Discover magazine

Sep

2010

FDA Committee Punts on Question of Biotech Fish

Discover, September 21, 2010.

An FDA advisory panel has decided what it thinks about genetically modified salmon, and its decision is to not make a decision. The committee says it doesn’t have enough data to fully support approving the biotech salmon, which would make it the first such animal in the country.

“We are missing data,” said panel member James McKean, a professor at Iowa State University. He said that “leaves a cloud” over the FDA staff’s analysis.

But some other panel members agreed with the FDA’s position that the fish was fine. Read More >

Sep

2010

It Has 3,700 Facebook Friends, 1,800 Twitter Followers, & It’s a Tree

Discover, September 21, 2010.

This 100-year-old tree wants to tell you about its day. The tree, an English-speaking Belgian, shares pictures, videos, audio, and comments about it’s day to day life with the world via its website, twitter feed, and Facebook page. But don’t try to Facebook friend it right now—the tree is already over its friend limit.

The tree’s also outfitted with special sensors that detect the CO2, soot and ozone levels and also acts as a weather station, detecting local rainfall and temperature fluctuations. All of this information is transmitted to software which translates it into status updates. Read More >

Sep

2010

A Happy Global Warming Side Effect: Less Bubonic Plague

Discover, September 21, 2010.

Climate change might have one teensy good effect, at least in the United States: changes to weather patterns may make it harder for the bubonic plague to survive in rodent burrows. Bubonic plague is spread by rodents, like the chubby little prairie dog over there on the right, and their fleas to house-dwelling rats, mice, and squirrels, which can spread the deadly bacteria to humans.

By studying the historical correlation between temperature and plague incidences, the researchers noticed that the number of plague cases has been dropping over time, most likely because it’s getting hotter, said the study’s lead author in a press release from The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH). Read More >

Sep

2010

Found: A Part of the Brain That Knows When the Brain Is Wrong

Discover, September 20, 2010.

The size of a small part of the brain, right behind the eyes, is connected with a person’s ability to gauge how likely they are to be right about factual questions, according to a study published in Science last week. This faculty is important in many real-world decisions; it can make the difference between relying on our mistaken judgment and asking for help if we realize we might be wrong. The study’s lead author uses the game show Who Wants To Be a Millionaire? as an prime example of this kind of “metacognition,” or thinking about our own thinking.

“You might have the opportunity to ask the audience or phone a friend,” says Steve Fleming, a neuroscientist at University College London. But, he adds, “You need to know how sure you are about your own answer before you opt to use those lifelines.” Read More >

Sep

2010

An iPhone App, a Refractometer, an Objectively Perfect Cup of Coffee

Discover, September 20 2010.

A new iPhone app, linked with a refractometer and decades of coffee science, can help you brew the perfect cup, for only $350. Don’t believe that such a thing is possible? Gizmodo sums up the natural inclination against believing that science can tell us what tastes best:

People accept scientific measurements as the truth about a lot of things. Mass. The temperature at which water freezes. The size of the earth. But it’s hard to swallow the idea of scientifically measuring how something tastes. Taste is subjective. Right? Not anymore—thanks to MoJo, a gadget that quantifies a cup of coffee’s flavor. Read More >

Sep

2010

Given the Choice, Liberals Would Rather “Kill Whitey”

Discover, September 20, 2010.

Recent work by David Pizarro at Cornell is shedding light the role that race and ethics play in politics, by asking people to sacrifice the lives of either Tyrone Payton or Chip Ellsworth III.

OK, they didn’t really have to sacrifice anyone, but each participant in the study was faced with a variation of the classical ethical dilemma called the “trolley problem.” The trolley problem asks the question: Would you push someone on to the tracks (and kill them) to stop a trolley holding 100 people from crashing (and killing them all)? Read More >

Sep

2010

Scientist Dance Styles: Glee Episode, Spanish Whodunnit, Internet Love Orgy

Discover, September 17, 2010.

In its third year, the Dance Your PhD contest is proving that maybe, just maybe, scientists can dance. From the contest’s website:

The dreaded question. “So, what’s your Ph.D. research about?” You take a deep breath and launch into the explanation. People’s eyes begin to glaze over…

At times like these, don’t you wish you could just turn to the nearest computer and show people an online video of your Ph.D. thesis interpreted in dance form? Read More >

Sep

2010

In the Light of a Streetlamp, Young Blue Tits Get More Action

Discover, September 16, 2010.

It can be hard to sleep with a light shining in your window, but for the male blue tit, this night-lighting gives him a sexual advantage. Researchers have found that male tits that live near streetlights wake up and start to sing on average three minutes earlier than the rest of the gang.

These birds are more likely to be chosen as mates because under normal conditions, early risers are the strongest fully grown birds. When adventurous lady-birds go looking for extramarital affairs in the morning light they are attracted to early risers because they assume they are the macho, macho men of the group. As a result, any male blue tit–even a young and scrawny fellow–that lives within 50 feet of a streetlight gets about twice as much extramarital action, and has more offspring than male tits that live in other parts of the neighborhood. Read More >

Sep

2010

iPhone App Lets You Tell Drivers Exactly What You Think of Them

Discover, September 16 2010.

A new smart phone app aims to get you communicating with the drivers around you, and we don’t mean yelling choice obscenities through the window or shaking your fist of rage when someone cuts you off. By photographing, typing, or saying a license plate number and state you’ll be able to message the driver–if they’re also signed up for the service, named Bump. The message recipient can choose how they get their messages, through text or the Bump.com website. Bump launches today on iPhones, and an Android app will soon be ready as well. Venture Beat talked to Bump’s CEO, Mitch Thrower about the idea:

Thrower says his social network for cars brings to mind a classic scene in the film American Graffiti…. Actor Richard Dreyfuss sees a beautiful blonde played by Suzanne Somers in a white T-Bird. She blows a kiss at him. He tries to follow her but can’t catch up. Maddeningly, he never sees her again. Oh, if he had only gotten her license plate. Read More >

Sep

2010

Pregnant Women Need Fear No Cell Phone Radiation: Belly Armor Is Here!

Discover, September 15 2010.

If requiring stores to label their cell phones with radiation-output levels wasn’t enough, San Francisco has found a new way to revel in cell phone hysteria: Now one of its trendy maternity boutiques sells radiation-shielding maternity clothes.

These clothes are specifically designed to shield their little unborn hipster babies from computer and cell phone radiation. Radiation-shielding maternity clothing has been popular in China for years, but a young company is now marketing its line of Belly Armor directly to San Francisco’s expectant mothers. Read More >