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Thursday, February 24, 2011

Society: Empire at the End of Decadence

From Empire at the End of Decadence by Charles M. Blow, February 18, 2011 at NYTimes.com.

Gender: The Threatening Scent of Fertile Women

The 21-year-old woman was carefully trained not to flirt with anyone who came into the laboratory over the course of several months. She kept eye contact and conversation to a minimum. She never used makeup or perfume, kept her hair in a simple ponytail, and always wore jeans and a plain T-shirt.

Each of the young men thought she was simply a fellow student at Florida State University participating in the experiment, which ostensibly consisted of her and the man assembling a puzzle of Lego blocks. But the real experiment came later, when each man rated her attractiveness. Previous research had shown that a woman at the fertile stage of her menstrual cycle seems more attractive, and that same effect was observed here — but only when this woman was rated by a man who wasn't already involved with someone else.

The other guys, the ones in romantic relationships, rated her as significantly less attractive when she was at the peak stage of fertility, presumably because at some level they sensed she then posed the greatest threat to their long-term relationships.

... recent studies have found large changes in cues and behavior when a woman is at this stage of peak fertility. Lap dancers get much higher tips (unless they're taking birth-control pills that suppress ovulation, in which case their tips remain lower). The pitch of a woman's voice rises. Men rate her body odor as more attractive and respond with higher levels of testosterone.

“The fascinating thing about this time is that it flies under the radar of consciousness,” says Martie Haselton, a psychologist at U.C.L.A. “Women and men are affected by ovulation, but we don't have any idea that it is what is driving these substantial changes in our behavior. It makes it clear that we're much more like other mammals than we thought.”

At this peak-fertility stage, women are more interested in going to parties and dance clubs, and they dress more attractively (as judged by both men and women). Some women's attitudes toward their own partners also change, according to research by Dr. Haselton along with a U.C.L.A. colleague, Christina Larson, and Steven Gangestad of the University of New Mexico.

“Women who are in steady relationships with men who are not very sexually attractive — those who lack the human equivalent of the peacock's tail — suddenly start to notice other men and flirt,” Dr. Haselton said. “They are also more critical of their steady partners and feel less ‘one' with them on those few days before ovulation.” But that doesn't mean they're planning to walk out.

One safe way for both men and women to stay in a relationship is to avoid even looking at tempting alternatives, and there seem to be subtle mental mechanisms to stop the wandering eye, as Dr. Maner and colleagues at Florida State found in an experiment testing people's “attentional adhesion.”

The men and women in the experiment, after being primed with quick flashes of words like “lust” and “kiss,” were shown a series of photographs and other images. The single men and women in the study couldn't help staring at photographs of good-looking people of the opposite sex — their gaze would linger on these hot prospects even when they were supposed to be looking at a new image popping up elsewhere on the screen.

But the people who were already in relationships reacted differently. They looked away more quickly from the attractive faces. The subliminal priming with words related to sex apparently activated some unconscious protective mechanism: Tempt me not! I see nothing! I see nothing!

For more, see The Threatening Scent of Fertile Women by John Tierney, February 21, 2011 at NYTimes.com.

Monday, February 21, 2011

Government: Comparing Obama's and Republicans' Energy Budgets

For more, see Obama's Energy Budget Builds for the Future by Capaf's Daniel J. Weiss and Valeri Vasquez, February 17, 2011 at Climate Progress.

Gender: Modern Women Not as Shapely as They like to Think

In England ...

The average hip size for all the women polled was 36in, and the average waist size was 30in.

Experts said this confirmed the previously documented move away from the classic hourglass figure of the 1950s, when a woman's average waist size was 27.5in and her hips 39in, giving a much more curvaceous silhouette.

Scientists have found that working women tend to carry fat around their stomachs, rather than their hips.
When we are stressed the body releases extra energy in the form of fat and glucose, to prepare us for the "fight or flight" mechanism, but unless you do something physical it is redeposited as fat around the middle of your body.
Scientists who study waist-to-hip ratios — the waist measurement divided by the hip measurement — say a ratio of 0.7, enjoyed by women such as Sophia Loren, Marilyn Monroe and Elizabeth Taylor at her peak, is most likely to be attractive to the opposite sex.
In the past women were more likely to wear boned corsetry to manipulate their weight distribution and this may be why the figures from the 1950s show such a drastically small waist.

For more, see Modern Women Not as Shapely as They like to Think by Patrick Sawer, February 19, 2011 at The Telegraph.

Diversion: How Many Sons & Daughters?

Mathematicians (statisticians, more precisely), why isn't the answer 50%?

