Buy Tobacco Leaf Online | Whole Leaf Tobacco

A Reliable Source of Legitimate Science News

Status
Not open for further replies.

deluxestogie

Administrator
Staff member
Joined
May 25, 2011
Messages
23,931
Points
113
Location
near Blacksburg, VA
Each day, after browsing through the news on-line, I visit http://phys.org/ to scan actual science and health research news. Some topics are esoteric, and hold no interest for me, while others may be worth reading. Today, some of the topic headlines were amusing enough for me to record them for your enjoyment.

Researchers publish analysis of giant panda milk

Scientists find that crocodiles do, indeed, sleep with one eye open

What you didn't know about naked mole-rats

Sometimes, seemingly lightweight studies offer surprising insight:

phys.org :When queuing in a supermarket said:
Lange and Eggert undertook a field experiment in which two male subjects lined up at the checkout, carrying one item that was clearly visible to other customers. Each subject lined up 60 times. In 50% of the cases, they carried a bottle of water, in 50% a bottle of beer. The order of items was randomized. An independent observer monitored each iteration.

...potential helpers are more willing to cooperate if the recipients' benefits are relatively large in comparison to the helpers' costs. However, the potential helpers' readiness to cooperate was reduced significantly if the test customer was carrying a bottle of beer. According to previous research, beer drinkers are often perceived as lacking responsibility and morality. Lange and Eggert hypothesize that people may regard beer drinkers as being relatively unlikely to pass on the favour and help other individuals in turn.

http://phys.org/news/2015-10-queuing-supermarket.html
Who knew?

Bob
 

Knucklehead

Moderator
Founding Member
Joined
Oct 18, 2012
Messages
12,171
Points
113
Location
NE Alabama
I have that link bookmarked from a previous reference you made to it. It is an interesting site.
 

deluxestogie

Administrator
Staff member
Joined
May 25, 2011
Messages
23,931
Points
113
Location
near Blacksburg, VA
One more choice item appeared on phys.org later in the day. It seems that, with Howler Monkeys at least, the louder the calls, the smaller the balls.

HowlerMonkeyChorus.JPG


I would never suggest that it has anything to do with the FTT membership.

Check it out: 2015-10-balls-monkeys-roars-sperm

Bob
 

ProfessorPangloss

Amateur Kentuckian
Joined
Dec 18, 2014
Messages
486
Points
28
Location
The Bluegrass
One more choice item appeared on phys.org later in the day. It seems that, with Howler Monkeys at least, the louder the calls, the smaller the balls.

HowlerMonkeyChorus.JPG


Bob

Anecdotal evidence of this is available wherever you see an aggressive dude with a jacked up truck, "rolling coal" (blowing black diesel smoke on purpose), and sporting a trailer hitch scrotum.
 

Bex

Well-Known Member
Joined
Aug 2, 2014
Messages
830
Points
43
Location
Donegal, Ireland
I often wonder why some of these experiments are actually done, and who (or why) the experiment is a subject of 'curiosity' or learning. For example, here's one:
http://phys.org/news/2013-06-pantry-pests-immunity-sex.html
Here's this moth, and they are testing whether a moth will invest in sex so much that it depletes its immune system. They stick some male moths in an all male community, some in a 50/50 mixed community, and some in an all female community. They then test them and find that the male moths who are stuck only with the females have a depleted immune system. They conclude that 'rather than competing with other males driving them to invest more in reproduction, the male moth appeared to prefer to take advantage of the many females around. So, we've learned that some males would rather continually screw around rather than eat, go to bed early and take good care of themselves. I probably could have told them that. Fortunately, we didn't have to pay for this as this experiment came out of U. of Exeter.....
 

deluxestogie

Administrator
Staff member
Joined
May 25, 2011
Messages
23,931
Points
113
Location
near Blacksburg, VA
Any idea of where the site is based?

Phys.org - About Us said:
Phys.org is wholly owned by Omicron Technology Limited, headquartered in Douglas, Isle Of Man, United Kingdom. The website was founded in March 2004 by two PhD students motivated by the void in hard science news designed for informed and educated readers. The initial idea behind Phys.org was to cover physics, nanotechnology, and engineering news. While maintaining this focus, Phys.org has expanded its coverage to other relevant science and technology fields. Phys.org has filled the void and created a unique niche in science and technology daily news reporting. As proof of this, the site immediately soared in popularity on the web. Today, Phys.org is a comprehensive sci-tech news portal for all major research disciplines.

http://phys.org/help/about-us/
The research featured in the phys.org articles is gleaned from current scientific and technical publications from across the world. The very foundation of science is basic science, which generally is not directly connected to a technology or a business model. For example, extensive study of the nerve cells of horseshoe crabs eventually elucidated human neural physiology, and contributed to clinical medical practice.

The amusing howler monkey study is actually a valuable study in the physiologic trade-offs of natural selection--there's no free lunch. Any physiologic enhancement (e.g. loud howler voice) must be ontologically (developmentally) purchased at the expense of some other physiologic trait--there's no free lunch.

New technology is founded on basic science discoveries. Fortunately, many funding bodies in governments across the globe recognize the crucial importance of subsidizing basic science research.

Over a half-century ago, a funded researcher at the University of Missouri--Columbia mixed up a scoop of soil in some sterile water, then spread it out onto an agar culture plate. He wanted to see if he could identify all the various organisms that would grow. What he discovered was that some of the colonies on the agar plate had a halo about them, in which no other organisms could grow. Did he discover yet another headache for microbiologists to deal with? He discovered aureomycin (tetracycline). Just as nicotine is manufactured by tobacco to ward of herbivores, aureomycin is produced by certain varieties of microbes to suppress the competition.

The magic of basic science is that the mere process of asking a question may lead to unexpected discoveries. It's like Forrest Gump's "box of chocolates."

Bob
 

deluxestogie

Administrator
Staff member
Joined
May 25, 2011
Messages
23,931
Points
113
Location
near Blacksburg, VA
Interesting format and approach.

"Since our launch in March 2011, we’ve grown to become one of Australia’s largest independent news and commentary sites. Around 35% of our readers are from outside Australia."

Bob
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top