Liberals and Atheists Smarter? Intelligent People Have Values Novel in Human Evolutionary History, Study Finds Feb 25, 2010
" An earlier study by Kanazawa found that more intelligent individuals were more nocturnal, waking up and staying up later than less intelligent individuals. Because our ancestors lacked artificial light, they tended to wake up shortly before dawn and go to sleep shortly after dusk. Being nocturnal is evolutionarily novel. In the current study, Kanazawa argues that humans are evolutionarily designed to be conservative, caring mostly about their family and friends, and being liberal, caring about... (Science Daily)
Tips from the American Journal of Pathology Feb 24, 2010
Addition studies are underway by Dr. Musser and colleagues "to test the hypothesis that PVL enhances pathogenesis during influenza virus co-infection. These studies are especially important in the context of the recent global spread of a H1N1 influenza strain and widespread concerns about a detrimental effect on human health.". Olsen RJ, Kobayashi SD, Ayeras AA, Ashraf M, Graves SF, Ragasa W, Humbird T, Greaver JL, Long D, Cantu C, Swain JL, Jenkins L, Blasdel T, Cagle P, Gardner DJ, DeLeo FR,... (EurekAlert!)
What happened to science? Feb 24, 2010
"How many "lead" atmospheric scientists are there? If "science" is currently unable to deliver the "truth" then science MUST bound the cited data with the uncertainties. Is not the proper course to put the "science" out there and let the world try and disprove it?If we limit scientific truth to only the "lead" promoters of any particular hypothesis, have we not destroyed science altogether?If we were to take this letter apart sentence by sentence, would we find fact or feelings? ". Geezer wrote... (Logan Herald Journal, UT)
Where Did Insects Come From? New Study Establishes Relationships Among All Arthropods Feb 23, 2010
One of the most important results of this new study is support for the hypothesis that the insects evolved from a group of crustaceans. So flies, honeybees, ants, and crickets all branched off the arthropod family tree from within the lineage that gave rise to today's crabs, shrimp, and lobsters. (Science Daily)
Comments 236 Feb 22, 2010
8:16PM Monday Feb 22, 2010. How Rudd the dud dropped Australia in the alphabet soup. (Sydney Morning Herald -- Opinion)
Exercise Helps Protect Brain of Multiple Sclerosis Patients, Study Suggests Feb 21, 2010
"Our hypothesis is that aerobic exercise enhances these nerve growth factors in MS patients, which increases the volume of the gray matter and increases the integrity of the white matter," she said. "As a result there is an improvement in cognitive function.". (Science Daily)
READ: The Labor Dept. release Feb 20, 2010
BLS calculates and publishes estimates of the 1-month, 2-month, 6-month and 12-month percent change standard errors annually, for the CPI-U. These standard error estimates can be used to construct confidence intervals for hypothesis testing. For example, the estimated standard error of the 1 month percent change is 0. (USA Today -- Money)
Why should a Muslim have to wear his nationalism on his sleeve? Feb 20, 2010
His hypothesis was that every seventh man in Calcutta was a Muslim. But he was so integrated into Calcutta that his efforts and energy moved the economic wheels of the great city. (India Times, India)
Enough with the ‘message bills’ Feb 19, 2010
Stephen wrote on Feb 18, 2010 9:43 AM:" The Utah House of Representatives recently passed the Climate Change Joint Resolution. The bill was supported by a 56 to 17 vote. Our local representatives voted in favor. The bill first states as fact: global temperatures have been level and declining in some areas over the past 12 years; the "hockey stick" global warming assertion has been discredited and climate alarmists' carbon dioxide-related global warming hypothesis is unable to... (Logan Herald Journal, UT)
ON THE WEB: Some campuses try to prepare for protests Feb 17, 2010
Over the past decade, Ive been performing experiments in free speech, which have sadly and always backed my hypothesis that most professors dont give a damn about it, while a few others will simply choose base ad hominem to dismiss the speaker. Whereas vigorous debate is the cornerstone of democracy, it is not the cornerstone of academe today. (USA Today -- News)
Botulinum toxin injection may help prevent some types of migraine pain Feb 16, 2010
"These preliminary data are intriguing, and our results provide support for the hypothesis that patients with migraine that is characterized by imploding and ocular headaches are more responsive to botulinum toxin type A than those with migraine characterized by exploding headaches," the authors write. "Our findings invite consideration of using botulinum toxin type A injections to prevent migraine headaches and may promote the role of the dermatologist in the treatment of patients with... (EurekAlert!)
