Research / Scholarship posts
- February 10, 2012
- 06:56 AM
- 83 views
This Chimp May Be Smarter than You
by Jaime Menchén in United Academics
His name is Ayumu, and he’s unbeatable at a memorization game. When he was 5 years old his skills stunned the world. A research was published in 2007 reporting his achievements, and now that he is 11 years old it seems that he is at his best, better than any human.... Read more »
Inoue, S., & Matsuzawa, T. (2007) Working memory of numerals in chimpanzees. Current Biology, 17(23). DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2007.10.027
- February 8, 2012
- 10:12 AM
- 43 views
Is Medical Reporting Making the Grade?
by Arielle D. Ross in Salamander Hours
The quality of scientific reporting, especially of medical reporting, is of great import to the public, but that is only one reason among many to care about media coverage quality. False or sub-quality reporting can lead to inaccurate beliefs, … Continue reading →... Read more »
Schwartz, L., Woloshin, S., Andrews, A., & Stukel, T. (2012) Influence of medical journal press releases on the quality of associated newspaper coverage: retrospective cohort study. BMJ, 344(jan27 1). DOI: 10.1136/bmj.d8164
- February 8, 2012
- 09:11 AM
- 43 views
Small Primate Communicates in High-Pitched Sounds Inaudible to Humans
by Jaime Menchén in United Academics
US researchers have discovered that Philippine Tarsier can “talk” within the pure ultrasound domain, this is, above human hearing capacity.... Read more »
Ramsier, M., Cunningham, A., Moritz, G., Finneran, J., Williams, C., Ong, P., Gursky-Doyen, S., & Dominy, N. (2012) Primate communication in the pure ultrasound. Biology Letters. DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2011.1149
- February 8, 2012
- 07:44 AM
- 56 views
Deceiving Degrees
by E Markham in Genetic Cuckoo
Discussion of the recent change to courses offered in British universities following increased awareness and protest against pseudoscience, with more universities choosing to no longer offer degrees in homeopathy and alternative medicine, it seems evidence based medicine is finally eradicating flimflam from our higher institutions. However, this is not the situation in much of the world, as many leading universities in Australia still offering these misleading and pointless courses. This article........ Read more »
E Markham. (2012) Deceiving Degrees. Blogspot. info:/
- February 8, 2012
- 07:00 AM
- 47 views
Ship Noise Causes Stress in Whales, Study Reveals
by Jaime Menchén in United Academics
Following September 11, 2001, ship traffic along America’s shores was substantially decreased. A team of researchers used the situation to test the stress levels of North Atlantic right whales, finding evidence that low-frequency sounds from ships cause chronic stress in whales.... Read more »
Rolland, R., Parks, S., Hunt, K., Castellote, M., Corkeron, P., Nowacek, D., Wasser, S., & Kraus, S. (2012) Evidence that ship noise increases stress in right whales. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2011.2429
- February 7, 2012
- 09:10 AM
- 55 views
Military Use of Neuroscience Should Be Regulated, Report Warns
by Jaime Menchen in United Academics
tDCS is a form of neurostimulation that, in the case of the research mentioned above, led to a better detection of concealed objects, based on the fact that the brain detects things before the subject is consciously aware of them. The results also showed that it may improve learning abilities, thus decreasing “the time required to attain expertise in a variety of settings,” according to the study.... Read more »
Clark, V., Coffman, B., Mayer, A., Weisend, M., Lane, T., Calhoun, V., Raybourn, E., Garcia, C., & Wassermann, E. (2012) TDCS guided using fMRI significantly accelerates learning to identify concealed objects. NeuroImage, 59(1), 117-128. DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2010.11.036
- February 6, 2012
- 10:00 PM
- 8 views
Getting Data Shared - the next step and the real work begins
by Winston Hide in elements of impact
comment on 10.1038/ng.1054... Read more »
Sansone, S., Rocca-Serra, P., Field, D., Maguire, E., Taylor, C., Hofmann, O., Fang, H., Neumann, S., Tong, W., Amaral-Zettler, L.... (2012) Toward interoperable bioscience data. Nature Genetics, 44(2), 121-126. DOI: 10.1038/ng.1054
- February 6, 2012
- 08:44 AM
- 80 views
the synapse: where the magic happens
by TheCellularScale in The Cellular Scale
What is a synapse?The synapse is the junction between two neurons, usually between an axon, which gives the signal, and a dendrite, which receives the signal. This meeting of neurons is absolutely essential to how the brain works. It is where the information gets passed on from one neuron to the next. The 'magic' at the synapseWhen someone talks about neuronal pathways being strengthened, they usually mean a strengthening of this synaptic connection. ........ Read more »
Bliss TV, & Lomo T. (1973) Long-lasting potentiation of synaptic transmission in the dentate area of the anaesthetized rabbit following stimulation of the perforant path. The Journal of physiology, 232(2), 331-56. PMID: 4727084
Lømo T. (2003) The discovery of long-term potentiation. Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences, 358(1432), 617-20. PMID: 12740104
- February 6, 2012
- 06:25 AM
- 61 views
How Snowflakes Are Formed
by Jaime Menchen in United Academics
The delicate structure of snowflakes unfolds before your eyes, like a flower blooming. Scientist Kenneth Libbrecht has studied how snowflakes are formed.... Read more »
Kenneth G. Libbrecht. (2011) Observations of an Edge-enhancing Instability in Snow Crystal Growth near -15 C. Cornell University Library. arXiv: 1111.2786v1
- February 6, 2012
- 03:39 AM
- 120 views
Is it good to listen to music at work?
