More Groovy Science 6

Big Bear Solar Observatory have the New Solar Telescope (NST) which took the picture you see of our sun. This is the most detailed picture of a sunspot ever taken in visible light. The resolution of the telescope is just 50 miles of the sun's surface. Science and technology are amazingly cool. The NST should help researchers better understand the complexities of solar weather and its impact on the space climate in our neighborhood of the solar system. Found Here.

• Generation X More Loyal to Religion


• Drink Water to Curb Weight Gain? Clinical Trial Confirms Effectiveness of Simple Appetite Control Method


• Capacity for Exercise Can Be Inherited: Finding Suggests Pharmaceutical Drugs  Can Be Used to Alter Activity Levels in Humans


• Do-Gooders Get Voted Off Island First: People Don't Really Like Unselfish Colleagues


• 'Charitable' Behavior Found in Bacteria


• Attention, Couch Potatoes! Walking Boosts Brain Connectivity, Function


• Starvation Keeps Sleep-Deprived Fly Brain Sharp


• Eating Berries May Activate the Brain's Natural Housekeeper for Healthy Aging


• Roots of Gamblers' Fallacies and Other Superstitions: Causes of Seemingly Irrational Human Decision-Making

More Groovy Science 4

Hello everyone! Here is more science to tantalize your synapses and neurons!

• Keep Your Fingers Crossed: How Superstition Improves Performance


• More Than Half the World's Population Gets Insufficient Vitamin D, Says Biochemist


• Low Vitamin D Levels Associated With Cognitive Decline


• Team Develops Non-Toxic Oil Recovery Agent


• Smoking Mind Over Smoking Matter: Surprising New Study Shows Cigarette Cravings Result from Habit, Not Addiction


• Light and Moderate Physical Activity Reduces the Risk of Early Death


• New Antibacterial Material for Bandages, Food Packaging, Shoes


• A Blood Test for Depression?


• 3-D Gesture-Based Interaction System Unveiled

Keep Your Fingers Crossed: How Superstition Improves Performance: New research shows that having some kind of lucky token can actually improve your performance -- by increasing your self-confidence. ...Volunteers who had their lucky charm did better at a memory game on the computer, and other tests showed that this difference was because they felt more confident. They also set higher goals for themselves. Just wishing someone good luck -- with "I press the thumbs for you," the German version of crossing your fingers -- improved volunteers' success at a task that required manual dexterity.

~Of course, this is still a form of delusion. Everyone tested in the study was superstitious and had a lucky charm. I'd like to see a study or two that involved people who don't rely on superstition as well. I think if a person understands the delusion of superstition, they will therefore not need the "lucky" feather in their cap. They will have appropriate self-confidence based on their actual abilities. Still, it's an interesting study.

More Groovy Science 3

Another science extravaganza! Here are some recent interesting studies:

• Dark Chocolate Lowers Blood Pressure


• Anxiety May Be at Root of Religious Extremism


• Brain Differences Found Between Believers In God And Non-Believers


• Honey as an Antibiotic: Scientists Identify a Secret Ingredient in Honey That Kills Bacteria


• Honey Bee Venom May Help Design New Treatments to Alleviate Muscular Dystrophy, Depression and Dementia


• How Fast Can Microbes Break Down Oil Washed Onto Gulf Beaches?


• Bicycling, Brisk Walking Help Women Control Weight


• Nano-Sized Advance Toward Next Big Treatment Era in Dentistry


• Complex, Multicellular Life from Over Two Billion Years Ago Discovered


• Cocoa Flavanols Improve Vascular and Blood Pressure Measures for Coronary Artery Disease Patients


• Road Surface Purifies Air by Removing Nitrogen Oxides


• Cell Phone Microscope Poised to Begin Trials in Africa


• Tibetan Adaptation to High Altitude Occurred in Less Than 3,000 Years

More Groovy Science - 1

Science is so wonderful. There are always scientists hard at work trying to make sense of things, trying to understand and make things better. It's awesome. Here are some recent studies:

• A Sense of Humor Helps Keep You Healthy Until Retirement Age


• Tidy House, Fitter Body?


• Spending Time in Nature Makes People Feel More Alive


• Meditation Reduces the Emotional Impact of Pain


• If You Don't Brush Your Teeth Twice a Day, You're More Likely to Develop Heart Disease


• Antibiotic Resistance Lasts Up to a Year


• Coffee Consumption Unrelated to Alertness: Stimulating Effects May Be Illusion


• Studies Provide More Support for Health Benefits of Coffee


• New Evidence That Chili Pepper Ingredient Fights Fat


• Peppers May Increase Energy Expenditure in People Trying to Lose Weight


• Milk: Two Glasses a Day Tones Muscles, Keeps the Fat Away in Women


• Cereal And Milk Is The New Sports Supplement

A Sense of Humor Helps Keep You Healthy Until Retirement Age: A good sense of humor helps you reach retirement age and be healthy. But after the age of 70, the health benefits of humor decrease, according to researchers in Norway. The records of 53,500 people were examined and then followed up after 7 years. "There is reason to believe that sense of humor continues to have a positive effect on mental health and social life, even after people have become retirees, although the positive effect on life expectancy could not be shown after the age of 75. At that point, genetics and biological aging are of greater importance." The test only measured for "friendly humor", not insulting, bullying or humor based on conflict.
The lead scientist of this study believes there are many myths and misunderstandings about humor. For example, one myth is that happy people have a better sense of humor than people who are more serious. ...A sense of humor can be learned and improved through practice. There was another study 4 years ago that also came to the same conclusion, so this larger study confirms the findings from the first.