Share some of your challenges finding work. Feb 16, 2010
You would not obtain a partial correlation coefficient if you could not reject the null hypothesis ... The hypothesis that minimum wage laws increase unemployment needs to be met with a simple correlation model first. (Logan Herald Journal, UT)
Study identifies racial and ethnic disparities in surgical care Feb 16, 2010
"Another hypothesis posits racial/ethnic differences in access to or use of information about provider quality," the authors conclude. "In addition to efforts to improve the quality of care among providers serving minority patients, policymakers and clinicians may be able to improve outcomes by encouraging minority patients and their surrogates to consider comparative performance information when choosing hospitals and surgeons.". (EurekAlert!)
Human Gait Adapted for Efficient Walking at the Cost of Efficient Running Feb 13, 2010
(July 17, 2007) A new study provides support for the hypothesis that walking on two legs, or bipedalism, evolved because it used less energy than quadrupedal knucklewalking. Humans walking on two legs only used. (Science Daily)
A decade of discovery Feb 11, 2010
Prediction A long shot is a solution to the Riemann Hypothesis, an even more important unsolved problem in number theory. That would immediately lead to a significant improvement in our understanding of prime numbers. (Sydney Morning Herald -- World)
Certain Genetic Profiles Associated With Recurrence-Free Survival for Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Feb 11, 2010
"We believe our findings represent a novel approach to defining clinically relevant cohorts of NSCLC stratified by age and sex that are enriched for specific pathway activity and that would be more apt for therapeutic intervention when planning clinical trials with drugs that target specific pathway-related abnormalities or tumor biology. With genomic assays now being increasingly practical and clinically applicable, with turnaround times of 5 to 7 days, we believe our findings, while hypothesis... (Science Daily)
What Happens in the Amygdala...Damage to Brain's Decision-Making Area May Encourage Dicey Gambles Feb 10, 2010
But these two rare cases with damage to the very structure in question allowed De Martino to directly test his hypothesis. "In functional MRI, you never know if the response is reflecting something else. With the amygdala injury, you have an on "off" response," De Martino says. (Scientific American)
Science Fair Feb 10, 2010
"In evolutionary terms, religious belief might have led to more successful societies, they add, leading to its spread worldwide. Moral psychology tests generally show more willingness among the religious-minded to sacrifice their lives for others, they note, which certainly would have helped societies overcome tough times. By Dan VerganoPhoto: A man walks past the Papal Cross, which was built for the visit of the late Pope John Paul II in September 1979, in Phoenix Park, in Dublin, Ireland, on... (USA Today -- Tech)
Moss Helps Chart the Conquest of Land by Plants Feb 10, 2010
" What happened to seed plants? "Our hypothesis," says Quatrano, "is that the first plants to move onto land were desiccation tolerant like P. patens and the other bryophytes, such as the hornworts and liverworts. As vascular plants evolved, they abandoned desiccation tolerance in favor of adaptations such as extensive root systems, waxy cuticles and stomata, that would allow them to prevent water loss rather than simply to survive it. (Science Daily)
Gore & Co. distorting facts Feb 9, 2010
signin wrote on Feb 7, 2010 11:40 AM:" If both rising temperatures and falling temperatures are consistent with the global warming story, then it seems that temperature cannot be used to falsify the hypothesis. Makes one wonder what the purpose of monitoring temperature is, and why all the shenanigans revealed in the "Climategate" misdeeds and corruption. If a theory is not, in principle, capable of being falsified, then it is not a theory at all, in the scientific sense. This is sounding more... (Logan Herald Journal, UT)
Hypertension may predict dementia in older adults with certain cognitive deficits Feb 9, 2010
To test this hypothesis, Shahram Oveisgharan, M.D., of University of Western Ontario, Canada, and Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran, and Vladimir Hachinski, M.D., F.R.C.P.C., D.Sc. (Lond). (EurekAlert!)
Medicare reimbursement change meant to save money has opposite effect Feb 8, 2010
To evaluate this hypothesis, Micah Hemani, MD, and Samir Taneja, MD, of the Division of Urologic Oncology at the New York University Langone Medical Center and their colleagues assessed treatment patterns in their practice before and after the Medicare change in physician reimbursement. The investigators found that the number of outpatient bladder surgeries doubled after Medicare reimbursements rose, but the number of hospital-based surgeries did not significantly decline. (EurekAlert!)
