Science, man. It’s a mystery. It seems that lately, science — rather than focusing on curing diseases or solving impending environmental disasters — has taken it upon itself to address an age-old problem: people with brown eyes. Yes, yes, some of you may in fact suffer from this affliction, but worry no more. A scientific solution is upon us!
When a cockroach wants to shake a tail feather, what music does it prefer? Apparently, Lady Gaga. This summer, four teenagers in an engineering program at New York’s Cooper Union were studying the movement of roaches by hooking them up to electrodes and then exposing them to electric pulses. But soon the roaches got used to the pulses and stopped moving about. Desperate to find a way to get the roaches moving, the guys decided to try playing music for them. They tried Weezer, but got no response from the bugs. Ditto for heavy metal rockers Avenged Sevenfold. But when they started playing Lady Gaga—well, the roaches responded immediately, and never stopped their flapping. And the gross little buggers presumably have no idea that the woman once wore their dream dress, crafted entirely of meat. So what happened here? “The bass in Gaga’s song ‘Bad Romance’ prevented habituation since it’s not consistent,” explained one of the experimenters. I hope Lady Gaga is happy to hear that she has even littler monster fans than she ever anticipated. [NY Daily News] Keep reading »
Ruh roh. Does that cute guy chatting you up at the bar have a wide face? According to scientists at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, you might want to proceed with caution. They studied the facial features of business students and found a correlation between those with wider visages and willingness to do nasty behavior. Specifically, the broad-faced dudes were three times more likely to lie and nine times more likely to cheat (in the competition sense of the word, not necessarily the fidelity one) in order to get ahead.
Oh but that’s not the only thing wide faces are correlated to. Keep reading »
Anyone can make a beer ad: boobs, butts, more boobs, and an ice cold brewski. Don Draper, we have a winner! It turns out that monkey advertising is very similar to that of their two-legged ancestors: sex sells. According to New Scientist, researchers will soon study the effect of ads on monkey behavior modification. Laurie Santos, the Yale University primatologist, and Keith Olwell and Elizabeth Kiehner, two New York ad execs, plan to advertise a tasty treat to brown capuchin monkeys who live in captivity. (They will probably use JELLO.) One treat will be advertised on “billboards” inside the monkeys’ enclosure and the other won’t be; when the capuchins are presented with the desserts, the researchers want to see if the advertising had any effect. But just how does one market JELLO to monkeys? Keep reading »
In a few years, the following scenario could actually happen. If you’ve been feeling down, sleepy, and just generally like the color has been zapped out of the world, you can make an appointment with your doctor and say, “Hey doc, can I get a depression test?” Apparently, researchers in Japan on working on a test that would measure the concentration of phosphoric acid in the blood. It’s different from existing tests because (a) it’s fast and (b) it doesn’t require DNA testing, so could even become a part of regular checkups. Meaning, it could detect it when you’re feeling symptoms or when you’re not sure what’s going on. [Telegraph UK]
Oh, but there are so many fascinating tests like this in the works. After the jump, find out about more things you’ll be able to easily diagnose in just a few years. I feel like I’m in an episode of “The Jetsons.” Keep reading »
I, too, await the cyborg overlords who will colonize the Earth, imprison us all, and incubate alien babies in our fertile wombs.
But what I cannot wrap my head around? China claims to have genetically modified cows to produce human breast milk. Yes, a “moo moo moo” cow producing milk for a “wah wah wah” human baby.
Whoa. Keep reading »
Unless you were a total shut in this weekend, then you probably caught a glimpse of the lovely supermoon on Saturday evening. Scientists dubbed it the “supermoon” because the moon was the closest it has been to Earth in 18 years. I was waiting to turn into a werewolf or at the very least end up in a straight jacket, as full moon myths predict, but alas my night was routine. I went shopping, had a burger and beer with a friend, and went to sleep early. I know … lame. I’m so disappointed. I don’t even have a crazy dream to boast about. Did anything weird happen to you Saturday night? Share your supermoon stories in the comments. Let me live vicariously through you. Keep reading »
We all get a little lint stuck in your belly buttons every now and again, but have you ever wondered if there was anything, uh, growing inside of it? Scientists at 2011 Science Online Conference took samples from the belly buttons of volunteers and displayed the bacteria growing inside them in these petri dishes. Interested in having your belly button bounty analyzed? They’re doing another sampling event February 12 at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences. Dare I say belly button bacteria is … beautiful? [Boing Boing] Keep reading »
