Different Exercises Affect Diet Differently

Researchers followed 11 males as they jogged on a treadmill for 1 hr or 90 minutes lifting weights. They found that the treadmill workout altered the production of two different hormones that control appetite while weightlifting only affected one. This suggests that aerobic exercise is a better appetite suppressant than muscle building. Also, runners were less hungry than weightlifters.

A Judge's Brain

For a trial, the judge has to 1) decide if the person is guilty and 2) the appropriate punishment. FMRI scans revealed that a brain region involved in analytical thought was most active when deciding guilt but a different area, more in tune with emotion, became activated when deciding punishment.

"Broken Windows" Theory Supported

The "broken windows" theory says in a neighborhood where buildings have broken windows, people are more likely to behave criminally. Law enforcement has embraced the idea - hitting petty crime hard to curb serious crime (e.g. NYC used it to justify a zero tolerance approach to squeegeeing of car windows ... and crime did go down).

Scientists have found empirical evidence to support these findings. They found that cyclists who parked their bikes near a graffiti covered wall were 2x more likely to litter than if parked near the same wall after it was painted clean.

Democratic Fish

Research shows that schools of stickleback fish considering the preferences of their peers before choosing a leader. In the study, as the fish population grew, more and more fish selected the fitter candidate - indicating a beneficial feedback mechanism. The phenomenon conforms with the quorum-response rule where a few individuals differentiate between 2 candidates and take the lead in selecting a leader. The rest of the group waits for a threshold number of fish to make a particular decision. The threshold, and accuracy, increases with group size.

Levitation With Sound

Liquid droplets, while useful for research, are easily contaminated by other liquids or surfaces. In response, scientists are making liquids bounce or float in air. Droplets on oil's surface eventually collapse but employing sound vibrations makes droplets lightly bounce, thereby separating the droplets from the oil.

Here's a video of ultrasonic levitation.

Body Odor "Fingerprints"

Research suggests that each mammal, including humans, has a unique body odor type. All mammals have specific genetically-determined smells (odor types), meaning our odor-print may be as individual as our fingerprint. So devices could be built to detect unique odor-prints ... which is bad news for criminals.

That Warm Feeling

Researchers gave 41 participants a cup of hot or iced coffee, without being told it was part of the experiment. They were handed a description of an imaginary person and asked to describe that person. Those who held the hot coffee rated the person significantly warmer — friendlier, more generous — than those who held the ice coffee.

Also, 53 volunteers held hot or cold therapeutic pads and then could choose a gift certificate for themselves or a friend. Those who’d held the hot pads were more likely to give the gift certificate to friends.

Tennis Referees Handicap

It takes at least .10 second for humans to register an image. With moving objects, we have to construct our perception and the brain requires us to consistently think something has gone slightly further than it really has. It is no surprise then that
research of 4,000+ randomly selected tennis points revealed 83 incorrect calls of which 70 were of the predicted type.

Maybe John did have a point.

Don't Drive On Election Day!!

Researchers studied presidential elections from 1976-2008 and compared them with the Tuesdays before and after election day. 24 additional car crash deaths and 800 extra, serious injuries nationwide occurred on election days - even more than on Super Bowl Sunday or New Year’s Eve. The individual risk also exceeded the potential of casting the pivotal vote.

Internet Makes Elderly Smart

Neuroscientists scanned brains of 24 55-74 year-old volunteers as they read and searched on the internet. Both activities sent blood rushing to brain areas controlling memory and language. However, when using the Internet, brain regions dealing with complex reasoning also became activated and those with more more Internet experience got twice the brain benefit of inexperienced users.

Brain Is An Active Listener

Language is delivered at up to 5 syllables/second so scientists thought listeners kept pace by anticipating a subset of words the listener knew (like how Google Instant works). Functional MRI's show the brain considers different words and narrows choices by considering words beginning with the same sound.

For example, if one says, “I tasted the sweetest can…" your brain might be priming itself to hear "candy" or "cantaloupe", but not "candle."

Steroids Lingering Effects

Research found that even years after abstaining from steroid use — and little or no weight training — muscle fiber density and increased number of cell nuclei were comparable to drug-free athletes performing high-intensity strength-training. Additional cell nuclei could help former dopers because more nuclei = more protein synthesis = more muscle.

Sore Losers, Don't Bid

Research finds that people overbid at auctions to avoid defeat more than to experience victory.

Half the subjects started the auction with a $15 bonus, which they would keep if they won. The other half were told that after the auction, if they won, they’d get an extra $15. Either way, the winners would get the same bonus.

But people bid more when they were afraid they might lose the money they already had.

Juices Counter Medicine

Research finds that grapefruit juice, orange juice, apple juice and other fruit juices can severely decrease the absorption of certain drugs. Juice ingredients appear to block a molecule that carries drugs from the small intestine into the bloodstream. This means that a lot of medicine just flushes out without reaching its target.

Fairness in Children

Research finds that children below age 7 didn't care about fairness, older kids did.

200 Swiss schoolchildren were given candy and each child was asked something to the effect of: "I can give one M&M to you and one to one of the other kids. Or I can give one to you—and none to anyone else."

3-4 year olds didn’t care if their friends got candy but after age 7, ~80% opted to be fair.

Urban Planning Affects Weight

Research finds that risk of obesity lowers when people live in densely populated, urban neighborhoods.

Studying 500,000 Utah citizens, male suburbanite's weighed 10 lbs more than city-dwelling counterparts and women had a 6lb weight difference. Urban neighborhoods developed pre-1950 had the thinnest inhabitants because there was no car culture. Instead, they have parks, restaurants and shops worth walking to, and sidewalks to go there.