Jittery Crickets Pass Spidey-Senses To Offspring
“A mother’s care sometimes knows no bounds. It turns out that crickets manage to forewarn their offspring of lurking spiders, despite the small matter of never actually meeting them.
Jonathan Storm, a behavioural ecologist now at the University of South Carolina Upstate, in Spartanburg, briefly exposed lab-grown female crickets to wolf spiders whose fangs had been immobilised with wax, then studied the behaviour of their subsequent offspring.
He found that their offspring remained motionless for longer in the presence of spider silk or droppings than the offspring of mothers that had not been exposed to spiders.”
Read more at New Scientist
“Mythical” Temple Found In Peru
“A thousand-year-old temple complex (including a tomb with human sacrifice victims, shown in a digital illustration) has been found under the windswept dunes of northwestern Peru, archaeologists say.
The discovery of the complex, excavated near the city of Chiclayo (map) between 2006 and late 2009, has injected a dose of reality into the legend of Naylamp, the god who supposedly founded the pre-Inca Lambayeque civilization in the eighth century A.D., following the collapse of the Moche civilization.
That’s because evidence at the Chotuna-Chornancap archaeological site indicates the temple complex may have belonged to people claiming to have descended from Naylamp—suggesting for the first time that these supposed descendants existed in the flesh.”
Read more at National Geographic
Most Drivers Feel They Are Superior Behind The Wheel
“Most motorists fancy themselves as better drivers than others on the road, Canadian psychologists have found. When Ottawa University researchers polled nearly 400 drivers ranging from the youngest to the very old, virtually all rated themselves favourably. This was especially true when older drivers were used for comparison, even if the person questioned fell into that category themselves.
This bravado could lead to more accidents, the scientists warned. Clearly, it is impossible that all drivers are better, the psychologists told the Accident Analysis and Prevention journal. Since drivers underestimate their own risk and overestimate their ability, this may make them less cautious on the roads, they say.
All drivers, men and women, young and old, rated themselves over the “average motorist”, especially when this average motorist fell into the over 65 age category. Young men felt the most superior. Middle-aged men rated themselves as better than similarly aged drivers, and far superior to younger and older motorists. Older drivers – aged 65 plus – felt most superior when they compared themselves with motorists of the same age.”
Read more at the BBC
Pakistan’s Transgender Minority Finds Its Voice
“Down a grimy alleyway in Rawalpindi, in the heart of Pakistan’s military establishment, a striking figure tweaked her makeup and squirted a dash of perfume under her arms.
Life as a hijra, as Pakistan’s transgender minority is known, can be tough, said 21-year-old Alisha, recounting tales of extortion, sexual violence and predatory policemen. But of late things have started to improve.
The government has offered help, the hijras’ plight has come into the public eye, and even the police are showing a little respect.
“They call us the chief justice’s darlings,” she said.
An unlikely revolution is stirring among Pakistan’s transgender community.”
Read more at The Guardian
Benevolent Hackers Poke Holes In E-Banking
“ONLINE banking fraud doesn’t just affect the naive. Last year, Robert Mueller, a director at the US Federal Bureau of Investigation, admitted he’d come within a mouse-click of being a victim himself. Now the extent of the problem has been brought into sharp relief, with computer scientists warning that banking culture is increasing the likelihood that customers are using vulnerable systems.
The convenience of online banking and electronic money has led to a revolution in the way we save and spend our earnings. Banking websites and payment systems are relentlessly targeted by criminals, though, so continuous improvements in security are needed to prevent fraud. But as was revealed at this week’s Financial Cryptography and Data Security conference in Tenerife in the Canary Islands, some of the best-known security systems can still be compromised relatively easily.”
Read more at New Scientist
Blood Sugar Affects Your Decision-Making
“Would you choose to receive a small amount of money today or a larger sum next month? We know that it is worth it to wait longer for a larger reward, but sometimes the temptation for the smaller, immediate reward becomes too great and we simply cannot resist it. Selecting the immediate reward is known as “future discounting” and often suggests a lack of self-control.
Studies have indicated that there may be a link between blood glucose levels (our body’s energy) and thinking. For example, making difficult choices uses up cognitive resources (or brain power) and these resources can be restored by increasing blood glucose.”
Read more at Science Daily
Brain Stimulation Improves Deception Skills – Honest!
“There’s been so much excitement and hyperbole surrounding the promise of brain imaging as a lie detection technique, but what about the needs of the cads, thieves and vagabonds of this world? Has contemporary cognitive neuroscience nothing to offer them? It has now. In an exciting new development for fibbers everywhere, Ahmed Karim and his team have shown that the application of transcranial direct current stimulation over the anterior prefrontal cortex – the front bit of the brain – improves people’s lying skills.
Twenty-two participants role-played stealing money from an office before being interrogated by a researcher acting the role of police detective. The participants were given extra incentive to deceive the ‘detective’ with the promise that they could keep the money if they succeeded. Crucially, the participants answered some questions with a mild electric current applied over their prefrontal cortex via scalp electrodes.”
Read more at BPS Research Digest
We Go With The Flow
“Suppose you ponder whether a new exercise routine is suitable for you or whether a statement like ‘Orsono is a city in Chile’ is true or false. What would your decision be based on? Most psychological theories suggest that you would consider the nature of the exercise or draw on your knowledge about geography to arrive at an informed decision. Surely, you wouldn’t base your judgement on the print font in which the material is presented – or would you?
Surprisingly, recent experimental research shows that the print font can exert a profound influence on such decisions. This is the case because print fonts and related variables influence how fluently new information can be processed. The resulting feeling of ease or difficulty, in turn, informs a wide variety of judgements, from judgements of effort to judgements of familiarity, truth, risk and beauty.”
Read more at The Psychologist
Ireland Accused Of Lying To Women About Abortion
“The Irish government came under increasing pressure to overhaul its ban on abortion today, after it was accused of exposing women to “grossly misleading” information about the procedure.
According to Human Rights Watch, Irish legislation – under which women who have an abortion in Ireland face a life sentence in prison if prosecuted – is putting women’s health at risk and exposing them to deliberate misinformation from rogue pro-life agencies.
Women have been told they may become infertile, require a hysterectomy or possibly need a colostomy bag after an abortion by agencies that target women seeking advice about unwanted pregnancies, says the report.”
Read more at The Guardian
Pope Tells Priests: Blog For God
“An interesting message out of the Vatican this weekend (delivered over Pope Benedict XVI’s YouTube channel, no less. Who knew the Pope even had his own YouTube channel). Essentially, Benedict gave a message urging priests to blog, tweet, use Facebook, and otherwise harness the power of online communications for the kingdom of God.
“Responding adequately to this challenge amid today’s cultural shifts, to which young people are especially sensitive, necessarily involves using new communications technologies,” he said. ‘The world of digital communication, with its almost limitless expressive capacity, makes us appreciate all the more Saint Paul’s exclamation: ‘Woe to me if I do not preach the Gospel’”
Read more at the Washington Post (thanks, Tiram)
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