To New Illusory Beginnings

Our perceptual and cognitive systems like to keep things simple. We describe the line drawings below as a circle and a square, even though their imagined contours consist—in reality—of discontinuous line segments. The Gestalt psychologists of the 19th and early 20th century branded this perceptual legerdemain as the Principle of Closure, by which we tend to recognize shapes and concepts as complete, even in the face of fragmentary information.

Now at the end of the year, it is tempting to seek a cognitive kind of closure: we want to close the lid on 2016, wrap it with a bow and start a fresh new year from a blank slate. Of course, it’s just an illusion, the Principle of Closure in one of its many incarnations. The end of the year is just as arbitrary as the end of the month, or the end of the week, or any other date we choose to highlight in the earth’s recurrent journey around the sun. But it feels quite different. That’s why we have lists of New Year’s resolutions, or why we start new diets or exercise regimes on Mondays rather than Thursdays. Researchers have also found that, even though we measure time in a continuous scale, we assign special meaning to idiosyncratic milestones such as entering a new decade.   

What should we do about our brain’s oversimplification tendencies concerning the New Year—if anything? One strategy would be to fight our feelings of closure and rebirth as we (in truth) seamlessly move from the last day of 2016 to the first day of 2017. But that approach is likely to fail. Try as we might, the Principle of Closure is just too ingrained in our perceptual and cognitive systems. In fact, if you already have the feeling that the beginning of the year is somewhat special (hey, it only happens once a year!), you might as well decide that resistance is futile, and not just embrace the illusion, but do your best to channel it.

Later today, as midnight approaches, go full steam ahead with your end-of-the-year rituals and traditions. Throw in a few New Year’s Eve superstitions, too (just for fun, of course). Make 2016 go out with a bang. And don’t forget to write your New Year’s resolutions list. Even if it didn’t work out so well last year. Believe that tomorrow is the start of a new era. If you do, you could tilt the scale just enough this time—and trick your brain into making it so.

Here’s to new, illusory beginnings! Have a very happy 2017!  

The views expressed are those of the author(s) and are not necessarily those of Scientific American.

from Scientific American Content: Global

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The Best Wildlife Conservation Stories of 2016

The news about endangered species tends to be pretty bleak. That definitely proved true in 2016, but the past year also saw quite a few successes. Here are some of the best news stories from 2016, as chosen from the “Extinction Countdown” archives and by experts and conservation groups around the globe.

Trafficking and Trade

The illegal wildlife trade affects hundreds of species around the world and has put quite a few on the fast track toward extinction. Luckily, several of them received important support at this fall’s meeting of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, which banned or limited international trade for several imperiled species, including pangolins, the African grey parrot, and several kinds of sharks. “Almost all of the decisions were really based on science,” says Susan Lieberman, vice president for international policy for the Wildlife Conservation Society. “You have to celebrate when that happens.”

Of course, what makes the CITES action good news is that we’re stepping up to help species that have become critically imperiled. “It’s good news that governments are recognizing the risks these species are in,” Lieberman says. “It’s bad news because the situation for these species is really horrible.”

Outside of CITES, elephants also got a boost when the U.S. adopted tighter regulations in the trade of ivory. “The new regulations will make it much harder for criminals to use the United States as a staging ground for illegal ivory trade,” Ginette Hemley, senior vice president of wildlife conservation at WWF, said this past June. “They also send a strong signal to the international community that the U.S. is committed to doing its part to save elephants in the wild.”

A Foxy Recovery

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service had a number of Endangered Species Act success stories this year, but the best was probably April's announcement that three subspecies of island fox native to California's Channel Islands had recovered and are now no longer considered to be at risk. This marked the fasted recovery under the ESA to date and reflects 12 years of intense conservation efforts by several dedicated partners on the federal, state and local level.

Many Megafauna

Some of the biggest species and most recognizable species on the planet had a few minor victories in 2016. Most recently, the recognition that giraffes are an endangered species made news around the world. That might seem like bad news, but the public outcry may be what we need to finally get conservation efforts moving in the right direction.

Zhou Fei, Head of TRAFFIC’s China Office in Beijing, says one of the best stories of the year is that giant panda populations improved enough that the IUCN Red List now considers the iconic animals to be no longer endangered. (They’re now listed as vulnerable to extinction.) Others have expressed worry that this categorization change will lessen our ability to protect pandas moving forward, but it’s still pretty good news.

Orangutans had a bad year (more on that in our “worst of 2016” article), but there were bright spots. “The best orangutan conservation story of 2016 is the successful continuation of the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation's release program,” says Richard Zimmerman, executive director of Orangutan Outreach. “They've now released 250 orangutans into safe, secure forests. The majority of these orangutans were rescued orphans who were rehabilitated over many years. Due to a lack of available forest they were forced to remain in cages and wait to be released.” Several other rescue and release expeditions in other locations helped even more of these imperiled apes, although Zimmerman noted that “there are still hundreds of orangutans waiting to be released and we expect the expeditions to continue in coming years. These releases are quite expensive and require a lot of coordination on the ground.”

Finally, experts from the NRDC pointed to a “decades-in-the-making breakthrough agreement on sonar safeguards for whales and our oceans.” With so many cetacean species in decline, this easing of at least one of the pressures affecting them can only help.

Birds

Our feathered friends got several bits of good news this year. Most notably, five captive-born Hawaiian crows—a species that went extinct in the wild decades ago—made their triumphant return to a protected Hawaiian park a few days ago. Expect to hear a lot more about this story in the coming year.

Another Hawaiian species, the Akikiki, has been immortalized in space, with an asteroid permanently named after the tiny endangered birds. That may not have directly helped efforts to conserve the species, but it did bring them international (if not interstellar) recognition.

Meanwhile, in New Zealand, every single kakapo (a large, flightless, critically endangered parrot) has had its genome sequenced, an effort that will help to increase the species’ population in the coming decades. (This year’s record breeding season also gave kakapo numbers a much-needed boost.)

