Well the headline is cheeky, but highlights the similarity between humans and other primates. Findings, published in Current Biology, suggest we may have under-estimated the intelligence of our closest living relatives. Research suggests chimpanzees have an extraordinary photographic memory that is far superior to ours. Young chimps outperformed university students in memory tests devised by …
Continue reading Humans not as smart as monkeys …
Another euthanasia for love
A 77-year-old Italian man shot dead his wife as she lay in hospital because he could not stand to see her suffer. The man shot his 82-year-old wife, who had Alzheimer’s disease, three times in full view of medical staff. His wife had been diagnosed eight years ago with the degenerative and irreversible brain disorder, …
Continue reading Another euthanasia for love
Carbon monitoring 50 years old
It was 50 years ago that a young American scientist, Charles David Keeling, began tracking CO2 in the Earth’s atmosphere at two of the world’s last wildernesses – the South Pole and the summit of the Mauna Loa volcano in Hawaii. His very precise measurements produced a remarkable data set, which first sounded alarm bells …
Continue reading Carbon monitoring 50 years old
VC and PE information hub
In future to obtain VC and PE market info (like that which we have been summarising) please go to PE Hub and, for a daily digest, sign up to the excellent and free PE Week Wire edited by Dan Primack
International education study released: PIRLS and TIMSS
The Progress in International Reading Literacy Study was just released. It is a wide survey focusing on primary school reading standards, conducted every five years. It also surveys aspects such as how safe children feel. At right is a summary table extracted from the press release pack (zip). The executive summary is here. Other links …
Continue reading International education study released: PIRLS and TIMSS
Literacy is declining rapidly in developed economies.
The following extract from PPI Trade Fact of the Week makes sobering reading. While the data is for the US, I am sure that it reflects similar trends in other wealthy nations, certainly anglophone ones. The culprits of declining literacy are presumably attractive TV, movies and video games combined with lowering of scholarship standards by …
Continue reading Literacy is declining rapidly in developed economies.
Amphibian populations face risk of decimation
Research published in the Royal Society journal shows that the fungal disease Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis is spreading. BD as it is sometimes called infects the skins of amphibians such as frogs, toads, salamanders and newts . One-third of all the losses in amphibian species recorded around the world are thought to be due to the disease. …
Continue reading Amphibian populations face risk of decimation
Institutional support for GM is worrying
In a farewell speech to a group of senior scientists at the Foundation for Science and Technology, the UK government’s chief scientific adviser, Sir David King, remarked that GM crops could be an area in which the UK could excel. While he did not explain the scientific rationale for their use, he saw the commercial …
Continue reading Institutional support for GM is worrying
Nature’s Investment Bank – marine habitats
The Nature Conservancy has published a report Nature’s Investment Bank, which examines four marine protection areas in Fiji, Indonesia, Philippines and the Solomon Islands, to assess what constitutes a successful community conservation scheme that provides sustainable economics. Research into four successful schemes showed that getting villagers involved in protection projects reduced harmful overfishing and protected …
Continue reading Nature’s Investment Bank – marine habitats
Addicted
I’m addicted, you’re addicted, we’re all addicted. But not addicted to love, sadly. We might like to think that we’re immune, but facing the truth, we must own up that our addictions are open secrets. Let’s touch a few bases to see where addiction might be in our lives. From personal to popular, from body …
Continue reading Addicted