People mostly yawn when they are near with family, friends, loved ones, and other bunch of people. This proposes the impression that yawning after watching or hearing somebody else yawn is connected to our emotions of putting ourselves in the shoes of others. Man’s best friends also do the same. Studies show that canines have the tendency to yawn often when they are exposed to people. Seeing familiar people yawn makes them do the same thing. However, there is still no enough evidence whether this has something to do with empathy or they are just stimulated by the sound they hear from people yawning.

A study conducted in Portugal led by Karine Silva, a behavioral biologist, made use of 29 dogs that had been together for 6 months with their master. The scientists executed the experiment in the rooms where the dogs are accustomed to lessen their anxiety. It is also done with the person they really know however the dogs cannot see them.

The researchers recorded the sounds of the yawns of the dog owners, an unacquainted woman, and a computer generated sound of a yawn. They also use prerecorded yawns for the volunteers to listen and for them to produce a natural yawn. There were two sessions that were executed after 7 days. In each session, the sounds were heard by the dogs, after which the research team measured number of times the dogs yawned as their reaction to the sounds they hear.

The result of the experiment shows that 12 in 29 dogs yawned during the sessions. In fact, dogs yawned 5 times more when they hear familiar people yawn compared to other recorded sounds. According to Silva, the result is an indication that dogs can empathize with people. She says that it is not surprising. The fact that humans started domesticating dogs almost 15,000 years ago and we have raised them to help us in doing various tasks have led to cross-species empathy.

According to a Ph. D. student at the Canine Cognition Center of Duke’s University in Durnham, North Carolina,the study tells us about the reason behind dog’s contagious yawning. However, catching behavior through hearing alone does not tell more about the nature of their empathy, Evan McLean says. It doesn’t answer the question if dogs can think about emotions just like humans.

Ádám Miklósi from the University of Eötvös Loránd in Budapest, assents that using behaviors as indicators will mark major similarities in behavior but it does not assure us if dog empathy is the same with our empathy. According to him, dogs can imitate different arrays of interests that can misguide human to think that they are controlled with similar mentality.

• Squash ball
• Jar
• Bucket
• Clean bin
• Stick
• Pen or pencil
• Paper

What to do

1. Find a large flat area and put the jar on the ground.
2. Crouch down about a metre from the jar. Hold the squash ball at arm’s length. Close one eye, then look at the jar and the squash ball. Move towards or away from the jar until the two look the same size.
3. Open your closed eye and mark your spot with the stick.
4. Stand behind the stick and try to throw the squash ball into the jar. Repeat ten times. Record how many went in, how many were in line but didn’t go in, and how many missed completely.
5. Repeat steps 1 to 4 with the bucket instead of the jar, remembering to record your results.
6. Then, repeat steps 1 to 4 with the bin instead of the jar, remembering to record your results.

What’s happening?

In this activity, you probably found that about the same number of throws were in line to hit for each target. If you had tried throwing at the same sized targets over different distances, the closer targets would have been much easier than the far away ones.

When you compared how the targets looked with the ball, you weren’t comparing size, instead you were comparing angles. A squash ball 40 mm wide held roughly one metre from your eye takes up about two degrees. That means any throw you make within those two degrees will be in line with the target.
Applications

In this activity, you are measuring angular diameter. Angular diameter links size and distance. If you know how large something is, you can use its angular diameter to work out how far away it is. Golfers need to know how far away the hole is before they play a shot. So, there’s a flag in the hole, and they know how big the flag is. This helps them estimate the distance to the hole.

Hold the squash ball about a metre from the jar. Close one eye, then move closer or further away until the two look the same size.

Try to throw the squash ball into the jar ten times. Record your results.

Go through these steps again with the bucket, then the bin.

In basketball, you get more points if you shoot for the hoop from far away – three points for a long shot, two for a shot from closer in. Generally, the long distance shots don’t go in as often as close shots, so it’s a risk to try for one. The researchers made a prediction: that professional basketball players would overgeneralise from their very recent performance to expected future performance. In other words, they would try more three-point shots after a successful three-point shot, and less three-point shots after an unsuccessful three-point shot.

The researchers looked at hundreds of thousands of shots that players took during two seasons of NBA and WNBA basketball. They found what they were expecting – as players got more and more three-point shots in a row, they were more and more likely to try for another and vice versa.

