General Chat

Moscow Metro Apart from a few exceptions, in an around Red Square, most of Moscow could be said to be a sprawing mass of blocks of flats. However, the Moscow metro is quite stunning. the most lavishly artistic underground train system in the world. Try its website WWW(.)beeflowers(.)com/metro. (remove brackets, of course). Hundreds of photos and panoramas. Len

Australian bottle-nose dolphins have been spotted using tools and it seems that this is learned and passed on to their offspring. Lacking hands, dolphins are limited in what they can do with a tool but the dolphins of Shark Bay, Western Australia break marine sponges off the sea bed and wear them over their snouts while foraging. They use the sponges as a sort of glove to protect their sensitive rostrums when they probe for prey. Most sponges are flat but the dolphins select conical ones that fit over and don't fall off their snouts. Whats more, the spongers are are almost all female. It would seem that males are more interested in doing exciting things with the boys than foraging. The researchers, after extensive study, concluded that the tool use was cultural, rather than a genetic trait, and the knowledge was passed from mother to offspring. Dolphins in captivity are well known for their exceptional learning abilities and whale songs are culturally transmitted too. But this is the first example of tool use being passed on culturally in a wild marine mammal, an ability so far only seen in primates and some birds. New Caledonian crows bend wire to retrieve food, burrowing owls use dung as bait to trap beetles, sea otters use stones as hammer and anvil to crack shells, chimps strip sticks to fish for termites and use hammer and anvil to crack nuts, orang-utans make fly swats out of branches, Len

X rated. 'Adult' websites are to be given their own .xxx domain which should allow pornographers to promote themselves more easily to customers, while protecting others from accidently accessing porn online. But it could lead to more, not less. Len Blue brains? The first attempt to build a complete simulation of the human brain has begun. On 6th June, IBM and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne announced the launch of the Blue Brain Project, an attempt to model the entire electrical circuitry of the human brain using a supercomputer based on IBM's Blue Gene design. Drawing on more than 10 year's of biological observations of how the brain's 10 billion neurons behave individually and how they are wired together, the simulation will give scientists an opportunity to study how parts of the brain respond to different stimuli. The hope is that the virtual brain will help our understanding of aspects of human cognition, such as perception and memory, as well as how malfunctioning neurons can cause psychiatric disorders such as autism and schizophrenia. Should we be very afraid? Len.

On being a mum. Mothers can give their babies a head start in life simply by understanding their feelings. A study of 200 mothers and their infants has found that in the first two years of life, the most important factor in a child's development is not its mothers education or wealth, but how well she interprets her baby's moods. A team at the University of Durham tested the babies' language and play skills at 8, 14 and 24 months old. The researchers also assessed how well the mothers, half of whom had left school at 16, could read the mood of their child from video footage. They found that 'mind-mindedness' was a better predictor of child development rates than background, income and status. The better a mother interpreted her child's mood, the faster it developed the ability to represent its thoughts through language and play. This is not to say that if you're not 'mind-minded' your child won't develop language or play, but being 'mind-minded' appears to help children acquire these representational systems earlier. Other studies suggest that the mother's status, education and wealth become more important for child development later in their lives. Plans are in hand to follow the same families to see if this is the case. len

Down with thin. Curvy women live longer than their skinny counterparts, research from Denmark has shown. 'I've always suspected as much' said t.v chef Nigella Lawson. Are you listening Bendy? len

Chat up lines Men looking for speed-dating tips could do worse than follow the advice of MIT scientists.. They discovered that men who let the women do the talking , replying with short phrases such as 'I see' or 'OK' were more successful. Len

Hic Evidence for a 9,000-year old wine has been discovered in northern China, suggesting that the Chinese could have been the first to enjoy a tipple. Previously, the earliest evidence for beer or wine-making dated from about 7,400 years ago in Iran. Scientists were running tests on some ancient pottery jars, excavated from the Neolithic village of Jiahu in Henan Province when they found the alcoholic residue in the form of wild grape, hawthorn fruit, rice and honey. This evidence suggests that the Chinese developed fermented beverages even earlier than the Middle East says Dr P. McGovern from the University of Pennsylvania Museum, who headed the research team. The team also analysed liquid preserved for 3,000 years inside tightly sealed jars discovered in nearby Anyang. This was found to be rice or millet wine flavoured with herbs, flowers and possibly tree resins, made through a process of mould scarification, a uniquely Chinese contibution to drink-making in which mould species break down carbohydrates of rice and other grains into fermentable sugars. The 9,000 year old beverage found in Jiahu would have paved the way for the cereal wines discovered in Anyang, says Dr McGovern. Mould scarification remains the traditional way of making fermented drinks in China today. (www(.)musem(.)upenn(.)edu Len

