenomenon. The cold Benguela current causes a fog to roll into the desert, serving as a source of water. This fog occurs roughly 30 days every year and in a single day can deposit up to 1 litre of water per square meter (on the mesh of an artificial fog screen).

The Fog Basking Beetles exploit this rare occurrence by climbing to the top of sand dunes and face the wind with their backs in the air. They then turn their bodies into literal water collectors. Water droplets form on their elytra* and roll down into their mouths. In some varieties of Fog Basking Beetle, it is thought that their elytra are hydrophobic surfaces. This causes the water in the fog to bead up and slide down into their mouths.

This resource exploitation is extremely successful. Other similar beetles that do not exhibit such fog basking behaviour have serious decline in population during times of drought. However, the fog-basking beetle is still present in large numbers at such periods of scarcity.

*Elytra: The forewings of the beetle

Read all about it: http://1.usa.gov/1eGK3HQ
Image URL: http://bit.ly/15sSKNv
Watch a video: http://bit.ly/11vHwKO

Acid/Alkaline dietary woo

Acid/alkaline dietary woo crops up all over the place, with the idea that we should eat "alkalinising" foods for better health being constantly recycled through creative "sciency" rhetoric. Here are some straight-forward points to take into account when considering following Gwyneth Paltrow and Victoria Beckham's lead, from retired chemistry professor Stephen Lower:

- The idea that one must consume alkaline water to neutralize the effects of acidic foods is ridiculous; we get rid of excess acid by exhaling carbon dioxide. When this is not adequate, the kidneys adjust urinary pH accordingly.

- If you do drink alkaline water, its alkalinity is quickly removed by the highly acidic gastric fluid in the stomach.
Uptake of water occurs mainly in the intestine, not in the stomach. But when stomach contents enter the intestine, they are neutralized and made alkaline by the pancreatic secretions — so all the water you drink eventually becomes alkaline anyway.

- The claims about the health benefits of drinking alkaline water are not supported by credible scientific evidence.
There is nothing wrong with drinking slightly acidic waters such as rainwater. "Body pH" is a meaningless concept; different parts of the body (and even of individual cells) can have widely different pH values. The pH of drinking water has zero effect on that of the blood or of the body's cells.

- If you really want to de-acidify your stomach (at the possible cost of interfering with protein digestion), why spend hundreds of dollars for an electrolysis device when you can take calcium-magnesium pills, Alka-Seltzer or Milk of Magnesia?

- "pH-balanced water" is scientifically meaningless and nothing more than a come-on for nostrums and products of dubous value.

 

http://www.webring.org/hub/antiquackerysite?w=1680;rh=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.chem1.com%2FCQ%2Fphbalance.html;rd=1

Edible Oils--Compositional and Trace Contaminant Analysis - 114798-Bro-LC-GC-NIR-ICP-Edible-Oil-Workflows-BR70701_E.pdf

Edible Oils--Compositional and Trace Contaminant Analysis - 114798-Bro-LC-GC-NIR-ICP-Edible-Oil-Workflows-BR70701_E.pdf

Scientists Discover Brain Activity Beyond A Deep Coma | Popular Science

Scientists Discover Brain Activity Beyond A Deep Coma | Popular Science

Physicists Discover Geometry Underlying Particle Physics | Simons Foundation

Physicists Discover Geometry Underlying Particle Physics | Simons Foundation

Did a hyper-black hole spawn the Universe? : Nature News & Comment

Did a hyper-black hole spawn the Universe? : Nature News & Comment

The Big Bang May Not Have Spawned The Universe After All | Popular Science

The Big Bang May Not Have Spawned The Universe After All | Popular Science

A Fridge Without Using Electricity!

This is incredible idea is an extension of the pottery water cooling vessels used though the millennia.

This is Mohammed Bah Abba's Pot-in-pot invention. In northern Nigeria, where Mohammed is from, over 90% of the villages have no electricity. His invention, which he won a Rolex Award for (and $100,000), is a refrigerator than runs without electricity.

Here's how it works. You take a smaller pot and put it inside a larger pot. Fill the space in between them with wet sand, and cover the top with a wet cloth. When the water evaporates, it pulls the heat out with it, making the inside cold. It's a natural, cheap, easy-to-make refrigerator.