The researchers also looked to see how often these shots went in. If the ‘hot hand’ was real, the researchers might expect more three-point shots to go in after a streak of them. However, the researchers found the opposite. Players were typically scoring on about 36% of three-point shots, but if they took another attempt after a successful three-point shot, their chance of scoring was only 35%. After two successful shots, the chance of a third successful shot was only 30%, and after three the chances of scoring dropped to roughly 26%!

After tallying up points scored, the researchers believe players should consider each shot separately, instead of trying to use their ‘hot hand’ or worrying about a missed shot.

There are achievements that NASA has attained despite facing challenges in implementing the vision, the topography mission that was launched in 2008 to monitor sea level rise and climate change successfully sent first monthly images, this was a forward step in realizing some of their goals. Another project that is deemed to be performing better kicked off in the year2011 to improve short-term weather forecast is currently bridging data to concur with the National oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOSAA) joint Polar Satellite system program to be launched in 2016. Antonio Busalacchi an insider in the operatives of these ventures noted that due to lack of money the vision might not be in place by 2020 although successful initial steps have been made.

The expected annual budget of two billion dollars that is able to handle these projects has not been realized since the year 2007, instead only less than 1.5 billion is allocated to cover the costs of the research that is needed to make it succeed. This is not enough to cater for even the expensive scientific equipment needed in all the projects, due to the prevailing economic conditions prices have been on the rise limiting the amount of work that can be done. To leverage the escalating costs the committee is considering cost caps and looking at the mission from an angle of a total package rather than separate undertakings. This will eventually increase the chances of attaining the laid down goals much faster, and while the project is viewed with the general befit that it will bring at the end to accomplish the stated overall objective, Individual budgeting for the projects becomes less beneficial to the whole program.

The survey results presumed that environmental satellites managed by NOAA would have complemented the flotilla operated by NASA, however with the prevailing monetary issues that were facing NOAA including budget cuts, the mission failed to materialize as expected. Basing on the current circumstances the committee hopes to bring to light the urgency of having overreaching national strategies for Earth observation that will ensure better cooperation and facilitation. To develop these strategies are responsibilities of powers beyond NOAA and NASA they are to be developed at the office of science and technology with supervision from the white house.

Several options that are currently used for DNA sequencing involves fluorescence labeling for the determination of chemical bases. They are however characterized by slow pace of reaction course making the new nanopore technology a more preferred choice for DNA sequencing and identification. The whole process is made simpler by elimination of steps which involved copying and then labeling by fluorescent dyes in the preceding methods.

Researchers in Massachusetts and California suggested the concept of passing the DNA strand through a pore and reading its letters in the year 1996. This idea prompted more scientific studies on how to achieve the goal of passing DNA through selected proteins with tiny pores. This arrangement was to be done within a film and changes made by the bases as they pass through the tiny pore registered on a detector scale for identification.

One of the major challenges registered with this technology is that whenever an electric voltage was applied through the medium, DNA bases would move through the pore at high speeds. This prompted Mark Akeson and his colleagues at the University of California, Santa Cruz to think of a possible solution two years ago. This was a protein called phi29 which was charged with the responsibility of slowing down the pace of the moving strand of DNA in the nanopore set up.
A report made in the Nature Biotechnology by a team under the leadership of Jens Gundlach, A physicist at the University of Washington, Seattle, incorporated the use of phi29 protein. The nanopore set up by this team rapidly identifies all the four chemical bases in the course of the DNA strand movement. Using phi29 in the set up allows for an electrical identification of each base as it passes, a feature making this technology be referred to as holy grail according to Gundlach.

This advancement was taken up by Oxford Nanopore Technologies with its officials saying at a meeting held in February at Florida, that they had already snagged the nanopore grail. Oxford Nanopore Technologies promised to expand the nanopore DNA sequencing concept with complete reading of full DNA electronically and at the same time selling machines with thousands nanopore running as well. This is projected to be realized by the year 2013 running full genome for as fast as within 15 minutes for about $1000.

The report from Oxford Nanopore was the first announcement that was welcome by genome researchers. Geoffrey Barrall, president of Electronic Biosciences, San Diego, California however had a different reaction to this report claiming that the data was not comprehensive enough. Nanopore is considered by genome researchers to be a major boost in better understanding of DNA sequencing. Barrall is however in support of the Gundlach’s team idea to be the first instance where DNA has been sequenced.

In a census, information is collected from everyone in a particular group (called a ‘population’). The largest census conducted in Australia is the Census of Population and Housing, which was last conducted in August 2011. This census aims to collect data from all people who are living in Australia on census night. Since every member of the population is included in the data, we can accurately draw conclusions about the whole population.

