The Medusa Effect: We Ascribe Less “Mind” To People We See In Pictures
By Emma Young
Much has been written about the downsides of home-working. “Zoom fatigue”, in particular, is now a term, and an experience, that many of us are familiar with. But the tiring effect of video chat could represent only one of its dangers, according to new work in PNAS. It finds that we ascribe less “mind” to people we see in image form, vs in the flesh, and even less again to images of images of people. There could be serious implications, write Paris Will at the University of British Columbia and colleagues: “Given that mind perception underpins moral judgement, our findings sugges...
Source: BPS RESEARCH DIGEST - September 10, 2021 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: BPS Research Digest Tags: Cognition Source Type: blogs
Are you squeamish about fermentation?
Including fermented foods in your diet is among the most important strategies you can adopt for bowel and overall health. It is so important that I tell people to include at least one, if not many, fermented foods in your daily routine.
Fermented foods literally come in thousands of different forms. Among the most familiar are yogurt, kefir, sauerkraut, pickles, and fermented meats like salami and sopressata. (Note that most commercially sold sauerkraut, and pickles in the U.S. are not fermented, but simply packaged in vinegar and brine. Yogurt, and to a lesser degree, kefirs, are fermented for such a short time to hasten ...
Source: Wheat Belly Blog - September 3, 2021 Category: Cardiology Authors: Dr. Davis Tags: Open bowel flora microbiota prebiotic probiotic undoctored wheat belly Source Type: blogs
Federal Government Debt Is Soaring
Chris EdwardsFederal government debt rose from $3.3 trillion in 2001, to $10.1 trillion in 2011, to $23.0 trillion in 2021. Under current law, the CBOexpects debt to rise to $35.8 trillion by 2031. If Congress passes the spending increases in the Democratic budget resolution, debt will rise to $40.1 trillion by 2031,according to CRFB. This is “debt held by the public,” meaning federal borrowing from domestic and foreign creditors.The chart scales the debt to the number of U.S. households. Debt per household under the Democratic plan would rise from $179,082 in 2021 to $288,047 by 2031. That debt is not like mortgage ...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - September 2, 2021 Category: American Health Authors: Chris Edwards Source Type: blogs
Sleepless Nights For Evolutionary Biologists: A Greek Tragedy in The Making
By MIKE MAGEE
In my Jesuit high school, we were offered only one science course – chemistry. I took it in my Senior year and did pretty well. In contrast, I took four years of Latin, and three years of Greek, as part of the school’s Greek Honors tract.
Little did I know that Covid would create a pathologic convergence of sorts six decades later. Let’s review the Covid mutants:
Alpha – A variant first detected in Kent, UK with 50% more transmissibility than the original and has spread widely.
Beta – Originating in South Africa and the first to show a mutation that partially provided evas...
Source: The Health Care Blog - August 30, 2021 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Christina Liu Tags: COVID-19 Health Policy evolutionary biology Mike Magee Source Type: blogs
Fight Aging! Newsletter, August 16th 2021
In conclusion, cancer survivors, especially older individuals, demonstrate greater odds of and accelerated functional decline, suggesting that cancer and/or its treatment may alter aging trajectories.
Linking Particulate Air Pollution and Dementia in a Small Region of the US
https://www.fightaging.org/archives/2021/08/linking-particulate-air-pollution-and-dementia-in-a-small-region-of-the-us/
It is fairly settled that evident particulate air pollution, such as daily exposure to smoke from wood-fueled cooking fires, has a strongly detrimental effect on long-term health. The mechanisms involved are inflam...
Source: Fight Aging! - August 15, 2021 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Newsletters Source Type: blogs
We Live in an Age of Biotechnology, In Which We Could Choose to End the Suffering of Aging
Bringing degenerative aging under medical control, ending the tens of millions of deaths each year, ending the suffering of hundreds of millions more. This is a plausible goal for our era of biotechnology. Yet even as the first rejuvenation therapies have become a reality, in the form of first generation senolytic drugs that clear a sizable fraction of senescent cells from the body, there is little public enthusiasm for - and understanding of - the path ahead to a better world. A world in which people have the choice not to decay in body and mind as they gather wisdom and experience in later life. Change is in the air, but...
Source: Fight Aging! - August 10, 2021 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs
… of all the Leps I ’ ve photographed
My Mothematics Gallery can be found on my Imaging Storm photography site along with other invertebrates, flora and fauna, etc. I’ve written about several of the species I’ve seen for various outlets, but haven’t yet got around to adding all of the links to this list #bearwith
Moths
Aethes francilana/beatricella (Walsingham, 1898/Fabricius, 1794)
Agapeta hamana (Linnaeus, 1758)
Agonopterix heracliana-ciliella agg NFM 2020
Agonopterix purpurea (Haworth, 1811) NFM 2021 (MYO lure)
Angle Shades (Phlogophora meticulosa, Linnaeus, 1758)
Arches, Buff (Habrosyne pyritoides, Hufnagel, 1766)
Arches, Dark (Apamea m...
Source: David Bradley Sciencebase - Songs, Snaps, Science - August 10, 2021 Category: Science Authors: David Bradley Tags: Lepidoptera Source Type: blogs
Debunking four myths about decision-making capacity to keep Britney Spears and others safe
This article was originally published on The Conversation.
News in Context:
What are cognitive abilities and how to boost them?