So, instead of perishable foods rotting after only three days, they can last up to three weeks. Obviously, this has the potential to change their lives. And it already has -- there are more girls attending school, for example, as their families no longer need them to sell food in the market.

"Brilliant ideas don't need to be difficult to execute: here's a case in point. The technology has been known for centuries, but WASN'T APPLIED TO THE PROBLEM. Notice that applying technology also has the effect of educating young people."

Why Emotional Excess is Essential to Writing and Creativity | Brain Pickings

Why Emotional Excess is Essential to Writing and Creativity | Brain Pickings

BBN – Buddhist Broadcasting Network » Einstein on Buddhism (Part 2)

BBN – Buddhist Broadcasting Network » Einstein on Buddhism (Part 2)

RDFRS: Rare Skull Fossil of Miocene Ape Lufengpithecus Found

RDFRS: Rare Skull Fossil of Miocene Ape Lufengpithecus Found

The First Gear Discovered in Nature - Popular Mechanics

The First Gear Discovered in Nature - Popular Mechanics

Worrying molecule found in bottled water | Chemistry World

Worrying molecule found in bottled water | Chemistry World

Evolution

Walking on water. Not as crazy as it sounds.

Several creatures in the animal kingdom possess the ability to run, walk and even stand still on water. The first example is that of the basilisk lizard. It can be found in the tropical forests of Central and South America. To escape from predators, it is known to run across water bodies to safety. It is capable of moving in this fashion at an impressive speed of 1.5 meters per second. If humans wanted to match this, we would need to move our legs back and forth at over 100 kilometers per hour.

Water Striders are insects that exploit surface tension to achieve this. Their legs are spread wide apart and their bodies weigh very little. So the surface tension of the water is able to support their load, allowing the water to skate above the surface of the water

But the most amazing instance of an animal walking on water is the Pygmy Gecko (pictured). It's tiny - so small that it is smaller than even some insects. It lives in the Amazon rainforest. In such an environment, it constantly runs the risk of drowning in a puddle or being swept away by raindrops. Yet, this gecko has a hydrophobic skin. If water falls on it, it just beads up and slides off, much like rain on a newly waxed car. Coupled with its incredibly light body frame, the Pygmy Gecko is literally able to stand on water, even in the most torrential rain.

Image URL: http://bit.ly/ep3fhV
Read more: http://bbc.in/L8kk
Video of the Pygmy Gecko in action: http://bbc.in/Ki7HHU

NASA_Tech_brief.jpg (JPEG Image, 768 × 672 pixels)

NASA_Tech_brief.jpg (JPEG Image, 768 × 672 pixels)

Why Time Slows Down When We’re Afraid, Speeds Up as We Age, and Gets Warped on Vacation | Brain Pickings

Why Time Slows Down When We’re Afraid, Speeds Up as We Age, and Gets Warped on Vacation | Brain Pickings

Do Scientists Pray? Einstein Answers a Little Girl's Question about Science vs. Religion | Brain Pickings

Do Scientists Pray? Einstein Answers a Little Girl's Question about Science vs. Religion | Brain Pickings

Nabokov on Inspiration and the Six Short Stories Everyone Should Read | Brain Pickings

Nabokov on Inspiration and the Six Short Stories Everyone Should Read | Brain Pickings

Researchers debunk myth of right-brain and left-brain personality traits | Human World | EarthSky

Researchers debunk myth of right-brain and left-brain personality traits | Human World | EarthSky

Evolution

Though bats and toothed whales, who form the suborder of cetaceans, Odontoceti, that including sperm whales and dolphins have no common ancestor for approximately 80 million years, scientists have recently discover that through selective pressures, echolocation evolved convergently in both groups.

By analyzing as many sites as possible across currently mapped genomic sequence data, the scientists were able to show that convergence can be a widespread process involving multiple loci within genes that interrelate and coevolve. Close to 200 loci were identified as linked to genetic convergence and many of the identified genes that are implicated specifically to convergent evolution in echolocation are linked to hearing or deafness. This ultimately provides significant support for the convergent evolution of echolocation in both bottlenose dolphins and bats.

