Science News for Writers

Are we what we eat? In a new evolutionary proof of the old adage, 'we are what we eat', Cornell University scientists have found tantalizing evidence that a vegetarian diet has led to a mutation that -- if they stray from a balanced omega-6 to omega-3 diet -- may make people more susceptible to inflammation, and by association, increased risk of heart disease and colon cancer. The discovery, led by Drs. Tom Brenna, Kumar Kothapalli, and Alon Keinan provides the first evolutionary detective work that traces a higher frequency of a particular mutation to a primarily vegetarian population from Pune, India (about 70 percent), when compared to a traditional meat-eating American population, made up of mostly Kansans (less than 20 percent). It appears in the early online edition of the journal Molecular Biology and Evolution. By using reference data from the 1000 Genomes Project, the research team provided evolutionary evidence that the vegetarian diet, over many generations

Credit: © IMG_191 / Fotolia   Clashes between the use of faith vs. scientific evidence to explain the world around us dates back centuries. If I understand the research in this report and in other studies posted here, the seeming conflict between faith and science resides in each of us due in part to the structures of our brains combined with how each individual's brain is genetically constructed combined with the fact that of the twenty or so "modes" of our brain, only one can grab the attention of our conscious and aware self at a time. Recent research (below in related stories) shows differences between conservative and liberal thought processes; conservatives tending to more dominant amygdala reactions and liberals tending to more frontal lobe responses.  (This is my extremely simplistic explanation of our immensely complex brains.)  The importance of this is that political views are as much genetically controlled as based on logical conclusion. Now

Credit: Michigan State University    This chart shows the life expectancy of black males and black names, 1802-1970. Giving characters a name  is one of the pleasures of writing, as is, to be honest, using a person particularly disliked as the model for a villain. Of course, you can go for it  and name your bad guy Dr. Evil and have a good laugh while you're at it  Okay, so Dr. E is a caricature, but isn't his name fitting? According to this study of black names, the name you give a character has deeper implications of acceptance and success or ostracization and rejection through life. In our effort to create believable characters and stories, this is a small hint on how to name characters - perhaps a name with neutral connotation to disguise a villain or a name with negative connotation to saddle a protagonist with an additional small burden in life. Imagine James Bond with a different name, say Ralph Foster.  Doesn't work as well does it?  Pick a

How science literate are we?  How science literate is the population of the U.S? This is one tough question. First, how do you quantify science literacy and by what measure?  Is it enough to understand the basic concepts of science as taught in public schools, and to know a little math and biology and chemistry and physics and business? (Yes, business is an exploding field of scientific research - with fascinating results.) " Science fiction properly defined mean that if there is any real science, it is correct ." ~ Ursula Le Guin, NPR interview August 29, 2015 Do we need a functional understanding?  Okay, what is a functional understanding and how do you measure this? To go a step further, is there a need to stay current with a variety of research outside of professional interest and across an impossibly wide range of subjects?  Is it enough to (attempt to) stay current in one field? As often pointed out, there are more scientists active today tha

dailymail.co.uk A reconstructed early pottery vessel from Torihama, Japan, dating to the end of the Late Pleistocene (ca 12,000 years old).  Chemical analysis revealed that such vessels were used to  process fish during the late Glacial period. Why did ancient humans invent pottery? What survival advantage did firing lumps of mud give us at the end of the last ice age? Food storage?  Easier transportation of grain or other foodstuff?  Something to dramatically throw against a cave wall in an argument with your significant other?  Brewing beer?  To make ancient Frisbees?  Theories abound. For me, the question isn't how come.  It's who and why?  Who figured out that heating mud in the depth of a fire would give it a temporary permanence?  Did someone deliberately do it in a moment of bored curiousity.  Was it an accident?  Or and this is my theory, did a six year old make "dinner" for her family by cooking her mud-food over a fire? Who pays attentio

