Blog – Page 725 – Shamskm: A site to exchange knowledge and solutions

‘Fiscal cliff’ challenge explored in ‘Congress and the Politics of Problem Solving’

John Wilkerson, University of Washington professor of political science, is the co-author with E. Scott Adler of the University of Colorado of a new book titled “Congress and the Politics of Problem Solving,” published in December by Cambridge University Press. Wilkerson answered a few questions about the book for UW Today. (more…)

Why Older Adults Become Fraud Victims More Often

Science

Brain shows diminished response to untrustworthiness, UCLA scientists report

Why are older people especially vulnerable to becoming victims of fraud? A new UCLA study indicates that an important clue may lie in a particular region of the brain that influences the ability to discern who is honest and who is trying to deceive us.

Older people, more than younger adults, may fail to interpret an untrustworthy face as potentially dishonest, the study shows. The reason for this, the UCLA life scientists found, seems to be that a brain region called the anterior insula, which is linked to disgust and is important for discerning untrustworthy faces, is less active in older adults. (more…)

MobileBits Makes It Easy to Deploy Games on Multiple Devices and Platforms

Technology

Microsoft BizSpark One startup streamlines mobile game development while removing barriers for multiplayer games

REDMOND, Wash. — Dec. 6, 2012 — Multiplayer games thrive when as many gamers as possible can participate. The longtime friends and game developers who founded German-based MobileBits were determined to make it easier for mobile game enthusiasts to immerse themselves in virtual worlds and compete with players globally, without worrying about compatibility issues. (more…)

Commentary: Fiery Cushman: Morality of the NY Post subway photo

Media

A freelance photographer happened to be on the scene in New York when one man pushed another onto the subway tracks. The New York Post ultimately ran a photo on its front page, sparking widespread outrage. Based on his research, Brown University psychologist Fiery Cushman suggests that what makes people uncomfortable about the photo may be the idea of profiting from tragedy.

When tragedy occurs, who may profit? Newspapers around the country announced the tragic death of Ki-Suck Han, the man pushed in front of a New York subway car on Monday. Quickly, however, attention turned to an element of the news reporting itself. On the controversial front cover of the New York Post on Tuesday, a full-page photo showed the train hurtling toward Han. Dramatically captured by a freelance photographer while events unfolded, the photograph ran under the headline: “Pushed onto the subway track, this man is about to die.” (more…)

Next Scientific Fashion Could be Designer Nanocrystals

Science

Three University of Chicago chemistry professors hope that their separate research trajectories will converge to create a new way of assembling what they call “designer atoms” into materials with a broad array of potentially useful properties and functions. (more…)

Grand Canyon as Old as the Dinosaurs, Suggests New Study Led by CU-Boulder

Science

An analysis of mineral grains from the bottom of the western Grand Canyon indicates it was largely carved out by about 70 million years ago — a time when dinosaurs were around and may have even peeked over the rim, says a study led by the University of Colorado Boulder. (more…)

Promising Nanotechnology

Science

Nanotechnology for drug delivery shows promise in treatment of pediatric leukemia

Nanotechnology developed by Delaware scientists could potentially deliver chemotherapy to children in a way that attacks cancer cells without harming healthy cells, greatly reducing side effects.

The work, conducted by researchers in the University of Delaware’s Department of Materials Science and Engineering and Nemours Center for Childhood Cancer Research, was published this month in the journal Molecular Pharmaceutics. (more…)