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No matter how much we are all alike, there are still some striking differences in how we see and react to the world around us. - Matt Willemsen

Another source for renewable energy, and maybe a reason to leave the oil in the ground. - Matt Willemsen

It looks like the fundamentals of the American political environment will be shifting, warming along with the climate. - Matt Willemsen

Another of Bulgaria's mysteries has been solved. The history of the ancient country is becoming more complete every day. - Matt Willemsen

A great article introducing some of the discoveries of animal communication and the origins of human speech - Matt Willemsen

More on the continuing destruction of Iran's antiquity and world heritage. Will destruction by modern inhabitants be the only legacy? - Matt Willemsen

From the page: "almost five Philadelphians were shot every day over the course of the study and about 1 of these 5 people died. The research team concluded that, although successful defensive gun uses are possible and do occur each year, the chances of success are low." - Matt Willemsen

From the page: "The Value Of Being Aloof: Or, How Not To Get Absorbed In Someone Elseâ€s Abdomen By Mark Changizi | September 10th 2009 08:12 AM | 7 comments | Print | E-mail | Track Comments . More Mark Changizi articles * The Hue Of Hefner: How Color Made An Empire Possible * The Braintionary - Our Brain's Mental Lexicon * The Topography Of Language All About Mark Changizi My Lab, My Blog, LinkedIn, Full Bio User picture for Mark Changizi Mark Changizi Male anglerfish are born with an innate desire to not exist. As soon as a male reaches maturity, he acquires an urge to find a female, sink his teeth into her, and grow into her. This evolved because anglerfish live in the dark ocean abyss with few mating opportunities. By giving up his life to be part of the female, the male can reproduce more often. Itâ€s not clear he can appreciate all the sex heâ€s getting, however, because much of his body and brain atrophies and fuses with her body. Nevertheless, thatâ€s where male... - Matt Willemsen

Thank God we have Hummer-huggers to protect us. Point your cars to the setting sun and just keep on going! Please! - Matt Willemsen

Foreign oil is the benefactor of our tax laws. From the article: The largest U.S subsidies to fossil fuels are attributed to tax breaks that aid foreign oil production, according to research to be released on Friday by the Environmental Law Institute (ELI) in partnership with the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. The study, which reviewed fossil fuel and energy subsidies for Fiscal Years 2002-2008, reveals that the lion's share of energy subsidies supported energy sources that emit high levels of greenhouse gases. - Matt Willemsen

Wow! Huge stone tools. I wonder what giants made these. A paleolithic tool-making contest. - Matt Willemsen

This is a frightening discovery for deer. It appears there is nothing that can eradicate this disease. I'd hate to see the cervid family go the way of the Tasmanian devil. - Matt Willemsen

It's too bad people in developed countries still have to worry about losing insurance just when they need it. From the page: "An Australian study of families with genetic risk of bowel cancer has found that 50 percent of participants declined genetic testing when informed of insurance implications. "This indicates that people have a significant fear of insurance discrimination which impacts their decision to have potentially life saving genetic testing," says co-lead author Dr Louise Keogh, of the University of Melbourne's Key Centre for Women's Health in Society. The population-based study was led by researchers from the University of Melbourne and the Cancer Council Victoria, and published in the prestigious Medical Journal of Australia today. Researchers identified 106 people from 25 families in which there were genetic mutations that increase the risk of bowel cancer. All were offered the chance to learn their own individual genetic information at a Familial Cancer Clinic. "When... - Matt Willemsen

From the page: "Newly published research suggests that government use of torture has increased worldwide despite international norms discouraging it. "The results could not be clearer: there is no evidence that as more states have joined the CAT, states' use of torture has abated. "Indeed, if anything, the results suggest that levels of torture have increased." - Matt Willemsen

From the page: "The Republican national party has mailed a fundraising appeal suggesting Democrats might use an overhaul of the health care system to deny medical treatment to Republicans. A questionnaire accompanying the appeal says the government could check voting registration records, "prompting fears that GOP voters might be discriminated against for medical treatment in a Democrat-imposed health care rationing system." It asks, "Does this possibility concern you?"" - Matt Willemsen

Screenshot of Fake E-Postcard. Download image. * Fake e-postcards carry password-stealing virus * Virus considered the country's most pervasive BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Fake Internet postcards circulating through e-mail inboxes worldwide are carrying links to the virus known as Zeus Bot, said Gary Warner, director of computer forensics at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). Zeus Bot has been named America's most pervasive computer Botnet virus by Network World magazine, reportedly infecting 3.6 million U.S. computers. "These fake postcards ask users to click and download to view the contents, and as soon as that click is made the Zeus Bot malware has infected their computers," Warner said. "Once on a user's computer, Zeus Bot will give cyber criminals access to passwords and account numbers for bank, e-mail and other sensitive online accounts." - Matt Willemsen

Thanks for the warning! I have them in my spam folder as well but could controll my curiosity to look at them. - Ulla

From the page: "According to data provided by Traci L. Billingsley, spokeswoman for the U.S. Bureau of Prisons, federal facilities on American soil currently house 216 international terrorists and 139 domestic terrorists. Some of these miscreants have been locked up here since the early 1990s. None of them has escaped. At the most secure prisons, nobody has ever escaped, period." - Matt Willemsen

From the page: "Despite calamities from economic recessions, wars and famine to a flu epidemic afflicting the Earth, a new study from the University of Kansas and Gallup indicates that humans are by nature optimistic. The study, to be presented Sunday, May 24, 2009, at the annual meeting of the Association for Psychological Science in San Francisco, found optimism to be universal and borderless. " - Matt Willemsen

