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Free will seems a matter of mind, not soul

By Guest PostJune 20, 2014Scienceartificial intelligence, criteria, florida state university, forrester analyze, global watson, harriet green, harvard university, human body, john templeton foundation, market leadership, michael zalich, mona abutaleb, monroe, neuroscience, paul berdahl, roof coatings, ruby red roofs, sharon chen, thomas kirchstetter

A new study tested whether people believe free will arises from a metaphysical basis or mental capacity. Even though most respondents said they believed humans to have souls, they judged free will and assigned blame for transgressions based on pragmatic considerations — such as whether the actor in question had the capacity to make an intentional and independent choice.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Across the board, even if they believed in the concept of a soul, people in a new study ascribed free will based on down-to-Earth criteria: Did the actor in question have the capacity to make an intentional and independent choice? The study suggests that while grand metaphysical views of the universe remain common, they have little to do with how people assess each other’s behavior. (more…)

Methane leaks in the US are undercounted, new study shows

By Guest PostFebruary 19, 2014Environmentadam brandt, atmospheric, cynthia, eric kort, gas drilling site, george mitchell foundation, greenhouse gas, harvard university, leakage rates, marcin szczepanski, methane leaks, MIT, montrose, natural gas, natural gas industry, North America, super emitter, sustainable energy source, university of michigan, US

ANN ARBOR — About 50 percent more of the greenhouse gas methane has been seeping into the atmosphere than previously thought, according to far-reaching findings that synthesize two decades’ worth of methane studies in North America.

Methane is the main ingredient in natural gas. (more…)

Discovery of new fossils reveals key link in evolution of hind limbs

By Guest PostJanuary 19, 2014Natureafrican lungfish, brinson foundation, crocodile, data, discovery, drexel university, edward daeschler, evolution, first legged animals, fish, front wheel drive, harvard university, hind legs, hind limbs, key link, land dwelling tetrapods, large forefins, locomotion, neil shubin, new fossils, partial pelvic fin, pelves, shallow freshwater environments, tetrapods, tiktaalik roseae, transitional species, your inner fish

Researchers have discovered well-preserved pelves and a partial pelvic fin from Tiktaalik roseae, a 375 million-year-old transitional species between fish and the first legged animals, which reveal that the evolution of hind legs actually began as enhanced hind fins. This challenges existing theory that large, mobile hind appendages were developed only after vertebrates transitioned to land.

The scientists describe the fossils in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, online on Jan. 13. The piece marks the inaugural article for Prof. Neil Shubin, Robert R. Bensley Distinguished Service Professor of Organismal Biology and Anatomy, as a member of the National Academy of Sciences. (more…)

The Mystery of Lizard Breath

By Guest PostDecember 19, 2013Nature3d image, aerodynamic valves, african savannah, alligators, archosaurs, c g farmer, ct scans, dinosaurs, emma schachner, evolution, fast metabolisms, flying pterosaurs, gular pumping, harvard university, humans, james butler, lepidosauromorpha, lizard breath, lizard like creature, lungs, mass extinction, monitor lizards, mystery, one way patterns, oxygen consumption, permian triassic, rate, robert cieri, tidal breathing pattern, tuataras, unidirectional airflow, university of utah, varanus exanthematicus

One-Way Air Flow May Be 270 Million Years Old

Air flows mostly in a one-way loop through the lungs of monitor lizards – a breathing method shared by birds, alligators and presumably dinosaurs, according to a new University of Utah study.

The findings – published online Wednesday, Dec. 11 in the journal Nature – raise the possibility this breathing pattern originated 270 million years ago, about 20 million years earlier than previously believed and 100 million years before the first birds. Why remains a mystery. (more…)

A decline in creativity? It depends on how you look

By Guest PostNovember 28, 2013Scienceagreed upon criteria, decline in creativity, donna dibartolomeo, dynamics of creativity, emily weinstein, everyday life, greater complexity, harvard university, howard gardner, intelligence, iq tests, katie davis, naturalistic setting, student visual art, subjective as creativity, university of washington, young americans, zachary clark

Research in recent years has suggested that young Americans might be less creative now than in decades past, even while their intelligence — as measured by IQ tests — continues to rise.

