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Jilted male fruit flies slurp alcohol, reject virgin flies?

Jilted fruit flies slurp alcohol to forget, study reveal

March 18, 2012

Study finds rejected male flies have a tiny neuropeptide F molecule in their brain that pushes them to drink far more than their sexually satisfied counterparts. — Afp pic

 

WASHINGTON, March 18 — Frustrated male fruit flies, whose sexual advances are rejected by females, turn to alcohol to drown their sorrows, a study revealed. 

 

Scientists at the University of California, San Francisco discovered that rejected male flies have a tiny neuropeptide F molecule in their brain that pushes them to drink far more than their sexually satisfied counterparts.

The levels of the molecule were higher in sexually satisfied males than in those who got no sex, leading scientists to speculate that their work could shed light on brain mechanisms behind human addiction. A similar human molecule — neuropeptide Y — may also link social triggers to behaviours such as heavy drinking and drug abuse, according to the study published in Science journal.

“If neuropeptide Y turns out to be the transducer between the state of the psyche and the drive to abuse alcohol and drugs, one could develop therapies to inhibit neuropeptide Y receptors,” said lead researcher Ulrike Heberlein, a professor of anatomy and neurology at UCSF. 

She said clinical trials were underway to determine whether neuropeptide Y can alleviate anxiety and other mood disorders as well as obesity. 

For the experiment, male fruit flies were placed in a container with females flies, including both virgins and some that had already mated. 

Virgin females were receptive to courting males and readily mated, but females flies who had mated lost interest in sex for a time because of sex peptide, a substance that males inject with sperm during the encounter. 

Rejected males then stopped trying to mate, even when placed in the same cage as virgin flies. 

But when they were placed by themselves in another container that had two straws — one containing plain food and the other containing food with 15 percent alcohol — the rejected males binged on the alcohol. 

The scientists said the behavior was predicted by the levels of neuropeptide F in their brains. 

“It’s a switch that represents the level of reward in the brain and translates it into reward-seeking behavior,” said lead author Galit Shohat-Ophir of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute Janelia Farm Research Centre in Virginia. 

Rejected flies had lower levels of neuropeptide F and sought an alternative reward through intoxication. The scientists found that they could induce the same behaviours in the flies by genetically manipulating the levels of neuropeptide F in their brains. 

Activating neuropeptide F production in the brains of virgin male flies caused them to behave as though they were sexually satisfied, and thus they were less keen to drink. 

And lowering the levels of the molecule in sexually satisfied flies made them behave as though they were rejected, inciting them to drink more. — Afp-Relaxnews

What an interesting study! At least, now I know a human and a fruit fly have something in common!

It’s Official: To Protect Baby’s Brain, Turn Off TV

• By Brandon Keim
• 
  
• October 18, 2011   
• 6:30 am

A decade ago, the American Academy of Pediatrics suggested that parents limit TV consumption by children under two years of age. The recommendations were based as much on common sense as science, because studies of media consumption and infant development were themselves in their infancy.

The research has finally grown up. And though it’s still ongoing, it’s mature enough for the AAP to release a new, science-heavy policy statement on babies watching television, videos or any other passive media form.

Their verdict: It’s not good, and probably bad.

Media, whether playing in the background or designed explicitly as an infant educational tool, “have potentially negative effects and no known positive effects for children younger than 2 years,” concluded the AAP’s report, released Oct. 18 at the Academy’s annual meeting in Boston and scheduled for November publication in the journal Pediatrics. “Although infant/toddler programming might be entertaining, it should not be marketed as or presumed by parents to be educational.”

Since the AAP made its original recommendations in 1999, passive entertainment screens — televisions, DVD players, computers streaming video — have become ubiquitous, and the average 12-month-old gets between one and two hours of screen time per day. (Interactive screens, such as iPads and other tablets, are considered in the new recommendations.) The 0- to 2-year age group has become a prime target for commercial educational programming, often used by parents convinced that it’s beneficial.

As screens proliferated, so did research. “There have been about 50 studies that have come out on media use by children in this age group between 1999 and now,” said Ari Brown, a pediatrician and member of the AAP committee that wrote the new report.

Those studies have found that children don’t really understand what’s happening on a screen until they’re about 2 years old. Once they do, media can be good for them, but until then television is essentially a mesmerizing, glowing box.

Used at night, TV might help kids fall asleep, but that appears to come at a delayed cost of subsequent sleep disturbances and irregularities. While the result of TV-induced sleep problems hasn’t been directly studied, poor sleep in infants is generally linked to problems with mood, behavior and learning.

At other times, media consumption comes with opportunity costs, foremost among them the silence of parents. “While television is on, there’s less talking, and talk time is very important in language development,” said Brown.

'The way these kids’ programs came out was, ‘These are really educational!' Well that’s great, but prove it. Show me the science.'

Three studies since 1999 have tracked educational television use and language development, and they found a link between increased TV time and developmental delays. Whether that’s a cause or effect — parents who leave kids in front of televisions might simply be poor teachers — isn’t clear, nor are the long-term effects, but the AAP called the findings “concerning.” In the same vein, there may also be a link to attention problems.

Even when media plays in the background, it distracts babies from play, an activity that is known to have deep developmental benefits. And for parents who use media to carve out a few precious, necessary free minutes in busy schedules, Brown recommended letting kids entertain themselves.

“We know you can’t spend 24 hours a day reading to your child and playing with them. That’s okay. What’s also okay is your child playing independently,” she said. “That’s valuable time. They’re problem-solving. They’re using their imagination, thinking creatively and entertaining themselves.”

As for iPads and other kid-friendly interactive computing devises, Brown said research has barely started, much less come to conclusions. But she counseled skepticism of promotional claims, which have been made with some of the same zeal as products of now-dubious standing, such as the controversial Baby Einstein videos.

“The way these kids’ programs came out was, ‘These are really educational! They’re going to help your kids learn!’ Well that’s great, but prove it. Show me the science,” Brown said. “I don’t have a problem with touch screens, and they’re not necessarily bad. But we need to understand how this affects kids.”

Image: Yoshihide Nomamura/Flickr

Citation: “Media Use by Children Younger Than 2 Years.” By the American Academy of Pediatrics Council on Communications and Media Executive Committee. Pediatrics, Vol 128 No. 5, November 2011.

Are Your Co-Workers Killing You?

• By Jonah Lehrer 
• August 8, 2011

One-Eyed Albino Shark Caught In Baja, Scientists Baffled

The recent discovery in Mexico of a one-eyed albino baby shark has created a stir among scientists and piqued the interest of thousands who have seen the images and questioned the authenticity of the find. The three-foot-long fetus was removed from the body of a large bull shark captured by a commercial fisherman in the Sea of Cortez beyond La Paz, the capital of Baja California Sur.

The story broke late last week on the Pisces Sportfishing blog, under the headline, “Freak Shark Puzzles Scientists.”

Pete Thomas Outdoors then shared the top right image with two well-known shark experts in California. Both were skeptical at first, suggesting it was some kind of hoax.

One of them jokingly identified the species as a “Cycloptomus” because of a perfectly centered eye located just above the mouth.

(Click here to read more)

What You See vs. What Your Kids See [7 Pics]: Diana Adams@Bit Rebels

What You See vs. What Your Kids See [7 Pics]

03/30/2011 - 7:00 am By Diana Adams

If you are a parent, you have most likely smiled more than once while thinking about how your child views the world. Whether it’s looking up at a cloud and seeing an elephant, laughing because they hear Santa Claus on the roof, or crying because they see a monster under the bed, kids definitely live in a different world than adults.
And, who’s to say they are wrong? There are many days when I want to regress to that world, and to live that life of innocence and simplicity again. It’s a world where nothing is right or wrong, it just is. Up until now, I’ve always thought it is the vivid imagination of children that allows them to perceive things differently, but it turns out, there is more to it than that.
According to a study on New Science by Dr. Jim Stone at the University of Sheffield, UK, children really do see things differently. Apparently children do not see objects in a fully grown-up way until they are about 13 years old. There are many things that are learned about how we interpret what we see visually. You can read more about this study on New Scientist.
Jeff Wysaski knows all about how kids view things differently than adults. His adult vs. kid comparisons on pleated-jeans really made me laugh. It’s amazing how seeing pictures like this can bring back so many memories. If you would like to see the whole collection, go to What We See vs. What Kids See. Suddenly I have the urge to go jump on the bed.

