Bees Act Like Serial Killers

Bumblebees foraging for food avoid stopping at flowers too close to home, perhaps to avoid attracting predators. Known as geographic profiling, this science has allowed scientists to locate the entrance to a hive by mapping which flowers the bees visit.

It is now being used to predict where serial killers might live based on where they commit crimes. Murderers operate fairly close to home, but maintain a kill-free “buffer zone.”

Loud Bar = More Beer

Research found that when bar music was louder, alcohol consumption rose.

Researchers think 1) loud music may energize and excite bar-hoppers, encouraging binging; or 2) it was too loud to talk, so people focused more on drinking.

Alcoholic Animals

In the Malaysian rain forest, scientists noticed a yeasty smell from a local palm and a frothy substance resembling the head of beer. The palm’s nectar has as much alcohol as some beer.

The pen tailed treeshrew and slow loris were found to repeatedly drink the nectar every night - equivalent of ~9 drinks, but they don't act "drunk." Also, they act as the plant’s pollinator.

Amazonian Tribe Doesn't Use Numbers

Scientists have found an Amazonian tribe that has no words for numbers. The Piraha people use “2” to mean even "5" or "6" and “1” is used for anything less than that. So words don’t stand for numbers, but for relative amounts.

These findings suggest language for exact numbers is a cultural invention rather than universally linguistic.

Bad Singing

Researchers randomly asked people to sing Quebec’s anthem. 40 out of 42 people sounded as good as the pros.

But why couldn’t the 2 bad singers carry a tune?

Repeating the experiment, researchers asked people to sing Jingle Bells and then tested their ability to listen to some music and identify bad notes. They found that bad singers either cannot recognize the wrong notes ... or simply do not care how they sound.

Write to Lose Weight

Research finds that people who write down everything they eat each day lose twice as much as those who don’t.

~1,700 participants were asked to follow a heart-healthy diet, attended weekly group sessions and did moderate exercise for 1/2 hour daily. After 6 months, ~2/3rd had lost at least 9lbs. Moreover, those who wrote down what they ate lost twice as much as others.

Vote Carefully

Researchers have found that the physical location of where people vote affects how they vote. Studying the 2000 general election, in Arizona the ballot included an initiative to raise state taxes to support education. People who voted in a school building were more likely to vote for the proposal than those voting at elsewhere.

In the lab, subjects were shown images, some pertaining to schools. Later, they were asked to vote on funding for education - those who had looked at lockers were more likely to vote yes.

Keep Your Depression To Yourself

Research argues that people who don’t discuss their feelings after a tragedy fare better than those who do. Shortly after 9/11, participants could share their thoughts. 2 years later, scientists found those who did not express their feelings were better off.

Cleaning Oil Spills

~200,000 tons of oil have polluted waters around the world from 2000=2010 alone. In response, researchers have designed nanowires of potassium manganese oxide that feels like paper. Tiny pores between the wires absorb oil (up to 20 times its weight) but repel water. It can also be reused because potassium manganese oxide is stable at high temperatures. This means one simply heats the nanowires above oil's boiling point so the oil evaporates while the paper is clean ... and the oceans

Leaves Maintain a Constant Temperature

Research shows that leaves on trees in the tropics to the Arctic maintain a fairly constant temperature of 70°F.

Scientists assumed leaf temperature was the same as its environment because trees are not warm-blooded. The shocking find reveals that leaves from the tropics evolved mechanisms for keeping cool (e.g. angling themselves away from the sun) while trees in polar regions have ways to heat their leaves (e.g. having more leaves per branch to bundle up).

Man Made Lightning

Researchers used lasers to generate lightning. It was suggested 30 years ago but lasers weren’t strong enough then.

As of now, the electrical channels don’t last long enough to bring lightning to earth.

Diet May Affect Gender

Researchers studied 750 first-time pregnant women. Those who ate more calories and a wider range of nutrients, 56% had boys vs. 45% of lowest caloric intake. The highest calorie group was also the most likely to eat breakfast.

Breakthrough of 2010: First Quantum Machine

While both verifiable, the two big fields of physics - classical mechanics and quantum mechanics - seemed incompatible ... until now.

Before 2010, all human-made objects moved according to the laws of classical mechanics. In March, researchers designed a gadget that moves according to quantum mechanics (governing the behavior of tiny things like atoms).

Science has called this discovery the most significant scientific advance of 2010.

Here's a video explanation.

Colors Nutritional For Trees

Research shows that fall's bright red leaves deliver more nutrients to trees than if they were not so colored.

Trees in nutrient-poor soil produced more red pigment, backing a 2003 discovery that blocking red pigment production makes leaves ultra-sensitive to sunlight, causing less nutrients to be delivered to the plant.

This means that when the soil is poor, making the red pigment keeps those leaves working longer.

Marketing to Toddlers

American food and beverage industries effectively spend $10+ billion/year in marketing to children.

One study reveals that preschoolers were given the exact same food in unmarked or McDonald’s packaging. All the kids liked the marked packaging better - even if it was carrots. The effect may be observable in 2 year old's.

Travelling Light

Because photons impart momentum, physicists demonstrated that light can move insect's wings.

A wing experiences different pressures on its top and bottom side to stay in flight. But aside from air, light can also create pressure. When photons pass through or reflect off of something, they induce momentum in that object. Researchers zapped a tiny wing-shaped rod with a laser beam causing the wing to move.

Happiness Is Contagious

Research shows a happy person influences those around them to be happy to 3 degrees of separation.

Findings indicate that the effect's strength is inversely proportional to distance - next-door neighbors and friends living nearby were affected the most. Strangely, sadness had little affect on social networks.

Brain Smarter Than Person Using It

Research indicates our subconscious brain is excellent at making decisions based on data

Subjects stared at randomly moving dots and a set number were moving right or left. When asked if the dots were moving left or right, the longer subjects stared at the screen, the more confirmed their answers became. If dots moved to the right, a part of the brain that recognizes right-direction movement became activated and increased as time passed until the subjects gave a definitive answer ... meaning subjects were subconsciously gathering information until they finally felt sure of the answer.

Tetris Good For Brain

Prolonged Tetris exposure can lead to more efficient brain activity as energy consumption decreases (measured by glucose consumption) - meaning the brain is operating more efficiently. 1/2 hr/day for 3 months can increase "critical thinking, reasoning, language and processing" and increase cerebral cortex thickness.

New Life Form Found on Earth

NASA announced today that it has discovered a microorganism that lives off arsenic. It has been dubbed microbe GFAJ-1 and is the first known life to have a DNA structure different than all other life forms. 6 elements are considered the building blocks of life on earth - arsenic not being one of them. Before this, scientists thought an environment without these elements (especially phosphorus) could not support life.

The discovery lends support to life existing elsewhere in the universe.

Music Sounds Different To Different People

Researchers placed auditory implants in ferrets and each ferret responded differently to the same sound because neurons reacted differently each time, an effect applicable to humans. So, human brains process sounds depending on how our ears deliver that sound. This means different people may hear the same sound differently.

Still, this is music no matter what anyone says.

Superfluidity

Superfluidity occurs when certain liquids are cooled to near absolute zero ... becoming frictionless and defying gravity. As such, they actually move up and out of a container without any external force acting upon them.

Watch the clip.

Superconductivity

Discovered in the early 1900s, superconductivity is the mind bending occurrence of zero resistance to electric flow.

Resistance to electrical flow decreases as temperature cools but conductors generally have a limit to which they can allow electric flow. Superconductivity occurs when the material is cooled below its critical temperature. Placing 2 like pole magnets next to each other an electrical current is induced, causing the repulsion we are so familiar with. If we have a magnetic rail and place a magnetic puck cooled to superconductive levels, the magnetic field repels the puck along the magnetic rail - the puck moving along without physically touching the rail. This continues until the puck warms up.

Watch the clip.

Tidbits on Hummingbirds

Hummingbirds can hover because they move their wings in a figure-8 motion, gaining lift from both sides

Aside from insects, they are the only animal that can fly upside down

They wings can move up to a speed of 200 strokes/sec

Hummingbirds enter a state of "torpor" at night - almost shutting down their heat (cut body temperature in half) and metabolic systems to compensate for not eating

Here's a PBS clip, with the link to the entire documentary on hummingbirds as well.