Also found were convergence in many genes linked to vision which were correlated with the pressure linked to the drive of natural selection. As echolocation is particularly useful in environments where visual information is impaired or limited, this link may not be such a surprise.

Ultimately the researchers noted that the process of convergent evolution is not an infrequent process that drives exclusive sections of a genome and can be examined at the molecular level by examining its widespread effects across multiple sites across the genetic code. Examining the genes with the highest levels of convergence and examining their function or functions would be the next step.

Image and educational source: http://askabiologist.asu.edu/echolocation

Sources:
Parker, J., Tsagkogeorga, G., Cotton, J. A., Liu, Y., Provero, P., Stupka, E., & Rossiter, S. J. (2013). Genome-wide signatures of convergent evolution in echolocating mammals, Nature doi:10.1038/nature12511 http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nature12511.html
http://www.nature.com/news/convergent-evolution-seen-in-hundreds-of-genes-1.13679
http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view%2FarticleNo%2F37350%2Ftitle%2FSurprising-Similarities-in-Divergent-Genomes%2F

Evolution

When you think of squids, you normally think about swift, powerful beasts with suckers and hooks that can crush you in seconds. Grimalditeuthis bonplandi defies this stereotype. This deep-sea squid is a sluggish swimmer with a fragile, gelatinous body. Its tentacles are not the muscular, sucker-covered appendages that you might expect to see. Rather, they are long, thin and simply too weak to get prey. Furthermore, the squid lacks suckers, hooks and photophores on its tentacles. This makes it seem like a sad excuse for a squid. But not so, according to a recent paper, published by researchers from the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI).

Generally, squids have eight arms and two tentacles. The tips of the tentacles, known as clubs, are broader and are armed with suckers or hooks. These tentacles are used to capture prey. G. bonplandi, however uses a different strategy altogether. Much like how an angler fish uses bioluminescence to lure prey, it is hypothesized that G. bonplandi uses small fluttering motions of its tentacle clubs to lure its prey.

Instead of suckers and hooks, G. bonplandi possesses fin-like membranes on the clubs of their tentacles. When the membranes flap, the clubs seem to be swimming on their own. The tentacles themselves do not move by themselves. When G. bonplandi wants to extend its tentacles, it does not use the muscles in its tentacles to do so. Instead, its clubs swim away from the body, with the tentacles trailing behind them. When it wants to retract its tentacles, the squid will swim down towards its clubs, wind up the tentacles, clubs and all, and hide them within its arms.

The researchers think that this behaviour causes small shrimp and squid (which they found remnants of in the squid’s stomach) to be attracted to the fluttering motion, which emulates the movement of small swimming animals. Even though they would be invisible in the darkness of the deep-sea, the researchers postulate that the vibrations can disturb glowing micro-organisms in the water, making them visible. Alternatively, the movements might be similar to the movements used by the prey to attract mate. The movements might even mimic the movements of even smaller animals that G. bonplandi’s prey eat (A case of the predator pretending to be the prey!).

The research was done by doing close examination of videos of G. bonplandi, collected by MBARI and several oil-industry Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs). Prior to this, only dead or dying specimens of G. bonplandi had been seen. The usage of ROVs allows the scientists to observe these creatures in their natural habitat. In addition to ROVs, the researchers also carried out several dissections on preserved squid to study their anatomy.

Read all about it: http://bit.ly/15TxR17
Image URL: http://bit.ly/1fwEJ5Y
Video: http://bit.ly/18oHPpY

Evolution

Planning for future events, or foresight, requires imagination that an event may or may not happen in a possible future. This ability to plan for contingencies was once thought to be a uniquely human capability, however we now know several animals have this ability as well, whether it be scrub-jays caching future meals or dolphins hording reward objects in their tanks to obtain extra rewards next time the trainer appeared. One male chimpanzee at the Furuvik Zoo in Gävle, Sweden began using his foresight for what appeared to be future “muscle flexing” to display his dominance by storing and throwing rocks at zoo visitors.

Keepers began to realize Santino was casually gathering stones from his enclosure in the morning after he and his troop were let out from their night enclosure. Carefully piling stones in strategic locations, once the zoo opened, Santino would hurl the stones in an aggressive display towards the visitors. Keepers began taking all of the stones before opening, Santino would hide the piles. Keepers took all loose stones and objects out of the enclosure, Santino began pulling plaster from the enclosure walls and hiding the piles.

