author and researcher Meg Holohan scours loads of pedantic journals and texts to institute you all the science you necessitate to eff . Here ’s this week ’s variant .
A Fruit Fly Walks Into a Bar
For years , I ’ve harbour dreams of sitting in a research laboratory and get yield fly ball drunk for a support . But it seems that a bunch of scientists at the University of California , San Francisco have outfox me to the ( rummy ) puncher . Ulrike Heberlein and Ammon Corl have been on the hunt for mutant yield fly ball that can drink profusely without slip by out . So , what helps a fruit fly front withstand its liquor ? manifestly , it ’s a variation on a gene called " happyhour . “(Who says scientist do n’t have a sense of humor ! ) Without an dynamic happyhour factor , flies can party all night long . But when the researchers turn the factor on , the fruit flies get drunk , pass out , and wake up hung - over ( often regretting dancing on the stripe and sending all those late Nox texts).Of path , the reality is that the similarity between fruit flies and their human streak fly first cousin are stupefying . accord to Heberlein , " They go through a form of hyperactivity and they gradually become uncoordinated ; they stop move and they fall over ; and eventually they are unable to right themselves . “ The hopes are that by empathize the gene , researchers will have perceptiveness on make a medicine to treat potomania in man .
Impressing the Chicks
The Truth about Math
Forget what Barbie said about girls hate math . Janet Hyde and Janet Mertz , two professors at the University of Wisconsin - Madison have published a bailiwick that refutes the claim that male child are of course unspoilt than girls at science and math . In fact , they discovered thatgirls perform as well as boys when give the same attention:“We reason that sexuality inequality , not lack of innate ability or ' intrinsical aptitude , ' is the primary reason fewer female than male are identified as excelling in mathematics performance in most land , let in the United States . " Hyde and Mertz based their finding on a statistical analysis of the World Economic Forum ’s Gender Gap Index , which ranked nations according to fairness in work , education , political achievement , and wellness . girlfriend growing up in countries with more grammatical gender fairness perform at levels closer to or equal to males . They also found that girls were subject of performing math at " ˜genius degree ' when given the right attention .
This Gang is My Gang, This Gang is Your Gang
For decades , scientists have argue whether it ’s nature or nurture that do teens to link up gangs and act like yobo . Well , chalk up another point for nature . After studying the DNA of over 2,500 adolescents , researchers at Florida State University have mold that boys with a clear-cut gene variance ( on the factor Monoamine Oxidase A , or MAOA ) are more likely to fall in mob , lug guns and engage in crimson behavior . Also known as the " warrior gene" , MAOA govern neurotransmitters such as dopamine and serotonin , intend the cistron is not only crucial in control moods , but also linked to a variety of mental illnesses and asocial behaviors . Interestingly , it ’s only men who are force to join gangs when carrying the MAOA mark . woman who hold the hereditary fluctuation are actually less likely to pack heat or engage in the thug life .
From Robot Maid to Robot Best Friend
