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Posts tagged "education"
Monarchs in Hibernation As shown above, the monarch butterfly population is so dense in their mountainous, winter residence of central Mexico that they cover the trees like leaves. Some branches noticeably sway from the weight of the myriad monarchs even though they each weigh less than a gram. Many of the butterflies on this tree have journeyed 3,000 mi (5,000 km) or further to get to this several-hundred-acre colony, near the village of Michoacan. They overwinter until March before winging their way north to the U.S. and Canada, where they’ll feed, most often on milkweed, until late summer. They begin their southern migration in early fall, and by the first few days of November, virtually all of them have arrived in Michoacan. The butterflies that make this arduous circuit are the great-great-grand-butterflies of the ones that left the subtropics the previous spring! Genetic programming related to the monarchs’ internal circadian clock guides them, likely using the Sun as a navigation aid, to their winter destination. — Steve Spiegel / Jim Foster

Monarchs in Hibernation

As shown above, the monarch butterfly population is so dense in their mountainous, winter residence of central Mexico that they cover the trees like leaves.

Some branches noticeably sway from the weight of the myriad monarchs even though they each weigh less than a gram. Many of the butterflies on this tree have journeyed 3,000 mi (5,000 km) or further to get to this several-hundred-acre colony, near the village of Michoacan. They overwinter until March before winging their way north to the U.S. and Canada, where they’ll feed, most often on milkweed, until late summer.

They begin their southern migration in early fall, and by the first few days of November, virtually all of them have arrived in Michoacan. The butterflies that make this arduous circuit are the great-great-grand-butterflies of the ones that left the subtropics the previous spring! Genetic programming related to the monarchs’ internal circadian clock guides them, likely using the Sun as a navigation aid, to their winter destination. — Steve Spiegel / Jim Foster

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neuromorphogenesis: Why teenagers really do need an extra hour in bed “MAKING teens start school in the morning is ‘cruel’, brain doctor claims.” So declared a British newspaper headline in 2007 after a talk I gave at an academic conference. One disbelieving reader responded: “This man sounds brain-dead.” That was a typical reaction to work I was reporting at the time on teenage sleep patterns and their effect on performance at school. Six years on there is growing acceptance that the structure of the academic day needs to take account of adolescent sleep patterns. The latest school to adopt a later start time is the UCL Academy in London; others are considering following suit. So what are the facts about teenage slumber, and how should society adjust to these needs? The biology of human sleep timing, like that of other mammals, changes as we age. This has been shown in many studies. As puberty begins, bedtimes and waking times get later. This trend continues until 19.5 years in women and 21 in men. Then it reverses. At 55 we wake at about the time we woke prior to puberty. On average this is two hours earlier than adolescents. This means that for a teenager, a 7 am alarm call is the equivalent of a 5 am start for a person in their 50s. Precisely why this is so is unclear but the shifts correlate with hormonal changes at puberty and the decline in those hormones as we age. However, biology is only part of the problem. Additional factors include a more relaxed attitude to bedtimes by parents, a general disregard for the importance of sleep, and access to TVs, DVDs, PCs, gaming devices, cellphones and so on, all of which promote alertness and eat into time available for sleep. The amount of sleep teenagers get varies between countries, geographic region and social class, but all studies show they are going to bed later and not getting as much sleep as they need because of early school starts. Mary Carskadon at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, who is a pioneer in the area of adolescent sleep, has shown that teenagers need about 9 hours a night to maintain full alertness and academic performance. My own recent observations at a UK school in Liverpool suggested many were getting just 5 hours on a school night. Unsurprisingly, teachers reported students dozing in class. Evidence that sleep is important is overwhelming. Elegant research has demonstrated its critical role in memory consolidation and our ability to generate innovative solutions to complex problems. Sleep disruption increases the level of the stress hormone cortisol. Impulsive behaviours, lack of empathy, sense of humour and mood are similarly affected. All in all, a tired adolescent is a grumpy, moody, insensitive, angry and stressed one. Perhaps less obviously, sleep loss is associated with metabolic changes. Research has shown that blood-glucose regulation was greatly impaired in young men who slept only 4 hours on six consecutive nights, with their insulin levels comparable to the early stages of diabetes. Similar studies have shown higher levels of the hormone ghrelin, which promotes hunger, and lower levels of leptin, which creates a sense of feeling full. The suggestion is that long-term sleep deprivation might be an important factor in predisposing people to conditions such as diabetes, obesity and hypertension. Adolescents are increasingly using stimulants to compensate for sleep loss, and caffeinated and/or sugary drinks are the usual choice. The half-life of caffeine is 5 to 9 hours. So a caffeinated drink late in the day delays sleep at night. Tiredness also increases the likelihood of taking up smoking. Collectively, a day of caffeine and nicotine consumption, the biological tendency for delayed sleep and the increased alertness promoted by computer or cellphone use generates what Carskadon calls a “perfect storm” for delayed sleep in teenagers. In the US, the observation that teenagers have biologically delayed sleep patterns compared to adults prompted several schools to put back the start of the school day. An analysis of the impact by Kyla Wahlstrom at the University of Minnesota found that academic performance was enhanced, as was attendance. Sleeping in class declined, as did self-reported depression. In the UK, Monkseaton High School near Newcastle instituted a 10 am start in 2009 and saw an uptick in academic performance. However, a later start by itself is not enough. Society in general, and teenagers in particular, must start to take sleep seriously. Sleep is not a luxury or an indulgence but a fundamental biological need, enhancing creativity, productivity, mood and the ability to interact with others. If you are dependent upon an alarm clock, or parent, to get you out of bed; if you take a long time to wake up; if you feel sleepy and irritable during the day; if your behaviour is overly impulsive, it means you are probably not getting enough sleep. Take control. Ensure the bedroom is a place that promotes sleep – dark and not too warm – don’t text, use a computer or watch TV for at least half an hour before trying to sleep and avoid bright lights. Try not to nap during the day, and seek out natural light in the morning to adjust the body clock and sleep patterns to an earlier time. Avoid caffeinated drinks after lunch. It is my strongly held view, based upon the evidence, that the efforts of dedicated teachers and the money spent on school facilities will have a greater impact and education will be more rewarding when, collectively, teenagers, parents, teachers and school governors start to take sleep seriously. In the universal language of school reports: we must do better.

neuromorphogenesis:

Why teenagers really do need an extra hour in bed

“MAKING teens start school in the morning is ‘cruel’, brain doctor claims.” So declared a British newspaper headline in 2007 after a talk I gave at an academic conference. One disbelieving reader responded: “This man sounds brain-dead.”

That was a typical reaction to work I was reporting at the time on teenage sleep patterns and their effect on performance at school. Six years on there is growing acceptance that the structure of the academic day needs to take account of adolescent sleep patterns. The latest school to adopt a later start time is the UCL Academy in London; others are considering following suit.

So what are the facts about teenage slumber, and how should society adjust to these needs?

The biology of human sleep timing, like that of other mammals, changes as we age. This has been shown in many studies. As puberty begins, bedtimes and waking times get later. This trend continues until 19.5 years in women and 21 in men. Then it reverses. At 55 we wake at about the time we woke prior to puberty. On average this is two hours earlier than adolescents. This means that for a teenager, a 7 am alarm call is the equivalent of a 5 am start for a person in their 50s.

Precisely why this is so is unclear but the shifts correlate with hormonal changes at puberty and the decline in those hormones as we age.

However, biology is only part of the problem. Additional factors include a more relaxed attitude to bedtimes by parents, a general disregard for the importance of sleep, and access to TVs, DVDs, PCs, gaming devices, cellphones and so on, all of which promote alertness and eat into time available for sleep.

The amount of sleep teenagers get varies between countries, geographic region and social class, but all studies show they are going to bed later and not getting as much sleep as they need because of early school starts.

Mary Carskadon at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, who is a pioneer in the area of adolescent sleep, has shown that teenagers need about 9 hours a night to maintain full alertness and academic performance. My own recent observations at a UK school in Liverpool suggested many were getting just 5 hours on a school night. Unsurprisingly, teachers reported students dozing in class.

Evidence that sleep is important is overwhelming. Elegant research has demonstrated its critical role in memory consolidation and our ability to generate innovative solutions to complex problems. Sleep disruption increases the level of the stress hormone cortisol. Impulsive behaviours, lack of empathy, sense of humour and mood are similarly affected.

All in all, a tired adolescent is a grumpy, moody, insensitive, angry and stressed one. Perhaps less obviously, sleep loss is associated with metabolic changes. Research has shown that blood-glucose regulation was greatly impaired in young men who slept only 4 hours on six consecutive nights, with their insulin levels comparable to the early stages of diabetes.

Similar studies have shown higher levels of the hormone ghrelin, which promotes hunger, and lower levels of leptin, which creates a sense of feeling full. The suggestion is that long-term sleep deprivation might be an important factor in predisposing people to conditions such as diabetes, obesity and hypertension.

Adolescents are increasingly using stimulants to compensate for sleep loss, and caffeinated and/or sugary drinks are the usual choice. The half-life of caffeine is 5 to 9 hours. So a caffeinated drink late in the day delays sleep at night. Tiredness also increases the likelihood of taking up smoking.

Collectively, a day of caffeine and nicotine consumption, the biological tendency for delayed sleep and the increased alertness promoted by computer or cellphone use generates what Carskadon calls a “perfect storm” for delayed sleep in teenagers.

In the US, the observation that teenagers have biologically delayed sleep patterns compared to adults prompted several schools to put back the start of the school day. An analysis of the impact by Kyla Wahlstrom at the University of Minnesota found that academic performance was enhanced, as was attendance. Sleeping in class declined, as did self-reported depression.

In the UK, Monkseaton High School near Newcastle instituted a 10 am start in 2009 and saw an uptick in academic performance.

However, a later start by itself is not enough. Society in general, and teenagers in particular, must start to take sleep seriously.

Sleep is not a luxury or an indulgence but a fundamental biological need, enhancing creativity, productivity, mood and the ability to interact with others.

If you are dependent upon an alarm clock, or parent, to get you out of bed; if you take a long time to wake up; if you feel sleepy and irritable during the day; if your behaviour is overly impulsive, it means you are probably not getting enough sleep. Take control. Ensure the bedroom is a place that promotes sleep – dark and not too warm – don’t text, use a computer or watch TV for at least half an hour before trying to sleep and avoid bright lights. Try not to nap during the day, and seek out natural light in the morning to adjust the body clock and sleep patterns to an earlier time. Avoid caffeinated drinks after lunch.

It is my strongly held view, based upon the evidence, that the efforts of dedicated teachers and the money spent on school facilities will have a greater impact and education will be more rewarding when, collectively, teenagers, parents, teachers and school governors start to take sleep seriously. In the universal language of school reports: we must do better.

Photo
Ask a grown-up: is there anything smaller than an atom? Cern scientist Jon Butterworth answers eight-year-old Adam’s question Yes, and we use them every day. Electrons are one of the things inside atoms and we are very used to seeing them move around when an electric current flows. They have been known about for more than 100 years. We have something called the standard model of physics, which is a list of things that are not made of anything else – in other words, the smallest things we know of. That list includes quarks, gluons, electrons and neutrinos. Then there are the forces that join those things up: light is one of them. Light is carried by little particles called photons. And there is the Higgs boson particle, which we found last year, which is also smaller than an atom. It does still boggle my mind. You know the maths of particle physics but while the maths is elegant and beautiful, it feels completely other to everyday life. When we built the Large Hadron Collider and actually saw the Higgs boson particle in action, it was amazing.

Ask a grown-up: is there anything smaller than an atom?

Cern scientist Jon Butterworth answers eight-year-old Adam’s question

Yes, and we use them every day. Electrons are one of the things inside atoms and we are very used to seeing them move around when an electric current flows. They have been known about for more than 100 years.

We have something called the standard model of physics, which is a list of things that are not made of anything else – in other words, the smallest things we know of. That list includes quarks, gluons, electrons and neutrinos. Then there are the forces that join those things up: light is one of them. Light is carried by little particles called photons. And there is the Higgs boson particle, which we found last year, which is also smaller than an atom.

It does still boggle my mind. You know the maths of particle physics but while the maths is elegant and beautiful, it feels completely other to everyday life. When we built the Large Hadron Collider and actually saw the Higgs boson particle in action, it was amazing.

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ucresearch: The Thirty Meter Telescope Above is a view of the Keck Observatory atop Hawaii’s Mauna Kea volcano.  The University of California along with several other institutions use the telescope to make discoveries of exoplanets orbiting around other stars to figuring out the size and age of our universe.  Recently a permit for a $1.3 billion Thirty Meter Telescope was approved by the Hawaii Board of Land and Natural Resources.  The telescope, a project that UC will play a part in funding, will be built near Keck on the summit of the volcano Mauna Kea.  Researchers believe the telescope will produce images three times sharper than those produced by optical telescopes today. Read more →

ucresearch:

The Thirty Meter Telescope

Above is a view of the Keck Observatory atop Hawaii’s Mauna Kea volcano.  The University of California along with several other institutions use the telescope to make discoveries of exoplanets orbiting around other stars to figuring out the size and age of our universe.  Recently a permit for a $1.3 billion Thirty Meter Telescope was approved by the Hawaii Board of Land and Natural Resources. 

The telescope, a project that UC will play a part in funding, will be built near Keck on the summit of the volcano Mauna Kea.  Researchers believe the telescope will produce images three times sharper than those produced by optical telescopes today.

Read more →

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“Just a Theory”: 7 Misused Science Words Feel like you need to make serious distinctions within the language of science? Maybe brush up on a few key concepts of the subject? Perhaps you feel an article is using word tactics to get people to believe in something false. Scientific American (originally on LiveScience) has a great article highlighting 7 misused science words that are sure to put things into perspective for the public: 1. Hypothesis The general public so widely misuses the words hypothesis, theory and law that scientists should stop using these terms, writes physicist Rhett Allain of Southeastern Louisiana University, in a blog post on Wired Science. “I don’t think at this point it’s worth saving those words,” Allain told LiveScience. A hypothesis is a proposed explanation for something that can actually be tested. But “if you just ask anyone what a hypothesis is, they just immediately say ‘educated guess,’” Allain said. 2. Just a theory? Climate-change deniers and creationists have deployed the word “theory” to cast doubt on climate change and evolution. “It’s as though it weren’t true because it’s just a theory,” Allain said. That’s despite the fact that an overwhelming amount of evidence supports both human-caused climate change and Darwin’s theory of evolution. Part of the problem is that the word “theory” means something very different in lay language than it does in science: A scientific theory is an explanation of some aspect of the natural world that has been substantiated through repeated experiments or testing. But to the average Jane or Joe, a theory is just an idea that lives in someone’s head, rather than an explanation rooted in experiment and testing. 3. Model However, theory isn’t the only science phrase that causes trouble. Even Allain’s preferred term to replace hypothesis, theory and law — “model” — has its troubles. The word not only refers to toy cars and runway walkers, but also means different things in different scientific fields. A climate model is very different from a mathematical model, for instance. “Scientists in different fields use these terms differently from each other,” John Hawks, an anthropologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, wrote in an email to LiveScience. “I don’t think that ‘model’ improves matters. It has an appearance of solidity in physics right now mainly because of the Standard Model. By contrast, in genetics and evolution, ‘models’ are used very differently.” (The Standard Model is the dominant theory governing particle physics.) 4. Skeptic When people don’t accept human-caused climate change, the media often describes those individuals as “climate skeptics.” But that may give them too much credit, Michael Mann, a climate scientist at Pennsylvania State University, wrote in an email. “Simply denying mainstream science based on flimsy, invalid and too-often agenda-driven critiques of science is not skepticism at all. It is contrarianism … or denial,” Mann told LiveScience. Instead, true skeptics are open to scientific evidence and are willing to evenly assess it. “All scientists should be skeptics. True skepticism is, as [Carl] Sagan described it, the ‘self-correcting machinery’ of science,” Mann said. 5. Nature vs. nurture The phrase “nature versus nurture” also gives scientists a headache, because it radically simplifies a very complicated process, said Dan Kruger, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Michigan. “This is something that modern evolutionists cringe at,” Kruger told LiveScience. Genes may influence human beings, but so, too, do epigenetic changes. These modifications alter which genes get turned on, and are both heritable and easily influenced by the environment. The environment that shapes human behavior can be anything from the chemicals a fetus is exposed to in the womb to the block a person grew up on to the type of food they ate as a child, Kruger said. All these factors interact in a messy, unpredictable way. 6. Significant Another word that sets scientists’ teeth on edge is “significant.” “That’s a huge weasel word. Does it mean statistically significant, or does it mean important?” said Michael O’Brien, the dean of the College of Arts and Science at the University of Missouri. In statistics, something is significant if a difference is unlikely to be due to random chance. But that may not translate into a meaningful difference, in, say, headache symptoms or IQ. 7. Natural “Natural” is another bugaboo for scientists. The term has become synonymous with being virtuous, healthy or good. But not everything artificial is unhealthy, and not everything that’s natural is good for you. “Uranium is natural, and if you inject enough of it, you’re going to die,” Kruger said. Natural’s sibling “organic” also has a problematic meaning, he said. While organic simply means “carbon-based” to scientists, the term is now used to describe pesticide-free peaches and high-end cotton sheets, as well. Check out the full article written by Tia Ghose and LiveScience

“Just a Theory”: 7 Misused Science Words

Feel like you need to make serious distinctions within the language of science? Maybe brush up on a few key concepts of the subject? Perhaps you feel an article is using word tactics to get people to believe in something false. Scientific American (originally on LiveScience) has a great article highlighting 7 misused science words that are sure to put things into perspective for the public:

1. Hypothesis

The general public so widely misuses the words hypothesis, theory and law that scientists should stop using these terms, writes physicist Rhett Allain of Southeastern Louisiana University, in a blog post on Wired Science.

“I don’t think at this point it’s worth saving those words,” Allain told LiveScience.

A hypothesis is a proposed explanation for something that can actually be tested. But “if you just ask anyone what a hypothesis is, they just immediately say ‘educated guess,’” Allain said.

2. Just a theory?

Climate-change deniers and creationists have deployed the word “theory” to cast doubt on climate change and evolution.

“It’s as though it weren’t true because it’s just a theory,” Allain said.

That’s despite the fact that an overwhelming amount of evidence supports both human-caused climate change and Darwin’s theory of evolution.

Part of the problem is that the word “theory” means something very different in lay language than it does in science: A scientific theory is an explanation of some aspect of the natural world that has been substantiated through repeated experiments or testing. But to the average Jane or Joe, a theory is just an idea that lives in someone’s head, rather than an explanation rooted in experiment and testing.

3. Model

However, theory isn’t the only science phrase that causes trouble. Even Allain’s preferred term to replace hypothesis, theory and law — “model” — has its troubles. The word not only refers to toy cars and runway walkers, but also means different things in different scientific fields. A climate model is very different from a mathematical model, for instance.

“Scientists in different fields use these terms differently from each other,” John Hawks, an anthropologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, wrote in an email to LiveScience. “I don’t think that ‘model’ improves matters. It has an appearance of solidity in physics right now mainly because of the Standard Model. By contrast, in genetics and evolution, ‘models’ are used very differently.” (The Standard Model is the dominant theory governing particle physics.)

4. Skeptic

When people don’t accept human-caused climate change, the media often describes those individuals as “climate skeptics.” But that may give them too much credit, Michael Mann, a climate scientist at Pennsylvania State University, wrote in an email.

“Simply denying mainstream science based on flimsy, invalid and too-often agenda-driven critiques of science is not skepticism at all. It is contrarianism … or denial,” Mann told LiveScience.

Instead, true skeptics are open to scientific evidence and are willing to evenly assess it.

“All scientists should be skeptics. True skepticism is, as [Carl] Sagan described it, the ‘self-correcting machinery’ of science,” Mann said.

5. Nature vs. nurture

The phrase “nature versus nurture” also gives scientists a headache, because it radically simplifies a very complicated process, said Dan Kruger, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Michigan.

“This is something that modern evolutionists cringe at,” Kruger told LiveScience.

Genes may influence human beings, but so, too, do epigenetic changes. These modifications alter which genes get turned on, and are both heritable and easily influenced by the environment. The environment that shapes human behavior can be anything from the chemicals a fetus is exposed to in the womb to the block a person grew up on to the type of food they ate as a child, Kruger said. All these factors interact in a messy, unpredictable way.

6. Significant

Another word that sets scientists’ teeth on edge is “significant.”

“That’s a huge weasel word. Does it mean statistically significant, or does it mean important?” said Michael O’Brien, the dean of the College of Arts and Science at the University of Missouri.

In statistics, something is significant if a difference is unlikely to be due to random chance. But that may not translate into a meaningful difference, in, say, headache symptoms or IQ.

7. Natural

“Natural” is another bugaboo for scientists. The term has become synonymous with being virtuous, healthy or good. But not everything artificial is unhealthy, and not everything that’s natural is good for you.

“Uranium is natural, and if you inject enough of it, you’re going to die,” Kruger said.

Natural’s sibling “organic” also has a problematic meaning, he said. While organic simply means “carbon-based” to scientists, the term is now used to describe pesticide-free peaches and high-end cotton sheets, as well.