Eventually Santino had to be kept indoors before he hurt someone and until something could be decided upon to quell his need to bomb spectators. Eventually it was decided it was in his best interest to neuter Santino so he could rejoin his troop and use the outdoor enclosure. He has since stopped his aggressive displays.

Image source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/72/Santino_chimp.JPG

Osvath, M. (2009). Spontaneous planning for future stone throwing by a male chimpanzee. Current Biology, 19(5), R190-R191. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2009.01.010
http://www.cell.com/current-biology/abstract/S0960-9822(09)00547-8
Osvath, M & Karvonen, E. (2012). Spontaneous Innovation for Future Deception in a Male Chimpanzee. PLoS ONE, 7(5), e36782. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0036782
http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0036782
http://news.discovery.com/animals/zoo-animals/zoo-chimp-attacks-humans-120509.htm
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=chimpanzee-plans-throws-stones-zoo
http://www.livescience.com/20388-stone-throwing-chimpanzee-deception.html

Additional Reading: http://www.livescience.com/20388-stone-throwing-chimpanzee-deception.html

Racism

Racism is a form of xenophobia. And so also a-theism is regarded as foreign to theism and therefore feared, Most, if not all, religions are xenophobic towards each other. I personally think it is a remnant behaviourism stemming from the evolutionary survival mechanism. Xenophobia/racism can only be eradicated through education. By analogy we are all instinctively scared of ALL snakes but through education we are are being taught that certain snakes are harmless and therefore not to be feared. In conclusion we can thus say that xenophobia can be both harmful and beneficial, depending on circumstances.

10 Logical Fallacies in Blog Comments | WordStream

10 Logical Fallacies in Blog Comments | WordStream

10 of the Most Toxic Foods for Dogs [PLEASE SHARE]

10 of the Most Toxic Foods for Dogs [PLEASE SHARE]

We Have Been Misled By An Erroneous Map Of The World For 500 Years

We Have Been Misled By An Erroneous Map Of The World For 500 Years

How to Tell Love from Passion: A Timeless Litmus Test from E. B. White and James Thurber, 1929 | Brain Pickings

How to Tell Love from Passion: A Timeless Litmus Test from E. B. White and James Thurber, 1929 | Brain Pickings

Evolution

Everyone has friends! But why is it that we try so hard to keep them close to us? A study done by researchers in the University of Virginia suggests that we associate kith and kin with ourselves.

This study was published in the August issue of the journal Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience.

James Coan, psychology professor at University of Virginia, along with his colleagues used functional MRI brain scans to study 22 young adults. The fMRI was used to monitor brain activity in the participants while they received threats of mild electrical shocks being delivered to themselves, to a friend or to a stranger.

The anterior insula, putamen and supramarginal gyrus (brain regions responsible for threat response) experienced activity when the threat was targeted at the subject. This was as expected. However, when the threat was targeted at a friend, the same areas in the brain lighted up, as though the threat was targeted at the self. In contrast, when the threat was targeted at a stranger, the same areas in the brain experienced little activity.

Coan says, “Our self comes to include the people we feel close to.” The reason for this is that humans need to have allies and friends. Eventually, humans perceive their friends to be the same as themselves. Friendship and alliance likely evolved because it allowed for resource expansion. A threat can take away resources. With friendship, common goals are formed and survivability increases.

“We can understand the pain or difficulty they may be going through in the same way we understand our own pain,” said Coan.

Read all about it: http://bit.ly/19LMJCW
Image URL: http://bit.ly/19mt8Jg

The Vitamin Myth: Why We Think We Need Supplements - Paul Offit - The Atlantic

The Vitamin Myth: Why We Think We Need Supplements - Paul Offit - The Atlantic

Here's Why Mosquitoes Can't Transmit HIV - Yahoo! Finance

Here's Why Mosquitoes Can't Transmit HIV - Yahoo! Finance

Evolution

New research demonstrates the huge necks of sauropods were not as flexible as previously thought.

