Autistic Savants: Geniuses of Obscure Devotions - 0 views
Is Sugar Toxic? - 0 views
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Its results were perceived by the medical community and the wider public as compelling evidence that saturated-fat consumption is the best dietary predictor of heart disease. But sugar consumption in the seven countries studied was almost equally predictive. So it was possible that Yudkin was right, and Keys was wrong, or that they could both be right. The evidence has always been able to go either way.
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Interesting report that illustrates how using correlational evidence can lead to widely differing hypotheses: that sugar, outside of being empty calories and causing tooth decay, is harmless, or that sugar is toxic and contributes to artherosclerosis, heart disease, and diabetes. See especially page 5
Sad Dads more likely to spank 1 year old children - NPR - 0 views
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All told, 15 percent of the fathers in the study said they'd spanked their kids in the past month. But dig a little deeper and the link with depression looks pretty stark. Thirteen percent of dads who weren't depressed reported spanking their kids. Among the depressed dads, however, 41 percent had given a spanking.
DNA Is Not Destiny | Epigenetics - 1 views
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Typically, when agouti mice breed, most of the offspring are identical to the parents: just as yellow, fat as pincushions, and susceptible to life-shortening disease.
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Starting just before conception, Jirtle and Waterland fed a test group of mother mice a diet rich in methyl donors, small chemical clusters that can attach to a gene and turn it off.
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The mothers passed along the agouti gene to their children intact, but thanks to their methyl-rich pregnancy diet, they had added to the gene a chemical switch that dimmed the gene's deleterious effects.
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Slow Motion Destruction Video - 1 views
The Data-Driven Life - NYTimes.com - 1 views
The Monkey Business Illusion - 0 views
Best Illusion of the Year Contest - 2010 - 0 views
ADHD linked to exposure to pesticides - 0 views
Trouble sleeping? Maybe it's your iPad - CNN.com - 0 views
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Does the bright light from reading an iPad in bed, or working on your computer late into the evening disrupt your sleep? Some researchers suspect that it might. Prescriptions include: Don't use electronics an hour or two before bed Use orange sunglasses with electronics at night, to block the short wavelengths (which disrupt sleep) Use a utility like f.lux, which turns down the short wavelengths on your screen at night and turns them back up during daylight. Needs more research.
Functional Families, Dysfunctional Brains - 0 views
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Differences found in brains of murderers who come from abusive homes vs "good" homes. "Animal research also has shown that the right orbital frontal cortex is involved in fear conditioning -- that is, in making a subconscious association between antisocial behavior and punishment. In humans, fear conditioning is thought to be the key to developing a conscience. "Why doesn't everyone assault others or act violently?" Raine asks. "One reason is that most of us are good at fear conditioning and we've been punished in childhood for doing minor things like stealing or hitting friends. So we've learned the association between antisocial behavior and punishment and therefore feel fear when we even contemplate an antisocial act. "