Check out the full article written by Tia Ghose and LiveScience

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neuromorphogenesis: Resyncing the Bodyclock to Treat ADHD Studies point to a new way to treat ADHD symptoms by addressing biorhythms. It has long been known that individuals with ADHD tend to suffer from dysfunctional sleep. It’s unclear whether this is inherent to the disorder itself or if it results from ADHD symptoms, for example from feeling stressed all the time.Either way, non-restorative sleep creates a vicious cycle—poor sleep begets an exhausted child (or adult), whose nervous system goes into overdrive (fight or flight reaction) to stay alert the next day (affecting attention and memory), and this prevents restorative sleep from occurring the following night. Furthermore, insomnia may be compounded by stimulant medication commonly used to treat the disorder. Add to this the nature of today’s ubiquitous high-stimulation environment and sleep quality worsens still.  A common aspect of sleep disturbance seen in those with ADHD is delayed circadian preference, aka delayed sleep/activity rhythm or delayed sleep phase disorder, which simply means the body clock is delayed and out of sync with natural night/day cycles. This type of circadian preference has been associated strongly with ADHD symptoms in adults, and studies have demonstrated that ADHD children with initial onset insomnia (trouble falling asleep) probably have delayed sleep phase disorder. While not everyone with ADHD has sleep issues, those that do might very well benefit from targeting this area by resyncing the body clock.  Two interventions have been suggested to advance the sleep phase: bright light therapy administered in the morning, and melatonin administration at bedtime. One promising study (mentioned above) showed that light therapy given to adults with ADHD over a three-week period resulted in decreased subjective (self-reported) and objective (neuropsychological testing) attentional symptoms, improved mood, and phase advance in circadian preference (i.e. subjects felt like going to sleep earlier, and did so). Melatonin trials in ADHD children have shown improved sleep scores but not necessarily ADHD symptoms. (Melatonin tends to be suppressed and delayed in ADHD.) However one long term follow up study on melatonin safety in children in which parents were surveyed three to four years later showed that of the parents who had continued regular use of melatonin, ninety percent felt it continued to be effective for earlier sleep onset, and about two thirds reported it improved mood and behavior.  Another interesting eight-week trial compared the combination of melatonin and Ritalin to Ritalin alone—since  stunted or delayed growth has been attributed to stimulants in children—and found that those treated with the combination grew more in height and weight, despite no difference in calorie intake. The authors suggested that the growth might be attributed to increased growth hormone, which is released during deep sleep, since the growth did not correlate with increased food intake. This highlights the intricacies of the body clock on hormone regulation.  This area is promising, and since out of sync circadian rhythms are associated with a myriad of health problems, resyncing may improve sleep quality, attention and executive functioning, hormone regulation, and mental/physical health in general. Light therapy in particular may be helpful in rapidly improving sleep and attention.   You can do a self-assessment of your own circadian rhythm type at http://www.cet.org/eng/Tools_ENG.html#. 

neuromorphogenesis:

Resyncing the Bodyclock to Treat ADHD

Studies point to a new way to treat ADHD symptoms by addressing biorhythms.

It has long been known that individuals with ADHD tend to suffer from dysfunctional sleep. It’s unclear whether this is inherent to the disorder itself or if it results from ADHD symptoms, for example from feeling stressed all the time.

Either way, non-restorative sleep creates a vicious cycle—poor sleep begets an exhausted child (or adult), whose nervous system goes into overdrive (fight or flight reaction) to stay alert the next day (affecting attention and memory), and this prevents restorative sleep from occurring the following night. Furthermore, insomnia may be compounded by stimulant medication commonly used to treat the disorder. Add to this the nature of today’s ubiquitous high-stimulation environment and sleep quality worsens still.  

A common aspect of sleep disturbance seen in those with ADHD is delayed circadian preference, aka delayed sleep/activity rhythm or delayed sleep phase disorder, which simply means the body clock is delayed and out of sync with natural night/day cycles. This type of circadian preference has been associated strongly with ADHD symptoms in adults, and studies have demonstrated that ADHD children with initial onset insomnia (trouble falling asleep) probably have delayed sleep phase disorder.


While not everyone with ADHD has sleep issues, those that do might very well benefit from targeting this area by resyncing the body clock.  Two interventions have been suggested to advance the sleep phase: bright light therapy administered in the morning, and melatonin administration at bedtime. One promising study (mentioned above) showed that light therapy given to adults with ADHD over a three-week period resulted in decreased subjective (self-reported) and objective (neuropsychological testing) attentional symptoms, improved mood, and phase advance in circadian preference (i.e. subjects felt like going to sleep earlier, and did so). 

Melatonin trials in ADHD children have shown improved sleep scores but not necessarily ADHD symptoms. (Melatonin tends to be suppressed and delayed in ADHD.) However one long term follow up study on melatonin safety in children in which parents were surveyed three to four years later showed that of the parents who had continued regular use of melatonin, ninety percent felt it continued to be effective for earlier sleep onset, and about two thirds reported it improved mood and behavior.  

Another interesting eight-week trial compared the combination of melatonin and Ritalin to Ritalin alone—since  stunted or delayed growth has been attributed to stimulants in children—and found that those treated with the combination grew more in height and weight, despite no difference in calorie intake. The authors suggested that the growth might be attributed to increased growth hormone, which is released during deep sleep, since the growth did not correlate with increased food intake. This highlights the intricacies of the body clock on hormone regulation. 

This area is promising, and since out of sync circadian rhythms are associated with a myriad of health problems, resyncing may improve sleep quality, attention and executive functioning, hormone regulation, and mental/physical health in general. Light therapy in particular may be helpful in rapidly improving sleep and attention.  

You can do a self-assessment of your own circadian rhythm type at http://www.cet.org/eng/Tools_ENG.html#. 

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ucresearch:

An Incredibly Hostile Universe

Astronomer Steve Vogt describes his search for extrasolar and Earth-like planets at the Lick Observatory.  

“The first habitable planet that we’ve found, Gliese 581G, is right dead-on inhabitable on orbit.  It’s a place of refuge from the — the unbelievable harshness of the universe.  A place where you could stand and not, you know, fly off into space, where there would be gases to breath, water that would pool in liquid form, maybe oceans.  Whether there’s something living there or not, we don’t know.”

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Asker waterbandit-deactivated20130416 Asks:
Can you recommend any books or articles that accurately describe evolution? My school doesn't teach evolution and I'm embarrassed to say I know very little about it.
scinerds scinerds Said:

Hello! There’s nothing to be embarrassed about. Sometimes certain topics slip under the education radar, and it’s wonderful you’d like to learn about it on your own!

To start, I feel everyone should own a copy of Charles Darwin’s The Origin Of Species. There are a lot of versions out there - short, long, revised, etc - so you’ll need to do some research on which version you would like to start off on.

I also really enjoy Your Inner Fish by Neil Shubin. The way he writes is amazing, and easy to understand whether you’re new to the subject or not.

Some other books that may interest you are listed below:

I know I’ve left a lot of books out (even many I own/have read), but these are a few that may be great introductions for you. There is a list on Good Reads you may also want to take a look at which lists their best books on evolution (based on reviews, it looks). As well, if you search “evolution” on places like Amazon or your local book store website, you’ll be able to get a good list of ones I’ve not listed here.

Again, there are just so many books out on evolution (way too many to list!), and I do want to stress that everyone has their own opinions on which books they feel are best, more accurate, etc. In the end, I definitely suggest reading a bit about each book on Amazon (or similar sites) to see if you feel these will be a good starting point for you. I’ve found the more books I read, the better I understand topics - like evolution - as a whole. You get different opinions from the authors, and I feel it helps when cross checking information once you become more acquainted to the topics you’re reading about. I do this a lot with palaeontology studies, for example.

When it comes to scientific papers, there are some in book format and many available online. A good place to start would be searching “evolution” on sites like Google Scholar, University websites, PLOS ONE, Nature, etc.

I hope this post is of help!

* * *

Hey, followers, got some awesome evolution books you have read that I totally forgot to list here? Send them over via ask and I’ll make a compiled list to put up on our blog!

Answer

ucresearch:

kqedscience:

Science on the SPOT: Preserving the Forest of the Sea 

The University Herbarium at the University of California - Berkeley boasts one of the largest and oldest collections of seaweed in the United States, dating back to the time of the U.S. Civil War. Kathy Ann Miller, a curator at the herbarium, is leading a massive project to digitize nearly 80,000 specimens of seaweed collected from the west coast of North America. When the project is finished, researchers from around the world will be able to go online and see the digital photographs along with collection information and a map of where the seaweeds were originally collected.

Learn more here about this extraordinary collection. 

A really great video about the complexities of seaweed

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Slow Science

When we think of scientific experimentation, often we think of discrete experiments or projects that take place over a relatively short time span. When it comes to long-running experiments, many people would assume that they would take few decades to run from start-to finish, at most. As it turns out, that time frame is short in duration when compared to five of science’s longest running projects, some of which have run over centuries, changing hands along the way.  Nature documents the five longest running experiments:

400 years: Counting Spots -  Astronomers have been counting sunspots since Galileo’s time, and the analysis of sunspot patterns has been an ongoing experiment over the past 4 centuries, yielding some interesting insights regarding sunspots cyclical nature.  Ultimately, science has accumulated some value data used for the prediction of sunspot activity. 

170 years: Monitoring an irritable giant - Mount Vesuvius erupts with regularity in every thousand years. Analysis of past patterns allows scientists to predict volcanic activity and protect the public, as they did in 1944 when landslides around the crater raised clouds of ash-dust

170 years: Harvesting data - In 2008 scientist Andy McDonald inherited agricultural experiment data that documented the effects of fertilizers on crop production since 1843. The unbroken chain of data is invaluable  and aids in the study of environmental and biological trends that only become apparent over long periods of time.

90 years: Watching genius blossom - In 1921, Lewis Sterman started tracking 1500 gifted children, with the goal of proving that gifted children were well rounded, and not the socially inept individuals that gifted children were publicly perceived as. The in-depth record of their development was maintained over ninety years, and the children were just as well adjusted as the general population.  Valuable data regarding psychology and childhood development was gained over the 90 years of the experiment. 

85 years: Waiting for the drop - This experiment was originally set up as a demonstration for university students at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia, in 1961. The goal was to monitor the rate of flow of liquid pitch - a viscous tar-based - through a funnel. The experiment determined that one drop falls into the container below at a rate of 1 drop every 6-12 years. The 9th drop is expected to fall toward the end of 2013.

More details regarding the experiments may be found @nature.

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On The Necessity of Geology

There is an urgent need for talking and teaching geology.

Many people don’t know it. They think geology is rocks, but if they’re not rock aficionados, it’s nothing to do with them. So our K-12 schools inadequately teach the earth sciences. People don’t learn about geology, and they grow up to move to hazardous areas without being aware of the risks. They grow into politicians who feel it’s smart to sneer at volcano monitoring. They become people who don’t understand what geologists can and cannot do, and imprison scientists who couldn’t predict the unpredictable.

So we need to talk geology, anywhere and everywhere we can.

A while ago at work, we got on the subject of earthquakes. I don’t remember how it happened, but suddenly, I was surrounded by a gaggle of people whilst I pulled up a diagram of the local subduction zone and delivered a mini-lecture on how it works.

You’d think such pontification would drive people away. It didn’t. They were riveted.

Granted, it’s a fascinating subject. But there’s a huge amount of misinformation floating about in the aether. I had to do some gentle correction – and a bit of putting the fear of Cascadia into folks. It reminded me how critical it is to be aware of what’s going to hapen here – and how few people realize it.

One of my coworkers had vaguely heard that there was a dangerous fault that could lead to a big earthquake near Oregon. He didn’t realize Washington was also at risk – and we’re not ready for something so huge. Everyone I was speaking to looked extremely surprised when I told them we will get hit with a subduction zone earthquake on the order of the Tōhoku Earthquake that devastated Japan in March 2011 – and that we are far more vulnerable than Japan was, because we haven’t done what they have to prepare.

That’s when the fear started. It’s a healthy fear, a realistic one I wish more citizens shared. We don’t need paralyzing fear, but the galvanizing kind, the kind that forces us to get informed and do what it takes to prepare for the inevitable.

We discussed some of the risk we’d face here in our particular corner of the Seattle area. We’re far enough inland and high enough in elevation that we won’t have to worry about being washed away by a tsunami. But some folks were under the impression we’d be safe from earthquake damage here. That’s not true. We won’t suffer the worst of it, unlike the coast, but a look at the shake map shows we’re going to get a shaking strong enough to cause damage; we’ll experience several minutes of severe shaking, and those earthquake waves have a terrible potential to get trapped and amplified by the basin we’re in, making that shaking worse. We are going to get hit: that’s a certainty. It could be today, tomorrow, months or years, but the Cascadia subduction zone will eventually slip catastrophically. And many of the residents don’t even know it’s there. Most of our emergency services aren’t prepared for an event of that magnitude. They don’t realize that “The Big One” isn’t going to be a single event, but a series of severe shocks that could go on for years after the 9.0. Ignorance of geology will lead to a greater catastrophe, because we didn’t know enough to prepare our cities against seismic threats.

Ordinary people who are not rock-obsessed have a need for geology. It’s a necessity, not a luxury. Here’s what a basic knowledge of geology can do for a person:

  • It allows you to make wiser choices in deciding where to live. You may not buy that beautiful house on the unstable hill, and end up losing everything in a landslide, for instance. You’ll be able to figure out what geological problems you should be on the lookout for in your area.
  • It alerts you to the necessity of determining geologic hazards, and how to prepare for and/or mitigate them. In earthquake country, you’ll know to get your structures retrofitted, and what to do in case an earthquake hits. In karst country, you’ll know to watch for the signs that a sinkhole may be opening beneath your property. You’ll ensure you know evacuation routes in case of tsunami warnings.
  • You’ll be better able to assess the importance of government programs for geological hazards monitoring, and know to scream at politicians when they do asinine things like cut 74% of the state geological survey budget, or hack and slash at the USGS Natural Hazards budget.
  • You’ll be prepared to participate in municipal, state, and federal land use decisions. You’ll know when plans to mine could contaminate a national treasure, or if a planned action could pollute the groundwater in your region. All that, plus more, and your appreciation for Earth will be enhanced!

Those of us who know geology need to talk about it, write about it, wax lyrical over it and fight for it. And for those of us who’ve given it short shrift in the past, it’s time to reassess our relationship to the rocks beneath our feet. It’s never been more important than now.

Text and Image Source

Photoset

PhD Comics has a great video about the research process… all explained in 2 minutes…

“I’m not trying to solve a puzzle, I’m trying to open the box and find the pieces.”

Video

Filament Mind

Ever thought of what human curiosity might look like in a form expressed other than words or drawings? Designers Brian W Brush and Yong Ju Lee did just that when they began creating what they now call ‘Filament Mind’, where your curious searches and questions are linked with the library that ends up displaying these searches in varying colors. Education and design just had another baby, and this is it. I can Imagine this being used across more libraries, I think a lot of people might enjoy this (kids especially) and see it as an addition to the wonderful world of libraries and the awe they already come with when we open those books up.

Designers Brian W Brush and Yong Ju Lee of E/B Office New York created an extensive fibre-optic installation for the Teton County Library grand opening in Wyoming that visualises library searches in flashes of coloured light. Dubbed Filament Mind, the installation, which opened at the end of January, uses over eight kilometres of fibre-optic cables and 44 LED illuminators to collect, categorise, and render searches from libraries all across the state of Wyoming into glowing bursts of colour.

Visualisations begin when a person uses specific words while searching online library catalogues. Subjects including social sciences, arts, languages, history, and philosophy have been categorized by the Dewey Decimal System into 904 text labels, so that when a person uses any one of those labels in their search, it’s filtered through the categories and the corresponding fibre optic cable lights up. If a person clicks on one of the results of their search, another cable will light up. There’s also a donor mode in which the entire display flashes with all the different colours of light, as a way to thank the private donors that made the project possible.

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Filament Mind may live at the Teton County Library, but it lights up the searches from all the libraries in the state as a reminder of the continuous search for knowledge taking place at different libraries.

(via Fibre-optic Installation Lights Up Library Queries)