Aye, Aye. Laser eye surgery is a medical procedure to treat short- or long-sightedness. The most common type is Laser in Situ Keratomileusis (LASIK) in which a flap is cut in the eye's cornea and a laser targetted at the tissue underneath to alter the cornea's thickness. The National Institute for Clinical Excellence has said that surgery should not be routinely provided by the NHS as the success rate of LASIK for mild to moderately short-sighted patients is 63-79%, resulting in normal vision, but this figure drops to 26-36% in patients with moderate to severe short- or longsightedness. Problems include weakened corneas, infections, glare or halo effects around objects at night, dry eyes and double vision. Some people have trouble reading or driving. In rare cases, corneal ecstasia develops where fluid pressure builds up on the eye. The National Institute has pledged to find out more about LASIK and the two other types of laser surgery. It particularly wants to learn more about the long-term effects of thining the cornea. Len

have I seen you somewhere before? The brain goes through three phases to recognise a face, say scientists at University College London. It first assesses the physical aspects of the face (measurements) before comparing it to previously seen faces and identifying it, (adding a name with a bit of luck). The brain carries data rather than a photographic image and the measurements may be dictated more by the underlying bone structure than surface aspect . Brain scanners identified regions of the brain that were active during each stage. We are programmed to remember faces, although not names (nature v nurture) and the method of remembering explains why faces may be recognised years later when the aging process or weathering may have altered them. The genes for remembering faces were laid down eons ago, perhaps before vocalisation allowed the use of names, when it was a survival strategy to remember who was who. len

Bird-brained? Biologists in Utah have taught birds to sing complete melodies, even though they were played only parts of the tune. Baby sparrows were exposed to overlapping segments of a tune, but pieced songs together in their memories. The results could shed light on human language learning, as songbirds have regional dialects. len

Quackers Scientist have found that ducks have regional accents. Ducks in Central London are noisier, while those from rural Cornwall have softer quacks. Middlesex University's Victoria de Rijke, who carried out the survey, believes that urban dwellers raise their voices to compete with traffic. Len

Chocolate hearts Eating dark chocolate can be good for your heart, but drinking coffee is bad. Greek doctors found that dark chocolate helps improve endothelial function, which controls blood vessels' ability to dilate to prevent clotting.. Caffeine reduces it. Chocolate also helps alleviate stiff arteries and so makes it easier for the heart to pump. Len

Only Angels have wings To be useful, human wings would have to be accompanied by adaptions affecting almost every other part of the body. Heavy brains and prehensile hands are central to our success as a species, but both are incompatible with flight. Even if we had evolved from ancestors with wings, we would have lost them in order to become anything that we would recognise as human. To lift the weight, the wing span would have to be enormous, like over 50 feet, with an equally developed bird-like breast bone for attaching colossal flight muscles. Len ps. I often wonder about the skeletal structures of angels. Maybe they don't have skeletons?

Would you Adam and Eve it? The two halves of the human brain are connected by a giant nexus of 80 million nerves known as the corpus callosum via which the the two hemispheres communicate. The size and processing power of the brain have have increased markedly over the course of human evolution, and it will seem that the corpus callosum has been unable to keep pace with the demands made of it. To make up for this, each cerebral hemisphere has started to specialise in certain tasks in a process of 'cerebral lateralisation' that began about two to three million years ago. Which tasks are performed where is at least partly controlled by the architecture of each hemisphere, which does differ in some respects. For example, the left hemisphere has a higher proportion of 'grey matter' than the right, reflecting its higher density of brain cell nuclei. The shorter connections between each cell makes the left hemisphere somewhat quicker than the right - and thus gives it the edge in high-speed tasks such as language processing. On the other hand, the longer-range connections between the brain cell nuclei in the right hemisphere give it a higher level of connectivity, allowing it to pull together activity from various different regions at the same time. This may explain why the right hemisphere seems to specialise in tasks requiring a more intuitive, holistic approach. So it seems there is more than a grain of truth in the notion of left/right brain thinking. Whether one can do much to tilt the balance is quite another matter. The differences appear to be the hard-wired consequences of genetics. Recent research has revealed, however, that many people have the best of both worlds by virtue of having a larger corpus callosum, which does a better job of keeping the two brain hemispheres in communication. Such people tend to be particularly good at multi-tasking and expressing emotions. According to scientists, about half the population fits into this category. They are collectively known as women. Len

Speed Freak Most stars spend their lives circling the galactic centre at a stately pace. So, when astronomers announced in February that they had found the fasted star in the galaxy it raised a few eyebrows. Not least because it is the first known star that is moving fast enough to eventually escape the Milky Way's gravitational pull and embark on a lonesome journey into dark intergalactic space. A team led by Warren Brown at the Harvard-Smithsonian Centre for Astrophysics stumbled on the high-speed star while trying to establish the mass of our galaxy, the Milky Way. To this end they were using a telescope in Arizona to measure the speeds of some stars in the galactic halo when they noticed one was streaking out of the galaxy at about 437 miles a second - more than three times as fast as the sun's speed round the galactic centre. 'We have never before seen a star moving fast enough to completely escape the confines of our galaxy' said Brown. Astronomers suspect the star has been catapulted out by the super-massive black hole at the centre of the Milky Way. Theory predicts that the black hole could disrupt a binary star system of two stars orbiting each other, so that one star goes into orbit around the black hole - or gets sucked in completley - while the other is flung out of the Milky Way. Sure enough, the speedy star is whizzing directly away from the galactic centre. len