Chill Out Pre-Workout

50 athletes were placed into a cooling chamber at -120 degrees for 2.5 minutes. They then ran at 90% of their max. After six months, the cooled athletes showed much better results and an increased oxygen carrying capacity.

Scientists think the chilling 1) slows the rise of body temperate, which harms performance; 2) conserves body fluids, because athletes sweat less.

Workers Who Help Are Happy

One study reveals that for a satisfying career and happy life, do something that helps others.

Price Affects Taste

20 subjects were given 5 wines and rated the same wine better when told it was more expensive. Really, there were only 3 wines - 2 offered twice, at a "low" and "high" price. MRI showed no change in taste centers, but there was increased activity in the brain's pleasure centers.

CEO's Face = Company Fortune

Research shows that public perception of CEOs faces matched the companies fortune.

Undergrads rated faces of 50 CEOs from the highest and lowest ranked Fortune 1000 companies on competence, maturity, trustworthiness, etc. Amazingly, students’ impressions coincided with company profits. The more powerful the CEO appeared, the more successful the corporation. The study does not indicate if profitable companies promote people who look like leaders or if successful CEOs grow into the look.

Snakes Hear With Jaws

We know that snakes see heat with their noses and smell with their tongues. Now, we know they hear with their jaws.

Snakes only have an inner ear system. The cochlea - instrumental in hearing - is connected to the snake's jawbone. Vibrations that move a snake's jaw, therefore, allow the snake to hear ... even as minute as that of a rodent. Because snakes can unhinge their jaws one side at a time, they may be able to hear in stereo.

Beauty Affects Purchases

In one study, consumers were more enthusiastic about purchasing clothing if a good-looking person handled it first. 300 shoppers were sent to try on a specific shirt. Interest was markedly higher when a model was wearing the shirt instead of an average looking person. In fact, they were willing to spend more for it.

Scratching Really Helps

Brain scans show that scratching decreases unpleasantness - but it doesn't stimulate pleasure centers. Instead, scratching decreased the activity of brain regions associated with unpleasant sensory experiences.

Detecting Age From Blood Drop

Using a blood drop up to 1.5 years old, forensic experts can now estimate a person’s age to within 9 years. The thymus, the organ that pumps out T cells, is gradually replaced with fat tissue as people age leaving behind genetic artefacts.

Blood can be used to determine gender and eye color but age is tougher, bones or teeth serving as better choice ... for now.

Smelling Sounds, Hearing Colors

Humans can hear colors and smell sounds. Its called synaesthesia and affects ~1 in 1,000 people - most not knowing they have the condition.

"There are people for whom time units evoke colors ... It is also common for a synaesthete to see colors when listening to words, sounds in general or music notes (people who can see music, for instance). There are also cases, although fewer, where people can see colors in flavors, others perceive flavors or experience touch sensations when listening to different sounds, some link flavors to touch sensations, etc."

“Smounds”— We Detect Half Sound, Half Smell

Food smell could be related to the sounds we hear while eating.

Scientists studied the increased activity of mice's olfactory tubercle - a brain structure aiding in odor detection - when making a rattling sound. When clanking a mug, 65% of tubercle cells were activated. A tone only registered 19% activity. Scientists repeatedly sent a mix of odors and tones into tubercle cells. They noted 29% became enhanced or suppressed depending on the presence/absence of the second stimulus.

Shark vs. Octopus

See who wins (attack starts at 1:00)

Happiness Comes and Goes and Comes Back

A cross-cultural study of 74 countries finds that most people have a midlife crisis but most get happy again. Regardless of cultural differences, financial success or marital status, depression settles over our forties. But our late fifties brings happiness - maybe because we learn to expect less from life.

Bad Smells Are Good

Scientists used to think odors directly activate the trigeminal nerve - which responds to touch, temperature and painful stimulation in the head, and extends to the nose. New research suggests that specialized chemosensory cells lining the nasal cavity first detect smells and pass the news to the trigeminal nerve, alerting the brain.

Having these special sensory cells as a medium might make our noses sensitive to a variety of odors which helps us avoid bad stuff.