But new research from the University of Washington Information School and Harvard University, closely studying 20 years of student creative writing and visual artworks, hints that the dynamics of creativity may not break down as simply as that. (more…)

Poor concentration: Poverty reduces brainpower needed for navigating other areas of life

By Guest PostSeptember 4, 2013Scienceanandi mani, cognitive function, easy, eldar shafir, financial woe, hard, harvard university, ifmr trust, India, iq, jiaying zhao, journal science, mental tax, money situation, new jersey, poor concentration, poverty reduces brainpower, scenario, sendhil mullainathan, university of warwick in britain

Poverty and all its related concerns require so much mental energy that the poor have less remaining brainpower to devote to other areas of life, according to research based at Princeton University. As a result, people of limited means are more likely to make mistakes and bad decisions that may be amplified by — and perpetuate — their financial woes.

Published in the journal Science, the study presents a unique perspective regarding the causes of persistent poverty. The researchers suggest that being poor may keep a person from concentrating on the very avenues that would lead them out of poverty. A person’s cognitive function is diminished by the constant and all-consuming effort of coping with the immediate effects of having little money, such as scrounging to pay bills and cut costs. Thusly, a person is left with fewer “mental resources” to focus on complicated, indirectly related matters such as education, job training and even managing their time. (more…)

Evolution picks up hitchhikers

By Guest PostAugust 5, 2013Scienceandrew murray, bacteria, bioinformatics, daniel rice, data analysis, david botstein, Environment, evolution, fittest, functions, genetic hitchhikers, genome, gregory lang, harvard university, hitchhikers, michael desai, mutation, princeton university, resist chemotherapeutics, resistance to antibiotics, survival, tumors

In a twist on “survival of the fittest,” researchers have discovered that evolution is driven not by a single beneficial mutation but rather by a group of mutations, including ones called “genetic hitchhikers” that are simply along for the ride. These hitchhikers are mutations that do not appear to have a role in contributing to an organism’s fitness and therefore its evolution, yet may play an important role down the road.

Researchers from Princeton University found in a study of 1,000 generations of adaptation in 40 yeast populations that about five to seven specific mutations, rather than just a one, are needed for an organism to succeed. The knowledge of how mutations drive evolution can inform our understanding of how tumors resist chemotherapeutics and how bacteria evolve resistance to antibiotics. The study was published July 21 in the journal Nature. (more…)

‘Dark Oxidants’ Form Away from Sunlight in Lake and Ocean Depths, Underground Soils

By Guest PostMay 19, 2013Environmentamounts of superoxide, antioxidants, away from sunlight, bacteria, beneath the seafloor, bettina voelker, blueberries, breathing oxygen, cancer, cells, chantal mendes, chemistry of oceans, colleen hansel, dark chocolate, dark environments, dark oxidants, dark places, death in microorganisms, deborah bronk, environmental oxidants, harvard university, hazardous, Health, hole, humans, julia diaz, lake, national science foundation, neurotoxin mercury, nsf, ocean depths, oceanographic institution, oxidants, peter andeer, premature aging, san francisco, source of superoxide, tong zhang, toxic chemicals, underground soils, woods

New findings overturn understanding of light-dependent environmental oxidants

Breathing oxygen… can be hazardous to your health?

Indeed, our bodies aren’t perfect. They make mistakes, among them producing toxic chemicals, called oxidants, in cells. We fight these oxidants naturally, and by eating foods rich in antioxidants such as blueberries and dark chocolate.

All forms of life that breathe oxygen—even ones that can’t be seen with the naked eye, such as bacteria—must fight oxidants to live. (more…)

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