Grow your own. A plant has been genetically engineered to make a 'fishy fatty acid'. Long-chain omega-3 fatty acids reduce the risk of heart disease, arthritis and other conditions and are essential for brain development. Oily fish are a great source but few people eat enough. Now the Australian research organisation CSIRO in Canberra, lead by Allan Green and his team have created thale cress (Arabidopsis thaliana) that produces the long-chain omega-3 DHA. The team inserted genes for the enzyme from marine algae (Functional Plant Biology DOI:10,1071/fp05084). Other teams have created plants that make omega-3 EPA but the longer-chained DHA is particularly beneficial for brain development. Len

Beached Whales The mystery why whales become beached may have been solved by a study of more than 600 strandings carried out by Dr Karen Evans and a team from the University of Tasmania. The study reveals a link to the climate. The number of strandings around Britain has risen from 386 in 1999 to 802 last year. Studies from south-east Australia show variations across an 11 to 13 year period in step with a climate pattern which causes a northerly movement of colder, more highly productive waters. Dr Evans suggests, in a paper to the Royal Societ Journal 'Biology Letters' that these waters result in whales chasing prey, from plankton to fish and squid, thereby causing a periodic surge in the number of local whales available to strand. Len

Enough to make one weep. The action of cutting an onion releases a fine spray of droplets. Recent research has shown that these droplets contain an enzyme called lachrymatori-factor synthase and sulphur-containing compounds, which react to produce a powerful irritant called syn-propanethial-S-oxide, When a droplet strikes the eye we respond by producing a copious flow of tears to wash away the irritant. If tears produced by onions, a draught, laughter or other ordinary events are analysed, they contain water, salt, a lubricant and a spot of anti-septic. Tears from pent-up emotions, bereavement, anger etc., though, contain adrenaline and other chemicals that the body need to dissipate. So its right that under these circumstances it does you good to cry - and you will feel a bit better. Len

Meditation Last year, German researchers published a review of studies of the benefits of “mindfulness meditation” a technique introduced by Buddhists 2,500 years ago which involves developing moment-to-moment awareness of mental and physical states. The researchers found that the technique helps alleviate a wide range of stress-related disorders. Better still, it isn’t necessary to spend hours meditating each day to benefit. A recent study by Professor Richard Davison and colleagues at the University of Wisconsin of employees at a local biotechnology company found that just 20 to 30 minutes of meditation each day produced higher levels of positive emotion and decreased anxiety and negativity. Even short periods of meditation for a few minutes can be beneficial. Students sitting examinations may find that a brief 1 minute of stillness, with the eyes closed, to be a great restorative. Studies of Buddhist monks' brain scans found that intensive meditation can bring about a permanent change in patterns of brain activities. Len

Clever Hans A retired German mathematics professor discovered that his beloved horse Hans was a prodigy. The professor gave Hans lessons in counting and spelling, exposed him to the concepts of colour, even some simple arithmetic and the basics of musical theory. Hans responded to tests of his knowledge by tapping his hoof an appropriate number of times in answer to questions. Entirely uninterested in showing off his pupil for money, the professor invited only small, select groups, including highly skeptical students of behavior, to observe Hans. The visitors were encouraged to devise their own tests and some tests were conducted without the professor being present but Hans lost none of his cleverness as a result. The consensus of the scientific community was that Hans was a genius. The true nature of Hans’s gifts came to light after a long and intensive study by an experimental psychologist who concluded that Hans did not really understand the questions, much less the answers. The questions could be posed in an unfamiliar language, by whispering or just thinking them but if neither the questioners nor the observers knew the answers, Hans was at a loss to solve even the most simple problem or respond to any of the questions he had answered correctly on prvious occasions. Unless the horse was telepathic he was picking up on unconscious cues from his questioners. Auditory cues were ruled out fairly rapidly and it was soon concluded that the cues must be visual. Hans’s accuracy fell to zero if the questioner stood behind an opaque screen and no onlookers were present. Even the professor could not coax an answer in these circumstances. The horse, it turned out, was taking his cues from unconscious, almost imperceptible shifts of head or body postures in members of the audience – movements created by the involuntary relaxation of the tension among the observers when the number of hoof taps reached the correct level. The professor himself, even after he understood the process, found it almost impossible not to cue the horse. Clever Hans was marvelously perceptive, perhaps even more so than his human observers – but in a different way from that for which most of the observers had hoped. Len