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Bees Calculate Energy Expended When Getting Pollen

Bees calculate how much energy they need to get pollen. To survive, bees must run on a "profit" basis. They must not use more energy in obtaining nectar than energy the nectar provides. Bees were given the choice of travelling along two pathways to get nectar. One pathway was 10 meters long, the other 20 meters. However, the "scenery" of the 10 meter pathway was designed to trick the bees into perceiving that it was the furthest distance away.

When the bees returned to their fellows in the nest they told them with a waggle dance which pathway to use to get more pollen. Despite the 10 meter pathway appearing to the bees to be further away they told other bees to go to the feeder in the 10 meter pathway. Somehow, they had worked out that it used up less energy to go to this feeder than the one on the other pathway.

It is believed that bees have "calorimeters" built into their brains. They do not judge energy expenditure solely based on distance travelled. A partly covered pathway would be given the okay over a pathway out in the weather for example.

Bees are smart little critters and we can learn a great deal from them.

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Entomology

Blaming Rewiring of the Brain for Chronic Pain is Too Simplistic

What a cop out, medical "professionals" are now saying chronic pain is caused by a mixed-up brain. This cannot be the case when you have an open wound and it really hurts. They are saying we should not feel any pain at all. People with leprosy feel no pain and look what damage they do to themselves.

Pain is functional. It stops one using a limb when there is damage to it. Otherwise, it wouldn't heal properly. Most back pain is caused by damage to the spine that cannot be detected with current technology and knowledge.

Those "in the know" are now saying the brain rewires itself when there is an injury so that when the damage is repaired pain still continues. If this is the case then it is very selective. Why doesn't this happen when you cut your finger? We know if a limb is lost pain can continue, but saying the brain rewires itself after an injury is far too simplistic.

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Health

Search for Smart Genes

It seems the level of intelligence is determined by a few genes. This must surely be too simplistic, particularly because specialists cannot agree on what intelligence is. How do you compare memorizing general knowledge to the skill of knitting a fine jumper? There are people who know just about everything about Australian rugby league, but this is their only area of expertise.

Finding will be made easier, apparently, by questioning the crowd rather that by brain scans, etc. It is believed that the sought after genes affect brain size. Considering that Neanderthals had larger brains than modern man, this seems to be the wrong hypothesis to start with.

While "the team" is sure they will find the genes they do admit that culture, education, health and upbringing can affect intelligence. How are they going to filter these things out? Obviously they can't. Twenty one thousand subjects were catalogued and brain imaging was used. Strangely, when the team was reaching its conclusions they discovered that another group was doing the same research with more people. Now that is clever.

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Society

Society and High Intelligence Go Together

We have large brains due to social interaction. In early societies culture meant things had to be remembered. Another important function leading to large brains was tools use, though chimpanzees use tools. The most intelligent people would inevitably become leaders and have the choice of mates, thus passing on their genes.

Intelligence and brain size are of course interdependent. Animals such as dolphins and elephants have social structures. They are also very intelligent. Higher intelligence appears to be naturally selected for in any species.

Apparently, when society develops intelligence must increase otherwise an individual will be "put upon" by the smarter ones. There is some evidence that really clever individuals tend to be disruptive to a society. The naive are certainly at a disadvantage.

A thorn in the side of the above theory is that some highly structured societies are composed of small creatures with tiny brains. Ants, bees and wasps are in this category.

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Society

Depression Treatment from Magic Mushrooms

Doctors do not know how "recreational" drugs work. Police forces worldwide fight drug abuse, but the battle is being lost. Until medications can be developed to stop the euphoric effects almost immediately the battle will rage on.

There are possible benefits from some of these drugs. For example, magic mushrooms are being tested for treating mental conditions by psychiatrists. Neural circuits in the brain are altered by the use of the drug. What actually happens though was unknown, until now.

It was thought that dormant brain cells were being activated, the ones that are used during sleep. It has been discovered, however, that blood flow to the brain is decreased when psilocybin is used. MRIs showed blood flow reductions to the thalamus and cortical regions. The front and back of the brain are separated when the drug is taken. Primary sensory areas still retained good blood flow, while higher association regions became "starved" of blood.

Previous theories in regard to brain stimulation are now completely undermined. With brain separation taking place there are possibilities for medical uses. Depression is believed to be caused to a person's brain being too rigid. Such drugs as psilicybin from magic mushrooms could help by making the brain more "flexible".

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Society

Gene Therapy on the Brain Dangerously Changes Neuron Structure

Gene therapy for brain injuries and illnesses may be a good thing, but this treatment changes the shape of brain cells. Researchers in Western Australia say there is nothing to worry about because damaged brain cells regenerate or live longer. They say this when there is no proof that in the long term everything will be alright.