Unfortunately, a census can be very difficult and expensive to run. A survey, on the other hand, aims to collect and analyse information from just part of a population. This information can then be used to draw conclusions about the population as a whole. Perhaps you know of friends or family members who have been phoned by a market research company wanting information about their spending habits or how they intend to vote. The company doesn’t intend to call everyone they are interested in because that would take too much time.

For a survey to have useful results, your sample must be representative of the population. For example: if you wanted to know what proportion of students rode a bike to school, you wouldn’t just survey people in the car park after school. However, it’s also equally important that you wouldn’t just ask those competing in a BMX race on the weekend.

One common type of sampling is simple random sampling (SRS). This means that every member of the population has an equal chance of being included in the sample – this avoids a ‘bias’. It’s a bit like pulling names out of a hat.

It may be difficult to make sure everyone has an equal chance of being surveyed, but as you get closer, your sample will be more representative. If you succeed, your sample will represent the whole population. And surveying your sample should be a lot easier than asking every person in the population!

Analysis of the body rhythms for specific daily patterns is important in medicine according to Warman. He says that it is not advisable to make a general rule to perform all surgical operations at night in response to the research findings. The findings are instead driving his team to consider an alternative way of understanding surgery protocols by keeping the clock ticking normally.

The experiment that was designed by Warman and his team was aimed at bringing a lasting solution to the puzzle of recovery in surgical patients. Doctors were mixed between the understanding of what causes disorientation immediately upon waking up from operations and anesthesia effects. Reasons for fitful sleeping behavior of recovering patients could not be understood by these health care professionals. All these were found to revolve around the way biological clock was tickling as seen in bees. Molecular understanding of how the phenomenon works is in line with the clock genes of the insects.

A similar result was registered by researchers who were working on bees’ behavior. The subjects of study were trained on a common point for sugar solution. These insects were then anesthetized and allowed to be in a coma for some time. When they woke up from the effects, their motion were monitored and seen to deviate from the expected direction. Bees have a natural inbuilt instinct that allows them estimate direction of the sun by their biological clock. The findings revealed that the bees were responding to external influence of anesthesia. With bees, jet lag concept was apparent in this study as revealed by the findings.

Another test was conducted within the confines of the laboratory without outdoor cues for the activity patterns. Cycles from the study showed a delay in activity of clock gene after being treated with night time anesthesia. Response of bees when subjected to different concentrations of the chemical anesthesia by research is what Matthias Eikermann was concerned about. The worker at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston is trying to project what the repercussions would be for the bees when the anesthesia is altered. This idea is to be useful in determination of the component of insect physiology that is affected by anesthesia.

Research on bees was better confounded as a worthy research step before the ultimate decision to start working on real humans. This was in line with the control of all the factors in studies using bees as subjects as opposed to clinical trials in humans according to Nancy Chamberlin. She is a neurobiologist at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. She talks of these results as being a reason for difficulty in using human studies for analysis of clinical trials.

Grainger’s discovery gave insight into how reading skills develop.The investigation revealed that reading begins from sight,and further demonstrated that primates just like humans, rely on what they have seen and stored in the brain to identify, distinguish and learn real words.This was confirmed when this psychologist got baboons learn a series of four-letter words and differentiate real from nonsense words.

Stanislas Dehaene, a French neurologist at the INSERM-CEA Cognitive neuroimaging unit,Gif-Sur-Yvette refered to this kind of model as “the recognition of visual word form”.In a similar arrangemnt and investigation, Grainger studied this phenomenon using a research facility with indoor and outdoor sections.Baboons were required to identify four letter words on a computer screen and receive a token for every correct identification of words. Amazingly, the baboons came in through opennings on the walls and were able to identify similar-sounding words such as done and vast. They were also able to identify even four letter nonsense words like datr and dnoe. They carefully followed the instructions and touched an oval shape whenever a word was not real; meeting all the expectations of the study.

While food acted as an incentive for the baboons,the learning experince actually came from the ability to visually identify different objects. Grainger managed to get individual baboons to learn between 81 and 308 from a pool of almost 7000 nonsense words with remarkable accuracy.The study revealed that the monkeys did not necessarily memorize words, but relied on letter combinations to tell whether the word was real or bogus. This way, the monkeys were able to correctly identify nonwords as bogus more times than they failed to recognize real words. Grainger argued that if the baboons lacked knowledge of letter patterns, then they would have easily failed to recognize many unfamilier words as real.

This study provides a basis for the study on whether the parts of the baboon brains that aid in letter and word recognition, correspond to those of humans. So far Dahaene and other neurologists believe that the left brain is activated by reading which is associated with recalling visual forms. These neurologists use this concept to explain why learning of letter objects precede writing.Based on such outcomes, scientists can unearth the causes of dyslexia in young children.

However, for about 15 years, scientists concerned with the climate have been astounded on how such global warming could have occurred during the ancient times. Currently, there is a team of researchers that is providing a novel explanation. The team suggests that greenhouse gases might have gushed from the ice-free Antarctica’s melting permafrost.

The main problem with this ancient global warming has to do with its magnitude. There was some form of carbon rich deposit that released numerous tons of carbon across a few millennia. This was in form of methane and carbon dioxide as the greenhouses. This ancient global warming could not have resulted from absent human beings who were burning fossil fuels. The most plausible explanation is that of the methane hydrates that is, methane locked in ice. However, still, this does not seem to be sufficient methane to have been stored to cause warming of such a magnitude.

Robert DeConto and other climate scientists from the University of Massachusetts claim they have come across an ancient store house for carbon that is large enough to have done the job. Carbon existing in form of decayed plants is stored in soil, coal and in the mud of lakes and oceans. This decayed plant carbon in the frozen ground is plenteous and is easily brought out during the thawing of carbon-laden permafrost.

Thus, DeConto and his company set out to find out the amount of permafrost carbon that could have been present at the time of the PETM and the frequency of its release. This required a couple of intelligent considerations such as the type of plants that grew there, the amount of land that occupied high attitudes, the amount of carbon dioxide and methane that could be released at the thawing of the permafrost, and many others.

According to the modeling by the team, approximately 3.7 trillion tons of carbon was held by the PETM world, and Antarctica had almost half of this. After the warming that had been occurring for numerous years reached its threshold causing the permafrost to start thawing, the decaying organic matter gave rise to 1.2 trillion tons of methane and carbon dioxide.

The caused greenhouse warming led to the thawing of more permafrost hence producing additional greenhouse gases. The model suggested that about all the permafrost stores could have been released 10,000 years later. This is expected to have increased the global temperature to the same level that happened.

In an area that has been devoid of a plausible explanation, one could anticipate that many people will welcome a possible solution. According to a founding member of PETM-Gerald Dickens, from Rice University, this should not be the anticipation when an enormous problem like the PETM is in question.

However, he sees this solution to be as problematic as that involving methane hydrates. This is particularly with regard to the question of the amount of carbon that could lead to such an incident. Moreover, it is tricky to test these ideas.

To identify the iron under an impressive number of kilometers of rock layer, scientits have watched its effects: both the satellite’s movement on the orbit and the movement of Mars itself. A team including the geodesist David Smith from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge and another sixteen of his colleagues have studied Messenger’s orbital movements. They measured the variation of gravity around Mercury using the relative Doppler frequency changes of its wavelength. Gravity varies due to the unequal mass distribution inside the planet.

The way mass is distributed inside Mercury also influences the way this planet moves. Using a big-dish radar, changes of Mercury’s rotation axis propensity can be precisely measured from Earth. The same technology is able to detect and measure the subtle rotation speed variations caused by the solar tides.

Analyzing gravitational and orbital data makes it possible to obtain a very likely image of Mercury’s inside, which seems to be full of iron. Researchers assume that the core spans 2030 kilometers from the center of the planet, meaning 83% of the planetary radius, which is quite a lot knowing that Earth’s core occupies only 55% of the entire planet.
Information on Mercury’s mass distribution also suggest the existance of iron deposits in an unexpected place, as a layer around its core. Theory based on information gathered by Messenger on Mercury’s surface geochemistry and the chemical reactions specific for iron and its minerals shows that during formation of the planet, a combination of iron and sulfur led to the formation of the frozen layer around the core, with a thickness between a few tens of kilometers and 200 kilometers. This suggests that the planet’s rocky crust would be only about 200 kilometers thick.

David Stevenson of California Institute of Technology in Pasadena states that if all this data is correct, this is a major achievment. Thanks to the new information, scientists might find answers for a number of things they had troubles explaining so far, like why Mercury’s magnetic field is so weak. Now, they foresee a possible cause: planet’s liquid core generates a strong magnetic field, but the iron sulfide layer, which is electrically conductive, is partially covering and depleting it.
The Messenger team continues its study gathering even more data on Mercury’s gravity. They hope the new information would support the alleged existence of a scum layer inside the planet. Also, they use the gravity concerning data accumulated so far in order to verify the radar orbital data.