36 posts · 32,843 views
My thoughts on science, and its relationship with the media.
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- April 24, 2010
- 11:53 AM
- 526 views
Forensic experts are wrong on bruises
by Jacob Aron in Just A Theory
Forensic experts are unable to accurately determine the age of bruises on the bodies of crime victims, say researchers at Queen Mary, University of London. A study published in the Journal of Forensic and Legal Medicine, suggests that sentencing of criminal cases involving bruising, such as child abuse or assault, could be based on flawed [...]... Read more »
Pilling, M., Vanezis, P., Perrett, D., & Johnston, A. (2010) Visual assessment of the timing of bruising by forensic experts. Journal of Forensic and Legal Medicine, 17(3), 143-149. DOI: 10.1016/j.jflm.2009.10.002
- March 24, 2010
- 05:44 PM
- 486 views
Heavy drinking tonight won’t affect exam scores tomorrow
by Jacob Aron in Just A Theory
Students and alcohol are never far apart, but most manage to hold off the booze when they’ve got an important test the next morning. Now it seems they needn’t worry, as researchers from the Boston University School of Public Health have found that combining last-minute revision with a couple of beers isn’t a problem. Heavy [...]... Read more »
Howland, J., Rohsenow, D., Greece, J., Littlefield, C., Almeida, A., Heeren, T., Winter, M., Bliss, C., Hunt, S., & Hermos, J. (2010) The effects of binge drinking on college students' next-day academic test-taking performance and mood state. Addiction, 105(4), 655-665. DOI: 10.1111/j.1360-0443.2009.02880.x
- December 16, 2009
- 03:45 PM
- 481 views
Cutting down on TV also cuts down calories
by Jacob Aron in Just A Theory
People restricted to watching half their usual amount of television burned more calories in a three-week period, according to a study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine. Researchers at the University of Vermont found that while cutting back on television didn’t affect the amount of food people ate, it did mean they were more [...]... Read more »
Otten, J., Jones, K., Littenberg, B., & Harvey-Berino, J. (2009) Effects of Television Viewing Reduction on Energy Intake and Expenditure in Overweight and Obese Adults: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Archives of Internal Medicine, 169(22), 2109-2115. DOI: 10.1001/archinternmed.2009.430
- November 4, 2009
- 03:03 PM
- 900 views
Thermodynamics shows US chief executives are paid nearly 130 times too much
by Jacob Aron in Just A Theory
With banks being bailed out all over the place these days, many people are asking themselves why those in charge get paid such high salaries. Are CEOs really worth their million pound bonuses? Not according to Venkat Venkatasubramanian, who has calculated that US chief executives get paid nearly 130 times what they should.
As a professor [...]... Read more »
Venkatasubramanian, V. (2009) What is Fair Pay for Executives? An Information Theoretic Analysis of Wage Distributions. Entropy, 11(4), 766-781. DOI: 10.3390/e11040766
- October 30, 2009
- 11:45 AM
- 732 views
Bat blowjobs found to increase length of sex in Cynopterus sphinx
by Colin Stuart in Just A Theory
Researchers in China have found that by practicing fellatio on their male counterparts female short-nosed fruit bats can prolong sex.
Whilst oral sex is a common part of the human mating ritual, and occasionally observed in Bonobo monkeys, this is thought to be one of the first times that fellatio has been observed outside of the [...]... Read more »
Tan, M., Jones, G., Zhu, G., Ye, J., Hong, T., Zhou, S., Zhang, S., & Zhang, L. (2009) Fellatio by Fruit Bats Prolongs Copulation Time. PLoS ONE, 4(10). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0007595
- October 29, 2009
- 03:31 PM
- 654 views
Want to quit smoking? Crush cigarettes in a video game
by Jacob Aron in Just A Theory
Smokers looking to quit could be helped by a cigarette-crushing video game, according to a study published in the journal CyberPsychology & Behavior. A group of Canadian researchers discovered that smokers placed in a virtual reality environment full of cigarettes to be destroyed showed a significant reduction in nicotine cravings.
The study took 91 regular smokers [...]... Read more »
Girard, B., Turcotte, V., Bouchard, S., & Girard, B. (2009) Crushing Virtual Cigarettes Reduces Tobacco Addiction and Treatment Discontinuation. CyberPsychology , 12(5), 477-483. DOI: 10.1089/cpb.2009.0118
- October 26, 2009
- 05:37 PM
- 841 views
Cascoplecia insolitis: a “monster” fly with five eyes and a horn
by Jacob Aron in Just A Theory
Like many young children, I went through a phase of being obsessed with dinosaurs. I think the appeal is the idea that these monstrous animals actually existed, but are also safely locked away in the past and can’t hurt you.
Now, a new discovery by George Poinar Jr of Oregon State University shows that the dinosaurs [...]... Read more »
Poinar Jr., G. (2009) Cascoplecia insolitis (Diptera: Cascopleciidae), a new family, genus, and species of flower-visiting, unicorn fly (Bibionomorpha) in Early Cretaceous Burmese amber. Cretaceous Research. DOI: 10.1016/j.cretres.2009.09.007
- October 21, 2009
- 03:00 PM
- 587 views
Drug combats sleep deprived memory loss
by Colin Stuart in Just A Theory
It has long been known that sleep deprivation affects your ability to remember things long term. Yet until now the exact mechanism causing these misplaced memories has been unclear.
The problem had been that the relationship between sleep deprivation and the brain is multi-faceted; it was hard to see the wood from the cerebral trees. [...]... Read more »
Vecsey, C., Baillie, G., Jaganath, D., Havekes, R., Daniels, A., Wimmer, M., Huang, T., Brown, K., Li, X., Descalzi, G.... (2009) Sleep deprivation impairs cAMP signalling in the hippocampus. Nature, 461(7267), 1122-1125. DOI: 10.1038/nature08488
- September 30, 2009
- 02:28 AM
- 1,016 views
Are biofuels a load of rubbish?
by Jacob Aron in Just A Theory
Turning our waste paper in to biofuel could replace over 5% of global petrol consumption, say scientists from Singapore and Switzerland. It would also reduce the burden on our rapidly filling landfills.
So-called “first generation” biofuels made from food crops such as corn or soy have been widely criticised as an unworkable solution to the energy [...]... Read more »
SHI, A., KOH, L., & TAN, H. (2009) The biofuel potential of municipal solid waste. GCB Bioenergy. DOI: 10.1111/j.1757-1707.2009.01024.x
- September 14, 2009
- 03:43 PM
- 676 views
Faked videos can change eyewitness accounts
by Jacob Aron in Just A Theory
In a world where anyone can edit a movie and stick it up on YouTube, can we still trust video evidence of a crime? Research from the University of Warwick suggests maybe not. By altering video footage, Kimberley Wade and colleagues were able to convince people they witnessed an event that never actually occurred.
In a [...]... Read more »
Wade, K., Green, S., & Nash, R. (2009) Can fabricated evidence induce false eyewitness testimony?. Applied Cognitive Psychology. DOI: 10.1002/acp.1607
- September 9, 2009
- 10:21 AM
- 651 views
Liposuction leftovers provide “liquid gold” stem cells
by Jacob Aron in Just A Theory
What happens to fat left over from a liposuction procedure? Brad Pitt might choose to turn it in to soap, but scientists at Stanford University have figured out a surprising alternative: stem cells. Induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells are highly sought after because of their ability to transform in to many other types of cells [...]... Read more »
Sun, N., Panetta, N., Gupta, D., Wilson, K., Lee, A., Jia, F., Hu, S., Cherry, A., Robbins, R., Longaker, M.... (2009) Feeder-free derivation of induced pluripotent stem cells from adult human adipose stem cells. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0908450106
- August 14, 2009
- 08:40 AM
- 836 views
How does your brain work out what’s alive?
by Jacob Aron in Just A Theory
Picture a dog playing with a ball. The dog is alive, and the ball is inanimate. Obvious stuff, but how do we know? You might think our brains use visual cues to sort the living from the non-living, but research published in the journal Neuron this week proves it’s a little more complicated.
A team of [...]... Read more »
Mahon, B., Anzellotti, S., Schwarzbach, J., Zampini, M., & Caramazza, A. (2009) Category-Specific Organization in the Human Brain Does Not Require Visual Experience. Neuron, 63(3), 397-405. DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2009.07.012
- August 10, 2009
- 02:00 PM
- 947 views
Women eat less when dining with men
by Jacob Aron in Just A Theory
A woman’s choice of food is influenced by the gender of her dining companions, according to a study published in the journal Appetite. Meredith Young, a psychologist at McMaster University in Canada, lead a team observing 469 students as they ate in university cafes. She found that the more men a woman dined with, the [...]... Read more »
Young, M., Mizzau, M., Mai, N., Sirisegaram, A., & Wilson, M. (2009) Food for thought. What you eat depends on your sex and eating companions. Appetite. DOI: 10.1016/j.appet.2009.07.021
- August 7, 2009
- 10:20 AM
- 974 views
The Long Tail of Science
by Jacob Aron in Just A Theory
The science news reported by the mainstream media makes up just a small fraction of research being done. Every day, scientists publish their work in a multitude of journals, but science journalists only really pay attention to the big ones: Nature, Science and so on.
Why? Simply because these journals often publish the best and most [...]... Read more »
Michon, F., & Tummers, M. (2009) The Dynamic Interest in Topics within the Biomedical Scientific Community. PLoS ONE, 4(8). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0006544
- July 13, 2009
- 04:23 PM
- 1,054 views
Swearing can reduce your pain
by Jacob Aron in Just A Theory
You grip the nail tightly in one hand, a hammer ready to swing in the other. Lift it up – and bam! You’ve just hit own thumb and are now turning the air blue. Swearing is a common reaction to pain, and a new study published in the journal NeuroReport suggests it can actually help [...]... Read more »
Stephens, R., Atkins, J., & Kingston, A. (2009) Swearing as a response to pain. NeuroReport, 20(12), 1056-1060. DOI: 10.1097/WNR.0b013e32832e64b1
- July 7, 2009
- 04:51 PM
- 1,049 views
Cyclosa mulmeinensis: a spider that builds copies of itself
by Jacob Aron in Just A Theory
A common trope in science fiction: the hero is presented with two people of identical appearance, one a loyal ally and the other a dastardly villain. “Shoot him!” they both cry, “I’m the real one!”
It seems that this scenario is also played out in the natural world. A species of orb spider called Cyclosa [...]... Read more »
Tseng, L., & I-Min Tso, . (2009) A risky defence by a spider using conspicuous decoys resembling itself in appearance. Animal Behaviour. DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2009.05.017
- June 27, 2009
- 12:49 PM
- 898 views
Alcohol causes one in 25 deaths worldwide
by Jacob Aron in Just A Theory
It’s quite likely that a number of people reading this went out for a drink last night. After all, it was Friday and that’s what people do. I went to a rather enjoyable end-of-term party, and of course had a few beers. Alcohol consumption is such a normal component of our society that when you’re [...]... Read more »
Rehm, J., Mathers, C., Popova, S., Thavorncharoensap, M., Teerawattananon, Y., & Patra, J. (2009) Global burden of disease and injury and economic cost attributable to alcohol use and alcohol-use disorders. The Lancet, 373(9682), 2223-2233. DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(09)60746-7
- June 25, 2009
- 02:03 PM
- 1,095 views
Overweight people live longer – but don’t start piling on the pounds just yet
by Jacob Aron in Just A Theory
A Canadian study published in the journal Obesity has found that overweight people are 17% more likely to live longer than those of normal weight. In response, the Daily Mail instructed their readers to fatten up, but I would advise against it.
The study looked at data from the Canadian National Population Health Survey, which monitors [...]... Read more »
Orpana, H., Berthelot, J., Kaplan, M., Feeny, D., McFarland, B., & Ross, N. (2009) BMI and Mortality: Results From a National Longitudinal Study of Canadian Adults. Obesity. DOI: 10.1038/oby.2009.191
- June 19, 2009
- 03:27 AM
- 1,306 views
Lies, damned lies, and scientific misconduct
by Jacob Aron in Just A Theory
“Science is inevitably biased to some extent,” says Dr Daniele Fanelli, “because it’s made by human beings.” One might easily dismiss this claim as unfounded, but Fanelli has the numbers to back it up. His recent research paper combined over 20 previous studies on scientific misconduct, and found that nearly 2% of scientists admit to [...]... Read more »
Fanelli, D. (2009) How Many Scientists Fabricate and Falsify Research? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Survey Data. PLoS ONE, 4(5). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0005738
- June 18, 2009
- 12:35 PM
- 918 views
Beyond good and evil: video game effects depend on context
by Jacob Aron in Just A Theory
Much of the scientific research in to the effects of video games on players’ behaviour concludes that violent games promote aggression. Gamers (including myself) often dismiss these findings, resulting as they nearly always do from poorly designed studies. One infamous experiment used the length of time a person held an air horn down before and [...]... Read more »
Gentile, D., Anderson, C., Yukawa, S., Ihori, N., Saleem, M., Lim Kam Ming, ., Shibuya, A., Liau, A., Khoo, A., Bushman, B.... (2009) The Effects of Prosocial Video Games on Prosocial Behaviors: International Evidence From Correlational, Longitudinal, and Experimental Studies. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 35(6), 752-763. DOI: 10.1177/0146167209333045
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