Think twice before taking Aderall for cognitive enhancement: It may actually impair working memory and other cognitive abilities
Study in China finds that retirement may accelerate cognitive decline, even for those with stable income
The post Debunking four myths about decision-making capacity to keep Britney Spears and others safe appeared first on SharpBrains. (Source: SharpBrains)
Source: SharpBrains - August 9, 2021 Category: Neuroscience Authors: The Conversation Tags: Brain/ Mental Health Britney Spears conservatorship decision-making capacity ethics medication psychiatric psychiatric disorders Psychotherapy psychotic states schizophrenia Source Type: blogs
Science Snippet: Apoptosis Explained
Apoptosis is the process by which cells in the body die in a controlled and predictable way because they have DNA damage or are no longer needed. The term comes from a Greek word meaning “falling off,” as in leaves falling from a tree.
When a cell undergoes apoptosis, it shrinks and pulls away from its neighbors. As the cytoskeleton that gives it shape and structure collapses, the envelope around the cell’s nucleus breaks down, and its DNA breaks into pieces. Its surface changes, signaling its death to other cells and leading a healthy cell to engulf the dying one and recycle its components.
Two cells in a heal...
Source: Biomedical Beat Blog - National Institute of General Medical Sciences - July 28, 2021 Category: Research Authors: Chrissa Chverchko Tags: Cells Cellular Processes Source Type: blogs
How I resurrected my ancient PhD thesis using R/bookdown (and some other tools)
An ancient thesisI’ve long admired the look of publications generated using the R bookdown package, and thought it would be fun and educational to publish one myself. The problem is that I am not writing a book and have no plans to do so any time soon.
Then I remembered that I’ve already written a book. There it is on the right. It’s called “Cloning, sequence analysis and studies on the expression of the nirS gene, encoding cytochrome cd1 nitrite reductase, from Thiosphaera pantotropha“. Catchy title, hey. It’s from my former life, as a biochemistry graduate turned reluctant molecular mi...
Source: What You're Doing Is Rather Desperate - July 22, 2021 Category: Bioinformatics Authors: nsaunders Tags: personal statistics bookdown oxford phd rstats thesis thesisdown Source Type: blogs
Woodwalton Fen National Nature Reserve
Having spent a morning photographing Marbled White butterflies and Six-spot Burnet, Brassy Longhorn, and Burnet Companion moths on Trumpington Meadows near Cambridge I was inspired to travel slightly further afield to see if I could find any more interesting species of Lepidoptera. RSPB Hope Farm in Knapwell I remember had been productive on their pre-lockdown open days a few years ago and I remembered they had a wild patch of setaside.
Purple Hairstreak
Brassy Longhorn
The farm and reserve are not strictly open to the public at any time other than their open days, but it’s criss-crossed by public footpaths, so you ...
Source: David Bradley Sciencebase - Songs, Snaps, Science - July 21, 2021 Category: Science Authors: David Bradley Tags: Sciencebase Source Type: blogs
Woodwalton Fen NNR
Having spent a morning photographing Marbled White butterflies and Six-spot Burnet, Brassy Longhorn, and Burnet Companion moths on Trumpington Meadows near Cambridge I was inspired to travel slightly further afield to see if I could find any more interesting species of Lepidoptera. RSPB Hope Farm in Knapwell I remember had been productive on their pre-lockdown open days a few years ago and I remembered they had a wild patch of setaside.
Purple Emperor showing yellow proboscis
Purple Hairstreak
Brassy Longhorn
The farm and reserve are not strictly open to the public at any time other than their open days, but it’s c...
Source: David Bradley Sciencebase - Songs, Snaps, Science - July 21, 2021 Category: Science Authors: David Bradley Tags: Sciencebase Source Type: blogs
Up, Please
By KIM BELLARD
When I think of elevator operators, I think of health care.
Now, it’s not likely that many people think about elevator operators very often, if ever. Many have probably never seen an elevator operator. The idea of a uniformed person standing all day in an elevator pushing buttons so that people can get to their floors seems unnecessary at best and ludicrous at worse.
But once upon a time, they were essential, until they weren’t. Healthcare, don’t say you haven’t been warned.
Elevators have been around in some form for hundreds of years, and by the 19th century were using steam o...
Source: The Health Care Blog - July 13, 2021 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Christina Liu Tags: Health Tech Health Technology elevator operators elevators Kim Bellard Source Type: blogs
We Like The Original Versions Of Abstract Artworks More Than Colour-Shifted Ones
By Emma Young
Take a look at this 1930 painting, “Rhythm, Joy of Life”, by French artist Robert Delaunay. Do you find it colourful? And do you like it?
Robert Delaunay – Rhythm, Joy of Life (1930)
Now what if every pixel in a digital version was rotated an equal distance on a “colour wheel” that represents every colour that people can see? Technically, the number of different colours in the image would be the same — but you’d probably perceive it to be less colourful. And, even if you’d never seen the original before, you’d probably like it less. That, at least, is the con...
Source: BPS RESEARCH DIGEST - June 21, 2021 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: BPS Research Digest Tags: Perception Source Type: blogs
Peter Hotez is shrill
He beginneth:The initial United States government response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic was marked by a frequent disconnect between government policies and the recommendations of scientific experts. A disinformation campaign from the Trump White House convinced many Americans that COVID-19 injuries and its death toll were exaggerated, leading many to ignore public health recommendations (1). Those who dismissed the severity of COVID-19 were more likely to shun face masks and ignore recommendations to socially distance from non –household members (2). Such individuals were more likely Republic...
Source: Stayin' Alive - June 14, 2021 Category: American Health Source Type: blogs