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Scinerds Friendly Reminder: 5 Ways to Fight Depression You’re a fighter aren’t you? No? Well maybe you just don’t know you are. Here are some helpful tips on how to adequately battle depression. Exercise. Take a 15- to 30-minute brisk walk every day — or dance, jog, or bike if you prefer. People who are depressed may not feel much like being active. But make yourself do it anyway (ask a friend to exercise with you if you need to be motivated). Once you get in the exercise habit, it won’t take long to notice a difference in your mood. In addition to getting aerobic exercise, some yoga poses can help relieve feelings of depression. Try downward-facing dog or legs-up-the-wall pose (you can find these poses on yoga websites). Two other aspects of yoga — breathing exercises and meditation — can also help people with depression feel better. Nurture yourself with good nutrition. Depression can affect appetite. One person may not feel like eating at all, but another might overeat. If depression has affected your eating, you’ll need to be extra mindful of getting the right nourishment. Proper nutrition can influence a person’s mood and energy. So eat plenty of fruits and vegetables and get regular meals (even if you don’t feel hungry, try to eat something light, like a piece of fruit, to keep you going). Identify troubles, but don’t dwell on them. Try to identify any situations that have contributed to your depression. When you know what’s got you feeling blue and why, talk about it with a caring friend. Talking is a way to release the feelings and to receive some understanding. If there’s no one to tell, pouring your heart out to a journal works just as well. Once you air out these thoughts and feelings, turn your attention to something positive. Take action to solve problems. Ask for help if you need it. Feeling connected to friends and family can help relieve depression. (It may also help them feel there’s something they can do instead of just watching you hurt.) Express yourself. With depression, a person’s creativity and sense of fun may seem blocked. Exercise your imagination (painting, drawing, doodling, sewing, writing, dancing, composing music, etc.) and you not only get those creative juices flowing, you also loosen up some positive emotions. Take time to play with a friend or a pet, or do something fun for yourself. Find something to laugh about — a funny movie, perhaps. Laughter helps lighten your mood. Look on the bright side. Depression affects a person’s thoughts, making everything seem dismal, negative, and hopeless. If depression has you noticing only the negative, make an effort to notice the good things in life. Try to notice one thing, then try to think of one more. Consider your strengths, gifts, or blessings. Most of all, don’t forget to be patient with yourself. Depression takes time to heal.

Scinerds Friendly Reminder: 5 Ways to Fight Depression

You’re a fighter aren’t you? No? Well maybe you just don’t know you are. Here are some helpful tips on how to adequately battle depression.

Exercise. Take a 15- to 30-minute brisk walk every day — or dance, jog, or bike if you prefer. People who are depressed may not feel much like being active. But make yourself do it anyway (ask a friend to exercise with you if you need to be motivated). Once you get in the exercise habit, it won’t take long to notice a difference in your mood.

In addition to getting aerobic exercise, some yoga poses can help relieve feelings of depression. Try downward-facing dog or legs-up-the-wall pose (you can find these poses on yoga websites). Two other aspects of yoga — breathing exercises and meditation — can also help people with depression feel better.

Nurture yourself with good nutrition. Depression can affect appetite. One person may not feel like eating at all, but another might overeat. If depression has affected your eating, you’ll need to be extra mindful of getting the right nourishment. Proper nutrition can influence a person’s mood and energy. So eat plenty of fruits and vegetables and get regular meals (even if you don’t feel hungry, try to eat something light, like a piece of fruit, to keep you going).

Identify troubles, but don’t dwell on them. Try to identify any situations that have contributed to your depression. When you know what’s got you feeling blue and why, talk about it with a caring friend. Talking is a way to release the feelings and to receive some understanding. If there’s no one to tell, pouring your heart out to a journal works just as well.

Once you air out these thoughts and feelings, turn your attention to something positive. Take action to solve problems. Ask for help if you need it. Feeling connected to friends and family can help relieve depression. (It may also help them feel there’s something they can do instead of just watching you hurt.)

Express yourself. With depression, a person’s creativity and sense of fun may seem blocked. Exercise your imagination (painting, drawing, doodling, sewing, writing, dancing, composing music, etc.) and you not only get those creative juices flowing, you also loosen up some positive emotions. Take time to play with a friend or a pet, or do something fun for yourself. Find something to laugh about — a funny movie, perhaps. Laughter helps lighten your mood.

Look on the bright side. Depression affects a person’s thoughts, making everything seem dismal, negative, and hopeless. If depression has you noticing only the negative, make an effort to notice the good things in life. Try to notice one thing, then try to think of one more. Consider your strengths, gifts, or blessings. Most of all, don’t forget to be patient with yourself. Depression takes time to heal.

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How Teachers Cultivate Young Scientists SSP Fellows share tips on how to introduce research into the classroom High school biology teacher Randa Flinn sent four students to the Florida state science fair this year, the most representatives of any public school in her district. One of those students, a junior, returned home with a blue ribbon for her investigation of the vulnerability of nematodes to a bacterial parasite. A year earlier, six of Flinn’s students placed at a regional science fair — the first time in more than a quarter century that a student from her school, Northeast High School in Oakland Park, had won any science fair award. This surge in science-fair success didn’t come out of nowhere. It emerged after Flinn introduced a course on conducting scientific research to Northeast’s curriculum. The class was made possible by an $8,500 grant Flinn received as part of her 2010 fellowship with Society for Science & the Public, or SSP (publisher of Science News for Kids). Two years later, the school and its students are still reaping benefits. With support from Intel, these fellowships help science teachers foster independent research by under-resourced students. In addition to the grant, SSP Fellows attend a weeklong institute — essentially a summer training session — in Washington, D.C. There they learn how to get their students involved in conducting research.

How Teachers Cultivate Young Scientists

SSP Fellows share tips on how to introduce research into the classroom

High school biology teacher Randa Flinn sent four students to the Florida state science fair this year, the most representatives of any public school in her district. One of those students, a junior, returned home with a blue ribbon for her investigation of the vulnerability of nematodes to a bacterial parasite. A year earlier, six of Flinn’s students placed at a regional science fair — the first time in more than a quarter century that a student from her school, Northeast High School in Oakland Park, had won any science fair award.

This surge in science-fair success didn’t come out of nowhere. It emerged after Flinn introduced a course on conducting scientific research to Northeast’s curriculum. The class was made possible by an $8,500 grant Flinn received as part of her 2010 fellowship with Society for Science & the Public, or SSP (publisher of Science News for Kids). Two years later, the school and its students are still reaping benefits.

With support from Intel, these fellowships help science teachers foster independent research by under-resourced students. In addition to the grant, SSP Fellows attend a weeklong institute — essentially a summer training session — in Washington, D.C. There they learn how to get their students involved in conducting research.

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