Every fifth man has a womans brain.

And it seems that every 7th woman has a mans brain. It's amazing what valuable information can come from a Russian bride importing website.

Scientists discovered that every fifth male has "female brains." The owner of such brains does not necessarily look like a gay man. Vice versa, he can be a rather brutal-looking macho. A man with women's brains will differ from other men for his passion for women's occupations.

A man can always use the "women's logic" argument in a dispute with a woman. The argument finishes the dispute immediately, and the female opponent will not be able to win it, no matter what she will try to say in her own defense. It was generally believed that the male way of thinking was much more rational: women could not think properly because of their emotions. Recent scientific discoveries reject the connection between sex and the thinking. Professor Simon Baron-Cohen from the University of Cambridge says not all men possess the male quality of thinking about systems. Because of such quality men know how to read maps, make plans and lists. On the other hand, not all women are capable of feeling.

And follow the link to see what a woman is like who has a mans brain.

I wonder how much a russian bride is? Well besides the divorce settlement after she's been here long enough to gain citizenship.

Girls are evil.

Well assuming the assumptions are correct in this model... hahaha...

P.S. We're moving to scienceblogs.com

Good news... in the next month or so we'll be moving shop over to scienceblogs.com.
So watch out for the move :)

Sounds of the spirits

Ahh messages from the spirit world... I especially like this one - it's really convincing - really really convincing.

Here's the schtick from the website:

Here is a mixture of all our best EVP recordings from haunted locations. All EVP's are carefully analyzed and kept in original format to preserve the value of the recording, and are on occasion amplified to produce better clarity, and easier listning. The voices you will hear are the voices of actual spirits. A set of headphones should be worn for the best sound. Listen carefully and enjoy, be sure to check back often!

I guess the picture has nothing to do with anything - maybe there's a spirit in the juice? or something.

Ugh... church helps people breath better

Or some crap like that....

Some people live and breathe their religion. Turns out going to church might actually help them breathe easier. Researchers measured the breathing of 1,189 people aged 70 to 79. Those who attend church regularly scored better on a test that measures pulmonary flow rate. The findings could not be explained by differences in smoking or physical activity, the scientists said. "Pulmonary function is an important indicator of respiratory and overall health, yet little is known about the psychosocial factors that might predict pulmonary function," said Temple University’s Joanna Maselko. "At the same time, religious activity is emerging as a potential health promoting factor, especially among the elderly. We wanted to determine whether there was a connection between the two."

You know... people sing a lot and pray out loud in church, right? I'll bet you anything that's where this effect is coming from. Certainly not religion itself - ugh....

Did I get enough ugh's in there? perhaps I should give ya'll another one for good measure...
Ugh.

Healthy wine regions

Now this is my kind of research... find the place where the healthiest grapes for wine grows.
Although... I think I might be more interested in which grapes get you more drunk - eh ohh well you can't always get what you want.

They might be losing out to the New World competition on taste tests, but traditional red wines from the vineyards of France and Italy are the best there are for protecting your health.

The artery-clogging effects of a fatty Christmas dinner can best be counteracted by washing it down with a red from south west France or Sardinia, new research has suggested. British scientists have discovered that red wines from the two regions boast the highest concentrations of a chemical that underlies the drink’s well-publicised benefits for cardiovascular health.

You know - I've always wanted to be a member of a wine of the month club - they are definitely a little too expensive for a grad student though - especially after I picked up a Wii on Sunday.

A little late... but in anycase...here's some turkeys!

Check out these pictures from a friend of mine (Dan Drucker) who is a grad student at UPenn.
See how creative Psych100 students are ;)

I'm a TA for Psych 1 at Penn. Tasked with photocopying the exam, I took the liberty of appending "Draw a turkey" to the last page ...

9 hungry folks drew a cooked Butterball turkey

5 had their turkey saying "eat me!" ... but 6 had the turkey protest "don't eat me!"

17 turkeys were gobble, gobble-ing

21 wished a Happy Thanksgiving

8 wore a hat

6 found themselves with a few more legs than you might expect

108 were "left handed" ... 72 were "right handed" ... although I counted freehand-drawn hands too, and wasn't very exact about how I chose some of the blobbier ones.

Vigilante chimps

Well it looks like the lynch mob may not just be limited to humans. In this study by Dr Nicholas Newton-Fisher it was found that female chimps gather together to retaliate against abusive male chimps.

In almost half of his observed retaliations, the females formed coalitions of two to six members and retaliated with vocalisations, threatening gestures, and direct pursuit. Females were also witnessed physically attacking males that were aggressive to other females, and on several occasions were seen to solicit the support they then received.

Good for them! don't take that crap from Slappy the chimp - he's a real jerk!

Bull Shit University

I don't know how I've never seen this site before. Bull Shit University has:

Online courses that teach you the art and science of deception, evasion, non-candor, lying, exaggeration, embellishment, sarcasm, hogwash and down-right asinine bullshit!

They even have free honorary degrees :) Maybe I don't need to get my Ph.D. after all!

Finding the criminals before they commit the crime.

This is a weee bit scary - and perhaps a little unethical?

BRITISH criminal psychologists are putting together a list of the 100 most dangerous murderers and rapists before they have committed any such crimes, The Times has reported.

Experts from London's Metropolitan Police's Homicide Prevention Unit are creating psychological profiles, compiled through statements from previous partners, information from mental health workers, and details of past complaints.

"My vision is that we know across London who the top 100 people are," Homicide Prevention Unit senior criminal psychologist Laura Richard said.

"We need to know who we are targeting."

And what do they do with these people once they know who they are?

Once an individual has been targeted, police can decide whether to make moves towards an arrest - though the newspaper did not specify on what grounds this could occur - or they could alert relevant social services.

Well... really - whatever they want!

X-Mas

If anyone is looking to get me something for the holidays... here it is:

Soft drugs

Sci-artist Laura Splan created these nifty pillowy pills.

Prozac, Thorazine, Zoloft is a group of large pillows crafted out of hand latch-hooked rugs, which have been sewn together and stuffed. These soft, oversized anti-psychotics and anti-depressants provide a different kind of comfort than their prescription counterparts. The time consuming nature of the latch-hook process provides a sufficiently mind-numbing effect. Latch hooking is a simple but tedious craft that has traditionally been used to depict idealized and romanticized images from domesticity and nature.

Go see the many other fantastic works displayed on her site, including neuroart. I also like Blood Scarf, a scarf knitted from vinyl tubing that fills with blood from an IV in the wearer, warming the body as it depletes it.

Ohh the horrors!!!

The worst news ever!!!
Ok.. so maybe I don't reallly care... since you can only ruin perfection - haha!

Fox Atomic have officially ceased production on its remake of Revenge of the Nerds, according to Variety.

The project was slated for a release next summer, but was put on hold earlier this month after two weeks of shooting when Emory University, the location for the movie, decided to no longer participate in the film.

"Everybody worked very hard on 'Revenge of the Nerds,' and we're all extremely disappointed that we can't move forward," said Fox Atomic's Peter Rice.

The feature was meant to be a remake of the original that followed a frat for the socially awkward, thick-glasses-sporting set that exacts revenge on the football players who've repeatedly humiliated them. Kyle Newman was set to direct, with a cast that included Katie Cassidy, Jenna Dewan and Dan Byrd.

Ahh brain food and thanksgiving.

From worth1000, here's a turkey (albeit photoshopped) for next years thanksgiving.

Animated brains

Here's an animation depicting loss of tissue in a two year progression of Alzheimer's disease:



Here's an animation depicting a progression of the brain...uh...throbbing in bubbles:



And, here's an animation depicting Hello Kitty's cognitive processes:

How many mg is 150 mg?

Browsing through a forum (I won't say which), I found this challenging post:

Im probably complicating things can someone sort it out for me.

Upper dose of Wellbutrin is 450mgs a day. If I have 2x150mg sustained release tablets a day does this mean I am having 300mgs or 150mgs?

