Adventure Ausrama Blog

SAnthropology: we have evolved to be on guard on the first night when sleeping in a new place. Man is still a hunter. We may live in cities and believe we are advanced but our genes have evolved to survive in the wild outdoors beneath the starlit night sky. If we move into a new environment getting a good night's sleep on the first night is a problem. Our brain is "on-guard" against unknown dangers. This phenomenon is in all animals. One hemisphere of the brain will sleep while the other remains on sentry duty. This "first-night-effect" is permanent. There is no cure because it isn't an illness. After the first night the brain adapts, records the new environment and deems it to be safe. Tests show that the left hemisphere sleeps lighter in a new situation. Slow-wave activity is weaker than the right hemisphere. Furthermore, the default-mode network which involves mind wandering is more active. This indicates that the brain is checking th...

You have all heard the phrase: "Get your brains tested." Well, perhaps it is mainly the older generation who heard it in their youth . However, some Australian workers are having their brains scanned. Should These SmartCaps stay where they are - in the cupboard They are wearing special baseball caps that measure brain activity. researchers are looking for signs of tiredness. It is fatigue that is the precursor to an accident. The problem is - are workers to be paid to have a rest? Of course, employers will say no. We could be heading toward a workplace rumble here! Ironically the new device is called a SmartCap, when there is nothing intelligent about it. It certainly does not measure intelligence. When tiredness is detected an alarm goes off that everyone in the vicinity can hear. Are employees expected to lie down and rest where they are standing? ◆ Technology by Ty Buchanan   ◆ Adventure Australia Funny Animal Photos Funny Weird Things Articles News...

One of the most difficult things to do is to develop a computer brain that operates like a human brain. Intelligence that evolved by nature is very complex. A computer "thinks" linearly with one activity followed by another. The human brain works outward from a central point, spreading out to different areas depending on the particular task. To say that Australia should concentrate on making the world's first bionic brain is a leap too far. Saying that $250m over ten years will get the job done is way off the mark. There are many scientists already working with much more money than that and they haven't achieved much. Pioneering the bionic ear and eye is kid stuff compared to replicating the brain. Using nerve activity to make artificial limbs move is also far from understanding human intelligence. Even after all these years measuring intelligence is beyond us. The IQ test only gives a score for rating cultural knowledge. It is misused by so many peo...

When is human advancement and achievement not necessarily so? When improvement leads to deleterious side effects. There are theories that protection of children from the environment by medication and physical intervention causes such things as hay fever and autism. These are only theories and not proven. Another issue is the massive intake of carbohydrates humans have taken into their bodies over the last ten thousand years. We have not evolved to digest the diet. For most of our evolution we lived on meat and fruit with tubers in small amounts.  Societies have changed a great deal. There are now strong indications that Alzheimer's disease (AD) is caused by people keeping the environment too clean when children are toddling around. "Good" bacteria and viruses do not get into our bodies. It should be noted that the rate of Alzheimer's is rising only in wealthy nations. Lack of microbes could also be increasing strokes. This seems to be an insurmountable prob...

The "miniature" humans on the island of Flores in Indonesia have had extensive tests performed on them. Their remains have been examined in detail.  While their brain was as small as an orange it was large enough for them to develop many skills. At a third of the weight of modern-day people it was in proportion. The world of the "Hobbit", Homo floresiensis, was composed of pygmy animals, so it was a natural environment for them. They would not have perceived themselves to be small. This sub-species developed from one of the first branches of humans that walked upright, going back two million years. Their direct forebear, Homo erectus, was larger than modern humans. It roamed over a large part of Asia. Isolation on a small island led to dwarfism occurring. All mammals progress this way when trapped in a limited domain, though reptiles get larger. It was doubtful that they hunted the much bigger reptiles. If their environment was more challenging they woul...

Drinking alcohol is not an innocent pastime. We know it damages the liver. However, a link has been found between binge drinking and the onset of type 2 diabetes. How it does this is not fully understood. Rats were put on a "diet" of 3 g/kg of alcohol for only three days. Even when the alcohol had completely left their systems insulin resistance was still occurring. The effect lasted 54 hours after ingestion of alcohol had ceased. Impaired adipose tissue and hepatic functions were believed to be the cause. There was more hypothalamic inflammation affecting insulin signaling. There is hope for a treatment. Inhibiting brain protein tyrosine phosphatase 1B (PTP1B) can block the detrimental action  on insulin of binge drinking, http://www.adventure--australia.blogspot.com/ http://www.tysaustralia.blogspot.com/ http://adventure--australia.blogspot.com/atom.xml http://www.technorati.com/blogs/ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Society Vista Co...

Albert Einstein wasn't only a genius her was a very odd human being. His brain shows peculiar differences from the norm; it had many more folds than the average person. This gave the brain a greater surface area. It is like using a larger computer to do calculations. Upon his father's death in 1955, Thomas Einstein gave the pathologist permission to preserve the brain of Albert Einstein. It was photographed then dissected into 2,000 ultra-thin slices. The slices and slides of them were later distributed to researchers. The brain had more neurons and glia cells, well outside of the normal range; pariental lobes were unusual in the pattern of ridges and grooves. Einstein only had a brain of average size. The area controlling the tongue and face was larger, as was the region that involves attention and planning. Overall, Einstein's brain was complex. Many people think in words. He said his thinking was like a physical activity. If selection based on "healthy...

Bees calculate how much energy they need to get pollen. To survive, bees must run on a "profit" basis. They must not use more energy in obtaining nectar than energy the nectar provides. Bees were given the choice of travelling along two pathways to get nectar. One pathway was 10 meters long, the other 20 meters. However, the "scenery" of the 10 meter pathway was designed to trick the bees into perceiving that it was the furthest distance away. When the bees returned to their fellows in the nest they told them with a waggle dance which pathway to use to get more pollen. Despite the 10 meter pathway appearing to the bees to be further away they told other bees to go to the feeder in the 10 meter pathway. Somehow, they had worked out that it used up less energy to go to this feeder than the one on the other pathway. It is believed that bees have "calorimeters" built into their brains. They do not judge energy expenditure solely based on distance travelled...

What a cop out, medical "professionals" are now saying chronic pain is caused by a mixed-up brain. This cannot be the case when you have an open wound and it really hurts. They are saying we should not feel any pain at all. People with leprosy feel no pain and look what damage they do to themselves. Pain is functional. It stops one using a limb when there is damage to it. Otherwise, it wouldn't heal properly. Most back pain is caused by damage to the spine that cannot be detected with current technology and knowledge. Those "in the know" are now saying the brain rewires itself when there is an injury so that when the damage is repaired pain still continues. If this is the case then it is very selective. Why doesn't this happen when you cut your finger? We know if a limb is lost pain can continue, but saying the brain rewires itself after an injury is far too simplistic. http://www.adventure--australia.blogspot.com/ http://www.tysaustralia.blogspo...

It seems the level of intelligence is determined by a few genes.  This must surely be too simplistic, particularly because specialists cannot agree on what intelligence is.  How do you compare memorizing general knowledge to the skill of knitting a fine jumper?  There are people who know just about everything about Australian rugby league, but this is their only area of expertise. Finding will be made easier, apparently, by questioning the crowd rather that by brain scans, etc.  It is believed that the sought after genes affect brain size.  Considering that Neanderthals had larger brains than modern man, this seems to be the wrong hypothesis to start with. While "the team" is sure they will find the genes they do admit that culture, education, health and upbringing can affect intelligence.  How are they going to filter these things out?  Obviously they can't.  Twenty one thousand subjects were catalogued and brain imaging was used.  ...

We have large brains due to social interaction.  In early societies culture meant things had to be remembered.  Another important function leading to large brains was tools use, though chimpanzees use tools.  The most intelligent people would inevitably become leaders and have the choice of mates, thus passing on their genes. Intelligence and brain size are of course interdependent.  Animals such as dolphins and elephants have social structures.  They are also very intelligent.  Higher intelligence appears to be naturally selected for in any species. Apparently, when society develops intelligence must increase otherwise an individual will be "put upon" by the smarter ones.  There is some evidence that really clever individuals tend to be disruptive to a society.  The naive are certainly at a disadvantage. A thorn in the side of the above theory is that some highly structured societies are composed of small creatures with tiny brains....

Doctors do not know how "recreational" drugs work. Police forces worldwide fight drug abuse, but the battle is being lost. Until medications can be developed to stop the euphoric effects almost immediately the battle will rage on. There are possible benefits from some of these drugs. For example, magic mushrooms are being tested for treating mental conditions by psychiatrists. Neural circuits in the brain are altered by the use of the drug. What actually happens though was unknown, until now. It was thought that dormant brain cells were being activated, the ones that are used during sleep. It has been discovered, however, that blood flow to the brain is decreased when psilocybin is used. MRIs showed blood flow reductions to the thalamus and cortical regions. The front and back of the brain are separated when the drug is taken. Primary sensory areas still retained good blood flow, while higher association regions became "starved" of blood. Previous theo...

Gene therapy for brain injuries and illnesses may be a good thing, but this treatment changes the shape of brain cells. Researchers in Western Australia say there is nothing to worry about because damaged brain cells regenerate or live longer. They say this when there is no proof that in the long term everything will be alright. They say it is wonderful how brains cells function better after nine months of treatment. Apparently, the neurons become round due to new growth-promoting genes that stimulate them. The fact that surrounding genes away from the treatment area also change is in my opinion something to worry about. Obviously, when this occurs it cannot be reversed. Doctors admit that the way neurons deal with information after treatment is never the same again. Furthermore, they suspect that the long-term effects may not be beneficial to the patient. It is a good thing that researchers are looking for a way to stop gene therapy in its tracks if anything goes wrong. htt...

"Let me give it some thought - I'll get back to you." http://vistacomputersolutions.blogspot.com/ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Funny Animal Photos

For years we have been told that subliminal messages on television and in films has no affect on us. Now we are informed that they do indeed work very well. It is known that people pick up signals by intuition from other people. For example, poker players seem to know when their opponent has a good or bad hand. They don't know how - they just do. A study sandwiched a subliminal picture for less than 50 milliseconds between two "normal" images. The subjects could then choose between two symbols, one being the sandwiched picture, to win money. The result was, subjects actually made money. MRI scans done at the time identified the ventral striatum region of the brain being the most active during the intuitive tests. The research shows that subliminal advertising having a reward system attached can increase sales of a product. We can anticipate an increase in subliminal advertising. http://www.adventure--australia.blogspot.com/ http://www.tysaustralia.blogspot.com/ ht...

Despite many tests there is no agreement on whether mobile phones cause brain cancer. Findings point to a trend in heavy phone users. Advice is given to use mobiles as infrequently as possible. It is clear that the skulls of children are much thinner than adults and youngsters receive twice as much microwave radiation from cell phones as adults. Three times as much radiation is absorbed into children's hippocampus and hypothalamus. Other regions of their bodies in danger are the eyes and bone marrow. Tests have mainly been carried out on adult males who have the thickest skulls of all. Scientists believe children and woman are in greater danger of getting brain cancer. One in four Australian women have reduced time spent on making calls in fear of brain damage. It is recommended that tests on children be used as the certifying method for phones. While many scientists are not convinced, research shows that heavy phone users have a 40 per cent higher risk of getting gliomas, t...

How do we select which sounds to pay attention to? When we walk down a street we ignore the sounds of cars passing by, the gossip of people, and on, but we pay attention to a short, sharp whistle. Even little children know the sound of the ice cream truck. Psychologists have been trying to find out how we select some things over others. Our brains record everything. Hypnosis has shown this to be true. We could not possibly take note of everything around us. Attention allocation operates by combining two functions: the predictive principle and the uncertainty principle. The predictive principle is logical in that the brain searches for the more meaningful from the background "noise". With the uncertainty principle the brain looks for the unusual, the odd thing out. Animal research has shown that they do use both principles. However, tests on humans had clearly shown the predictive principle at work but not uncertainly. New tests show humans use a variant of the uncert...

It's amazing - show something in a documentary and people want it quick smart. Sorry about the pun. People are having high voltage electricity pumped into the left side of their brain to make them more creative and it is excruciatingly painful. The theory goes: pulverise the left brain until it no longer functions then the right side takes over and you can draw and paint better. That's just about it. And people are lining up in droves to try it. It doesn't do a thing for your intelligence and damage to your brain has not been determined yet. Apparently, it not only improved your artistic faculties, you can do sums better as well. But it's creator Allan Snyder of the University of Sydney says it makes you child-like, hardly something you really want. No, it's probably better if the left side of the brain controls the right side - better for society that is! http://www.adventure--australia.blogspot.com/ http://www.tysaustralia.blogspot.com/ http://www.feeds.feedburner...

Many people have written off the "hobbit" find as being just a joke, a sad hoax played on society. However, finding tiny "humans" is, apparently, real. Most scientists have accepted it though some still scoff at the whole issue without looking into it. In 2004 archaeologists in Indonesia found skeletons, not fossils, skeletons of small human-like creatures who lived on the island of Flores as recently as 18,000 years ago. While humans spread around the world, these small "humans" carried on hunting pygmy elephants and other local species in isolation. Flint flakes found in million year old volcanic sediment show hobbit activity there a very long time ago. The question is - When did the early humans leave Africa? Considering Man left the continent no more than 100,000 years ago why did other excursions of early man end in extinction? At least one group survived long enough to enlighten us about the numerous times humans left Africa. Evidence from bone struc...