Ancient Human Teeth Show That Stress Early in Development Can Shorten Life Span Feb 5, 2010
The paper is the first summary of prehistoric evidence for the Barker hypothesis -- the idea that many adult diseases originate during fetal development and early childhood ... The Barker hypothesis is named after epidemiologist David Barker, who during the 1980s began studying links between early infant health and later adult health ... The theory, also known as the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease Hypothesis (DOHaD), has expanded into wide acceptance. (Science Daily)
The Grasping Hand: the modern democratic state pillages its productive citizens, Peter Sloterdijk, City Journal Feb 4, 2010
Both were motivated by the mistaken hypothesis that the world was heading toward an era of the weakening of the state. While liberalism wanted a minimal state that would guide citizens almost imperceptibly, leaving them to go about their business in peace, anarchism called for the total death of the state. (Harper's Magazine)
Nigeria: The Importance of Being Obasanjo and Myth of Nations Invulnerability Feb 3, 2010
To explore this dubious hypothesis one would quote from the recent take on the issue by former U.S. ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Princeton N. Lyman and Adjunct Senior fellow for African Policy Studies, Council on Foreign Relations, who has his doubts. As Mr. Lyman sees the matter, though Nigeria has all it takes to take its citizens and nation to great heights, the fact is that the leadership is doing none of that. (allAfrica.com)
Scientists not always truthful Feb 3, 2010
Stephen wrote on Feb 2, 2010 3:54 PM:" people's court ~~~ Acid rain is caused by sulfur and nitrogen oxide emissions from industry in general, but power plants in particular. Acid rain was curtailed due to provisions in the Clean Air Act. Reductions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide from coal-fired steam power plants has resulted in lower acid rain (and snow) events. As for the stratospheric ozone problem, the Antarctic Ozone Hole still occurs in the spring there. Some of the worst... (Logan Herald Journal, UT)
Stem cells rescue nerve cells by direct contact Feb 2, 2010
According to one hypothesis, the stem cells mature into fully-mature neurons that communicate with the threatened brain tissue; according to another, the stem cells secrete various growth factors that affect the host neurons. The new report, co-authored by several international research groups and lead by Karolinska Institutet, shows that stem cells transplanted into damaged or threatened nerve tissue quickly establish direct channels, called gap junctions, to the nerve cells. (EurekAlert!)
WHAT'S HOT IN MEDIA: Deitsch's January Power Rankings Feb 2, 2010
" AOL Fanhouse college football reporter John Walters, a fine writer for this brand for more than a decade, wrote last week that because of Tebow's fame. It's an interesting hypothesis. Ultimately, it will be years before we know whether McShay's analysis of Tebow is correct, but he may never have a bigger call than the one on Tebow. What viewers deserve from the likes of McShay, Mel Kiper Jr. and Mike Mayock is competence and unfiltered analysis. So far, McShay has been consistent with his... (SportsIllustrated.CNN)
Linheng Li proposes novel theory for mammalian stem cell regulation Jan 30, 2010
"If this hypothesis is true, the critical question will be how to target quiescent drug-resistant cancer stem cells," said Dr. Li. "We will test this model in cancers in an effort to determine how to activate quiescent (drug-resistant) cancer stem cells for further targeting.". (EurekAlert!)
