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Psychologists Make Up Research Findings
Yes, the truth is out!. All of those silly questionnaires you are made to fill out when you apply for a job to see if you are psychologically suitable are rubbish. There is no truth or relevancy in them. They are just made up. Measuring nothing is their purpose. People are now in jobs requiring skills that they do not have - they should be doing something else.
Tests from three psychology journals show that measures for skills, memory, personality, learning and relationships were very weak indeed. There was no consistency with the real world. Manipulation of data wasn't the problem: claims and statements were made by writers when there was no foundational proof for them. It seems that hearsay, myth, misconception and blatant lying are features of academic articles on psychology. Didn't we suspect this all along? Of course we did!
A top psychologist withdrew 50 academic papers because they had false conclusions. Research on ESP was found to have no data showing proof. Misrepresentation seems to be the cultural norm among psychologists. This is a bad state of affairs. Academics are supposed to be critically aloof with their findings, suggestions being used to instructively guide the community.
◆ Psychology by Ty Buchanan ◆
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Tretris Game Stops Cravings
You would think that playing a computer game and increasing general excitement would increase cravings especially for snacks. Apparently, playing Tetris has the opposite affect. Tetris, even for as little as three minutes calms the brain. The desire for food, coffee, alcohol, cigarettes, drugs, sex and sleep are reduced by 20 per cent.
The block-shifting game takes concentrated brain power to play well. Keeping the brain "occupied" keeps distractions at bay. Contrary to the myth, women and men can only do one task at a time. It is still surprising how sitting down and passively watching television increases appetite.
The research was carried out by Queensland's QUT and Plymouth University in England. It was done for a week. Preliminary finding are positive. Work needs to be done on other games such as shoot 'em ups and role playing. Perhaps current beliefs are totally wrong.
◆ Chemistry by Ty Buchanan ◆
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Forcing STEM Graduates to the Bush Will Not Work
The number of school students doing maths and science is woefully inadequate in city areas. Numbers in rural areas are even worse! A new plan is in progress to improve the situation. Unfortunately, it will prove to be a total failure and waste of money.
Culture has inertia. It takes about half a century to alter established beliefs. Rural children believe that maths and science are too difficult for them so they do not even attempt them. They stay with the social subjects. The new "curative" program to solve the matter will ignore city students and concentrate on rural regions.
There is a noticeably low number of rural students doing education, engineering and science degrees. Note that 74 per cent of teachers in city areas have STEM experience, while only 17 per cent of rural teachers have done STEM work. The intention is to send high quality STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) teachers to the bush - they will love that! It is like sending the trainer of the winner of the Melbourne Cup to train horse riders in the sticks, an absolute waste of resources.
Advanced teachers are not the answer. Those who can teach the basics are needed because going with the horse analogy, getting over the first jump is the most difficult problem. If students get this achievement they will at least choose base maths. Australia has the silliest curriculum with up to five levels of maths. When I was young we all did the same compulsory arithmetic then maths. Arithmetic has been forgotten. Bureaucrats do not see that this subject is the foundation for all math.
State schemes such as "go to" the bush for an annual $10,000 check have not worked. Teach For Australia is going to forcibly place graduates in rural schools. The experience will be part of their career training. We will see what teachers unions have to say about this. They will not accept it lying down.
To willingly draw skilled young teachers to rural schools will take money and lots of it. The federal government is cutting back payments to states. And states are running deficits. Forcing movement to the bush where even basic services are not available like a decent water supply and courier deliveries, by making rules to achieve it, will not work. City born, city live is the motto of young people.
◆ Education by Ty Buchanan ◆
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Compulsory Reversing Radar Technology is Needed in Australia
There is nothing worse than parking in a shopping center car park, doing your shopping, then coming out to find another driver has reversed out and scraped your rear "bumper" A compulsory radar reversing system should be introduced for all vehicles.
VicRoads is doing something about this. Their maintenance fleet has been fitted with radar-based reverse braking technology. The main target is not vehicle damage: it is injuries to employees who are hit when trucks are reversing. No less than 18 workers were struck from 2003 to 2012. The system detects anything directly in the reversing path of a vehicle.