by Stuart Farrimond in Dr Stu's Science Blog
There’s one thing you notice whenever you come back from camping. The noise. In the car, the shops, the gym: the beat of a drum, the strum of a guitar, the sound of synth – it can feel like we live world of tunes. Arrive at work and what do we do? Turn the radio … Continue reading »... Read more »
Kampfe, J., Sedlmeier, P., & Renkewitz, F. (2010) The impact of background music on adult listeners: A meta-analysis. Psychology of Music, 39(4), 424-448. DOI: 10.1177/0305735610376261
Haake, A. (2011) Individual music listening in workplace settings: An exploratory survey of offices in the UK. Musicae Scientiae, 15(1), 107-129. DOI: 10.1177/1029864911398065
- February 2, 2012
- 07:09 AM
- 83 views
Design Performs a Key Role in Spider Webs, Scientists Say
by Jaime Menchén in United Academics
The strength of spider webs is not only based on silk’s properties, but also on the quality of their design, as researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Politecnico di Torino have found out.... Read more »
Cranford, S., Tarakanova, A., Pugno, N., & Buehler, M. (2012) Nonlinear material behaviour of spider silk yields robust webs. Nature, 482(7383), 72-76. DOI: 10.1038/nature10739
- February 2, 2012
- 05:13 AM
- 68 views
Pic of the Day: Meet the Shieldcroc, Crocodiles’ Earliest Ancestor
by Jaime Menchén in United Academics
Researchers from Marshall University, US, have reported a new kind of giant crocodilyform who lived 95 million years ago. Named Aegisuchus witmeri, scientists have nicknamed it “shieldcroc” for the shield-like skin on its head, never seen before in these species.... Read more »
Holliday, C., & Gardner, N. (2012) A New Eusuchian Crocodyliform with Novel Cranial Integument and Its Significance for the Origin and Evolution of Crocodylia. PLoS ONE, 7(1). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0030471
- February 1, 2012
- 01:12 AM
- 86 views
Solar Cells as Easy as Inkjet Printing
by Paige Brown in From The Lab Bench
Imagine if making solar cells, which harvest light from the sun to produce energy, was as easy as sending this blog post to your inkjet printer.... Read more »
Wang, W., Su, Y., & Chang, C. (2011) Inkjet printed chalcopyrite CuInxGa1−xSe2 thin film solar cells. Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, 95(9), 2616-2620. DOI: 10.1016/j.solmat.2011.05.011
- January 31, 2012
- 07:00 PM
- 107 views
Drinking Milk Might Be Good for your Brain, Study Says
by Jaime Menchen in United Academics
New research at the University of Maine, US, provides a novel field of study: drinking milk, among consuming other dairy products, may benefit our brain health, its authors say.... Read more »
Crichton, G., Elias, M., Dore, G., & Robbins, M. (2012) Relation between dairy food intake and cognitive function: The Maine-Syracuse Longitudinal Study. International Dairy Journal, 22(1), 15-23. DOI: 10.1016/j.idairyj.2011.08.001
- January 31, 2012
- 05:36 AM
- 95 views
Neil harbisson, the world's first cyborg.