Five Free Scientific Calculators: Free Technology for Teachers

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Five Free Scientific Calculators

In my school we've occasionally had a problem with scientific graphing calculators growing legs and walking away for good. I'm sure we're not the only school to have that problem. One possible solution to the problem of disappearing calculators is to have students use calculators on their laptops, netbooks, or tablets. Here are five free calculators that you can either use online or install on your computer.

Microsoft offers scientific calculator that you can download for free (Windows only). Microsoft Mathematics 4.0 is a graphing calculator that plots in 2D and 3D. Of course, the calculator does many other functions such as solving inequalities, converting units of measure, and performing matrix and vector operations.

Encalc is a free online scientific calculator. Encalc describes itself on its homepage as follows, "Encalc is an online scientific calculator. Its strength lies in its ability handle units and dimensional analysis, to define variables and its large database of constants. Parenthesis and scientific formulas are also supported." One of the features that I really like about Encalc are the explanations of how different variables and constants function within an equation or formula.

Web2.0calc is a free online scientific calculator. While it won't replace the TI-84 Plus, it can do what your average high school student needs it to do. The best part is, you don't have to use it on the Web2.0calc site because they offer three widgets that you can use to embed the calculator into your own blog or website.

Speed Crunch is a free scientific calculator application for Windows, Mac, and Linux operating systems. Speed Crunch performs all of the functions necessary for high school Algebra and Geometry courses except graphing. In addition to performing all of these functions, Speed Crunch has a "math book" containing commonly used equations and formulas. One Speed Crunch feature that appealed to me from a design standpoint is the color coding of equations to differentiate between constants and variables.

Graph.tk is a free online graphing utility that I found in the Google Chrome Web Store. Graph.tk allows you to plot multiple functions through its dynamically resizing grid. To graph an equation on Graph.tk just click the "+" symbol to enter a new equation. Click here to watch a short video of Graph.tk in use. One thing that the video doesn't show and isn't clear the first time you use Graph.tk is that you need to delete the existing default equations before you start.

When in pain, take love. Love a 'painkiller'! Love is a drug after all!

14 October 2010 Last updated at 00:29 GMT

Love can ease pain, say brain researchers

Researchers believe love can act as a painkiller

Love hurts, at least according to many a romantic songwriter, but it may also help ease pain, US scientists suggest.

Brain scans suggest many of the areas normally involved in pain response are also activated by amorous thoughts.

Stanford University researchers gave 15 students mild doses of pain, while checking if they were distracted by gazing at photos of their beloved.

The study focused on people early in a romance, journal PLoS One reported, so the "drug of love" may wear off.

The scientists who carried out the experiment used "functional magnetic resonance imaging" (fMRI) to measure activity in real-time in different parts of the brain.

Continue reading the main storyIt has been known for some time that strong feelings of love are linked to intense activity in several different brain regions.

These include areas linked to the brain chemical dopamine, which produces the brain's feel-good state following certain stimulants - from eating sweets to taking cocaine.

"Light up"

The Stanford University researchers had noticed that when we feel pain, some of the same areas "light up" on the scans - and wondered whether one might affect the other.

They recruited a dozen students who were all in the first nine months of a relationship, defined as "the first phase of intense love".

Each was asked to bring in a picture of the object of their affection and photos of what they deemed an equally attractive acquaintance.

Continue reading the main story

“Start Quote

It's important to recognise that people who feel alone and depressed may have very low pain thresholds, whereas the reverse can be true for people who feel secure and cared for”

Professor Paul Gilbert University of Derby

While their brains were scanned, they were shown these pictures, while a computer controlled heat pad placed in the palm of their hand was set up to cause them mild pain.

