Archive for the ‘Science’
Coffee vs Alzheimer’s
Rasta Barista: James Dennis grows what is purportedly the best coffee on earth. Photo from the National Geographic.
Scientists recently discovered that caffeine consumption can be tied to a reduced risk of Alzheimer’s disease and other neurodegenerative disorders. They knew that it was suppressing the rise of amyloid plaques in the brain, but why coffee consumption did the trick remained a mystery. But now, researchers from the University of Illinois believe they have found the answer, and it has to do with caffeine’s ability to block inflammation in the brain — a discovery that could lead to new drugs which can prevent — or even reverse — mild cognitive impairment.
Read We now know why coffee helps to stave off Alzheimer’s disease in io9.
Memory exercises
Now you can stop taking Polaroids of everything. Ubud connection: Guy Pearce starred in The Proposition which was written by Nick Cave who is in the Writers’ Festival.
3. Make a gesture
There are also more leisurely ways to engage your body during learning, as the brain seems to find it easier to learn abstract concepts if they can be related to simple physical sensations. As a result, various experiments have shown that acting out an idea with relevant hand gestures can improve later recall, whether you are studying new vocabulary of a foreign language or memorising the rules of physics.
It may sound dubious, but even simple eye movements might help. Andrew Parker and Neil Dagnall at Manchester Metropolitan University, UK, have found that subjects were better able to remember a list of words they had just studied if they repeatedly looked from left to right and back for 30 seconds straight after reading the list – perhaps because it boosts the transfer of information between the two brain hemispheres. It’s worth noting, however, that this only seems to benefit right-handers. Perhaps the brains of left-handed and ambidextrous people already engage in a higher level of cross-talk, and the eye-wiggling only distracts them.
Read Memory: Six Tips to Master Yours in New Scientist.
We can vouch for tip #3. Our “gesture” is note-taking. We find that if we’ve written something down, it’s sealed in the memory. If you have a good memory you don’t have to study for exams, and in the real world your instant access to facts gets you mistaken for an intelligent person.
Study says parasite in cat poop makes people more sociable and reckless
No, it doesn’t.
Toxoplasma gondii, a common and very clever parasite you can get from handling kitty litter or eating steak tartare. Image: KLAUS BOLLER Photo Researchers, Inc.
Feeling sociable or reckless? You might have toxoplasmosis, an infection caused by the microscopic parasite Toxoplasma gondii, which the CDC estimates has infected about 22.5 percent of Americans older than 12 years old. Researchers tested participants for T. gondii infection and had them complete a personality questionnaire. They found that both men and women infected with T. gondii were more extroverted and less conscientious than the infection-free participants. These changes are thought to result from the parasite’s influence on brain chemicals, the scientists write in the May/June issue of the European Journal of Personality.
The physics of hair
Maria Sharapova’s ponytail. Photo by JZ
BBC News – A UK/US team that came up with an equation to predict the shape of a ponytail has earned itself an Ig Nobel.
Patrick Warren, Raymond Goldstein, Robin Ball and Joe Keller picked up their prestigious award at a sellout gala ceremony at Harvard University.
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