The Little Guys

A few smaller creatures belong on our list, as well. “This year, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service finally took bees seriously,” says Scott Hoffman Black, executive director of the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation. Seven species of Hawaiian yellow-faced bees received endangered species status, and similar protection has been proposed for the rusty-patched bumblebee. “That’s pretty big,” Black says. “We’ve never had a bee listed before.”

Amphibians, many of which are being wiped out by the deadly chytrid fungus, had at least one success story this year. “I was really heartened by the study that Sierra Nevada yellow-legged frogs are holding their own against the chytrid fungus,” says Noah Greenwald, endangered species director for the Center for Biological Diversity.

Meanwhile, desert tortoises and other species benefitted from the Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan, which promoted clean energy development in the California desert while protecting local wildlife. “This plan will enable us to combat climate change, which is a threat to wildlife, habitat and landscapes worldwide, while preserving important habitats,” said Kim Delfino, California program director for Defenders of Wildlife. “This is a blueprint for other states, the nation and the world to consider as we all work together to fight climate change and race against extinction.”

Land & Seas

On a broader level, many species benefitted from efforts to preserve entire ecosystems. “Globally, protected areas continue to expand, both on land and especially in the ocean,” says Stuart Pimm, Doris Duke Professor of Conservation at Duke University and president of Saving Species. “There is widespread agreement that these are the best solution to protect biodiversity.” Pimm reports that his own team’s efforts are paying off. “We don’t help our donors buy a lot of land, but we help them buy land strategically.  We are now connecting formerly isolated fragments of habitat to create large, continuous habitats in Colombia, Ecuador, Brazil, India, and Sumatra.”

What Else?

Obviously there were other endangered species successes over the course of 2016. What would you add to this list? Add your comments below, or discuss things on Twitter under the hashtag #extinction2016.

from Scientific American Content: Global

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The Worst Wildlife Conservation Stories of 2016

Earlier this year the Bramble Cay melomys—a tiny island rodent species that few people had ever seen or heard of—became the first mammal extinction caused by climate change and sea-level rise.

Believe it or not, that portent of things to come wasn’t even the worst wildlife conservation story of the year. Read on for more sad news items from 2016, as chosen from the “Extinction Countdown” archives and by experts and conservation groups around the globe. (Don’t get too depressed reading this—a list of the best stories of 2016 is coming tomorrow.)

Other Extinctions (with More on the Way)

In addition to the melomys, the Rabbs’ tree frog also went extinct, something we’ve actually been expecting for a while. The species was down to its last individual, but the death of the final frog, nicknamed “Toughie,” was still a painful reminder and very public reminder of what we’re losing.

Other disappearances were less visible. The IUCN declared 13 newly discovered bird species to be extinct. Two beetle species went extinct after waiting decades for protection. The population of Addax antelopes fell to just three wild animals. And conservationists predicted the Ploughshare tortoise of Madagascar has maybe two years left in the wild due to rampant poaching for the illegal pet trade.

The illegal pet trade, by the way, is just one of the factors behind the massive decline of another Madagascar species, the ring-tailed lemur, which new research—published just this week—reveals has fallen to a population of fewer than 2,500 animals. Other threats include deforestation, habitat loss and the bushmeat trade. There’s hope for this and other species on the island nation, but that hope is admittedly slim. “Generalist species like the ring-tailed lemur can often persist and do okay, even in the face of rapid ecological change or anthropogenic threat, but as we've seen in Madagascar, the threats are just too great, even for these hearty lemurs,” says Marni LaFleur, adjunct professor at University of California San Diego and co-director of Lemur Love.

We also continued to lose the vaquita porpoise, which has seen its population decline to 60 or fewer animals as the animals are caught up in nets targeting a nearby fish called the totoaba. “That’s a 30 percent decline in just 4 years,” says Noah Greenwald, endangered species director for the Center for Biological Diversity. “At this rate, we're facing functional extinction by 2022.”

That’s already happened with another species, the Irrawaddy dolphin, which became functionally extinct in Laos in 2016. Experts from WWF picked it as one of the worst news stories of the year.

Elephants and Rhinos

Some of the largest species on the planet also had terrible years—most notably, elephants. According to data from the Great Elephant Census, Africa has lost a third of its elephants in just the past seven years due to rampant poaching for their ivory tusks. Forest elephants, one of the two African elephant species, have been hit the worst, as research published this year revealed it will take the slow-breeding pachyderms at least a century to recover from recent poaching losses. “That’s serious,” says Susan Lieberman, vice president of international policy for the Wildlife Conservation Society. “It’s worse that we would have predicted.”

Rhino poaching also continued nonstop. Numbers released at the beginning of 2016 revealed that 2015 had the highest levels of rhino poaching ever. Things didn’t appear to slow down in the months that followed. I dread what 2016’s numbers, due late next month, will reveal.

Orangutans

Both orangutan species are now considered critically endangered, mostly due to habitat loss for production of palm oil and other agricultural products. Meanwhile, efforts to protect the orangutans that remain suffered some setbacks this year. “The worst orangutan conservation story of 2016 is the recent loss of the court case to protect the Leuser Ecosystem in Northern Sumatra,” says Richard Zimmerman, director of Orangutan Outreach. “This is the only intact forest on earth that is home to orangutans, tigers, elephants and rhinos. The Acehnese government is planning to destroy the entire forest and convert the land into oil palm plantations. In such a scenario the biodiversity will be wiped out, leading to the rapid extinction of all the unique animal species inhabiting the ecosystem. A coalition of NGOs and conservation organizations has been fighting to enforce national Indonesian laws, but the court recently rejected their claims. They will be appealing the decision and continuing the fight in 2017.”

Big Cats

Let’s talk tigers. Populations of the world’s most well-known big cat are reportedly up, but in part that’s just be because we’ve gotten better at counting them. Meanwhile the illegal trade in tigers and their body parts continues to surge. We saw this most clearly during the raids of the infamous Tiger Temple in Thailand this past June.

Some tiger populations definitely are increasing and being well protected, but in general the news remains bleak, especially considering what could happen in the future. Zhou Fei, Head of TRAFFIC’s China Office in Beijing points out that “China revised its ‘Wild animal protection law,’ [meaning] there is a call for removal of the 1993 trade ban and use of tiger bone for traditional Chinese medicine.” That could accelerate the loss of wild tigers.

