Power emerges from consensus in monkey social networks
... Krakauer. "In such cases, only individuals widely perceived as powerful will be able to terminate or reduce the severity of these conflicts. Power structure is critical to conflict management, which is in turn critical to social cohesion."...'Portion distortion' may contribute to expanding waistlines, study reports
...ceive to be a typical portion size now to what was perceived as typical two decades ago, before portions began to grow. We also compared current perceptions of typical portions to reference portion sizes, defined in this study as the serving size on the Nutrition Facts panel." This study replicated one that w...Carbon monoxide may help prevent debilitating pregnancy condition
...sia," says Dr. Smith. He stresses however that any perceived benefit of smoking during pregnancy is outweighed by the many risks: premature membrane rupture, preterm delivery, stillbirth, low birth weight, and sudden infant death syndrome. Produced naturally by the body at low levels, carbon monoxide relaxes...Road-crossing in chimpanzees: A risky business
...ility of responses by chimpanzees to variations in perceived risk. Understanding how chimpanzees cross roads as a group would help shape our hypotheses about the emergence of hominoid social organization. Progression order--the order in which individuals travel within a group--was studied in the small commu...Define 'precautionary principle' to avoid clashes over biotechnology under World Trade rules
...ing number of international trade clashes over the perceived safety of products derived from cutting edge biotechnology and other sciences. Most recently, Japan banned imports of US long-grain rice in August amid reports that traces of a genetically-modified variety had been found in American crops; European ...Don't care for broccoli? A receptor gene's variation suggests an evolutionary excuse
By testing the bitterness perceived by individuals possessing different versions of the same taste receptor, researchers have obtained new evidence supporting the idea that evolution of the receptor gene has shaped avoidance of certain vegetables that can inhibit thyroid function. The ...Gateway to Nanoscience: The convergence of disciplines
...reflect on "What are the ethical issues around the perceived risks of nanoscience?"- John Ryan , Professor of Physics and Director of the Bionanotechnology Interdisciplinary Research Centre at Oxford University. His current research ranges from single molecule studies of membrane proteins to hybrid bio-nano de......e objects, Hafed and Krauzlis asked whether people perceived an object better when they actively moved their ey... still by fixating on a stationary spot, observers perceived only random lines moving up and down. But when they moved their eyes such that the input video strea...Women's math performance affected by theories on sex differences: UBC researchers
...octoral student. "Instead, we investigated how the perceived source of stereotypes can influence women's math performance." "The findings suggest that people tend to accept genetic explanations as if they're more powerful or irrevocable, which can lead to self-fulfilling prophecies," says Assoc. Prof. Heine, ...Women's skin tone influences perception of beauty, health and age
...ibution, or tone, can add 10-12 years to a woman's perceived age. The study, published in the latest issue ...tudy subjects and correlate this distribution with perceived attractiveness. A non-invasive imaging technology called SIAscopy--originally developed by UK-based ...Erotic images prove useful in coaxing out unconscious brain activity
...ocesses visual information that is not consciously perceived by the subjects. When subjects become conscious of images, the sequence of steps in brain processing becomes very complicated because neurons engage in all sorts of feedback and crosstalk--especially with emotionally charged information. The research...News tips from the Journal of Neuroscience
...eral prefrontal cortex for the analgesic effect of perceived control. The authors sought out the involved brain regions by measuring responses to painful electrical pulses with functional magnetic resonance imaging. The participants either thought that they could stop the painful stimuli at will or that anothe...News tips from the Journal of Neuroscience
...s in which the subjects pressed a button after the perceived interval and a control task in which they responded immediately after a tone. Both time reproduction tasks produced activation in the cerebellum and basal ganglia structures. When the time reproduction tasks were compared with the control tasks, ther...Highlights from the December 2006 Journal of the American Dietetic Association
... food and time available for food preparation were perceived as inadequate by approximately one-fifth to more than one-third of the sample." The researchers conclude: "To improve dietary intake, interventions among young adults should teach skills for preparing quick and healthful meals." Effects of Increase...Brain's fear center likely shrinks in autism's most severely socially impaired
...e with minimal expression of these traits might be perceived as aloof or loners, those at the more severe end of the spectrum are unable to engage in give-and-take interactions and fail to develop age-appropriate peer relationships. Notably, they shy away from looking at eyes. Davidson's research team had rep...All itches not created equal -- Different parts of brain activated depending on cause
...le the sensations took longer to appear, they were perceived to exist for significantly longer periods; itch elicited by allergens activated different parts of the brain, specifically the supplementary motor and posterior parietal areas; and the differences found in the orbifrontal regions of the brai...News tips from the Journal of Neuroscience
...accharin, the response patterns suggested that B6s perceived the artificial sweetener as sweeter and less salty than 129s. 4. Endocannabinoid Signaling and Febrile Seizures Kang Chen, Axel Neu, Allyson L. Howard, Csaba Fldy, Julio Echegoyen, Lutz Hilgenberg, Martin Smith, Ken Mackie, and Ivan Soltesz Alth...Highlights from the January 2007 Journal of the American Dietetic Association
..., eat fewer family meals and live in neighborhoods perceived by their parents as less safe for outdoor play are more likely to be overweight from kindergarten on. "Intervening quickly on children's behalf is of the utmost importance," the researchers write. "Clinical overweight among this age group tracks not...More women students choose engineering -- but not as a career
...less capable than their male counterparts." Women perceived themselves to be more employable as a result of their gender, and felt that companies were trying to recruit more females in order to improve their image. Professor Bagilhole said: "A drive to recruit more women into the industry is commendable, but...Story tips from the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory, January 2007
... and narrowed these down to the top 30 in order of perceived importance for finding buried bodies. The project, begun four years ago, identifies the "odor signature" unique to human burial decomposition and could lead to improved cadaver dog training and possibly to a portable instrument that could help locate...