More Research and Studies To Interest You

Here are some recent studies that seemed quite interesting.

Traditional Aerobic Fitness Training Trumps Pedometer-Based Walking Programs for Health Benefits: What to do: walk around the block or work up a sweat in an aerobic workout at the gym? If you're looking for the best health benefits from an exercise program, a traditional aerobic fitness program that gets your heart pumping beats a walking program hands down. But if you want to get moving, a walking program is easier to do, it's good for you, and you're more likely to stick with it.

Wild Birds Opt for Conventional Food Over Organic: The nutritional benefits of organic food have been called into question by new research which shows wild garden birds prefer conventional seed to that which has been organically- grown. "Protein is an essential nutrient in the diet of all birds and mammals and getting enough of it -- especially in winter -- can be hard. "We showed that when given free choice, wild birds opt for the conventional food over the organic, and the most likely explanation is its higher protein content. "This study is only looking at one aspect of the organic food debate -- it does not take into account the long-term health implications of using chemical fertilisers and pesticides, or the often negative environmental impact of conventional farming; for example, other work has shown that pesticides can strongly reduce availability of seeds for birds. "But it does raise questions about the nutritional benefits of organic food and what consumers are being led to believe."

5 New Scientific Studies To Interest You

I wanted to share some recent studies with you. This is the most interesting research that I've found, in no particular order:

Even Small Patches of Urban Woods Are Valuable for Migrating Birds: This is good news! The more humans make progress, multiply and spread, the less wild land there is for nature. This study found that the birds in their study seemed to be able to find enough food even in a small urban habitat and continue on their journey. So at least these birds - Swainson's Thrush (Catharus ustulatus), a relative of the American Robin - were somewhat flexible in their habitat needs and were able to meet their stopover requirements within urban forest patches.
~So, if you can, plant native flora and encourage your local area to have patches of naturalized habitat for nature. :)

Caffeine May Slow Alzheimer's Disease and Other Dementias, Restore Cognitive Function, According to New Evidence: Although caffeine is the most widely consumed psychoactive drug worldwide, its potential beneficial effect for maintenance of proper brain functioning has only recently begun to be adequately appreciated. Substantial evidence from epidemiological studies and fundamental research in animal models suggests that caffeine may be protective against the cognitive decline seen in dementia and Alzheimer's disease.

Key findings presented in "Therapeutic Opportunities for Caffeine in Alzheimer's Disease and Other Neurodegenerative Diseases":

Meditation For Godless Heathens

I gave up God long ago. Awhile after that I gave up spirituality and all things "airy fairy", like the idea of reincarnation, the concept of the universe having some kind of intelligence and connectedness, and the belief that "energy" was in everything and could be tapped and manipulated for healing and other magical uses. Now I use my skeptical powers and scientific wonder to evaluate new information. It gets much easier with practice.

One thing I never gave up was meditation. That's because I was never able to do it in the first place. Long ago I tried it and hated it. I was a dismal failure at it.

But, as a science-minded skeptical atheist, I love to learn about new research. For that I use keep an eye on Science Daily and Scientific American. Recently Science Daily reported that Brief Meditative Exercise Helps Cognition (see below for some of the report)

This intrigued me, because it said brief, not expert meditation. As a middle-aged woman, I find myself increasingly struggling to think clearly when it comes to reading or processing information. It's alarming and disturbing. So when I saw this study I thought, what the hell, that's something I can experiment with myself. Why not just try it and see if I can then think better?

So, based on the information in the report, I looked up Samatha Meditation and also found BuddhaNet.

So I tried it, just focusing on my breathing. I said I'd do it for 1 minute, just to see if I could. I read that doing a short burst of it often is better than trying to force yourself into a long session. So here's the amazing bit, I comfortably meditated, focusing on my breathing and letting thoughts go, for 10 minutes! I think I can do this! After I opened my eyes I felt refreshed and happy. I think I like it!

~Later: I tried another two times today. Once I meditated easily for 20 minutes which refreshed me as much as a 3 hour nap. A bit ago I wanted to wash dishes but my shoulder was burning (a recurring problem I've had for awhile now). Normally nothing makes it better, not painkillers, stretching, nothing. I thought, hey, what if I meditate for 10 minutes? I've heard that can help with chronic pain. I'll be damned 10 minutes later I was stretching and feeling pain-free. It came back but only after an hour and not nearly as bad. I think de-stressing and relaxing is very healthy for such things. :)

~

Here's the thing. The information I found was all stuffed full of "musts" about some god or other and mystical energy, and a bunch of other nonsense. Getting through all of that to get to the instruction on the actual meditation technique is a challenge.

It would be nice to find online instruction on mindfulness meditation from a secular point of view. Does anyone have any resources?

An excerpt of the report:

Looking Forward To Monday and Trying to Exercise Again

Monday is going to be a great day. I just know it. At least I'm really excited about it. Of course I'm also sort of dreading it for a different reason.
Monday I will hopefully get both my wonderful, new microscope as well as the slides for it. That will be awesome and fun and keep me busy for a long time.
Monday is also my 40th birthday. March 2nd, mark it on your calendars. I'm going to thoroughly be middle aged. This one is really hitting me hard, for some reason. Should I have accomplished something by now? I think about other people my age and then I think about my life and I feel like I haven't done anything yet. I'm not ready for my life to be half over. I'm just getting started, in some ways.
Anyway, I'm trying to be positive about it all. The microscope is a perfect distraction for my woes.

On another note, I learned about a new study recently that sounded interesting and possibly quite helpful to me. I thought I'd share it with you.
I heard about it on a Canadian science podcast. The professor is James Timmons in league with other researchers in Scotland. It goes like this: