REM = Out Of Time
In our battle against rapid climate change, humans have one advantage that dinosaurs did not: the ability to get a good night's sleep. New research out of the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology suggests that the reptilian sleep cycle may have contributed to the demise of T-Rex and company. During deep sleep, which occurs in both mammals and birds, new information and skills solidify in the mind. Since reptiles never achieve this state, the researchers say, it's possible that they were unable to hone the skills necessary to efficiently adapt to a changing climate. If only they were able to conk out, they could have behaved a little more like humans and done something smart like increase fossil fuel emissions. That would've done the trick.
(source: Scotsman)
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Monkey See, Monkey Do
The King of the Jungle does not bend to the will of the plebes. A new study out of Duke University shows that high-status macaque monkeys are slow to follow the glances of their low-status inferiors, while they readily follow the gaze of their peers. The researchers had suspected that when humans follow another's glance the action isn't a purely reflexive one, so they tested out their hypothesis on monkeys, observing how quickly each subject followed the gaze of an image of a monkey known to have a high or low status. While the alpha-monkeys only followed other leaders, underlings' heads spun independent of the stimulus monkey's status.
(source: Duke University School of Medicine)
In Contrast To Your Expectations
Showy sports cars aren't just red to symbolize passion, excitement and bloodlust. Next to the green of a landscape, the bright red may create a contrast that makes the car look like it's moving faster than it is, according to a recent study by an NYU computational neuroscientist. In high-contrast situations, people perceive cars as moving more quickly than they do with low-contrast visual input. The study found that when visual input is shoddy—such as when there's low contrast—people's perceptions tend to match their expectations instead of reality, meaning they expect cars to move more slowly than they do. So next time you're planning on going 90 on the highway, pull that camouflage car out of the garage.
(source: ScienceNOW)
Spotting a Healthy Mate
Not too far into the future, when every person is on a perpetual quest to live another day without contracting avian flu, we will need to heed this advice: If you must spend time with birds, only spend time with sexy ones. A study out of Sweden's Uppsala University shows that attractive male collared flycatchers, ones with large white spots on their foreheads, are both healthier than males with smaller spots and better at fighting off viruses such as avian influenza. The new study shows that males vaccinated against Newcastle disease virus, an avian viral infection, produce more antibodies if they have large forehead spots. This explains why female collared flycatchers are so turned on by those large, white spots: They're a good indicator of health, both present and future.
(source: Uppsala University)
Sure Pay or More Pay?
Women are always complaining: "Wah-wah, we want to be in charge of our reproductive decisions," or "Boo-hoo, sexual harassment is too common," and the ever-popular "Moan-groan, we make less money than men do." Well, luckily for male rights advocates, a new study out of Germany indicates the equal pay claim is not necessarily justified. (We're still waiting for official word on the first two.) Researchers found that women tend to prefer jobs with fixed salaries over jobs with performance-based pay, even when the latter would earn them more money. Men have the opposite preference.
(source: University of Bonn)