As bad as things are for tigers, the news about leopards may be even worse. These often-ignored big cats are also in crisis, most notably the Indochinese subspecies, which has lost more than 94 percent of its range (compared to 75 percent for all leopards). The cats are expected to become extinct in Cambodia in as little as two years, mostly due to the trapping crisis that is converting every living thing in Southeast Asia into food for the wild meat market.

Wolves & Bears

A lot of people are howling about wolves lately, and with good reason. Experts at Defenders of Wildlife called this year’s plan to pull most red wolves out of the wild “disastrous.” Fewer than 45 of these rare animals remain the wild right now. Mexican gray wolves aren’t much better off, with 97 animals in the U.S. and fewer than 25 in Mexico. The state of New Mexico has sued to block further reintroductions of captive-bred wolves, something that Defenders is fighting. Expect big developments on this story starting in January.

Meanwhile, last member of Yellowstone National Park’s well-known Druid wolf pack was shot and killed—legally—by a hunter in Montana. The pack was a popular sight for tourists and was seen by at least 100,000 Yellowstone visitors over the past two decades. That’s now gone.

Sticking with Yellowstone, experts from the NRDC identified the ongoing efforts to remove the grizzly bear population there from the protection of the Endangered Species Act one of the worst conservation stories of the year.

Forests

It’s not all about animals. Ecosystems matter, too. Bill Laurence, distinguished research professor at James Cook University and director of ALERT Conservation, said one of the worst bits of news for the year was a study that found the world’s forests, especially remote, “core” forest areas that are important for biodiversity, are disappearing faster than ever.

Politics & the Election

On a broader level, here in the U.S. the Endangered Species Act faced dozens of legislative attacks to reduce its strength and effectiveness. Other laws also took aim at wildlife. A rider attached to the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) targets protections for salmon and the Delta smelt. Defenders of Wildlife president and CEO Jamie Rapport Clark said politicians “cynically used the Flint community's need for clean water to gut environmental protections for fish and wildlife. However, this was a false choice created by opportunistic politicians who have signaled that they will use any means at their disposal to roll back important environmental protections. If this is the new way of business for the next Congress, we will fight them every step of the way, because voters did not vote to roll back protections for water, air and wildlife.”

Is that just the shape of things to come? “The number one story of the year has to be that electors in the USA voted in a president who is openly hostile to science, didn’t answer any of the questions posed to him by Science Debate, and denies human caused global warming,” says Stuart Pimm, Doris Duke Professor of Conservation at Duke University and president of Saving Species. “So, too, do two key members of his administration—the proposed heads of EPA and Interior.” That could spell trouble for all of the world’s wildlife—something we’ll explore in another article looking ahead at 2017. Look for that in the coming weeks.

What Else?

Obviously there were other bad news stories endangered species over the course of 2016. What would you add to this list? Add your comments below, or discuss things on Twitter under the hashtag #extinction2016.

from Scientific American Content: Global

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Best Science Books of 2016

Scientific American is part of Springer Nature, which owns or has commercial relations with thousands of scientific publications (many of them can be found at http://ift.tt/1WP0kx9). Scientific American maintains a strict policy of editorial independence in reporting developments in science to our readers.

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Need Help with Portion Control? Don't Ask a Dog for Help

You might not know how much food is on your plate. That's okay. Neither do I. That’s because it depends on the plate.

See. The inner black circle on the left appears larger than the black circle on the right, but both black circles are actually the same size.

Credit: Miletto Petrazzini et al. 2016

Meet the Delboeuf illusion, where we misperceive the size of a central circle because of what’s surrounding it. In the image above, the black circle on the left is surrounded by a smaller circle, giving it the appearance that it’s larger than the black circle on the right, which is surrounded by a larger circle.

Which brings us back to plates of food. It is the Delboeuf illusion that tricks us into thinking we have more food when it is on a smaller plate. That is why a search for the Delboeuf illusion on the Internet produces hits for weight loss this and weight loss that. Select the right plate, you are told, and you could consume less food. (I write that while eating frosting with a spoon. Am I even qualified to cover this topic? I digress.)

Visual illusions are not just for humans. Male bowerbirds not only construct elaborately decorated structures (bowers) to attract mates, they do so in a way that creates the illusion that they are bigger, thus potentially increasing mating success. Felicity Muth of Not Bad Science explains that if a sneaky researcher moves objects within a bird’s bower and disrupts the illusion, males will reposition the objects to fix the disturbed illusion. Don’t mess with my stuff. Bowerbirds are not alone. Numerous other animals also use, and are fooled by, visual trickery.

But it is not always easy to tell if another species picks up on illusions. In recent years, researchers turned to different methods to find out, such as the ‘spontaneous preference paradigm.’ Here’s how it works: Step 1: in control trials, determine whether animals spontaneously select the larger quantity of food when presented with two options. If they do, great. That sets a precedent for the next part. Step 2: in test trials, present them with food on plates in such a way that implements the Delboeuf illusion—the same amount of food is on each plate, but the plates differ in size. Those who initially went for more food would reveal themselves as susceptible to the illusion if they then select the smaller plate—the one that, according to the Delboeuf illusion, appears to have more food on it. Using this design, Parrish and Beran (2014) found that three chimpanzees fell for it, selecting the larger portion in control trials and then selecting food on the smaller plate in test trials. More recently, capuchin monkeys and rhesus monkeys were found to be generally fooled by the illusion.

What about the hounds? Bring in the hounds. Researchers from the University of Padua in Italy recently investigated the Delboeuf illusion in dogs. A total of thirteen dogs, both pet dogs and those residing at an animal shelter, participated in the study by Maria Elena Miletto Tetrazzini and colleagues, which appeared online this month in Animal Cognition. The dog study was modeled after Parrish and Beran’s 2014 study with chimpanzees, first determining whether the dogs preferred larger quantities of food and then presenting equal amounts of food on two different-size plates.

Like the chimpanzees, dogs preferred more food, but unlike the chimps, when dogs were presented with equal amounts of food on different-size plates, dogs did not show a preference for the smaller plate. They went to either plate. The Delboeuf illusion, it appears, is not for dogs.

Humans see more food on the plate on the left, even though the amount on both plates is the same. Dogs see food. Credit: Miletto Petrazzini et al. 2016

If bells are going off in your head, let me guess: are you wondering about smell? In the control trials, did the dogs go to the plate with more food because they smelled the difference in quantity? On the other hand, in the test trials could dogs smell that the quantities were the same, so plate-schmate, it’s all the same?

A number of studies, including one I participated in, find something surprising: “Dogs’ ability to discriminate between two quantities of food items by using olfactory cues is surprisingly poor,” summarizes Miletto Petrazzini.

No one, of course, is suggesting that dogs can’t use olfactory information to discriminate between amounts. Around the globe, trained dogs show off this ability daily. Instead, the studies suggests that average, untrained dogs are not necessarily attending to minute differences in olfactory cues. Additionally, in the Delboeuf test, the plates were about 5 feet from the dogs. Close olfactory investigation and comparison prior to making a decision, like in this video, was not possible.

The Delbouef story does not end here. A second study, also online this month in Animal Cognition, investigated the Delboeuf illusion with an entirely different procedure and also concluded that most dogs do not pick up on it. Here, Sarah-Elizabeth Byosiere and colleagues at La Trobe University in Australia first used a positive reinforcement protocol to train eight dogs—in this case all Lagotto Romagnolos—to discriminate large from small circles presented on a computer screen. Then, dogs were tested on their susceptibility to different visual illusions. Again, Delboeuf was not in the cards for most dogs, although the two dogs who did pick up on it did so in the opposite direction as humans; in other words, the inner circle that appears larger to humans appeared smaller to dogs, and the inner circle that looks smaller to humans looked larger to dogs. 

Nowadays, studies and news reports often highlight the similarities between dogs and people, as if we are two peas in a pod. "Dogs do it like we do," reports seem to say. "We're on the same page." But upon closer inspection, dogs often reveal their own dog-like way of processing and attending to the world. Understanding our differences, I’d argue, only strengthens our collective pod.

References

Byosiere SE, Feng LC, Woodhead JK, Rutter NJ, Chouinard PA, Howell TJ, Bennett PC. 2016. Visual perception in domestic dogs: susceptibility to the Ebbinghaus–Titchener and Delboeuf illusions. Animal Cognition, First Online: 22 December 2016.

Horowitz A, Hecht J, Dedrick A. 2013. Smelling more or less: Investigating the olfactory experience of the domestic dog. Learning and Motivation, 44, 207—217.

Miletto Petrazzini ME, Bisazza A, Agrillo C. 2016 Do domestic dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) perceive the Delboeuf illusion? Animal Cognition, First Online: 20 December 2016.

Parrish AE, Beran MJ. 2014. When less is more: like humans, chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) misperceive food amounts based on plate size. Animal Cognition, 427–434.

Prato-Previde E, Marshall-Pescini S, Valsecchi P. 2008. Is your choice my choice? The owners’ effect on pet dogs’ (Canis lupus familiaris) performance in a food choice task. Animal Cognition, 11, 167—174.

from Scientific American Content: Global

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South Korea on the verge of unlimited energy breakthrough

(NaturalNews) Scientists in South Korea have reportedly made a breakthrough toward harnessing an unlimited source of safe and clean energy via nuclear fusion.

The Korean Superconducting Tokamak Advanced Research (KSTAR) reactor apparently set a world’s record recently by holding superheated plasma in a steady state for 70 seconds.

If implemented into widespread use, the nuclear fusion process — which is an alternative to nuclear fission and the radioactive waste that accompanies it — could revolutionize the energy delivery system by among other things also presumably eliminating reliance on fossil fuels and all the geopolitical, economic, environmental, and social ramifications that go with it.

Deploying the nuclear fusion technology in residential and commercial settings won’t happen tomorrow or the next day but it is no longer in the realm of science fiction because “research such as KSTAR proves that the burning of star-like fuel can be achieved and contained using current technology,” the Daily Mail claimed.

The KSTAR facility is located about 100 miles south of Seoul, and the reactor is capable of generating temperatures of up 300 million degrees Celsius (approximately 540 million degrees Fahrenheit) for plasma blobs.

Plasma blobs are held together by magnetic fields, according to Interesting Engineering, thereby creating helium atoms. The energy thus released is theoretically capable of generating “unlimited” power.

“Containing this ultra-hot type of matter is key to unlocking nuclear fusion, so it’s a big step forward in our attempts to make this clean, safe, and virtually limitless source of energy something we can rely on,” Science Alert explained, adding that this mode of operation could conceivably generate nuclear waste-free power for a millennium using just seawater, as long as the appropriate safety and sustainability controls are in place. Moreover, there is apparently far less risk of a plant meltdown using nuclear fusion technology.

“To put it simply, nuclear fusion is the process that makes the sun shine, with the nuclei of small atoms, such as hydrogen, squeezed together and heated to an extreme degree such that they fuse to form larger nuclei and release a burst of energy…Conventional nuclear power plants depend on materials such as uranium or plutonium to create the fission to generate energy, but the radioactivity of the resulting fragments are considered a crucial drawback. In a nuclear fusion reaction, however, problems about waste disposal are greatly minimized,” The Korea Times explained.

As Natural News has chronicled previously, traditional nuke plants here and abroad have introduced hazardous waste into the environment, so any discussion of nuclear power, conventional or otherwise, is bound to become immediately controversial.

Nuclear waste disposal is a hot-button issue, as it were, and has long been at the heart of opposition to nuclear power by environmental groups, suggesting that fusion process, if it fully proves out, might be a solution acceptable to all constituencies.