Did Leonardo Paint Himself as "Mona Lisa"? Jan 29, 2010
The painting is "like a mirror: Everybody starts from his own hypothesis or obsession and tries to find it there," Vezzosi said in a telephone interview. He said most researchers believe the woman may have been either a concubine of the artist's sponsor, the Florentine nobleman Giuliano de Medici, or Lisa Gherardini, the wife of a rich silk merchant, Francesco del Giocondo. (CBS News -- World)
Efficient Markets Theory Disproved at Davos! Jan 29, 2010
And of course adherents to the efficient market hypothesis famously don't believe in the concept of found money or found savings. Two economists are walking down the street. (Slate)
Roubini Most Pessimistic on Euro Region as Spain Poses Risk of `Disaster' Jan 27, 2010
Trichet on Jan. 14 dismissed as an absurd hypothesis the argument that Greece could be forced to exit the euro area. The country should remain in the union where its problems will be unequivocally easier to solve, central bank governor said in the Financial Times on Jan. 22. (Bloomberg -- Europe)
Linguistics: Babelicious! Jan 27, 2010
An alternative hypothesis is that complex morphology improves economy and clarity of expression, something that is desirable so long as it is not too difficult to learn. A final possibility is simply that smaller language groups more faithfully transmit the grammar to their children, overspecification and all, even if it has no use. (The Economist)
Combo Therapy Shows Promise Against Brain Cancer Jan 26, 2010
"Our hypothesis was that the immune system basically needs a boost to kill the cancer cells," Dr. Suzanne de la Monte of Rhode Island Hospital, who led the research, said in a news release from the hospital. "We know that thymosin is currently being used in Europe to treat cancer, so we set out to see what effect this could have on glioblastomas.". (MEDLINEplus)
Smoke 'harms baby blood pressure' Jan 26, 2010
The hypothesis presented here is highly plausible and agrees with work from other research groups ... " He plans to continue to study the babies as they grow up to see if the damage is lasting and whether it leads to problems, such as high blood pressure, in later life. Professor George Haycock, scientific adviser for the Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths (FSID), said: "The hypothesis presented here is highly plausible and agrees with work from other research groups. (BBC News -- Health)
Increased expression of collagens, transforming growth factor-beta1, and -bata3 in gluteal muscle contracture Jan 25, 2010
This study confirmed our hypothesis that collagen types 1, 3, TGF-beta1 and TGF-beta3 were up-regulated in biopsy specimens obtained from patients with GMC. Complex interaction of TGF-beta1 with profibrotic function and TGF-beta3 with antifibrotic function may increase synthesis of collagens and thereby significantly contribute to the process of gluteal muscle scarring in patients with GMC.. The complete article is available as a. (BioMed Central)
Specialized Exercise Regimen Shown to Relieve Prolonged Concussion Symptoms, Study Suggests Jan 22, 2010
The UB regimen is based on the hypothesis that the regulatory system responsible for maintaining cerebral blood flow, which may be dysfunctional in people with a concussion, can be restored to normal by controlled, graded, symptom-free exercise. The researchers developed their program in 2004. (Science Daily)
Mammals 'floated to Madagascar' Jan 21, 2010
He developed the "sweepstakes" hypothesis because the biodiversity on Madagascar was unique, lacking "megafauna" such as elephants, lions and zebras. If the animals had reached Madagascar via a "land bridge" - meaning the landmass was connected to the African continent - Simpson argued that large mammals would have also made the journey. (BBC News -- Science)
Researchers find a treatment for deadly brain tumor Jan 20, 2010
De la Monte, who is also a professor of neuroscience at The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, says, "Our hypothesis was that the immune system basically needs a boost to kill the cancer cells. We know that Thymosin is currently being used in Europe to treat cancer, so we set out to see what effect this could have on glioblastomas.". What the investigators found is that when Talpha1 was used alone, the tumor continued to eventually grow. (EurekAlert!)
25 years and counting Jan 20, 2010
Only in the last 25 years has creative thinking concocted a hypothesis that such deficits are not only not dangerous - but they are indicative of a healthy allocation of "capital" and the superiority of the US markets and economy. And the bigger our deficits, the more vocal the apologists became in rationalizing our lack of financial discipline. (Asia Times Online)
Investing in irrational markets Jan 18, 2010
The financial crisis reflects the fallacy of the efficient market hypothesis. IT is amazing that economic theories still consider that markets are governed by the efficient market hypothesis (EMH), which assumes rational investors, an orderly market and that all available information are known. (The Star Online, Malaysia -- Business)
Eelgrass study may help salmon, crab populations (1) Jan 18, 2010
The hypothesis is we ll find higher abundance of crab around eelgrass than on bare sediment, he said. He ll put out traps in the new eelgrass beds, as well as in older, more established beds and non-eelgrass habitat and take stock of the number and size of the crab he catches. (Coos Bay-North Bend The World, OR)
Crime declines in Covert Twp. Jan 18, 2010
