Category: Mind, Body & Health
-
A few interesting and uplifting items from the world of science. Always refreshing to get away from the acrimonious world of politics, war and religious cartoons. A Found World : A team of scientists from the US, Inonesia and Australia have discovered a patch of pristine natural world tucked away in the Foja Mountain region…
-
That Red and Blue divide in our national politics may be more of a Black and White one, suggest studies of political behavior. Society for Personality and Social Psychology had a conference last week that showcased several provocative psychological studies about the nature of political belief. Some highlights from the studies: Emory University psychologist Drew…
-
I had been toying with the idea of this post for a while and today I discovered that the Sleepy Kid has beaten me to it. Described here are some details of an interesting discovery (almost ten years ago, but only recently in the news) in neuroscience with possible implications for ethics, morality and possibly…
-
For animal lovers, the joy of living with a companion animal is tempered by the knowledge that our pets most likely will die before us. We also know when we bring animals into our lives that some day we ourselves may be the instrument of their death – when disease, old age or some other…
-
This story has been making the rounds of the blogosphere, although it is not breaking news in India. In the last two decades or so, the ancient practice of female infanticide in rural India has more or less been supplanted by selective abortion of female fetuses. Technology – ultrasound and other sex selection tests have…
-
Where are all the sexy scientists? Or the scientists who love poetry, ride motorcyles, paint, play music, are social activists? And those who are loving fathers and mothers? Could it be that there are no scientists who fit the bill? Or is it that they exist but we just don’t associate these "human" qualities and…
-
Why don’t they just ban tobacco? Smoking is bad but this is going too far – as long as it is legal. Well meaning nanny do-gooders are just as intrusive as self righteous moral arbiters, says Leonard Glantz. Glantz is a professor of health law, bioethics and human rights at the Boston University School of…
-
Here is a study that speaks volumes about aggression and the perception of masculinity. "A Cornell University study has demonstrated that men who feel their masculinity threatened overcompensate by adopting hypermasculine stances such as homophobia, support for the Iraq war, and a desire to buy a SUV: Willer administered a gender identity survey to a sample…
-
"Gut Reaction" is much more than just a colorful and imprecise expression. It is a very real and measurable physiological phenomenon connected to our brain … and now it appears, also to our conscience. Researchers at the American College of Gastroenterology conference recently presented a paper showing that compared to the standard polygraph which measures…
-
In the early 1980’s, my husband and I and our two small children lived in Germany for two years. Our daughter attended grade school there and was fluent in German while my own grasp of the language was rudimentary. I remember occasionally seeking my six year old daughter’s help with translation in dealing with workmen,…
-
It is possible that our sleeping habits may be related to the kind of food we eat, its availability and ease of procurement. The need and ability to hide from predators may also dictate how and how much different species sleep. Psychiatrist Jerome Siegel of UCLA makes an evolutionary connection between the "ecological niche" of…
-
Being the first born in any family brings with it some universal advantages and drawbacks. _ You get the undivided attention of the parents for a while. But first time parents tend to make some mistakes which they don’t repeat with subsequent children. _ You have more early baby pictures but in the later ones,…
-
Reports about possible mercy killings in a New Orleans hospital in the aftermath of Katrina have been circulating for some time. Given the explosive nature of the allegations involved, it has been a surprisingly low key story so far. A few weeks ago, it was even suggested that charges of doctors killing their patients, may…
-
The latest issue of Newsweek has a column by a reader who extols the virtues of her sixteen years of "all girls" education. The debate is very old and I don’t know if we will ever have the right answer. I myself went to a girls’ school and my children to integrated public schools. Although…
-
Japanese women are developing new sicknesses after their husbands retire and start hanging around the house full time. The phenomenon RHS mostly afflicts women over 55 who have spent their lives in the traditional role of stay-at-home wives. Comments especially welcome from middle aged women and those with retired husbands.
Accidental Blogger 