Cameras Cause Crashes

Research argues that cameras at traffic lights increase the likelihood of car crashes because more drivers break to make a late stop at red-light camera intersections.

The report notes that North Carolina, Virginia and Ontario all had increased crash rates and injuries associated with red light cameras.

Gator's Lungs Help in Locomotion

Research shows that alligator's can effortlessly glide through the water because they shift the location of their lungs. Lungs act like flotation devices which a gator uses to steer just by moving them around. Surfacing means moving lungs forward; diving requires pushing lungs back; changing direction means moving them to one side or another.

Money CAN Buy Happiness

Money can buy happiness, but only if you spend it on someone else.

In one experiment, volunteers rated their happiness and were then given $5 or $20. Half were told to spend on themselves, half to give it away. Those who gave away the money were the happiness, even if it was only $5.

The finding supports another famous study on happiness.

Performing Arts = Good

A 3-year study finds that early training in performing arts is very good for the brain.

Performing arts developed attention span, which can improve other areas of cognition.

Music training improved the ability to manipulate short-term and long-term memory, geometric representation, and reading skills.

Acting lead to improved memory, b/c of better language skills.

Bacteria That Eat Antibiotics

Research shows that certain soil bacteria feeds on antibiotics. This might be surprising but recall that most antibiotics come from organisms that live in the dirt so some bacteria are bound to adapt.

Take A Good Deal

Research shows that a fair deal feels good because it activates the brain’s reward centers (ventral striatum, ventromedial prefrontal cortex), just like cocaine.

Participants were given offers to split a sum of money, and almost always accepted 50/50 or 40/60 deals, activating the brain’s reward centers. Bad offers activated the insula - the region associated with disgust.

Keeping Up Appearances

In a wondrous example of tool usage amongst animals, dresser crabs will grab and wear literally anything that is around them for camouflage - even fabric and pearls.

See the video

Mexican Jumping Beans

Why do they jump?

Mexican jumping beans house a moth larvae. The moth lays its eggs in the flower of the jumping bean plant, which become part of the seed. While maturing, the larvae moves, causing the bean to "jump." Light and heat can also induce the larva to move, causing the bean to jump.

Here's a video.

Don't Play The Lottery

Michael Orkin, professor of statistics at California State University at Hayward, argues that if you have to drive 10 miles to buy your lottery ticket, odds of getting killed in a car crash are 16 times greater than your chances of actually winning the lottery. Wait, what about walking? Well, then you face a near 100% chance of losing your money.

Full Fat Ice Cream Improves Fertility

A study of 18,000+ women aged 24-42 reveals that women who ate full-fat milk or ice cream increases chances of ovulating. Also, the more you eat, the more likely you ovulate (if your overall calorie intake remains the same). In contrast, those eating at least two servings of low-fat milk products/day were 85% more likely to have problems ovulating than women who only ate one serving.

Groundhog Day

If groundhogs don't stick their heads up every February 2nd to see if its Spring, why do they do it? To find a mate.

In the study, the first groundhogs to come above ground are all males all looking for female groundhogs. It's usually cold in Pennsylvania in February so groundhogs mark territory, mate, and go back into hibernation. Weeks later, groundhogs wake up when it warm and reconnect with the female.

DON'T Clean Your Plate

During the 2004 Superbowl (Panthers vs. Patriots), 53 football fans participated in an all you can eat chicken wing buffet. During the game, waitresses cleared the chicken bones from only half the tables. Subjects whose plates got emptied ate 43% more wings than those whose plates were covered with bones. Bones apparently provided a visual cue that they ate enough.

Tell that one to your mom.

Freezing Light

Einstein said that the special theory of relativity shows "that mass and energy are different manifestations of the same thing.” Accordingly, researchers have frozen and unfrozen light in an entirely different place.

Researchers sent a light pulse into a sodium cloud of -460 degrees (theoretical point were matter stops). While frozen, the light actually changed state - like frozen water. It also split into two forms of matter. One was frozen while the other moved at 200 meters/hour. The second form - a matter wave - contains the exact information of the original light wave which was converted back into light.

Since fiber-optic communications use light, it means we may one day stop, store and turn messages back on, just like a light switch.