They found that viewing the picture of their beloved reduced perceptions of pain much more than looking at the image of the acquaintance.

Dr Jarred Younger, one of the researchers involved, said that the "love-induced analgesia" appeared to involve more primitive functions of the brain, working in a similar way to opioid painkillers.

"One of the key sites is the nucleus accumbens, a key reward addiction centre for opioids, cocaine and other drugs of abuse.

"The region tells the brain that you really need to keep doing this."

Professor Paul Gilbert, a neuropsychologist from the University of Derby, said that the relationship between emotional states and the perception of pain was clear.

He said: "One example is a footballer who has suffered quite a painful injury, but who is able to continue playing because of his emotionally charged state."

He added that while the effect noticed by the Stanford researchers might only be short-lived in the early stages of a love affair, it may well be replaced by something similar later in a relationship, with a sense of comfort and wellbeing generating the release of endorphins.

"It's important to recognise that people who feel alone and depressed may have very low pain thresholds, whereas the reverse can be true for people who feel secure and cared for.

"This may well be an issue for the health service, as patients are sometimes rushed through the system, and perhaps there isn't this focus on caring that might have existed once."

Up, Up & Away! The House From Up! Now Exists In Real Life—and It Flies!

An experimental project by National Geographic:

Watch the photos here:

Up-Inspired Floating House (14 photos)

Watch the video of photo stills here:

The House From Up! Now Exists In Real Life—and It Flies!

Latest from NYDailyNews.com:

German anatomist, “Doctor Death” Gunther von Hagens to display his dead body

Terminally ill ‘Dr Death’ to exhibit own body

January 09, 2011

Gunther von Hagens poses next to a plastinated exhibit during his exhibition ‘Koerperwelten’ (Body Worlds) in Leipzig, Germany, in June 2010. – AFP/Relaxnews file pic

BERLIN, Jan 9 – The German anatomist dubbed “Doctor Death”, who has turned stomachs worldwide preserving and displaying dead bodies, said Wednesday he is terminally ill and plans to exhibit his own corpse.

Gunther von Hagens, 65, told the Bild mass circulation daily he is suffering from incurable Parkinson’s disease and intends to have his dead body put on display to “welcome” visitors to his exhibition.

“My wife Angelina Whalley, the curator of the Body Worlds exhibition, will plastinate my body. We are already making preparations for this,” the publicity-hungry scientist told Bild.

“My plastinated corpse will then stand in a welcoming pose at the entrance of my exhibition. I want to be able to welcome my guests even after I am dead.”

Hagens is no stranger to controversy. His latest wheeze was to offer preserved body parts for sale in a so-called “supermarket of death.”

In a process invented by Hagens, the body parts are skinned and preserved with a synthetic resin, laying bare the naked muscles, nerves and tendons underneath.

At the centre in Guben, eastern Germany, a blackened smoker’s lung sells for 3,600 euros (RM14,265), while a testicle costs 360 euros.

In 2002 he conducted Britain’s first public autopsy in 170 years despite the risk of arrest. And in 2009, he put on an exhibition in Berlin showing dead bodies having sex.

He said the symptoms of his disease were becoming stronger day by day. “My movements are increasingly uncoordinated. I am losing the skills I previously had with my hands,” he told Bild. – AFP/Relaxnews

Keys to Sexy Dancing: ATTRACT WOMEN WITH THE RIGHT MOVES! ;-)

At Last, Science Figures Out The Keys to Sexy Dancing

Motion-capture technology allows an objective analysis of which dance moves are most attractive

By Mara Hvistendahl Posted 09.09.2010 at 10:43 am

For Fred Astaire, it was best done cheek to cheek. Madonna made it all about getting into the groove. And Outkast advocated shaking it like a Polaroid picture. Dancing can take many different forms. But which is proven to attract more members of the opposite sex? Science has been silent on the subject until now.

Psychologists at Northumbria University in Newcastle, the U.K., say they have used avatars shimmying to computer-generated dance sequences to pinpoint the moves most likely to win over women, reports LiveScience.

So, guys out there! Know your moves before you make a move! ;)