| Ants use landmarks to navigate, study finds Ants travelling along a familiar route use their photographic memory to calculate how to stay on track, British researchers say. abc.net.au |
Brain region linked to introspection By LAURAN NEERGAARD 2010-09-16T18:03:58ZWASHINGTON (AP) -- Just how confident are you that you made the right decision? New research has uncovered a part of the brain that's larger in people who seem particularly introspective.... hosted.ap.org |
Video: Michael Shermer on the pattern behind self-deception | GrrlScientist This video is Shermer's discussion about how the human tendency to believe strange things is actually due to two of the brain's most basic, hard-wired survival skillsIn this video, Michael Shermer presents some of the evidence that suggests the human tendency to believe strange things - from alien abductions to dowsing rods - is the result of two of the brain's most basic, hard-wired survival skills. He explains what they are, and how they get us into trouble.Dr Michael Shermer is the founding publisher of Skeptic magazine, executive director of the Skeptics Society, and columnist for Scientific American.TEDTalks is a daily video podcast of the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes. Featured speakers have included Al Gore on climate change, Philippe Starck on design, Jill Bolte Taylor on observing her own stroke, Nicholas Negroponte on One Laptop per Child, Jane Goodall on chimpanzees, Bill Gates on malaria and mosquitoes, Pattie Maes on the "Sixth Sense" wearable tech, and "Lost" producer JJ Abrams on the allure of mystery. TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design, and TEDTalks cover these topics as well as science, business, development and the arts. Closed captions and translated subtitles in a variety of languages are now available. Watch a highlight reel of the Top 10 TEDTalks.GrrlScientistguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Malaysia to use lab mosquitoes to fight dengue By 2010-10-11T10:00:39ZPUTRAJAYA, Malaysia (AP) -- Malaysia could be the first country in Asia to use genetically modified mosquitoes to battle a rise in dengue fever, government authorities said Monday.... hosted.ap.org |
Today's Mystery Bird For You To Identify Today's mystery bird is a threatened or endangered species throughout North America. Can you identify this species and tell me why it has such big eyes?Mystery Bird photographed at Quintana Neotropical Bird Sanctuary, Brazoria County, Texas, USA. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]Image: Joseph Kennedy, 21 October 2010 [raptorize].Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope with TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/640s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400Today's mystery bird is a threatened or endangered species throughout North America. Can you identify this species and tell me why it has such big eyes?Daily Mystery Bird Rules: 1. Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification, keeping in mind that more than one field mark is often necessary to distinguish between species. IDs without any supporting information are not valid and may be deleted by the moderators. 2. Expert and intermediate level birders: do NOT try to be the first to blurt out the mystery bird's ID. Instead, please provide helpful hints, such as descriptions, literary references, puns, personal anecdotes, and other forms of discussion and assistance for beginning birders and for those following on their iPhones without naming the species. Expert and intermediate birders are free to name the bird species 24 or more hours after it was first published.3. Each mystery bird is usually accompanied by a question or two. These questions can be useful for identifying the pictured species, but may instead be used to illustrate an interesting aspect of avian biology, behaviour or evolution, or may be intended to generate conversation on other topics, such as conservation. 4. Each bird species will be demystified 48 hours after publication. If you have bird images, video or mp3 files that you'd like to share with a large and appreciate audience, feel free to email them to me for consideration.GrrlScientistguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |