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In a bad mood? Don't worry - according to research, it's good for you. An Australian psychology expert who has been studying emotions has found being grumpy makes us think more clearly. In contrast to those annoying happy types, miserable people are better at decision-making and less gullible, his experiments showed. While cheerfulness fosters creativity, gloominess breeds attentiveness and careful thinking, Professor Joe Forgas told Australian Science Magazine. The University of New South Wales researcher says a grumpy person can cope with more demanding situations than a happy one because of the way the brain "promotes information processing strategies". He asked volunteers to watch different films and dwell on positive or negative events in their life, designed to put them in either a good or bad mood. Next he asked them to take part in a series of tasks, including judging the truth of urban myths and providing eyewitness accounts of events. Those in a bad mood outperformed those who were jolly - they made fewer mistakes and were better communicators. Professor Forgas said: "Whereas positive mood seems to promote creativity, flexibility, co-operation and reliance on mental shortcuts, negative moods trigger more attentive, careful thinking, paying greater attention to the external world." The study also found that sad people were better at stating their case through written arguments, which Forgas said showed that a "mildly negative mood may actually promote a more concrete, accommodative and ultimately more successful communication style". His earlier work shows the weather has a similar impact on us - wet, dreary days sharpened memory, while bright sunny spells make people forgetful. Source
A schoolboy, Nickie Chamberlain, was surprised when Government officials arrived at his bedroom and confiscated his television aerial because it was interfering with planes landing at a nearby airport. Nickie, who is 12, had used the booster device for two years to watch cartoons, music channels and Big Brother on his 14-inch television. But three weeks ago an official from the Office of Communications (Ofcom) turned up at his home claiming the £15 aerial was affecting planes landing at Luton Airport. According to Ofcom, pilots coming into land at the airport had lost contact with the control tower because the faulty aerial was transmitting on the same frequency as the cockpit radios. The communication problems meant pilots landing their aircraft had to scramble to change the frequency so they could continue to communicate with the control tower. Air traffic controllers first noticed the communication problems on the flight path into Luton, which is directly over Nickie's house in Linslade, Beds., on October 6. An Ofcom engineer was sent round to the house and used a handheld device to trace the signal to the small booster aerial sitting on top of Nickie's TV. His father, DHL operations manager Dave Chamberlain, 46, said he could not believe a tiny aerial could affect aeroplanes flying over his house. He said: ''We were told pilots flying over the house were losing contact with the control tower as they came into land. ''The engineer was waiting outside the house when I came home from work and told me pilots had been complaining and they had traced the signal to our house. ''I couldn't believe it and at first I thought the engineer was some sort of conman so I had to carefully check his identification and make sure he was for real. ''Then we went inside and he followed the signal using a special reader to my son's bedroom and his booster aerial - I was absolutely gobsmacked.'' Nickie, who lives in the three bedroom semi-detached house with his dad, brother Glenn, 14 and mother Erika, 42, said he was shocked to have caused so much trouble. He said: ''When I found out what happened I was upset because I couldn't watch cartoons or the television for a while - but it's better than causing a plane crash.'' The Ofcom representative ordered Mr Chamberlain to dispose of the aerial in the bin. A spokesman said they had been asked to trace the signal by National Air Traffic Control after complaints from pilots. According to the spokesman the problem occurred because the faulty aerial started to malfunction and ''self oscillate'' - sending out a range of different frequencies. The spokesman said: ''You essentially get a sound much like the screeching you get when you put a microphone too close to a loud speaker. ''The booster aerial was, at different stages, giving off the same frequency as the aeroplane radio and that is why the pilots were losing contact. ''Our field engineers regularly work with National Air Traffic control and were able to trace the signal back to this little boys bedroom. ''This is obviously quite unusual.'' A spokeswoman for the NATS said: ''The planes have multiple back-up communication systems and this is not something where any passengers were in any danger. ''Obviously safety is our major concern.'' No one at Luton Airport was available for comment. Source
Article Submitted by Ronin187. Thank You! WASHINGTON (AFP) – Men who voted for Republican John McCain in last year's US presidential election saw their testosterone levels fall significantly when they learned he had lost to Barack Obama, a study showed Thursday. Saliva samples collected from 163 men on the evening of the election showed that voters for both McCain and Obama had similar testosterone levels when polling stations closed on the east coast, but the levels in McCain backers fell when Obama was announced as the winner. By contrast, testosterone levels among men who voted for Obama remained stable. Taking into account the fact that polls shut and results were announced at night -- a time when men's testosterone levels usually decline -- the study said the level was equivalent to a rise. "Political elections are dominance competitions. When men win a dominance competition, their testosterone levels rise or remain stable to resist a circadian decline; and when they lose, their testosterone levels fall," said the study, published online by the Public Library of Science (PLOS One). Supporters of McCain or Libertarian Party candidate Bob Barr -- who the study noted didn't have a hope of getting elected -- showed "significantly larger testosterone decreases" than Obama supporters from the time when polls closed to 40 minutes after Obama was declared the winner. Source
In recent years, new technologies have allowed scientists to gain a greater understanding of how the human brain ages and why, to pinpoint the parts of the brain that function or fail as a person ages, to predict when an older person is in the early stages of cognitive decline, and to find effective ways to prevent this decline. Previous studies have shown that mental exercise, especially learning new things or pursuing intellectually stimulating activities can increase the efficiency of cognitive processing and preserve mental functions. And scientists say learning to surf the Internet may be the latest way to exercise the mind and keep it strong. A new study shows older adults who learn to search for information online experience a surge of activity in key decision-making and reasoning centers of the brain. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles compared brain activity in different regions of the brain in 24 healthy adults aged 55 to 78. Prior to the study, half the participants used the Internet daily, while the other half had very little experience. An initial brain scan of those with little Internet experience showed brain activity in the regions controlling language, reading, memory and visual abilities. After the first scan, participants went home where they conducted Internet searches for one hour a day for a total of seven days over a two-week period. These searches involved using the web to answer questions about various topics by visiting different websites and obtaining information. A second brain scan conducted on participants with minimal online experience after the home Internet searches demonstrated activity of the same regions of the brain as the first scan, but there was also activity in the middle frontal gyrus and inferior frontal gyrus, areas of the brain known to be important in working memory and decision making—activity patterns very similar to those seen in the group of experienced Internet users. The results suggest Internet training and searching online could potentially enhance brain function and cognition in older adults. “We found that for older people with minimal experience, performing Internet searches for even a relatively short period of time can change brain activity patterns and enhance function,” Dr. Gary Small, a professor of psychiatry at the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA, said in a news release. Previous research by the UCLA team found that searching online resulted in a more than twofold increase in brain activation in older adults with prior experience, compared with those with little Internet experience. Most experts now embrace the “use-it-or-lose-it” approach to brain functioning. “We found a number of years ago that people who engaged in cognitive activities had better functioning and perspective than those who did not,” said Dr. Richard Lipton, a professor of neurology and epidemiology at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City and director of the Einstein Aging Study. “Our study is often referenced as the crossword-puzzle study —that doing puzzles, writing for pleasure, playing chess and engaging in a broader array of cognitive activities seem to protect against age-related decline in cognitive function and also dementia.” The UCLA team says additional studies are needed to help identify aspects of online searching that generate the greatest levels of brain activation, as well as the impact of the Internet on younger individuals. The findings were presented October 19 at the meeting of the Society for Neuroscience in Chicago, Illinois. Source, Source
A lip gloss that comes with a date rape drug testing kit has been launched in the UK with plans to make it available in vending machines in bar and club toilets. The five 2LoveMyLips gloss products contain a drug testing kit in the form of a pink taper that can detect GHB and Ketamine. Managing director of the company 2LoveMy, Tracy Whittaker, explained that girls on a night out with suspicions about their drink can just dab the taper in, and watch to see if the colour changes to blue. “If they turn blue tell your friends immediately and get help from security and the police,” she explained. Sales have already proved 'positive' Sales of the product to UK beauty salons are positive, according to Whittaker, who is planning to launch the product in USA and Asutralia. In addition, she said the company hopes to target tourist spots in the Far East where drink spiking is a significant problem. Source
Firefox has gained a lot of popularity among the Internet community because of many useful extensions. One of them is called AdBlock, essential to anyone browsing the Internet today who wishes to remove all the intrusive and flashy ads. Is it considered stealing potential revenue from a website when you block their ads? Or is it a user right to do so? One popular filehost site Mediafire seems to disagree. A Firefox add-on has forced this company to give Mozilla a takedown notice. There have also been continued threats from some website owners to target Firefox users and block them. However, this has yet to be followed through by anyone. Source, Source,Source,
Pepsico has apologised for launching an "offensive" iPhone application which offered tips on how to seduce women and invited men to brag about their conquests. Customers have threatened to boycott the brand in protest at the Before You Score game. The App, to promote the AMP energy drink, categorised women into 24 types including such as "sorority girl", "rebound girl" or "married". Each category came with advice on how to talk to that type of woman, as well as directions to the nearest hotel. "Get lucky? Add her to your Brag List. You can include a name, date and whatever details you remember," the site advised. "You got it? Flaunt it. Keep your buddies in the loop on email, Facebook or Twitter." Popular women's blog, Jezebel, criticised the brand's iPhone service as "completely unacceptable and ridiculously offensive". The blogger, Hortense, wrote: "This is a program sponsored by a major corporation that encourages men to look at women as objects to be won, used, and tossed away after a 'victory' is obtained, and the more normalized things like this becomes, the worse off we're all going to be." Before You Score has not been withdrawn but a representative from Pepsi used the AMP Twitter account to say the game was supposed to be funny. "Our app tried to show the humorous lengths guys go to pick up women. We apologize if it's in bad taste and appreciate your feedback. #pepsifail," they wrote, adding the hashtag critics have been using to discuss the issue on Twitter. It is the latest example of a social media strategy backfiring on a major brand. Earlier this year, Habitat apologised after an "overenthusiastic intern" used online search terms about the disputed election in Iran to promote a sale. Source Amp Up Before You Score - iPhone App Video
The Shroud of Turin has been reproduced by an Italian scientist in another attempt to prove that the cloth bearing an image of Christ's face is a fake. A professor of organic chemistry at the University of Pavia said he had used materials and techniques that were available in the Middle Ages. These included applying pigment to cloth and then heating it in an oven. Tests 20 years ago dated the fabric to between 1260 and 1390, but believers say it is an authentic image of Christ. The linen cloth, measuring about 4.4m by 1.1m (14.4ft by 3.6ft), holds the concealed image of a man bearing all the signs of crucifixion, including blood stains. Tests in 1988 have been repeatedly challenged, and scientists remain unsure how the image came to be on the cloth. Scientist Luigi Garlaschelli, who is due to present his findings to a conference on the paranormal at the weekend, said many people believed that the shroud "has unexplainable characteristics that cannot be reproduced by human means". But, he added: "The result obtained clearly indicates that this could be done with the use of inexpensive materials and with a quite simple procedure." Mr Garlaschelli, funded by a group of Italian atheists and agnostics, reproduced the shroud by placing a linen sheet flat over a volunteer and then rubbing it with a pigment containing traces of acid. A mask was used for the face. The pigment was then artificially aged by heating the cloth in an oven and washing it. This removed the pigment from the surface but left a half-tone image similar to that on the Shroud. Blood stains, burn holes, scorches and water stains were then added to achieve the final effect. Mr Garlaschelli said he expected people to challenge his research. "If they don't want to believe carbon dating done by some of the world's best laboratories they certainly won't believe me." The Shroud is kept in Turin Cathedral and is rarely displayed in public. Source
New research suggests penicillin is becoming obsolete, and antibiotic resistance could lead to a "major health crisis" unless governments act to promote research into new drugs. Antibiotics such as penicillin have been key to the decline of infectious diseases over the last 60 years, but bacteria are becoming increasingly resistant to existing drugs. That means many antibiotics are no longer effective at combating common diseases, and a lack of research into new drugs means there is a dire shortage of alternatives, according to the report by London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). Elias Mossialos, professor of health policy at LSE, led the research and has called for governments to do more to tackle the problem. He told CNN that penicillin is becoming obsolete in some developing countries, as well as in France, Spain and Romania, because of over-prescription by doctors and pharmacists. He said the emergence of "superbugs" such as methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is causing the growing problem of hospital-acquired infections. "Antibiotic resistance is a much more important situation than swine flu and it will only get worse," he said. He said doctors are commonly misdiagnosing viral infections as bacterial infections, and then prescribing antibiotics to treat them, while in some countries pharmacists are selling antibiotics without a doctor's prescription. Excessive use of antibiotics encourages the emergence of resistant bacteria. Dr Kathleen Holloway of the World Health Organization (WHO) told CNN that antibiotic resistance is a global problem, with diseases including childhood pneumonia, dysentery and tuberculosis (TB) no longer responding to first-line antibiotics in some parts of the world. "We've got to a situation where there are no more drugs for certain conditions. There are some people with extreme drug-resistant TB and there are no drugs to treat them," Holloway said. "Research and development of new antibiotics isn't keeping up with development of resistance. If we don't do something about it we'll end up with a situation where all the old drugs have resistance and we don't have any new ones." Mossialos said the lack of development of new antibiotics is largely because antibiotics don't earn pharmaceutical companies as much as other products. That's partly because health policy tries to restrain the use of antibiotics, to avoid building up resistance, and partly because patients only need to use antibiotics for a short duration, typically 10 to 14 days, whereas patients take drugs for chronic diseases such as diabetes and heart disease for the rest of their lives. Mossialos told CNN that governments need to introduce incentives to encourage pharmaceutical companies to develop new antibiotics. His recommendations include governments developing an international fund that would invest in the early stages of antibiotic R&D, and guarantee sizeable orders for new antibiotics. Holloway agrees governments should help stimulate the development of new antibiotics and also stresses that more investment is needed to promote more prudent use of existing drugs. "In many countries it's not necessarily doctors who are prescribing, it's nurses, paramedical staff and unqualified staff," she said. "Governments need to invest more in providing continuing medical education and supervision for prescribers. "If we run out of antibiotics it's not just poor people with infections who will suffer, it's rich people who won't be able to have anti-cancer therapies or routine operations that rely on antibiotics." Source
The designer of a bra that turns into two gas masks was among the winners of the 2009 Ig Nobel prizes. The aim of the awards is to honour achievements that "first make people laugh and then make them think". Dr Elena Bodnar won the public health prize for the bra that, in an emergency, can be converted into two gas masks. She demonstrated her invention and gave one to each of the Nobel laureates as a gift, reports the BBC. The only British winners were Catherine Douglas and Peter Rowlinson who found that cows with names produce more milk. Dr Douglas, from the agriculture, food and rural development department of Newcastle University, said she was "thrilled" to have been selected and was a "big fan of the Ig Nobel awards". She dedicated the award to Purslane, Wendy and Tina - "the nicest cows I have ever known". The peace prize went to a Swiss research team who determined whether it is better to be hit over the head with a full or empty bottle of beer. The prize for economics went to the executives of four Icelandic banks. And the governor of Zimbabwe's Reserve Bank received the prize for mathematics for printing bank notes with such a wide range of denominations. Source