All new motor vehicles are now fitted with such technology in Europe, the US and Japan. Where is Australia with regard to this? It can prevent injuries, save lives and last but not least stop unwanted damage. Insurance companies could even offer lower premiums as a result.
VicRoads will share its trial data with others involved in the transport industry. If this sector adopts the technology, the general public will want it fitted to their vehicles as well. A high quality national detection system is needed, not the cut price basic ones that people are fitting now.
◆ Technology by Ty Buchanan ◆
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Refugees Mean Poverty, Unemployment and Economy Decline for Europe
More refugees are coming from the Middle East and Africa to Europe. This is putting a tremendous burden on European countries. It will bring three things: poverty, unemployment and economic cost.
These people will not find accommodation. In all Western countries the cost of average housing has gone through the roof in the last decade. Europe has a relatively dense population already. Land for new building estates has mostly been exploited. Refugees do not have a nest egg of money for a deposit nor do they have established friends and relatives for help. They will live in parks for the rest of their lives.
Almost all of the refugees are unskilled. There is a mass of unemployed native born people in European nations now. They have no future, so refugees face the same bleak future. Training is expensive. With freedom of movement to other countries in Europe no individual nation is going to pay to train non-citizens. let's face it only a small minority will ever get full citizenship.
Temporary housing is a high drain on a national economy. Stateless people also have to eat. United Nations welfare bodies have run out of money. Rationing of handouts is applied to areas of world conflict. They will not give food to advanced countries.
Estimates of arrivals have probably passed two million in the last five years. It is doubling every year.
The official figure of 350,000 is way short of reality. This is only the number of actual political refugees. The great majority are economic refugees who get no benefit from giving their information to authorities. Once they get into any European country "unnoticed" they head for their country of choice.
What lies ahead? The countries refugees want to live in will go into economic decline. There is no "good life" waiting. Because refugees come from many sources racial tensions and ghettos will become normal in European countries. The peace and quiet of the English green land will end, for example. Hard times is the future for all European nations.
The official figure of 350,000 is way short of reality. This is only the number of actual political refugees. The great majority are economic refugees who get no benefit from giving their information to authorities. Once they get into any European country "unnoticed" they head for their country of choice.
What lies ahead? The countries refugees want to live in will go into economic decline. There is no "good life" waiting. Because refugees come from many sources racial tensions and ghettos will become normal in European countries. The peace and quiet of the English green land will end, for example. Hard times is the future for all European nations.
◆ Economics by Ty Buchanan ◆
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Australia's Exports of Genetic Material is Growing
Animal genetics in Australia is going strong. Exports of genetic material is growing particularly in Columbia, Chile and Mexico. The world generally is its oyster.
Semen is the primary export product. Chile imports bovine semen while sheep and goat semen is purchased by Columbia. Latin America is the main market. Australia has a way to go to reach the U.S. and Canada. However, it is quickly catching up.
The quality of Australian beef is high and breeds suit the climate of South America. Sheep and goats are highly regarded. Surprisingly, even canine semen is exported to SA. Embryos are also sent there.
◆ Genetics by Ty Buchanan ◆
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KAI2 Improves Growth as Well as Germination After Fire
When the KAI2 protein was removed from a higher, more recent plant, Arabidopsis thaliana, its leaves malformed. Yet splicing the KAI2 back by taking it from the ancient Selaginella resulted in improved A. thaliana growth, but it could no longer detect the presence of smoke the normal function of KAI2.
This finding shows the more general function of KAI2. It not only identifies karrikins in smoke, it is important for plant growth. "Sensing" is the main purpose of KAI2. Apparently it can be tuned to detect different things. This could help farmers control seed germination times.
Wheat is notorious for germinating in the grain during heavy rain periods. Being able to spray a chemical that stops this would save millions of dollars and improve crop yields. Furthermore, spraying to stop weeds from sprouting would be the supreme herbicide.
◆ Biology by Ty Buchanan ◆
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