August 3rd, 2009
Whether it’s highlighted in major news headlines about Argentinean affairs and Ponzi schemes, or in personal battles with obesity and drug addiction, individuals regularly succumb to greed, lust and self-destructive behaviors. New research from the Kellogg School of Management examines why this is the case, and demonstrates that individuals believe they have more restraint than they actually possess–ultimately leading to poor decision-making.
By ANAHAD O’CONNOR
THE FACTS
Avoiding caffeine, sticking to a schedule and drinking a glass of warm milk are the usual tips for a good night’s rest. But the right room temperature can also play a crucial role.
Studies have found that in general, the optimal temperature for sleep is quite cool, around 60 to 68 degrees Fahrenheit. For some, temperatures that fall too far below or above this range can lead to restlessness.
By NICHOLAS WADE
A new approach to treating obesity has been opened up by a discovery about how the body creates brown fat, the cells that burn white fat and turn it into body heat.
Researchers led by Bruce M. Spiegelman of Harvard Medical School report their discovery in Thursday’s issue of the journal Nature. Their paper describes the natural system by which brown fat cells are generated from their precursors.
A Creature of Bad Habit: Why Mistakes Are Repeated
By NICHOLAS BAKALAR
At one time or another, almost all of us do or say something we were trying hard not to. For most, it is a minor embarrassment or an awkward moment. For a professional athlete, it can mean the end of a career.
Tom House, a former major league pitcher and now the pitching coach at Southern California, calls it the Creature. Golfers call it the yips.
By Tara Parker-Pope
Most people training for a race or sport focus on adding more miles, workouts or weight training to improve their fitness. But new research suggests that simply getting more sleep can improve athletic performance.
Hello All,
Time for another GAHP adventure! We’re headed to Indonesia and Nepal this round. We leave tomorrow and return on May 12th. It should be fun. We start this trip on the heels of our success in Wyoming, hopefully it carries through.
In the meanwhile, I’m moving apartments (ugh) and the weekend after I get back I head to Seattle to teach, then back to work. It’s gonna be a busy month.
I hope you’re all well and enjoying the burgeoning of spring.
By Leon Kreitzman
Teenagers are notoriously difficult to rouse in the mornings. For the sake of parental authority it may be best that we keep this an adult secret, but . . . it may not be the youngsters’ fault.
By Victoria Gill
An Amazonian ant has dispensed with sex and developed into an all-female species, researchers have found.
The ants reproduce via cloning – the queen ants copy themselves to produce genetically identical daughters.
18:00 12 April 2009 by Linda Geddes
The dogma that women are born with a finite number of eggs may soon be overturned. Stem cells have been discovered in the ovaries of adult mice that seem to give rise to new eggs and healthy offspring.
If these findings are confirmed, it could revolutionise female reproduction – opening the door for women to put off child-rearing almost indefinitely, and providing a new source of eggs for women who have been rendered infertile.
By CLAUDIA DREIFUS
Richard Wrangham, a primatologist and anthropologist, has spent four decades observing wild chimpanzees in Africa to see what their behavior might tell us about prehistoric humans. Dr. Wrangham, 60, was born in Britain and since 1989 has been at Harvard, where he is a professor of biological anthropology. He is about to publish another book, “Catching Fire: How Cooking Made Us Human.” He was interviewed over a vegetarian lunch at last winter’s American Association for the Advancement of Science meeting in Chicago and again later by telephone. An edited version of the two conversations follows.
Q. In your new book, you suggest that cooking was what facilitated our evolution from ape to human. Until now scientists have theorized that tool making and meat eating set the conditions for the ascent of man. Why do you argue that cooking was the main factor?
A. All that you mention were drivers of the evolution of our species. However, our large brain and the shape of our bodies are the product of a rich diet that was only available to us after we began cooking our foods. It was cooking that provided our bodies with more energy than we’d previously obtained as foraging animals eating raw food.