Is 1x150mg extended release the same as 2x75mg or 2x150mg sustained release?

Is the 150mg extended release like getting 150mg in total over 24 hours(kind of like getting 150/24 each hour) or the effect of being on 150mgs over 24 hours? (hope that makes sense?)

Makes perfect sense! In remedial math class.

[Above swim trunks are also 150 mg. If you wore them for 24 hours, would they be 3600 mg? Or 75?]

Reading fMRIs

Via Kevin of Intelligent Insights on Intelligence Theories and Tests (aka IQ's Corner). Kevin recently started a second blog, Tick Tock Talk: The IQ Brain Clock - have a look!

Comic by Mike Baldwin.

VR and phantom limb pain

Freaking cool!

Scientists are helping amputees to experience their lost limbs once again. Using 3D computer graphics and a virtual reality headset, the lost limb can be 'restored'. What might at first sound like a tasteless Lawnmower Man sequel is claimed to be an extremely promising therapy for patients struggling to come to terms with amputation.

The machine is designed to combat phantom limb pain (PLP) -- a sensation of pain experienced by an amputee that appears to originate in the missing limb. Intriguingly, researchers have discovered that if a person's brain can be tricked into believing they can see and move a 'phantom limb', this motion reduces the perception of pain in PLP.

How addiction starts in embryos

Via Mind Hacks, here's part of a theory of addiction by the Spiritual Research Foundation:

funny...

OPAM and Psychonomics

So... who is going to Psychonomics (or OPAM)?
Brian and I will be there. If you are there on Thursday come see us give a couple talks at OPAM (12:45pm).
I'll also be at a poster at Psychonomics (7:30pm Thursday). It's called: "A blink is not a blank, but it can be a saccade" or something similar. I guess I should probably know the title of my own poster - but eh.. too lazy to open up the file.

OPAM Talks:

	Session Chair: Steve Franconeri	Perception of Objects
12:45	J. Stephen Higgins, Ranxiao Frances Wang, & David E. Irwin	The Landmark Effect in Perceived Object Stability: A General Mechanism
1:00	Brian Levinthal & Alejandro Lleras	The Unique Contributions of Retinal Size and Perceived Size on Change Detection
1:15	Elias Cohen & Qasim Zaidi	The Oblique Effect and Three Dimensional Shape
1:30	Dane Sorensen & Karl Bailey	The World is Too Much: Effects of Array Size on the Link between Language Comprehension and Eye Movements

TV sleep monitor idea

An idea for the taking; from the understanding that inventors look to blogs for inventions to claim as their own, this blogger is offering it to anyone.

A TV remote control that detects when you fall asleep and pauses the video/dvd/tv so that you don't miss anything.

Falling asleep during a narrative can be quite traumatic. You wake up with such a sense of confusion and discontinuity.

Yeah, traumatic. Especially if you fall asleep and your friends take a picture like this one...

PROOF that scientists are all frauds.

This site is some of the best proof of the fact that earth is only 6000 years old and all the carbon dating is wrong!

As we know, dinosaurs were originally called dragons. Scientists changed to name to try to convince people of Satan's Lie: Evolution, which really should be called....EVILution! Hahahaha!! Get it!? But anyway, everywhere all over the Earth there have been stories of dragons, and humans have gone around and destroyed these dragons since they were poo-poo heads! The dinosaurs in the sea probably got bored or something and died off. See? The Bible explains it all....SCIENCE IS FULL OF HOLES! TAKE THAT SCIENCE!

Well obviously! who wouldn't agree with this web page!

Proof that God exists.

Well... the flying spaghetti monster - whatever - same thing.

Fourier transform....of a cat

Watch out Britain - you could be invaded...

BY ALIENS!!!

...and your government doesn't seem to care!? what are they thinking? how could they just leave you sooo unproected?

This guy is trying to fix this horrendous governmental oversight:

The British government is shockingly underprepared for an attack by extraterrestrials, an ex-MoD man has claimed.

Nick Pope, a career civil servant who spent four years heading up the MoD's research into UFO sightings, is concerned that credible evidence of an alien threat is being ignored and that Britain is "wide open" to attack.

According to an article in London paper The Evening Standard, Pope said: "The consequences of getting this one wrong could be huge. If you reported a UFO sighting now, I am absolutely sure that you would just get back a standard letter telling you not to worry. Frankly, we are wide open - if something does not behave like a conventional aircraft now, it will be ignored."

And what makes him so sure they are coming? well of course he has proof they have before!

He says although most sightings can be explained away, there are a few that defy conventional explanations. He cites two examples: the first from 1993 when numerous RAF personnel reported a vast triangular craft flying above their bases. Hundreds of members of the public also called in sightings over a period of several hours.

The second is from 1980, when RAF staff in Suffolk found a landing module of some kind in the woods. According to the reports, it flew off when they arrived to check it out, but subsequent examination found that the footprints it left behind were emitting 10 times normal levels of radiation.

you should really watch out for this alien invading... he might smoke all your pot.

New fashion

I'd like to get a hat like this.



What it's actually designed for (EEG?), or if one was ever constructed, I don't know. Random web image.

[Thanks to The Neurocritic, it's been identified as the Finnish MEG magnetoencephalography sensor array.]

Saccadic suppression

Blah blah blah... what I do ;)

The world you see around you appears perfectly stationary, even though your eyes dart back and forth two to three times every second in little hops called saccades. For more than a century researchers have assumed that the brain must keep track of the impulses that cause these tiny motions, so as to subtract their effect from our visual awareness. Now researchers have identified a circuit in the monkey brain that seems to play this role.

A link to the article, but of course you need to have access to nature.

Bush brain game

I heard there was an election in America today? So this is for people into US politics (je suis Canadian):



Play the Bush Brain Game. Drop brains into Bush's head and listen to rhetoric. Or watch them splatter, which is maybe more amusing.

Robot maids

Via MachinesLikeUs:

Kim Mun-sang, a researcher at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology, Monday said the artificial-intelligence robots [H-Robot 1.0] will assist senior citizens in various fashions.

``In 2013, a senior citizen will instruct a voice-cognitive robot to order food from a nearby restaurant for dinner then it will follow its owner's words to the letter,'' Kim said.

``Then, the smart robot will take out the dishes and lay the table with the delivered food. Cleaning up the table and washing the dishes will also be up to the mechanical servant,'' the 49-year-old said.

Kim projected the envisioned humanoid, which is likely to move on wheels, will also act as a loyal secretary and close friend of its elderly possessor.

``The cutting-edge robots will be capable of many caregiver tasks like verbalizing scripted reminders _ his or her daily schedule or time to take medicine,'' Kim said.

A meds compliance robot, good idea. Might it dispense too? This is all just a plan right now.

Kim has spearheaded the state-funded 10-year project of building ``silver robots'' since 2003, geared toward grappling with problems of an aging society.

We'll hear from them again in 2013, but there'll be something better by then.

Funny caption math formula contest

Come up with captions for these 17 images and win the Science Creative Quarterly's WRITING CONTEST THAT CONCERNS IMAGES CHOSEN BY OUR SCIENCE WRITERS, AS WELL AS SOME MATHEMATICAL NOTATION.

"The Science Creative Quarterly seeks science humour pieces for entry into our awesome new contest. Judging will be based on a number of criteria that can be annotated as follows:



Win a video iPod or Amazon gift certificate. Deadline is March 31, 2007, no entry fee. Steve, this one's perfect for you!