by Jaime Menchen in United Academics
Neil Harbisson, aged 29, considers himself a cyborg. Affected from birth by achromatopsia, he is unable to perceive colours, just black and white. Since 2004, he wears an eyeborg, a device that allows him to recognize colours through sound waves... Read more »
Warwick, K. (2011) Future Issues with Robots and Cyborgs. Studies in Ethics, Law, and Technology, 4(3). DOI: 10.2202/1941-6008.1127
- January 31, 2012
- 03:29 AM
- 130 views
Voodoo Neuroscience Revisited
by Neuroskeptic in Neuroskeptic
Two years ago, neuroscientists were shaken by the appearance of a draft paper showing that half of the published work in a particular field had fallen prey to a major statistical error.Originally called "Voodoo Correlations in Social Neuroscience", it ended up with the less snappy name of Puzzlingly high correlations in fMRI studies of emotion, personality, and social cognition. I prefer the old title.The error in question is now known variously as the "circular analysis problem", "non-independe........ Read more »
Vul, E., & Pashler, H. (2012) Voodoo and circularity errors. NeuroImage. DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2012.01.027
- January 30, 2012
- 09:14 AM
- 126 views
And Yet another Use for Graphene: Distilling Vodka
by Jaime Menchén in United Academics
Last findings on graphene reveal unexpected utility: distilling booze. Membranes made from graphene allows water to pass through but blocks anything else.... Read more »
Nair RR, Wu HA, Jayaram PN, Grigorieva IV, & Geim AK. (2012) Unimpeded permeation of water through helium-leak-tight graphene-based membranes. Science (New York, N.Y.), 335(6067), 442-4. PMID: 22282806
- January 29, 2012
- 10:34 PM
- 72 views
There’s More to That Red Plastic Cup Than You Thought
by Krystal D'Costa in Anthropology in Practice
Who here has not enjoyed a cold, refreshing drink from a red plastic cup? Alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages alike find themselves comfortably enclosed within the confines of the bright red vessel that has become a ubiquitous American staple at barbecues, picnics, parties, in dugouts and at minor league games, in food cars and at lunch [...]
... Read more »
Bunimovitz, S., & Greenberg, R. (2004) Revealed in Their Cups: Syrian Drinking Customs in Intermediate Bronze Age Canaan. Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, 19. DOI: 10.2307/4150104
Donner, W. (1994) Alcohol, Community, and Modernity: The Social Organization of Toddy Drinking in a Polynesian Society. Ethnology, 33(3), 245. DOI: 10.2307/3774009
Magennis, H. (1985) The Cup as Symbol and Metaphor in Old English Literature. Speculum, 60(3), 517. DOI: 10.2307/2848173
McAllister, P. (2003) Culture, Practice, and the Semantics of Xhosa Beer-Drinking. Ethnology, 42(3), 187. DOI: 10.2307/3773800
- January 27, 2012
- 10:10 AM
- 141 views
Oxford University Censor First Broadcast of Lecture That Resulted in Censuring of Prof. Nutt, Former UK Government Drugs Advisor
by Neurobonkers in Neurobonkers
Watch the full video of the lecture and uncover what was in the slides censored for "copyright reasons"... Read more »
Nutt, D., King, L., & Phillips, L. (2010) Drug harms in the UK: a multicriteria decision analysis. The Lancet, 376(9752), 1558-1565. DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(10)61462-6
Nutt, D. (2009) Estimating drug harms: a risky business?. Centre for Crime and Justice Studies. info:/
Halpern JH, Sherwood AR, Hudson JI, Gruber S, Kozin D, & Pope HG Jr. (2011) Residual neurocognitive features of long-term ecstasy users with minimal exposure to other drugs. Addiction (Abingdon, England), 106(4), 777-86. PMID: 21205042
Carhart-Harris, R., Erritzoe, D., Williams, T., Stone, J., Reed, L., Colasanti, A., Tyacke, R., Leech, R., Malizia, A., Murphy, K.... (2012) Neural correlates of the psychedelic state as determined by fMRI studies with psilocybin. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1119598109
Editorial team. (2010) The EMCDDA annual report 2010: the state of the drugs problem in Europe. The European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, also published in Euro surveillance :European communicable disease bulletin, 15(46). PMID: 21144426
- January 26, 2012
- 01:14 PM
- 131 views
NOT "Killed by Cannabis"
by Neurobonkers in Neurobonkers
A quick factual decomposition of the assertion that cannabis is lethal, made by the Daily Mail in response to Richard Branson's evidence at the Select Committee on drugs.... Read more »
Hughes CE, & Stevens A. (2012) A resounding success or a disastrous failure: Re-examining the interpretation of evidence on the Portuguese decriminalisation of illicit drugs. Drug and alcohol review, 31(1), 101-13. PMID: 22212070
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