They say it is wonderful how brains cells function better after nine months of treatment. Apparently, the neurons become round due to new growth-promoting genes that stimulate them. The fact that surrounding genes away from the treatment area also change is in my opinion something to worry about. Obviously, when this occurs it cannot be reversed.

Doctors admit that the way neurons deal with information after treatment is never the same again. Furthermore, they suspect that the long-term effects may not be beneficial to the patient. It is a good thing that researchers are looking for a way to stop gene therapy in its tracks if anything goes wrong.

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Health

Cat Thinks

"Let me give it some thought - I'll get back to you."

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Funny Animal Photos

Subliminal Advertising Actually Works

For years we have been told that subliminal messages on television and in films has no affect on us. Now we are informed that they do indeed work very well.

It is known that people pick up signals by intuition from other people. For example, poker players seem to know when their opponent has a good or bad hand. They don't know how - they just do.

A study sandwiched a subliminal picture for less than 50 milliseconds between two "normal" images. The subjects could then choose between two symbols, one being the sandwiched picture, to win money. The result was, subjects actually made money. MRI scans done at the time identified the ventral striatum region of the brain being the most active during the intuitive tests.

The research shows that subliminal advertising having a reward system attached can increase sales of a product. We can anticipate an increase in subliminal advertising.

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Society

Children and Women Are in Greater Danger of Brain Cancer From Cell Phones

Despite many tests there is no agreement on whether mobile phones cause brain cancer. Findings point to a trend in heavy phone users. Advice is given to use mobiles as infrequently as possible.

It is clear that the skulls of children are much thinner than adults and youngsters receive twice as much microwave radiation from cell phones as adults. Three times as much radiation is absorbed into children's hippocampus and hypothalamus. Other regions of their bodies in danger are the eyes and bone marrow.

Tests have mainly been carried out on adult males who have the thickest skulls of all. Scientists believe children and woman are in greater danger of getting brain cancer. One in four Australian women have reduced time spent on making calls in fear of brain damage. It is recommended that tests on children be used as the certifying method for phones.

While many scientists are not convinced, research shows that heavy phone users have a 40 per cent higher risk of getting gliomas, the most common brain cancer.

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Health

How Do We Select What to Pay Attention to?

How do we select which sounds to pay attention to? When we walk down a street we ignore the sounds of cars passing by, the gossip of people, and on, but we pay attention to a short, sharp whistle. Even little children know the sound of the ice cream truck.

Psychologists have been trying to find out how we select some things over others. Our brains record everything. Hypnosis has shown this to be true. We could not possibly take note of everything around us. Attention allocation operates by combining two functions: the predictive principle and the uncertainty principle.

The predictive principle is logical in that the brain searches for the more meaningful from the background "noise".

With the uncertainty principle the brain looks for the unusual, the odd thing out.

Animal research has shown that they do use both principles. However, tests on humans had clearly shown the predictive principle at work but not uncertainly. New tests show humans use a variant of the uncertainty principle called negative transfer. This involves ignoring new associations (outcomes) to a cue once a particular association has been learned. In other words new associations take longer to register in humans. The more "severe" the new association the quicker the uncertainty principle kicks in.

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Society

People Line Up to Pulverize the Left Brain

It's amazing - show something in a documentary and people want it quick smart. Sorry about the pun. People are having high voltage electricity pumped into the left side of their brain to make them more creative and it is excruciatingly painful.

The theory goes: pulverise the left brain until it no longer functions then the right side takes over and you can draw and paint better. That's just about it. And people are lining up in droves to try it.

It doesn't do a thing for your intelligence and damage to your brain has not been determined yet. Apparently, it not only improved your artistic faculties, you can do sums better as well. But it's creator Allan Snyder of the University of Sydney says it makes you child-like, hardly something you really want.

No, it's probably better if the left side of the brain controls the right side - better for society that is!

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The Hobbit a Small Human on Flores Is Proven

Many people have written off the "hobbit" find as being just a joke, a sad hoax played on society. However, finding tiny "humans" is, apparently, real. Most scientists have accepted it though some still scoff at the whole issue without looking into it.

In 2004 archaeologists in Indonesia found skeletons, not fossils, skeletons of small human-like creatures who lived on the island of Flores as recently as 18,000 years ago. While humans spread around the world, these small "humans" carried on hunting pygmy elephants and other local species in isolation. Flint flakes found in million year old volcanic sediment show hobbit activity there a very long time ago.

The question is - When did the early humans leave Africa? Considering Man left the continent no more than 100,000 years ago why did other excursions of early man end in extinction? At least one group survived long enough to enlighten us about the numerous times humans left Africa. Evidence from bone structure shows that the hobbit descended from an earlier type of human than the small-brained Homo erectus which left two million years ago.

Spending time considering how hobbit came to be on Flores is quite irrelevant. Whether they went by boat, raft or just walked when a land bridge appeared, they got there and thrived.

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Bees Calculate Energy Expended When Getting Pollen

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