There's a certain country where everybody wants to have a son. Therefore each couple keeps having children until they have a boy; then they stop. What fraction of the population is female?

Don't look for tricks. E.g., assume there's a 50-50 chance for each sex in each birth and that each family can have a limitless number of babies.

For the explaination, see A Big Answer by Steve Landsburg, December 22, 2010 at The Big Questions.

Friday, February 18, 2011

Diversion: Mexican Authorities Seize Homemade Marijuana-Hurling Catapult at the Border

The title says it all.

From Mexican Authorities Seize Homemade Marijuana-Hurling Catapult at the Border by Clay Dillow, January 27, 2011 at Popular Science.

Climate: Heavy Rains Linked to Humans

In the first major paper of its kind, the researchers used elaborate computer programs that simulate the climate to analyze whether the rise in severe rainstorms, heavy snowfalls and similar events could be explained by natural variability in the atmosphere. They found that it could not, and that the increase made sense only when the computers factored in the effects of greenhouse gases released by human activities like the burning of fossil fuels.
The paper covers climate trends from 1951 to 1999 and therefore does not include any analysis of last year's extreme precipitation, including catastrophic floods in Pakistan, China and Australia as well as parts of the United States, including Tennessee, Arkansas and California.
[Emphasis added].
Indeed, an increase of weather extremes has been a fundamental prediction of climate science for decades. Basic physics suggests that as the earth warms, precipitation extremes will become more intense, winter and summer, simply because warmer air can carry more water vapor. Weather statistics confirm that this has begun to happen.

For more, see Heavy Rains Linked to Humans by Justin Gillis, February 16, 2011 at NYTimes.com.

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Diversion: Theo Jansen's Strandbeests

From contributor Martha ...

From Theo Jansen's Strandbeests by BBC, November 3, 2010 at YouTube.

Mind: Zapping the Brain Affects Moral Judgments

... the application of TMS [transcranial magnetic stimulation] to the RTPJ [right temporoparietal junction] disrupts individuals' abilities to accurately ascribe intentionality in judging the moral behaviors of another.

That is, zapped brains blame people who intended but failed to do harm less than unzapped brains.

For more, see Zapping the Brain Affects Moral Judgments by GAD Saad, February 4, 2011 at Psychology Today.

Crime: Conservative Principles and Prison

Guess who wrote ...

With nearly every state budget strained by the economic crisis, it is critical that conservatives begin to stand up for criminal-justice policies that ensure the public's safety in a cost-effective manner.
Today, 2.3 million people sit in U.S. prisons — nearly one in every 100 adult Americans. America has the highest known incarceration rate in the world. Many of the incarcerated are guilty of non-violent crimes and afflicted with drug or mental-health problems, for which they receive little treatment, even when full rehabilitation is possible.
Consider Texas, a state legendary for being tough on crime. When the Lone Star State's incarceration rates were cut by 8 percent, the crime rate actually dropped by 6 percent. Texas did not simply release the prisoners, however. Instead, it placed them under community supervision, in drug courts, and in short-term intermediate sanctions and treatment facilities. Moreover, it linked the funding of the supervision programs to their ability to reduce the number of probationers who returned to prison. These strategies saved Texas $2 billion on prison construction. Does this mean Texas has gotten soft on crime? Certainly not. The Texas crime rate has actually dropped to its lowest level since 1973.

For more, see Conservative Principles and Prison by Grover Norquist, February 10, 2011 at National Review Online.

Saturday, February 12, 2011

Politics: Keep Your Government Hands off My Government Programs!

... many Americans who currently say they support cutting government programs don't realize just how much they benefit from them.

Remember, for example, when a town hall attendee famously told his congressman to keep your government hands off my Medicare? Apparently that bewilderingly blinkered sentiment is hardly unique.

Percentage of Program Beneficiaries Who Report They Have Not Used a Government Social Program
Program No, Have Not Used a Government Social Program
529 or Coverdell 64.3
Home Mortgage Interest Deduction 60.0
Hope or Lifetime Learning Tax Credit 59.6
Student Loans 53.3
Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit 51.7
Earned Income Tax Credit 47.1
Social Security—Retirement & Survivors 44.1
Pell Grants 43.1
Unemployment Insurance 43.0
Veterans Benefits (other than G.I. Bill) 41.7
G.I. Bill 40.3
Medicare 39.8
Head Start 37.2
Social Security Disability 28.7
Supplemental Security Income 28.2
Medicaid 27.8
Welfare/Public Assistance 27.4
Government Subsidized Housing 27.4
Food Stamps 25.4
Source: Suzanne Mettler, Reconstituting the Submerged State: The Challenge of Social Policy Reform in the Obama Era, Perspectives on Politics (September 2010): 809.