Until now, ideas of how flexible sauropod necks were have been based entirely on the position of neck vertebrae. Computer models built around this idea have been used in museum installations and TV shows like "Walking with Dinosaurs", depicting the same sauropods grazing from low vegetation to the treetops. This new research demonstrates a key problem with these models - they don't consider the effects of soft tissue like muscles.

To get a clear picture of how much soft tissue could affect flexibility, the team looked at the closest thing to a long-necked dinosaur we have today - ostriches. Giraffes might seem the logical choice, having a more similar shape to sauropods than ostriches, but they have far fewer neck vertebrae.

Using three donated ostrich necks, the team measured neck flexibility as the necks were before removing soft tissues and measuring again. Their results showed the neck becomes more flexible as you remove more tissue. The more muscle and cartilage the neck has, the less flexible it is.

"The soft tissue is what allows the neck to flex, but it also places an absolute limit on how far you can move the neck," Matthew Cobley (evolutionary biologist at the University of Utah and lead author) told io9. "It seems common sense — and it is — but it's not something that was considered in detail before."

Understanding how flexible sauropod necks were can tell us more about how they lived and ate. Lack of flexibility likely restricted them to a particular niche (being unable to eat from a large range of heights) and would have required them to spend more time searching for food. It may also help us understand why they survived for so long.

To read the paper: http://bit.ly/147qrHk

Image credit: SPL. Sourced from the BBC article.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-23679932

http://io9.com/this-dinosaurs-huge-body-didnt-work-the-way-we-though-1145710156

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/08/130814191912.htm

Evolution

Megaconus mammaliaformis is the name given to the newly discovered fossil of a 165 million year old proto-mammal*. The fossil was found in Inner Mongolia and paleontological evidence suggests that hair was an adaptation that evolved before true-mammals ever existed.

Megaconus, which lived in the Jurassic Period has several adaptations that are found in modern mammals. The fossil had a clear halo of guard hairs and underfur residue. However, the hair around the abdominal area was sparse. This has led the researchers to believe that it had a naked underbelly. This makes Megaconus the second known proto-mammal to possess hair. Megaconus possessed a long spur composed of keratin on its heel. This may have been a poisonous spur, similar to those found in male platypuses. The presence of this spur suggests that the specimen was a male of its species. The fossil showed that Megaconus was roughly the size of a cat or small dog. It probably led an omnivorous lifestyle, based on the dental features, which showed that Megaconus was adapted to eating both plant matter and small animals.

While Megaconus was very similar to mammals, reptilian traits still existed in it. It possesses a primitive middle ear that was attached to the jaw. The anklebones and vertebral column were reminiscent of other prehistoric mammal-like reptiles.

"We cannot say that Megaconus is our direct ancestor, but it certainly looks like a great-great-grand uncle 165 million years removed. These features are evidence of what our mammalian ancestor looked like during the Triassic-Jurassic transition," said one of the researchers.

This discovery helps us to understand the transition of proto-mammals to modern mammals. It shows that several hallmark characteristics of modern mammals (specifically, those relating to skin and hair) were developed in pre-mammalian groups.

*Early predecessors of mammals

Read all about it: http://bit.ly/193LD1B
Image URL: http://bit.ly/13Q84qk

The Massacres in Egypt Are a Precursor to a Wider Global Conflict Between the Elites and the World’s Poor | Alternet

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Early Humans Lived in China 1.7 Million Years Ago | LiveScience

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Evolution

After more than a decade of work, scientists have found a new carnivorous mammal living in Ecuador. The animal is named the olinguito and is the first new carnivorous species discovered in the Western Hemisphere in 35 years.

It might have taken over 100 years, but the olinguito has finally been identified and given a proper binomial name: Bassaricyon neblina. Though olinguitos have been observed in the wild, kept in zoos and been preserved in museum drawers for a long time, they've always been described as olingos due to the animals' similarities.

Both olinguitos and olingos measure around 35cm (14 inches) long and weigh nearly a kilogram (2 lbs). They both belong to the order Carnivora, a group that encompasses mammals such as dogs, cats and bears. More specifically they belong to the same family as racoons, Procyonidae.

