Real life mind meld

Michael Balter reports that scientists are honing in on the real-life mechanism that allows two minds to meld during conversation:

Scientists have traditionally considered talking and listening to be two independent processes. The idea is that speech is produced in some parts of the brain, including a region known as Broca's area, and understood in others, including a region known as Wernicke's area. But recent studies suggest that there's actually much more overlap. For example, partners in a conversation will unconsciously begin imitating each other, adopting similar grammatical structures, speaking rates, and even bodily postures. This overlap helps people establish a "common ground" during conversation and may even help them predict what the other is going to say next . . . Some researchers think that so-called mirror neurons, which fire when one individual observes the actions of another, might be involved in these interactions.
The scientists conducting the study argue that the experiments they've conducted demonstrate that listeners are active participants to successful conversations.

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Zooming in on the beach

Earlier, I posted on Powers of Ten. I've long been fascinated by the way numerous relatively similar things can aggregate into macro patterns such as the crisscross that you can see in the photo to the right. Naturally occurring pattern like this abound on the beach.

How is it that sand dunes can naturally form out of random sand grains and random wind? Just because it's difficult to explain doesn't mean that it doesn't happen, of course.

The warm-up act of this post consists of three photos I recently took on a beach. First you see the "sand," then you focus in to see the individual grains of sand. Every one of those grains is different, even though they each look the same from a distance. They are a lot like people in that regard.

The above photos are mere warm up act for this wonderful, mind-stretching display of smallness and largeness. I realize that I featured this display in an earlier post, but it is that well done.

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Promiscuous Teens Earn Barely Lower Grades

It's all in how you present a subject. A recent study currently making its way through reportage shows a slight negative correlation between number of sex partners and GPA in high school. The headlines depend on who you read. Some headlines (linked to the articles) for example: Survey: Sex affects grades and Teen sex doesn't cause bad grades and Teen Sex Not Always Bad for Grades all cite the same study presented to the American Sociological Association in Atlanta yesterday. The American Family Council declared that the study confirms the negative link between teenage sexuality and academic performance. It really doesn't. There was no academic difference between abstinent kids and those who have committed relationships including sex. But girls in the promiscuous hook-up crowd earned GPA's of 0.16 points less than virgins. That's about 1/3 of the way between an A and an A-. Horrors. But everyone knows that the adolescent emotional problems that lead to promiscuity also tend to lead to bad grades. But that's just folk wisdom; common sense. Now there is an Actual Study to confirm the correlation. It's a pity that none of the coverage I've found links to the study itself.

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Skin color as evidence of natural selection

In this TED talk, author Nina Jablonski (Skin: A Natural History) suggests that whenever someone demands proof of evolution by natural selection, you should roll up your sleeve and show them your skin color. You carry this evidence around with you every day. You should point out that skin color changes depending on where one's ancestors lived. Check out the dramatic world map image at about 4:20 of the video. Darker skin colors can be found near the equator and lighter skin colors abound in higher latitudes. There is a fundamental and undeniable relation between skin color and latitude. But that is just the beginning of her story. We all have melanin: nature's sunscreen. It protected equatorial people from harmful UVB rays, but nonetheless allowed their skin to produce vitamin D, which is now recognized as essential for proper skin, bones and immune system function. When humans moved to higher latitudes, their skin tones lighted up to allow better production of Vitamin D. Jablonski warns, however, that the angle at which sunlight hits the earth at higher latitudes blocks most UVB rays, allowing only UBA rays which cannot produce Vitamin D. Hence, those of us living in the northern latitudes, no matter what our skin color but especially those of us who work indoors, are at risk for lack of vitamin D. She urges doctors to do a better job warning patients in higher latitudes about the potential damage to skin, bones and immune system caused by their lack of vitamin D.

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