Tag Archives: harvard university

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…)

A techie with a dream sparks a new generation of computer scientists

By Guest PostApril 25, 2013Technologyadvanced placement, ap, bay area, citizenship, computer scientists, dream, education, education in america, Google, harvard university, high schools, kevin wang, microsoft employee, microsoft innovators, microsoft youthspark, new generation, porsche 911, public affairs, teals, techie, united states, washington state

Read the improbable story of a Microsoft employee who twice turned down a traditional tech sector job so he could teach high school students, and then landed his dream job.

REDMOND, Wash. — Kevin Wang could have followed his career.

Instead, he chose to follow his calling.

It was the early 2000s, and Wang had just graduated from Berkeley with a degree in computer science and electrical engineering. He was trying to decide which tech company he should offer his services to, when a high school came calling. (more…)

Power of integrity

By Guest PostMarch 30, 2013Economybarbados group, efficiency, eugene fama, fortune magazine, harvard university, hidden moonwalking bear, hidden power, hutchinson lecture, michael jensen, normative virtues, positive theory, power of integrity, productivity, robert merton, university of chicago, university of delaware, veil of invisibility, violation

Hutchinson Lecture features financial economics expert Jensen

It can be easy to miss what’s right in front of you, said Michael Jensen as he shared an awareness test video of basketball players and a “hidden” moonwalking bear in the opening of the 23rd annual Hutchinson Lecture last week at the University of Delaware.

“In effect, integrity is the unforeseen bear in our lives and my intention is to shift the parts of our world group, our frames of reference, relevant to our view of integrity so that we see it differently, in fact as it is, or much closer to what it is,” said Jensen, who presented “The Hidden Power of Integrity and Access to Vast Increases in Performance.” (more…)

For This Doctor, Hope Amidst Fear is the Best Medicine

By Guest PostMarch 1, 2013Healthalfredo quinones hinojosa, brain cancer, brain tumor, curriculum vitae, economic depression, emotional connection, gas station, glioblastomas, graduating cum laude, harvard university, hope, mexicali, migrant farm worker, my life, neuroscientist, neurosurgeon, nike shoes, patient, pink ray bans, san francisco, san jaoquin valley, stem cell biology, united states, university of california, us citizen

Dr. Alfredo Quiñones-Hinojosa may not be able to cure his patients’ brain cancer, but there is one thing that the internationally renowned neurosurgeon and neuroscientist can provide them with: hope.

During a recent visit to campus Quiñones-Hinojosa discussed his journey from a migrant farm worker to a doctor who researches the deadliest form of brain cancer, glioblastomas. His talk was sponsored by La Casa Cultural Center, the Latino Cultural Center at Yale. (more…)

Bio-inspired Fibres Change Colour When Stretched

By Guest PostFebruary 6, 2013Sciencealfie lethbridge, bastard hogberry, bio inspired fibres, birds, blue colour, bright iridescent, cells, change colour, creation, cylindrical cross section, eye on earth, fruit, geographic area, Germany, harvard laboratories, harvard university, heat, joanna aizenberg, key elements, light and colour, ludwig maximilians university, margaritaria nobilis, mathias kolle, moritz kreysing, nanoscale, new fibre, peter vukusic, photonic fibres, polymer bilayer, pressure, principal investigator, seed, skin, smart fabrics, soap bubbles, south american, specific biological function, technological design, tropical plant, unique structural elements, university of exeter, vibrant colour, when stretched

A team of materials scientists at Harvard University and the University of Exeter has invented a new fibre which changes colour when stretched. Inspired by nature, the researchers identified and replicated the unique structural elements, which create the bright iridescent blue colour of a tropical plant’s fruit.

The multilayered fibre, described in the journal Advanced Materials, could lend itself to the creation of smart fabrics that visibly react to heat or pressure.

“Our new fibre is based on a structure we found in nature, and through clever engineering we’ve taken its capabilities a step further,” says lead author Dr Mathias Kolle, a postdoctoral fellow at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS). “The plant, of course, cannot change colour. By combining its structure with an elastic material, however, we’ve created an artificial version that passes through a full rainbow of colours as it’s stretched.” (more…)

Can Plants be Altruistic? You Bet, Says New CU-Boulder-led Study

By Guest PostFebruary 4, 2013Natureanimal altruism, arnold arboretum, behavior of embryos, bit of tissue, boulder, chi chih wu, chimps, corn kernels, dogs, dolphins, double fertilization, ecology, embryo, embryo and endosperm, endosperm, endosperm in seeds, evolutionary biology, flowering plants, fundamental laws, harvard university, hetero fertilization, indian corn, injured mates, millennia, Nature, orphaned kittens, pamela diggle, plants are altruistic, pollen grains, rare phenomenon, siblings, university of colorado, william ned friedman

We’ve all heard examples of animal altruism: Dogs caring for orphaned kittens, chimps sharing food or dolphins nudging injured mates to the surface. Now, a study led by the University of Colorado Boulder suggests some plants are altruistic too.

The researchers looked at corn, in which each fertilized seed contained two “siblings” — an embryo and a corresponding bit of tissue known as endosperm that feeds the embryo as the seed grows, said CU-Boulder Professor Pamela Diggle. They compared the growth and behavior of the embryos and endosperm in seeds sharing the same mother and father with the growth and behavior of embryos and endosperm that had genetically different parents. (more…)