For more, see Keep Your Government Hands off My Government Programs! by Catherine Rampell, February 11, 2011 at NYTimes.com.

Healthcare: Medicare Chief Says Health Law Working

Republicans say planned cuts to the Medicare Advantage program, which uses private insurance providers such as Humana Inc and UnitedHealth Group Inc to deliver services, will lead to benefit cuts.

[Medicare and Medicaid services administrator Donald Berwick] said enrollment in those programs has gone up while premiums have gone down since the law was enacted.

"In 2011, premiums are lower and enrollment is projected to be higher than ever before," he said.

For more, see Medicare Chief Says Health Law Working by Reuters, February 10, 2011 at NYTimes.com.

International: Wired and Shrewd, Young Egyptians Guide Revolt

From a good story about the initial organization of the Egyptian protests ...

they brought a sophistication and professionalism to their cause — exploiting the anonymity of the Internet to elude the secret police, planting false rumors to fool police spies, staging field tests in Cairo slums before laying out their battle plans, then planning a weekly protest schedule to save their firepower — that helps explain the surprising resilience of the uprising they began.

For much more, see Wired and Shrewd, Young Egyptians Guide Revolt by David D. Kirkpatrick, February 9, 2011 at NYTimes.com.

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Health: Why Keeping Little Girls Squeaky Clean Could Make Them Sick

Girls are expected to stay squeaky clean while boys are encouraged to play outside .... And that might explain why women have higher rates of certain illnesses.

Women have a higher rate of asthma than men — 8.5 percent compared to 7.1 percent, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. They're also more likely than men to have allergies. And the American Autoimmune Related Diseases Association says autoimmune disorders affect women three times more often than men.

For more, see Why Keeping Little Girls Squeaky Clean Could Make Them Sick by Whitney Blair Wyckoff, February 3, 2011 at NPR.

Technology: Texas Student Attends School as a Robot

A peek into the future ...

Freshman Lyndon Baty's immune system is so fragile he can't risk being surrounded by people his own age, yet he attends classes at his high school in Knox City, Texas every day. All thanks to a robot. The Vgo telepresence platform is a four foot tall bot on wheels with a small screen, camera, speakers and microphone at the top. Baty logs into the robot remotely from his home, using his PC and a webcam to teleconference into his classes. Baty can drive Vgo around his school, switching between classes just like regular students. For a boy that has spent much of his life sick and isolated from his peers, Vgo not only represents a chance at a better education, it's also an opportunity for freedom and comradery.

For more, see Texas Student Attends School as a Robot — A Sign of Things to Come by Aaron Saenz, February 2, 2011 at Singularity Hub.

Sunday, February 6, 2011

Economics: The Haves and the Have-Nots

The graph shows inequality within a country, in the context of inequality around the world. It can take a few minutes to get your bearings with this chart, but trust me, it's worth it.
America's poorest are, as a group, about as rich as India's richest.

For the explaination, see The Haves and the Have-Nots by Catherine Rampell, January 31, 2011 at NYTimes.com.

Diversion: Statistician Cracks Secret Code Behind Lottery Tickets

An interesting story for mathematicians and gamblers is Statistician Cracks Secret Code Behind Lottery Tickets, February 2, 2011 at Lottery News. Pictures of the first type of ticket are a bit over half way down.

Gender: The Oscar Curse (or, Why It Stinks to Be a Successful Woman)

So much for having it all.

Such is the moral of a new working paper on the so-called Oscar Curse, the tabloidal trope that women who win Academy Awards are more likely to subsequently go through a divorce (see: Sandra Bullock and Reese Witherspoon, among others).

Here's a chart from the paper showing the survival rates or a marriage — that is, its likelihood of still existing — after a given amount of time has elapsed since an Oscar win or nomination:

For more, see The Oscar Curse (or, Why It Stinks to Be a Successful Woman) by Catherine Rampell, February 1, 2011 at NYTimes.com.

Health: How Meditation May Change the Brain

... scientists say that meditators ... may be benefiting from changes in their brains. The researchers report that those who meditated for about 30 minutes a day for eight weeks had measurable changes in gray-matter density in parts of the brain associated with memory, sense of self, empathy and stress. The findings will appear in the Jan. 30 issue of Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging.

M.R.I. brain scans taken before and after the participants' meditation regimen found increased gray matter in the hippocampus, an area important for learning and memory. The images also showed a reduction of gray matter in the amygdala, a region connected to anxiety and stress. A control group that did not practice meditation showed no such changes.