Identification of the olinguito began a decade ago when Kristofer Helgen was sorting olingo specimens in a Chicago museum, hoping to determine how many species existed. While sorting he noticed several skulls and skins seemed a bit unusual. DNA testing and examination of specimens from other museums confirmed that these remains were not from olungos.

Identifying new species from museum specimens is exciting, but Helgen and his team had no idea if olinguitos still existed in the wild. Had they identified a now-extinct species? Using field reports and clues from the specimens, the team were able to predict where olinguitos might be found and restrict their search to the cloud forests of Ecuador and Colombia.

The team found the olingutios on the western slopes of the Andes and recorded everything they could about this new carnivore. Olinguitos are nocturnal, live at high elevations and eat mainly fruit, but also eats birds and small mammals. They rarely leave the trees and produce a single offspring at a time.

But as Helgen said in a statement, giving the olinguito a name is just the beginning. "Proving that a species exists and giving it a name is where everything starts. This is a beautiful animal, but we know so little about it. How many countries does it live in? What else can we learn about its behaviour? What do we need to do to ensure its conservation?"

Photo credit: Mark Gurney.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-23701151

http://www.livescience.com/38920-olinguito-new-species-ecuador.html

http://newsdesk.si.edu/releases/smithsonian-scientists-discover-new-species-carnivore

Evolution Vs. God

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Freethought of the Day

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Evolution

Babies sleep a lot, don’t they? That seems to be true for more than just humans and mammals! A team of researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology and the University of Lausanne uncovered fascinating new information about REM sleep.

REM sleep (Rapid Eye Movement Sleep) is the phase of sleep during which we experience our most vivid dreams. During REM sleep, our brain experiences awake-like activity. A distinctive feature of REM sleep is that mammals earlier in their lives experience a greater amount of REM sleep than adults. For newborn humans, 50% of their sleep is REM sleep. Adults spend a quarter or less of their sleeping hours in REM. Birds are the only non-mammalian group of animals that are known to experience REM sleep. However, it was unknown if baby birds experience more REM sleep than adults.

The researchers attempted to solve this mystery, using wild barn owls as their subjects. Using minimally invasive EEGs and movement data loggers, the scientists recorded the sleep behaviour in 66 owlets of varying maturity. Throughout the recordings, which lasted for up to five days, the owlets stayed in their nest and were fed normally by their parents. After the recordings, all the owlets eventually fledged and went on the breed in the following year. So it is clear that this observational study had no adverse effects on the owls.

The results showed that the owlets spent a large amount of time in REM sleep, during which their brains showed awake-like activity. Although their eyes remained closed, the owlets would slowly nod their heads. The researchers also found that the time spent in REM sleep decreased as the owlets matured.

The researchers also investigated the connection between sleep and the expression of a gene responsible for producing dark feather spots. The same gene is also necessary for the production of thyroid and insulin hormones. These in turn are linked to brain development in the owls. One of the researchers mentioned that they had “found that melanic spotting in owls covaries with a variety of behavioral and physiological traits, many of which also have links to sleep, such as immune system function and energy regulation." They discovered that owlets with a higher level of expression of the abovementioned gene experienced less REM sleep than was expected for their age. This suggests that they were experiencing greater brain development than owlets with lower gene expression.

To completely uncover the intricate relationships between REM sleep, feather pigmentation and brain development, additional research must be done. It is hoped that studying the variation of REM sleep with age can provide a clue to the long-standing mystery of REM sleep.

Read all about it: http://bit.ly/145a2m1
Image URL: http://bit.ly/13EPxcA

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Evolution

Wild tigers are disappearing, but...........

Sandeep Sharma of the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute in Washington, D.C., and his colleagues used genetic analysis and historical data to show that wild tigers in central India (estimated at 273 individuals) are using strips of forests, or "forest corridors," to find each other and mate. Despite quickly encroaching human development, the tigers are using what habitat is left, and hopefully keeping their species from extinction.

These forest corridors are not protected, however. Even now, companies are buying and developing the land that these tigers are using.

Picture courtesy of:

http://www.treehugger.com/endangered-species/wild-tiger-population-dropped-by-968-in-20-years.html

Sources:

http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/352006/description/News_in_Brief_Tigers_meet_mix_in_forest_corridors