One hypothesis to explain the decrease is that more people are staying home because they have less money in hard times, he said. An Associated Press story last month reported that for the first six months of 2009 the FBI stated that crime fell across the country, bucking trends found in previous economic downturns in the past half-century. (St. Joseph Herald-Pallidium, MI)
Puzzle me this: climate change theory allows no ice age Jan 16, 2010
Though climate scientists immediately debunked his hypothesis when it was published in 2008, Lord Monckton is still the most prominent intellectual spokesman for the climate-change sceptic movement ... The hypothesis took the lowest possible range of carbon dioxide's known warming effect on climate, multiplied it by the lowest possible effect of the various feedbacks that amplify the warming effect, to give a figure well below that shown by any observation ... One of the implications of the... (Sydney Morning Herald -- Australia)
Letters to the editor Jan 15, 2010
This hypothesis should be worth an experimental test period. DONALD GOLDSMITH. (San Francisco Chronicle -- Opinion)
Trichet Says No Special Treatment for Greece Jan 15, 2010
Trichet nevertheless today dismissed as an "absurd hypothesis" the argument that Greece could be forced to exit the euro area. He also played down the importance of Greece's economy on the euro region, which he said represents less than 3 percent of the bloc's GDP, especially when compared with the size of a U.S. state such as California. (BusinessWeek)
New Insight on How Trees Have Evolved to Obtain Light and Photosynthesize at the Greatest Rate Jan 15, 2010
The commonly accepted hypothesis has been that decreasing SLA in trees of increasing size is a result of leaf-by-leaf acclimation to the local environment. Physical factors such as differences in light intensity are affected by differences in leaf position within the canopy, providing different local environments. (Science Daily)
Warren Buffett's Priceless Investment Advice Jan 14, 2010
Two words for the efficient market hypothesis: Warren BuffettAn interesting academic study illustrates Buffett's amazing investment genius. From 1980 to 2003, the stock portfolio of Berkshire Hathaway beat the S&P 500 index in 20 out of 24 years. (MSNBC -- Business)
Trends that drive price growth Jan 12, 2010
personalsovereignty - one problem with your hypothesis, is that unlike 1996, there is a real problem with the amount of debt carried by many homeowners this time around. (and more critically the amount of debt prospective new home owners need to take on). (Sydney Morning Herald -- Opinion)
Folate Levels in Pregnancy Tied to ADHD in Offspring Jan 10, 2010
"Our findings further support the hypothesis that maternal nutrition contributes to an individual's development, with potential consequences for their behavior later in life," study author Wolff Schlotz said in a news release from the journal's publisher. The results are special cause for concern in relation to low-income families, where a mother's nutritional health receives a low priority, and women are less likely to take folic acid supplements prior to becoming pregnant. (MEDLINEplus)
New Drugs, New Combinations Fight Breast Cancer Jan 10, 2010
The hypothesis holds that tumors are propelled forward by a small group of stem cells or "mother" cells that are resistant to existing therapies, explained Dr. Jenny Chang, lead author of this study and professor of medicine at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. In fact, studies have suggested that chemotherapy can actually increase the number of these stem cells, Chang said. (MEDLINEplus)
Cancer & Chemo Jan 10, 2010
However, the researchers say the link is currently a "hypothesis" that needs further testing. Cancer patients may be able to fight chemotherapy-induced nausea using a common pantry spice -- ginger. (CNN -- Health)
Why Build Hotels? Jan 10, 2010
Bill wrote on Jan 5, 2010 1:45 PM:" Couple of problems with your hypothesis here. First of all, the Hotels that are building must have thought there was a market for them. Second, the two are not mutually exclusive. There's plenty of room in town should the Hampton Inn folks want to build a Target, but then again that's not their business so it's likely they would not build it, it would be, say, Target. And finally, the Spanish Towne development is supposed to include shopping of some sort at... (New Iberia, LA)
Not fazed by red air days Jan 10, 2010
PeterBrunson wrote on Jan 9, 2010 9:58 AM:" Global warming - it is the chemical content of second hand smoke that is the problem. CO2 is not harmfull to people unless (like any other gas) the concentrations are incredibly high. Code red days are indication of pm2.5, ozone etc not CO2. Pollution levels are not worse today than in 1946. There is no data to support that contention. The number of pheasants in the valley has nothing to do with air pollution. The number of native fish in our streams... (Logan Herald Journal, UT)
We must not accept Copenhagens failings Jan 10, 2010
BBC News - We must not accept Copenhagens failings. Page last updated at 11:12 GMT, Tuesday, 29 December 2009. (BBC News -- Science)
The Deep Freeze of 2010 Jan 10, 2010
NON VERIFICATION HYPOTHESIS = A LARGE PILE -- DOES NOT MEAN WE HAVE TO BE TAXED TO DEATH FOR CRAZY IDEAS OR SELF PROMOTIONAL PROFITS.. by troutfishyman January 10, 2010 9:55 AM EST. (CBS News -- Early Show)
Gems of wisdom and good advice Jan 10, 2010
As a practitioner, he debunked a number of widely accepted finance theories such as the efficient market hypothesis (EMH). The very fact that he consistently outperformed the market over many years puts paid to any notion that the market is perfect and cannot be beaten over the long-term living proof that the EMH is a great theoretical notion fatally flawed in practice. (The Star Online, Malaysia -- Business)