Sunbathing season is near, so the report of this research conclusion is particularly good (?) news for worshipers of Sol and the healthy tan.  Yes, there's still a risk of skin cancer, yadda yadda, but. . . longer life?  Awesome.  Break out the sun screen and loll on the beach.  Can't come soon enough for those of us in the Northwest.  Summer is usually three or four days in August and I can't wait. Why do sunbathers live longer than those who avoid the sun? New research looks into the paradox that women who sunbathe are likely to live longer than those who avoid the sun, even though sunbathers are at an increased risk of developing skin cancer. An analysis of information on 29,518 Swedish women who were followed for 20 years revealed that longer life expectancy among women with active sun exposure habits was related to a decrease in heart disease and noncancer/non–heart disease deaths, causing the relative contribution of death due to cancer to increase. Wheth

Dracula (1931), directed by Tod Browning starring Bela Lugosi, Helen Chandler,  and David Manners, story by Bram Stoker, adapted for the screen from the Garrett  Fort stage play by Hamilton Deane & John L. Balderston. A joy of reading science releases is coming across apparently meaningless research that explains things we never knew we need, but do. Such as how much blood could Dracula suck out of someone's neck without killing them?  And, of course, how long would it take? I never knew that I need this information, but here it is. The full student paper including some mind boggling equations is linked in the attribution line.  I suggest wearing a garlic garland before reading it. *  *  *  *  * Out for blood:   Fluid dynamics explain how quickly a vampire could drain your blood To coincide with the 85th anniversary of Tod Browning’s ‘Dracula’ (1931) starring Bela Lugosi, should you (unfortunately) be assailed by a vampire, students from the Unive

Credit: © igor / Fotolia    When solving short (non-political) verbal problems in an experiment, liberals were more likely than conservatives to achieve solutions with a sudden insight or "Aha!" Conservatives and liberals do think differently Research shows different ways of solving everyday problems linked to political ideology. Big differences in the ways conservatives and liberals think about solving the nation's most pressing problems couldn't be more apparent during this presidential election cycle. But political ideas aside, people who hold conservative versus liberal perspectives appear to differ in everyday thinking processes and problem solving, according to new research. When solving short (non-political) verbal problems in an experiment, liberals were more likely than conservatives to achieve solutions with a sudden insight or "Aha!" In contrast, both groups achieved roughly an equal number of solutions through gradual, analytica

Credit: M.Lopez-Herrera via The Olduvai Paleoanthropology and Paleoecology Project and Enrique Baquedano. Artist's rendition of an early human habitat in East Africa 1.8 million years ago. Whether you write pre-historical fiction a la'  best-selling author Jean Auel or are interested in how we became who are today, this study has something for you.  For the first time researchers have constructed an accurate picture of how our ancestors lived some 1.8 million years ago, revealing what they ate, how they found food and what animals we had to compete with (and flee from as well.) Here's the report with a link to the full study in the attribution. *  *  *  *  * Early human habitat, recreated for first time,  shows life was no picnic Scientists have pieced together an early human habitat for the first time, and life was no picnic 1.8 million years ago.  Our human ancestors, who looked like a cross between apes and modern humans, had access to food

Credit: © jagodka / Fotolia    A new study looked at male rats housed in the same cage, and demonstrated  that mild stress can actually make male rats more social and cooperative than they are in an unstressed environment, much as humans come together after non-life-threatening events such as a national tragedy. After a mild stress, the rats showed increased brain levels of oxytocin and its receptor and huddled and touched more. (stock photo) As writers, we all know that men build friendships and bonds very differently than women. From Fight Club to Dumb & Dumber and The Little Rascals to the Big Bang Theory and the Red Green Show, male friendship movies and television are a part of popular culture.  While women don't get it, men don't either.  They just do it without a lot of thought. Part culture and part biology, male relationships are what they are based for a great part on beer, broads, and bragadacio. *  *  *  *  * The Man's Prayer I