Science

May 13 to 17 It’s spring! Except in London, where for the past two months, the weather has been stuck in a kind of sodden cold amalgam between spring and winter that’s probably best described as splinter. But back to spring. Among many other eye openers you’ll learn in Ann’s post, men’s reproductive hormones peak in June, as do contraceptive sales and sexually transmitted diseases. And you’ll never feel okay walking through a cloud of gnats again. But where Michelle lives, the spring is false and the fruit is dead. And Cameron wraps up Spring Break with a post about the least welcome rite of spring — the frantic scramble to wash off the poison oak. So many assumptions rest on the behavioural manipulation of toddlers and what we can extrapolate about the human condition. This week’s guest poster, Kendall Powell, reports on what happened when she sent her kids to participate in these experiments. And Erika advances a new theory about why Henry VII had so much trouble having children.

The eastern Asia native has an astonishing ability to eat aphids, but spreads rapidly and harbors a parasite that kills other species. The harlequin ladybird was once a stalwart ally of greenhouse growers around the world. Native to Japan, Korea and other parts of eastern Asia, the bright red ladybugs were prized for their aphid-eating abilities — until they caused serious declines in other ladybug populations.

The school's 'all hands on deck' effort to lure Arthur Toga and Paul Thompson from UCLA included money and the prospect of new collaborations, as well as less tangible personal perks.The courtship that has riveted the neuroscience world blossomed at a Saturday night dinner in a tony Brentwood restaurant.

FlyfotoArkivet LW1944 is a Google Map of Denmark overlaid with historical aerial imagery of the country taken by the Luftwaffe, under occupation, in 1944. Just over 75% of the country is covered by this collection of historical aerial photographs; including Copenhagen, Aarhus and Odense. Other Historical Aerial Photo Maps The New Jersey State Atlas - aerial photography of the entire state taken in the 1930's Neighborhood Change in Connecticut - aerial photos from 1934 Catbus - 1947 aerial imagery of Montreal Old Maps of Moscow - a large collection of historical maps & aerial imagery from the 1940's Other Collections of Aerial Imagery The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland has one of the world's largest collections of historical aerial photographs. The WWII Aerial Photos and Maps website has a large collection of Aerial photos taken during the Second World War.

A European research team suggests Victorian era people were more intelligent than we are... (Phys.org) —In a new study, a European research team suggests that the average intelligence level of Victorian-era people was higher than that of modern-day people. They base their controversial assertion on reaction times (RT) to visual stimuli given as tests to people from the late 1800s to modern times—the faster the reaction time, they say, the smarter the person. The Victorian era has been highly touted by historians as one of the most productive in human history—inventions, observations and highly acclaimed art and music from that time still resonate today. The era was defined by Queen Victoria's reign in England which ran from 1837 until her death in 1901. Comparing the average IQ of people from that time with that of modern-day people is, of course, impossible—at least using traditional methods. The researchers suggest that reaction times to stimuli can be used as an alternative way to compare relative IQ levels. IQ tests themselves have come under scrutiny of late because they quite often reflect bias, such as education levels, societal norms, and other not-easily defined factors. Other research has shown that overall health, nutrition levels and degree of fatigue can impact IQ scores as well. For this reason, the team has turned to RT as a means of evaluating what they call general intelligence, which they claim to be a measure of elementary cognition. Read more here...

(Phys.org) —A team of researchers from the SETI Institute, the Mars Institute, NASA Ames Research Center, and the space robotics company Honeybee Robotics, has successfully completed a first series of field tests aimed at investigating how humans will explore and work on Near-Earth Asteroids (NEAs) and eventually the two moons of Mars, Phobos and Deimos.

Through the Speckled Land.I She won’t speak to me anymore, this place my tongue is received with poor grace. My roots penetrated only so far and they wither for lack of water. Salt was spread on the upper scraw and ploughed through to the lower layer. She can no longer nourish her brood, In my own land as a stranger viewed. II On the road between two cities each of which has two names, I read the words on the signs. I am travelling through the speckled land and every town here has two names. Claonadh – Clane Cill Dara – Kildare Baile Dháith – Littleton Cúil an tSúdaire – Portarlington the native name in italic script a biased telling of the lore of place the native name in the lesser script a muted telling, in slow fade . . . III As I travel through the speckled land I move from white to black my journey is taken aslant the way I follow is zig-zagged. I am the knight going the long way round to attack from behind, to try to confound but there are castles I can’t assault and clerics before me, proud and preening, I can’t protect my own queen even my road is blocked by lowly pawns. IV Between two hues between two names between two views between two words between two tongues between two worlds I live my life between two lives..by Colm Breathnachfrom An Fearann Breacpublisher: Coiscéim, Dublin, 1982

How many rings do you see in this new image of the galaxy Messier 94, also known as NGC 4736? While at first glance one might see a number of them, astronomers believe there is just one. This image was ...

(Phys.org) —NASA's senior Mars rover, Opportunity, is driving to a new study area after a dramatic finish to 20 months on "Cape York" with examination of a rock intensely altered by water.

US authorities seized the accounts of a Bitcoin digital currency exchange operator, claiming it was functioning as an "unlicensed money service business," court documents showed Friday.