Of course, it's important to remember that the human brain is complicated. Understanding what the increased density of gray matter really means is still, well, a gray area.

The field is very, very young, and we don't really know enough about it yet, Dr. Hölzel said. I would say these are still quite preliminary findings. We see that there is something there, but we have to replicate these findings and find out what they really mean.

For more, see How Meditation May Change the Brain by Sindya N. Bhanoo, January 28, 2011 at NYTimes.com.

Thursday, February 3, 2011

Economics: China Is Poised to Raise Rates Again

China's government, increasingly worried about soaring inflation, plans to continue tightening its money supply and will probably raise interest rates again within the month.
Much of China's inflation is being fueled by the extraordinary growth in its money supply, broadly measured as so-called M2, which has soared a total of nearly 53 percent in the last two years. That is largely a result of the country's aggressive monetary and fiscal stimulus program in 2009 and early 2010, as Beijing essentially printed money in response to the global financial crisis.

Although China's economy is a little less than half that of the United States, its money supply is now one-quarter larger than America's.

... the real effective exchange rate measure shows that the renminbi is strengthening by 10 percent or more a year against the dollar.

For more, see China Is Poised to Raise Rates Again, Bankers Say by Keith Bradsher, February 1, 2011 at NYTimes.com.

Technology: Google to Microsoft: Search ‘Gotcha'

Danny Sullivan, head of the blog Search Engine Land, wrote Tuesday about a sting operation by Google that the company says proves that Bing watches Google's search results to improve its own.

Google says it suspects Microsoft is doing this by using Internet Explorer 8 and the Bing toolbar, both of which send user data to Microsoft, to watch how people use Google.

Google went into detective mode.

It invented about 100 gibberish search queries, like hiybbprqag, and matched them with results that had nothing to do with the query, like a theater seating chart. Mr. Singhal likened these queries to the search engine equivalent of marked bills in a bank.

Then it asked 20 of its engineers to install Microsoft's Internet Explorer 8 with the Bing toolbar, search for the rigged words and click on the made-up results. Sure enough, Bing soon started pointing people to the nonsensical search results for seven to nine of the 100 queries.

Mr. Shum [VP of Bing at M$] wrote that Bing uses more than 1,000 signals to determine search results — including clickstream data we get from some of our customers, who opt in to sharing anonymous data as they navigate the Web in order to help us improve the experience for all users. Translation: Bing watches what people click when they visit Google and other sites.

For more, see Google to Microsoft: Search ‘Gotcha' by Claire Cain Miller, February 1, 2011 at NYTimes.com.

Science: Atomic Disguise Makes Helium Look like Hydrogen

Amazing stuff ...

Donald Fleming of the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada, and colleagues managed to disguise a helium atom as a hydrogen atom by replacing one of its orbiting electrons with a muon, which is far heavier than an electron.

But I guess that was actually pretty simple because in 1987 ...

... a type of ultra-light hydrogen, called muonium, ... Chemists formed this by replacing the proton in a hydrogen atom with an antimuon, the muon's positively charged antimatter partner.

For more, see Atomic Disguise Makes Helium Look like Hydrogen by Kate Mcalpine, January 28, 2011 at New Scientist.

Education: Rhee's Necessary Toughness

The well-documented decline in the caliber of those aspiring to teach - calculated by SAT scores, grades, scores on certification tests, etc. - has been evident for many years. That phenomenon, a natural offshoot of more attractive career options opening up for the best and brightest women, is somewhat noticeable in well-functioning suburban schools - but glaring in low-performing urban and rural schools.

The result of this long slide in teacher quality can be captured in multiple snapshots: the declining U.S. ranking on international education comparisons (down to middle of the pack), the embarrassing number of military applicants who get rejected (more than one in five does not meet the minimum standards for Army enlistment) and the astonishing rates of those needing remedial classes in college (as high as 40 percent).

From Rhee's Necessary Toughness by Richard Whitmire, January 22, 2011 at The Washington Post.

Gender: The Gender Gap in Wikipedia's Contributor List

In 10 short years, Wikipedia has accomplished some remarkable goals. More than 3.5 million articles in English? Done. More than 250 languages? Sure.

But another number has proved to be an intractable obstacle for the online encyclopedia: surveys suggest that less than 15 percent of its hundreds of thousands of contributors are women.

For more, see Define Gender Gap? Look up Wikipedia's Contributor List by Noam Cohen, January 30, 2011 at The New York Times.