Once in hospital, heart attack patients should be treated without delay to cut their risk of death, ideally within even less than the 90 minutes currently recommended by clinical guidelines, say researchers in a paper published on bmj.com today. - Matt Willemsen

By snipping off parts of male genitalia and reducing genital sensation in both male and female tsetse flies, researchers induced a suite of changes in female reproduction, including reduced ovulation, reduced sperm storage and increased re-mating attempts by the females. "To the best of our knowledge, this was the first study to look at female choice following experimental manipulation of both male and female genitalia" - Matt Willemsen

I listened to the podcast and was thrilled to hear real stories of doctors learning their skills. - Matt Willemsen

The emergence of a video purporting to show a senior member of the United Arab Emirates' ruling family co-ordinating the torture of a businessman has threatened to tarnish the reputation of the pro-Western, oil-rich Gulf state. The video purports to show Issa bin Zayed al Nahyan, the half-brother of the Manchester City owner, Mansour bin Zayed al Nahyan, participating in the torture of an Afghan grain dealer with whom he had had a disagreement. The al Nahyan clan's position as rulers of Abu Dhabi, the biggest of the seven emirates that make up the UAE, means they have also acted as hereditary rulers of the state since it was founded in 1971. At a desert location under cover of darkness the torture victim, Mohammed Shah Poor, is held down and has sand stuffed down his throat. Bullets are then fired near his feet in the sand and he is beaten with a plank of wood from which nails protruded. Salt is then rubbed into his open wounds. An electric cattle prod is also used on part of his body... - Matt Willemsen

From the page: "The popular Wii gaming remote may offer radiologists a fun, alternative method to using a standard mouse and keyboard to navigate through patient images, according to a study performed at the New-York Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center in New York, NY. The remote may also offer radiologists relief from repetitive motion injuries as a result of using a mouse and keyboard." - Matt Willemsen

From the page: "New study shows chewing gum can lead to better academic performance in teenagers Higher math scores seen in classroom setting WHAT: New research from Baylor College of Medicine indicates a positive effect of chewing gum on academic performance in teenagers.i The study examined whether chewing Wrigley sugar-free gum can lead to better academic performance in a "real life" classroom setting. Major findings include: * The researchers found that students who chewed gum showed an increase in standardized math test scores and their final grades were better compared to those who didn't chew gum. o Students who chewed gum had a significantly greater increase in their standardized math test scores after 14 weeks of chewing gum in math class and while doing homework compared to those who did not chew gum. Chewing gum was associated with a three percent increase in standardized math test scores, a small but statistically significant change. o Students who chewed gum had final... - Matt Willemsen

From the page: "Thinking your memory will get worse as you get older may actually be a self-fulfilling prophecy. Researchers at North Carolina State University have found that senior citizens who think older people should perform poorly on tests of memory actually score much worse than seniors who do not buy in to negative stereotypes about aging and memory loss. In a study published earlier this month, psychology professor Dr. Tom Hess and a team of researchers from NC State show that older adults' ability to remember suffers when negative stereotypes are "activated" in a given situation. "For example, older adults will perform more poorly on a memory test if they are told that older folks do poorly on that particular type of memory test," Hess says. Memory also suffers if senior citizens believe they are being "stigmatized," meaning that others are looking down on them because of their age." - Matt Willemsen

Nigerian opposition parties, anti-corruption campaigners and professional groups have rejected the government's handling of the Halliburton bribery scandal reportedly implicating three former presidents. The government says it will prosecute any indicted Nigerian officials. But opponents have accused the authorities of a cover-up. One of Nigeria's leading opposition parties, the Action Congress, says the establishment of a panel of top security officials to probe the $180 million Halliburton bribery scandal was an attempt to undermine the investigations. - Matt Willemsen

From the page: "Study suggests link between how we feel, our culture and how we behave Scientists have long been interested in the interplay of emotions and identity, and some have recently focused on cultural identity. One's heritage would seem to be especially stable and impervious to change, simply because it's been passed down generation after generation and is deeply ingrained in the collective psyche. But how deeply, exactly? Psychologists Claire Ashton-James of the University of British Columbia, William W. Maddux from INSEAD, Adam Galinsky of Northwestern University, and Tanya Chartrand from Duke University decided to explore this intriguing question in the laboratory, to see if even something as potent as culture might be tied to normal mood swings. European cultures are known to value independence and individuality, whereas Asian cultures prize community and harmony. This fundamental East-West cultural difference is well established, and so offered the researchers an ideal... - Matt Willemsen

SAN DIEGO - College students who use Facebook spend less time studying and have lower grade point averages than students who have not signed up for the social networking website, according to a pilot study at one university. However, more than three-quarters of Facebook users claimed that their use of the social networking site didn't interfere with their studies. "We can't say that use of Facebook leads to lower grades and less studying - but we did find a relationship there," said Aryn Karpinski, co-author of the study and a doctoral student in education at Ohio State University. - Matt Willemsen

From the page: "Three professors at the University of Kansas have found that a one-time tax break allowed multinational corporations to receive a 22,000 percent average return on lobbying expenditures. A recent tax law change provided a tax break to the corporations by lowering their tax rate 85 percent on certain worldwide income. The professors examined the extensive lobbying around the law change and found that for each dollar spent on lobbying, a corporation received $220 in U.S. income tax savings." - Matt Willemsen