Teaching science

No-pain tongue piercing

Abstract from Tongue Piercing by a Yogi: QEEG Observations, Peper et al., Appl Psychophysiol Biofeedback. 2006 Nov 3; (via Positive Technology Journal):

This study reports on the QEEG observations recorded from a yogi during tongue piercing in which he demonstrated voluntary pain control. The QEEG was recorded with a Lexicor 1620 from 19 sites with appropriate controls for impedence and artifacts. A neurologist read the data for abnormalities and the QEEG was analyzed by mapping, single and multiple hertz bins, coherence, and statistical comparisons with a normative database. The session included a meditation baseline and tongue piercing. During the meditative baseline period the yogi's QEEG maps suggesting that he was able to lower his brain activity to a resting state. This state showed a predominance of slow wave potentials (delta) during piercing and suggested that the yogi induced a state that may be similar to those found when individuals are under analgesia. Further research should be conducted with a group of individuals who demonstrate exceptional self-regulation to determine the underlying mechanisms, and whether the skills can be used to teach others how to manage pain.

Any yoga studios that do tongue piercing? Could be a hot business trend. Ohm...stab...didn't feel a thing!

[Poor Al, creator of the Yoga Bot pictured above doing Dancer's Pose, also made this great clock]

UFO The Greatest Story Ever Denied

"The official denial and the ridicule began in 1942 with the Battle of Los Angeles, where a UFO was fired upon by our military that could not bring it down." HAHA.. I loooove video proof. Why do I like this conspiracy theory stuff so much?

One of the saddest things ever.

This is absolutely horrendous.

Close to 1,000 people are planning to attend a controversial conference this weekend in Atlanta. Organizers for the event are promising they can turn homosexuals straight.

“I spent thousands of hours on my knees, praying for the Lord to make me straight,” said Daniel Gonzales. “And he never did.”

Gonzales was so desperate not to be gay, he tried the kind of therapy taught at this weekend’s Love Won Out conference, held at the First Baptist Church of Woodstock.

The billboard on the Downtown Connector says that it is possible to become straight with God’s help. Will Blankenship of First Baptist says it worked for him.

“My compassion is for people,” he said. “And I simply want to say that God didn’t make us that way.”

What is this robot doing?!

ohhh fine....it's the "walking-aid robot 'SUBAR'. The SUBA assists users by censoring the movement of muscle during the step and supports walking power by automated motor."

Scientists holding their breath

Interesting article in Wired about scientists holding their breath for democrats - because they believe the dems will bring them more funding (well that and stop suppressing their results). Maybe they'll get in and immediately increase the number of NSF grants so I can get one! hahah.

Put away the petri dish. Turn off the Bunsen burner. When mid-term election results start to roll in next Tuesday, few groups will be as glued to the television as America's scientists.

In a country grousing for new leadership, the elections will be a referendum on an unpopular president and a chance for science-friendly candidates to hang out a shingle on Capitol Hill. The change could prompt government action on a range of issues.

I think this monkey is praying for the republicans to cut his projects funding. I don't think he wants to run around with wires sticking out of his head (or help cure some disease).

Vote for Jen!

Omni Brain contributor gonesavage, a.k.a. Jen, seems modest so I'll post about it - she's in a $5000 blogging scholarship contest and your votes could help her win. Visit the list of finalists and click for Jennifer Wong before November 5.

There's another neuroblogger on the list, Shelly Batts of the popular Retrospectacle. Sure, Shelly is a well-qualified candidate, with persuasive stories in her blog to gain votes.

But Jen's the one to win! Very creative, smart, funny, and studious. Interdisciplinary. She's pictured here with a seashell; visit her Flickr photostream for awesome images including lots of photos from studies in her biology lab (one of examining beetles is described, "Males just lay there, like comatose.") Her other blog is Cyberspace Rendezvous.

As she puts it, "This would so rock, so please vote for me."

Cheating

Gary Larson, The Far Side

Back to beginning with the Loch Ness Monster

Well it looks like we have to start over on deciding what kind of dinosaur the Loch Ness monster is. It seems that the original idea that the "snake threaded through the body of a turtle", as some have described it, is a "plesiosaur, a marine reptile that lived 160 million years ago" - is not holding up to scientific scrutiny.

"The osteology of the neck makes it absolutely certain that the plesiosaur could not lift its head up swan-like out of the water," Noè says, ruling the reptile out as a candidate for the Loch Ness monster.

Ohhh... well.... back to the beginning. I guess we'll have to catch it now and do some genetic tests or something.