Update on the meteriorite bearing signs of extraterrestrial life….

On March 8, 2011March 8, 2011 By A.P.In Nature, Origins of Life, ScienceLeave a comment

NASA and its top scientists disavowed the work by noon Monday.

The holes interepreted as bacterial fossils could have been caused by contamination on Earth.

The study wasn’t reviewed by peers.

The editor of the journal acknowledged that they were prompted to publish it in hopes of attracting a buyer.

“There has been no one in the scientific community, certainly no one in the meteorite analysis community, that has supported these conclusions,” NASA Astrobiology Institute Director Carl Pilcher said Monday of the latest work.

http://m.apnews.com/ap/db_16026/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=r33uY5F7

Zombie Ants

On March 7, 2011March 6, 2011 By A.P.In Ants, Nature, UncategorizedLeave a comment

For at least 48 million years, the fungus Ophiocordyceps unilateralis has been taking over the minds of infected ants, making them desert their colonies and move to leaves that provide the ideal conditions for the parasite to reproduce.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2010/aug/18/zombie-carpenter-ant-fungus

Thanks to Kebmodee for bringing this to the attention of the Its-Interesting community.

Bacteria fossils found in the middle of meteorites?

On March 6, 2011March 6, 2011 By A.P.In Origins of Life, Uncategorized1 Comment

Dr. Richard Hoover of NASA/Marshall Space Flight Center has discovered fossils similar to cyanobacteria from Earth inside meteorites, bolstering the hypothesis held by many scientists that life is widely distributed throughout the universe, and that life here on Earth may have come from other planets.

read about it here: http://journalofcosmology.com/Life100.html

and here: http://news.cnet.com/8301-17852_3-20039647-71.html

Thanks to kebmodee for bringing this to the attention of the Its-Interesting community.

The Neurobiology of Attitudes Towards Homeless People

On March 5, 2011March 5, 2011 By A.P.In Empathy, Homelessness, The Brain2 Comments

When faced with the prospect of marginalized, alienated people entering our community, our brains automatically categorize into “us” and “them,” and we perceive dangers with “them.”

We unconsciously view “us” in a better light, and rationalize away facts that might cast us in a negative light.

Our brains also automatically prompt us to devalue “them,” and cherry-pick data to support this view.

We then unconsciously work to emphasize ways that we are different from “them,” even when those differences are trivial.

This automatic, unconscious overvaluing of “us” and devaluation of “them” leads to discrimination.

Freud described this phenomenon long ago as “the narcissism of small differences.”

Read this fascinating and provocative article about the neurobiology of atttitudes towards homeless people, written by UT Southwestern Medical Center Dallas psychiatrist Adam Brenner.

http://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/sunday-commentary/20100910-Adam-Brenner-Why-not-in-3669.ece

Why don’t Wall Street criminals go to prison?

On March 4, 2011March 4, 2011 By A.P.In Crime, Human Behavior, Wealth and PowerLeave a comment

Recently almost every major firm has been involved in criminal activity that has impoverished millions and collectively destroyed trillions of dollars of the world’s wealth.

Nobody except Bernie Madoff has gone to prison.

Maybe it’s because Madoff’s victims were also wealthy people.

Read here in the March 3rd article of Rolling Stone: http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/why-isnt-wall-street-in-jail-20110216?page=1

Declining Empathy in the U.S.

On March 3, 2011February 13, 2011 By A.P.In Communication, Human Behavior, Science, Survival, The Brain, The FutureLeave a comment

Long considered an innate cornerstone of human behavior, a recent study demonstrates that empathy levels in the U.S. have been declining over the past 3 decades.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=what-me-care

Declining Proficiency in Science in Young U.S. Students

On March 2, 2011March 1, 2011 By A.P.In Education, ScienceLeave a comment

On the most recent nationwide science test, only about a third of US fourth graders and a fifth of high school seniors scored at or above the proficiency level.

Click here to read more from the New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/26/education/26test.html

Eating dog food for a month

On March 1, 2011February 18, 2011 By A.P.In UncategorizedLeave a comment

Today, Hanna Mandelbaum and Alison Wiener, owners of Evermore Pet Food, Inc., are starting a campaign they call Evermore Me. They will subsist exclusively for one month on their human-grade dog food, and will document the process and its results on their company website.

http://evermorepetfood.com/interact/evermore-me/

Are we in the first phase of the end of oil exportation?

On February 28, 2011February 28, 2011 By A.P.In Peak Oil, The Future1 Comment

A 2 page summary from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers says yes.

They propose 3 phases, summarized here.

Phase 1: When consumption exceeds production in a country that normally exports oil, it will stop exporting. This happened in the UK in 2003.

Phase 2: 6 years from now worldwide oil production will be on the declining side of the curve.

Phase 3: 20 years from now, Phase 1 will occur within the world’s top 5 oil exporters (Saudi Arabia, Russia, UAE, Iran and Norway). This will bring about the end of worldwide oil exportation.

Countries highly dependent on oil imports, which now include the USA, China and India, will be hurting.

http://www.ultimax.com/whitepapers/ETP1_ThreeSigns.pdf

Ice Hotels

On February 27, 2011February 7, 2011 By A.P.In Engineering, TravelLeave a comment

Hotels made entirely of ice, rebuilt every year…

Read this for an account of the experience (http://adventure.howstuffworks.com/ice-hotel.htm), and see below for links to individual hotels.

http://www.simply-sweden.com/icehotel/?gclid=CL260tmuzqYCFcpQ2godIgwiJg

http://www.icehotel.com/

http://www.icehotel-canada.com/index.php?action=&langue=en

http://www.google.com/images?rlz=1T4ADRA_enUS358US358&q=Ice+Hotel&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=univ&ei=Pxk7TYW_JsL78AbEn7TBCg&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=5&ved=0CGQQsAQwBA&biw=1900&bih=769