In a paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers from the University of California, San Diego and Harvard say they have provided the first laboratory evidence that cooperative behavior is contagious.

 Researchers showed that when one person gave money to help others in a "public-goods game," where people had the opportunity to cooperate with each other, the recipients were more likely to give their own money away to other people in future games. This created a domino effect in which one person's generosity spread first to three people and then to the nine people that those three people interact with in the future, and then to still other individuals in subsequent waves of the experiment.

Preliminary measurements indicate that the massive magnitude 8.8 earthquake that struck the west coast of Chile in February moved the entire city of Concepcion at least 10 feet to the west, and shifted other parts of South America as far apart as the Falkland Islands and Fortaleza, Brazil.

Geophysicists say the data paint a much clearer picture of the power behind the massive earthquake, believed to be the fifth-most-powerful since instruments have been available to measure seismic shifts.

Historians from the University of Haifa claim that Khirbet Qeiyafa, a provincial town in Israel's Elah Valley region, is 'Neta'im',  an adminstrative center mentioned in the biblical book of Chronicles.

Archaeological excavations carried out at Khirbet Qeiyafa have dated the site to the beginning of the 10th century BCE, namely the time of King David's rule. A Hebrew inscription on a pottery shard found at the site also dating back to the 10th century indicates the presence of scribes and a high level of culture in the town.

The more heterogeneous the community of an online chat channel, the more chances the channel has to survive over time, according to a study conducted by researchers at the University of Haifa and the New Jersey Institute of Technology.

Previous research focused on group size and activity suggested that there are too many variables influencing the lifespan of such channels and there is, therefore no way of testing how long they will survive.

Insulin resistance, high cholesterol, fatty liver, greater risk for diabetes, heart disease, and stroke are all related to obesity, but are likely not caused by it, according to a review in Trends in Endocrinology and Metabolism.

In fact, obesity is the body's way of storing lipids where they belong, in fat tissue, in an effort to protect our other organs from lipids' toxic effects. It's when the surplus of calories coming in gets to be too much for our fat tissue to handle that those lipids wind up in other places they shouldn't be, and the cascade of symptoms known as metabolic syndrome sets in.

 A team of researchers has discovered how to efficiently turn carbon dioxide into carbon monoxide using visible light. The discovery opens the doors for scientists to explore what organism is out there – or could be created – to chemically break down the greenhouse gas into a useful form. The results are reported in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.

Alcohol consumption has been suspected of contributing to weight gain in the United States, but among normal-weight women moderate alcohol consumption is associated with a reduced risk for obesity, according a new study by researchers from Brigham and Women’s Hospital and the Harvard School of Public Health.

I sincerely apologize for my complete absence from the blogging world though a recent bout with what can only be called "The Plague" has had me incapacitated for more than a week. Minus a trip to the doctor that only reinforced my belief that going was a waste of time... but, I digress.

Cherry Picking At The Tree Of Knowledge

The fruit of the cherry is easily spoiled: rough handling, bird pecks, insect bites, mold - all can render the cherry unappealing or inedible.

The cherry picker is trained to pick only the best cherries: the ones that will appeal most to consumers.

Fruit pickers, tree surgeons and others often use a hydraulic lift to reach into high work areas.  These lifts can let the operator reach exactly the right spot - exactly the right cherry, in a manner of speaking.

By extension, the machine is called a cherry-picker.

By analogy, anyone who selects only the data that appeals to them and supports their personal view or theory is called a cherry picker.

Does Spiderman get wet? The hunt has been on for some time now for what are called superhydrophobic surfaces.  These would be ideal for see-though surfaces such as windscreens and coating for solar cells, where any dirty water that splashes on will simply roll off it like the proverbial duck’s back.