Parenthetically, Australia is reportedly considering building a gigantic nuclear waste storage facility in the sparsely populated southern part of the country. Some people believe that gathering nuclear waste together in one site makes it easier to secure, control and keep track of, minimizing the possibilities of widespread radiation exposure across multiple cities, and reducing the chances of these dangerous materials getting into the wrong hands and used in a dirty bomb. Others feel that the health concerns of radiation exposure are simply not worth it.

In a statement about what appears to be a new nuclear fusion benchmark, South Korea’s National Fusion Research Institute lauded the KSTAR reactor record as being in the “forefront in steady-state plasma operation technology in a superconducting device. This is a huge step forward for realization of the fusion reactor.”

Sources:

DailyMail.co.uk

InterestingEngineering.com

ScienceAlert.com

World-Nuclear-News.org

M.KoreaTimes.co.kr

NaturalNews.com

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California just legalized child prostitution beginning Jan 1... pimps rejoice over whole new way to exploit children

(NaturalNews) Our world is so twisted today that “fake news” is deliberately written by the Washington Post and New York Times to sound like it’s real, but real news is so bizarre that it seems fabricated at first glance. Such is the case with California’s new law — SB 1322 — that officially legalizes child prostitution beginning January 1.

SB 1322, entitled “SB-1322 Commercial sex acts: minors”, spells it out in plain language: (click here to read the text of the law yourself)

Existing law makes it a crime to solicit or engage in any act of prostitution. Existing law makes it a crime to loiter in any public place with the intent to commit prostitution.

This bill would make the above provisions inapplicable to a child under 18 years of age who is alleged to have engaged in conduct that would, if committed by an adult, violate the above provisions.

SB 1322 was signed into law by Gov. Jerry Brown on September 26, 2016.

Notably, there is no age limit on how young a legalized prostitute can now be, meaning that even children as young as 12 years old can legally sell their bodies for sex under California law. Or even nine year olds!

Gov. Brown, by the way, is the same politician who also signed SB 277, the “vaccine mandate” law that causes young African-American boys to be neurologically damaged and made autistic. That link has already been publicly admitted by a top CDC scientist.

Prostitution is still a crime if you’re 18 or older, but it’s legal if you’re 17 or younger… huh?

Now, thanks to Gov. Brown, 17-year-old boys and girls in California have legal immunity to engage in open prostitution. But when they turn 18, suddenly they’re criminals.

Meanwhile, prostitution “clients” are considered rapists or sex offenders if they engage in sex acts with children under the age of 18. So now, according to California’s totally insane Governor and legislature, 17-year-old prostitutes can openly stand on street corners and sell their bodies with complete legal immunity… all in the name of “compassion” from a “safe space” California culture that has gone so far off the deep end, the rest of the country desperately hopes #CalExit will succeed.

Governor Jerry Brown even brags about legalizing child prostitution, saying it will “stop the exploiters and help the exploited.” No one outside the fairy tale land of Collapsifornia understands how that logic works. If prostitution is legalized for children, how does that “stop the exploiters” who would then rush to recruit under-age children to serve as sex workers with the benefit of legal immunity?

If California really wants to stop the exploiters, why doesn’t the state just legalize all consenting acts between adults and stop criminalizing adult prostitution altogether? To maintain the criminality of sex acts between adults while legalizing sex acts sold by minors seems so completely insane that it could only come from a place like Collapsifornia — a delusional bubble of artificial reality run by Big Brother meddlers and an endless parade of do-gooder nanny state libtardocrats who still haven’t learned a single thing about why “good intentions” alone are never enough.

Pimps rejoice as California’s lunatic liberal lawmakers open the floodgates to exploiting young teens for the sex trade

“The unintended but predictable consequence of how the real villains — pimps and other traffickers in human misery — will respond to this new law isn’t difficult to foresee,” writes the Washington Examiner. “But legalizing child prostitution will only incentivize the increased exploitation of underage girls. Immunity from arrest means law enforcement can’t interfere with minors engaging in prostitution — which translates into bigger and better cash flow for the pimps. Simply put, more time on the street and less time in jail means more money for pimps, and more victims for them to exploit.”

The Examiner adds:

As Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O’Malley, a national leader on human trafficking issues, told the media, “It just opens up the door for traffickers to use these kids to commit crimes and exploit them even worse.” Another prosecutor insightfully observed that if traffickers wrote legislation to protect themselves, it would read like SB 1322.

In other words, California legislators, via a Democrat supermajority, just passed exactly the type of law that child sex traffickers would have written themselves if they ran the legislature. Come to think of it, maybe they do!

Thank goodness California also passed SB 277, the vaccine mandate law, because otherwise all those child prostitutes might spread the flu to their paying sex partners. Yep, that’s California’s health code for you: Vaccinate all the children before you send them onto the street corners as legalized prostitutes.

Glad to know California has its priorities straight.

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Brain Beauty: The Art of Neuroscience

The Beautiful Brain: The Drawings of Santiago Ramón y Cajal
by Larry W. Swanson , Eric A. Newman , Alfonso Araque and Janet M. Dubinsky
Abrams, 2017 ($40)

Often called the “father of modern neuroscience,” Santiago Ramón y Cajal was a Spanish scientist whose exquisitely detailed drawings helped to reveal the pathways, cells and structure of the brain. Born in 1852, Cajal crafted illustrations, based on painstaking observations of brain slices under the microscope, that led to major discoveries long before neuroimaging was possible. He realized, for instance, that the brain was a vast network of individual neurons—a finding that led him to earn a Nobel Prize in 1906. In this large-format book, 82 of Cajal's drawings are paired with commentary and essays from neuroscientists celebrating both the scientific value and the pure artistry of his work.

Storm in a Teacup: The Physics of Everyday Life
by Helen Czerski.
W. W. Norton, 2017 ($26.95)

In an age when any questions we have about the workings of the world are instantly answerable via Google, physicist Czerski pushes us to resist the search engine. Instead of looking up easy explanations, she says, why not learn some simple physics so that you can try to puzzle things out for yourself? Her book provides that knowledge and puts it to work, showing how the laws of physics account for daily phenomena such as why frying food makes it crispy, why drying clothes in damp weather is impossible and why you get electric shocks more often after it snows. “Knowing about some basic bits of physics turns the world into a toybox,” she writes, full of marvels that become more interesting the more we understand them. “A toaster can teach you about some of the most fundamental laws of physics, and the benefit of a toaster is that you've probably got one, and you can see it working for yourself.”

Language at the Speed of Sight: How We Read, Why So Many Can’t, and What Can Be Done about It
by Mark Seidenberg.
Basic Books, 2017 ($28.99)

In recent decades scientists have gained “remarkable consensus” on how our brain learns to read, writes neuroscientist Seidenberg. Then why, he asks, are U.S. literacy levels so low? Poverty and screen usage are big factors, but the way we teach reading is also a major part of the problem, he argues: “Very little of what we've learned about reading as scientists has had any impact on what happens in schools.” For instance, a popular strategy taught to kids who struggle to read a word suggests various guessing strategies, such as thinking of what word might fit in the sentence or looking at illustrations. But these tactics actually distract kids from learning the skills needed to phonetically decode unfamiliar words. Seidenberg reviews the latest science on reading and makes an impassioned plea for putting this knowledge to use.

Earth in Human Hands: Shaping Our Planet’s Future
by David Grinspoon.
Grand Central Publishing, 2016 ($28)

In this overview of the “Anthropocene,” the proposed name for our current geologic epoch, astrobiologist Grinspoon describes how humans are disrupting global ecosystems and places our present situation into a broader cosmic perspective. In flavorful prose, he dives deep into the history of life on Earth (and beyond) and muses on ways that geoengineering, interplanetary colonization or contact with galactic civilizations could define this human-dominated epoch just as much as climate change, overpopulation and resource scarcity. “It took 4.5 billion years for Earth to go from dead rock to space walk, from molten ball to shopping mall, from sea to me, from goo to you,” he writes. What comes next? This hybrid of a meditative memoir, a scientific primer and a call to arms presents possible answers. —Lee Billings

 

This article was originally published with the title "Recommended"

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The Top-22 Air Polluters Revealed

A mere 100 facilities, out of 20,000, produced one third of U.S. industry's toxic air pollution in 2014. Another 100 released one third of industry's greenhouse gas emissions, among 7,000 installations that discharge the gas. And according to an investigation by the Center for Public Integrity that created the rankings, 22 “super-polluter” sites appeared on both lists (noted below). Many are coal-fired power plants, and some rank high because they are very large. This group is responsible for a significant chunk of U.S. industrial air pollution. (Since 2014 eight of the 178 facilities have closed, but none were super-polluters.) Researchers at the center also used census data to show that most of the 100 facilities on the toxics list are located in poor neighborhoods—where incomes are lower than the national average. The good news is that cleaning up the sites could make a big dent in toxic compounds that are implicated in respiratory illnesses and in the country's contribution to climate change. The researchers say that existing regulations are sufficient, but weak enforcement must improve.

Credit: Tiffany Farrant-Gonzalez; Sources: “America’s Super Polluters,” By Jamie Smith Hopkins. Published online by Center for Public Integrity, September 29, 2016 http://ift.tt/2idht72

This article was originally published with the title "Top Air Polluters"

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Pres. Obama Wrote the Year's Most Talked-About Science Paper

Pres. Barack Obama, medical error and gravitational waves all sat atop Digital Science’s third annual Altmetric Top 100 list, which highlights 2016’s most shared scientific publications. Obama’s paper on the progress and next steps for health care reform in JAMA The Journal of the American Medical Association came in first place, and received the highest Altmetric Attention Score ever.

Altmetric analyzes how articles percolate across the Web—you may have seen the little rainbow doughnut and number accompanying scientific publications. The score tracks article performance on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter as well as news outlets, Wikipedia and other forums. The increasing number of folks sharing journal articles online marks the importance of making research available and communicating it accurately to a broader audience, says Altmetric founder Euan Adie. He cautioned, however, that the Top 100 list highlights the most shared papers, not necessarily the best ones, because Altmetric does not measure positive versus negative attention. “These are just the ones that are capturing the imagination,” he says.

Credit: Amanda Montañez; Source: Altmetric Top 100 Articles of 2016

Medical science papers, unsurprisingly, occupy 49 of the 100 slots. Those relating to topics in the news, such as Zika virus and microcephaly, created lots of buzz: “Zika Virus and Birth Defects—Reviewing the Evidence for Causality,” published in The New England Journal of Medicine, came in at number six. Other high-scoring papers also covered public health topics likely to interest big audiences: a study on how income relates to life expectancy, published in JAMA, took seventh place; a JAMA Internal Medicine investigation that showed the sugar industry funded studies downplaying the effects of sugar on coronary heart disease came in fifth; and a report finding that medical error was the third leading cause of death in the U.S., published in the British Medical Journal, came in at number two. This is consistent with a Scientific American analysis of “buzzworthy” papers, published this past October, which also tilted toward the life sciences.

Obama’s paper appearing at the top of the list makes sense, given the author’s job title. But Adie thought this was a special case, noting the document was not peer-reviewed. Plus, although Obama was probably the first chief executive to have written a complete scientific paper, presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush have published opinions in academic journals in the past.

Adie notes a couple of surprises on this year’s list. “This was the first time we saw preprints from the life sciences in the Top 100,” he says. Physicists have long used the arXiv preprint servers to make research available ahead of peer review and publication, so the scientific community can see and judge work quickly. This year, a study from the preprint server bioRxiv appeared at number 21; another from PeerJ took 28th place. Adie was also surprised that this year only saw a small increase in open-access articles over last year—from 42 to 47—and that two astronomy papers appeared in the top 10, one on gravitational waves and the other on the theoretical Planet Nine. “Normally that doesn’t happen,” he says.

The list ultimately serves as a reminder that people actually read scientific papers. “When you publish a piece of research,” Adie says, “it’s not just your peers who see it. It’s potentially a much broader audience.”

from Scientific American Content: Global

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Politicians' Most Bogus Science-Related Claims of 2016

SciCheck likely will have no dearth of false and misleading claims to cover next year, when a new Congress convenes and takes up the agenda of President-elect Donald Trump. The incoming president has vowed to reverse eight years of Democratic policies, and he has a Republican majority in Congress to help him accomplish his goals. 

But, for now, here are some of the more questionable science-related claims from 2016 on topics such as climate change, Zika, GMOs, marijuana and the human mind.

Climate Change

Scientific Consensus: Both the president-elect and his nominee for the head of the EPA, Scott Pruitt, made two of the most common false claims about climate change — that scientists disagree about both the connection and extent of climate change that’s due to human activity. Trump made his claims in November and Pruitt back in May. Numerous surveys of thousands of climate scientists have found that about 97 percent of them believe global warming is real and human activity is the main cause. The United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change also concluded in its fifth assessment report, published in 2013, that it’s “extremely likely” that more than half of the global temperature rise since 1950 is due to human activities.

Trump on Climate Change, Nov. 23

The Facts on Trump’s EPA Nominee, Dec. 14

Climate Science, Not Pseudoscience: Ted Cruz said in January that “climate change is the perfect pseudoscientific theory because it can never, ever, ever be disproven.” That’s false. For example, if researchers found strong evidence to suggest gases like carbon dioxide don’t trap the sun’s heat (the greenhouse effect), then climate change would be disproven. But the likelihood of this occurring is minute because the greenhouse effect has been verified time and again since it was first proposed in 1824. In fact, part of that verification includes the design of heat-seeking missiles, which relies on an understanding of the greenhouse effect.

Cruz’s ‘Pseudoscientific’ Climate Claims, Feb. 1

No Warming ‘Halt’: Rep. Lamar Smith, the chairman of the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, claimed in March that a study published in Nature Climate Change “confirms the halt in global warming.” That’s false. The authors of the paper write, “We do not believe that warming has ceased.” Scientists disagree over the extent of a potential slowdown in the rate of global warming, but there is no evidence for a full-on warming halt. Smith also made a similar claim last year.

Smith Still Wrong About Warming ‘Halt,’ March 30

The Zika Epidemic

Blinded by Zika: Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid falsely claimed that Zika “affects everyone” because recent research found that it “causes people to go blind.” Temporary vision impairment is a symptom of Zika, a virus primarily spread by mosquito bite, but no adult has gone blind because of the virus. In fact, many people who contract Zika have little to no symptoms. However, it’s important to note that studies have shown that women who contracted Zika while pregnant have given birth to babies with severe vision impairment. Reid made his claim, and other similar claims, during a partisan battle over funding to combat the Zika epidemic.

Does Zika Cause Blindness?, Sept. 20

No U.S. Epidemic: In April, also during the debate over Zika funding, North Dakota Sen. Heidi Heitkamp warned about traveling in the U.S., claiming that the Zika virus will be transmitted “everywhere in the United States.” At the time, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention projected local clusters of Zika transmission on U.S. soil via mosquito bite, but not a widespread epidemic. As of Dec. 7, the CDC’s projections have held true. Puerto Rico primarily, but also the U.S. Virgin Islands, Florida, American Samoa and Texas have seen locally acquired cases, the CDC reports. Every state in the continental U.S. has seen travel-associated cases, however, which means those residents contracted the virus in areas of local transmission out-of-state.

What Zika Means for Americans, May 6

Marijuana

Legalization: Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson said in August that “marijuana-related” traffic deaths, hospital visits and school suspensions in Colorado have “not significantly” increased since the state legalized the drug. Reports do show substantial increases, but data limitations make it impossible to know how many cases were directly caused by marijuana. On traffic accidents — unlike alcohol, a positive test for marijuana doesn’t entail intoxication at the time of an accident. The drug can stay in a person’s system longer than its effects. On hospital visits — medical billing codes for marijuana signify a “marijuana-related” hospital visit in reports. But these codes don’t prove the drug was the reason for the visit, and one Colorado doctor said they are often assigned arbitrarily. On school suspensions — the Colorado Department of Education collects data on drug-related suspensions in general, so it’s not clear that the increase was due solely to marijuana.

Unpacking Pot’s Impact in Colorado, Aug. 19

Medical Research: In April, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said that “you can’t do any research about” marijuana because it’s a Schedule I drug. That’s false. Schedule I classification makes it difficult to conduct research on a substance, but not impossible. For example, the Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research, based out of the University of California, San Diego, says its mission is to coordinate “rigorous scientific studies to assess the safety and efficacy of cannabis and cannabis compounds for treating medical conditions.”

Clinton on Marijuana Research, April 22

Water Issues

California’s Very Real Drought: Trump falsely suggested in May that “there is no drought” in California because the state has “plenty of water.” The state is in its fifth year of a severe “hot” drought, the type that’s expected to become more common with global warming. Trump also said water is being shoved “out to sea” to protect a “three-inch fish” at the detriment to farmers. But the state’s officials release fresh water from reservoirs primarily to avoid salt water contamination to agricultural and urban water supplies.

Trump’s Dubious Drought Claims, June 9

Fracking Fray: Sen. Jim Inhofe, chairman of the Senate environment committee, falsely claimed in November that a new report “confirms” that fracking “has not impacted drinking water” in Wyoming. The industry-funded report couldn’t reach “firm conclusions” due to a lack of water quality data before oil and gas exploration. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency also found numerous issues with the draft report, some of which weren’t resolved in the final version. For example, the report didn’t conclusively determine whether the sources of water contamination were naturally occurring or caused by humans in some cases. 

More False Claims About Fracking, Dec. 2

Ozone

Trump and His Hairspray: In May, Trump falsely said that using hairspray in his apartment, “which is all sealed,” would prevent banned ozone layer-depleting chemicals from escaping into the environment. But these chemicals, chlorofluorocarbons, would still make their way out, multiple experts said. Trump made his claim while also arguing that “hairspray’s not like it used to be” due to the CFC ban. Experts also said these global bans didn’t effect the quality of hairspray. These global bans appear to be reversing damage done to the ozone layer. The ozone layer protects the Earth’s inhabitants from the sun’s ultraviolet radiation, which is linked to skin cancer and other problems. Located between 6 to 30 miles above the planet’s surface, the ozone layer differs from ground-level ozone.

Trump on Hairspray and Ozone, May 17

Ozone and Asthma: Louisiana Rep. Ralph Abraham claimed in June that “thousands of studies” refute the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s conclusion that ground-level ozone exacerbates asthma attacks. That’s false. A link between ground-level ozone and asthma exacerbation is well-documented in the scientific literature, which both the American Lung Association and the World Health Organization acknowledge. Ground-level ozone is a component of photochemical smog, which is produced when sunlight reacts with various air pollutants. The sources of these pollutants include coal power plants, paint and cleaning products, and car exhaust.

Distorting the Ozone-Asthma Link, July 6

The Human Mind

Ineffective Torture: Trump said both in February and July that enhanced interrogation, or torture, “works.” But scientists have shown that the stress and pain induced by techniques like waterboarding can impair memory, and, therefore, inhibit a person from recalling information. Stress causes the release of hormones like cortisol, which impair the function of brain regions vital to memory formation and recall, sometimes even resulting in tissue loss. Scientists also point out that it’s difficult to know whether the information provided is true. It is not clear what policy on torture Trump will support as president. His choice for defense secretary is James N. Mattis, a retired Marine Corps general. Trump said that Mattis told him he has never found torture to be useful, the New York Times reported in November.

Trump on Torture, July 28

Implicit Bias for All: Vice President-elect Mike Pence implied in October that Hillary Clinton was wrong when she cited the fatal shooting of a black man by a black cop as a case of implicit, or unconscious, bias. But research shows African Americans are not immune to implicit bias against members of their own racial group. Implicit bias refers to unconscious and automatic features of judgment, while explicit bias entails conscious judgments. Thus, a person could explicitly believe that white and black Americans should be treated equally, but implicitly judge situations counter to that explicit belief. A group of Harvard scientists found “even numbers of Black respondents showing a pro-White bias as show a pro-Black bias.”

FactChecking the VP Debate, Oct. 5

Other Notable Claims

Ninth Month, Final Day: Trump claimed during the final presidential debate in October that under Clinton’s position on abortion, “you can take the baby and rip the baby out of the womb in the ninth month on the final day.” First off, Clinton had said she was open to restrictions on late-term abortions, with exceptions for cases involving the mother’s health issues. Second, abortions on the “final day” don’t occur. Daniel Grossman, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of California, San Francisco told Politifact, “Nobody would talk about abortion on the woman’s due date. If the mother’s life was at risk, the treatment for that is delivery, and the baby survives.” Third, late-term abortions in general are rare, as only 1.2 percent of all the abortions in the United States occur after 20 weeks gestation, according to the Guttmacher Institute.

FactChecking the Final Presidential Debate, Oct. 20

Birds and Wind Farms: Trump said in May that wind farms in the U.S. “kill more than 1 million birds a year.” Reliable data are scarce, but current mean estimates range from 20,000 to 573,000 bird deaths per year. In his claim, Trump also misleadingly compared bird deaths at oil drilling operations with those at wind farms. But a 2012 Bureau of Land Management memo states that oil field production kills an estimated 500,000 to 1,000,000 birds a year. This suggests oil production alone (i.e. not including the production of coal or gas) can kill the same, if not more, birds per year than wind farms in the U.S. Even still, there are greater threats to birds than energy production, including cats and buildings.

Trump’s Hot Air on Wind Energy, June 2

Frankenfish: Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski said in March that she opposes federal approval of genetically engineered salmon “for the health of both consumers and fisheries.” But no scientific evidence suggests GE salmon will pose a significant risk to either. Scientists engineered GE salmon to grow faster than non-GE farm-raised salmon by inserting genes from two other fish into the genome of an Atlantic salmon. With these changes, the GE salmon remained nutritionally and physiologically comparable to non-GE salmon, so the Food and Drug Administration deemed GE salmon “safe to eat.” GE salmon have also been rendered sterile — meaning they can’t interbreed with wild salmon stocks. Geographical and physical confinement measures also limit the likelihood that the GE fish will escape, survive and impact wild fisheries.

False Claims About Frankenfish, March 23

Editor’s Note: SciCheck is made possible by a grant from the Stanton Foundation.

This article is reproduced with permission from FactCheck.org, which writes about false and misleading scientific claims in a feature it calls SciCheck. The article was first published on December 20, 2016.

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Did Carrie Fisher's Bipolar Disorder Contribute to Her Death?

Actress and writer Carrie Fisher, who died earlier this week after suffering a cardiac event on a flight, was not only an entertainment icon, but also a prominent mental health advocate. Fisher was well known for being outspoken about her experiences with drug and alcohol addiction and bipolar disorder, which she was diagnosed with in her early twenties, and she frequently wrote about them in articles and her best-selling 2008 memoir Wishful Drinking (Simon & Schuster). Her voice countered the stigma surrounding psychiatric disorders and helped support others with similar struggles—sometimes directly.

In an advice column she wrote for The Guardian just last month Fisher offered guidance to a young adult with bipolar disorder. In it, she explains that she initially rejected the bipolar disorder diagnosis she received at the age of 24, only accepting it at age 28, “when I overdosed and finally got sober. Only then was I able to see nothing else could explain away my behavior.” She emphasized the importance of connecting with others who have the disorder, adding, “We have been given a challenging illness, and there is no other option than to meet those challenges.”

Some have conjectured that Fisher’s earlier substance abuse and struggles with her weight may have contributed to her death, with medical doctors weighing in about the cardiovascular dangers of cocaine in particular. Though these hypotheses are speculative, one possibility that has been overlooked is the influence of her bipolar disorder, which has been linked in several studies to cardiovascular disease and mortality.

This association “has been confirmed in representative and population-wide studies and approximates a two-fold increased risk—that is, persons with bipolar disorder are about twice as likely to develop or die from cardiovascular disease than would otherwise be expected,” says Jess Fiedorowicz, an associate professor of psychiatry, internal medicine and epidemiology at the University of Iowa, who published a study on this topic in 2009 in Psychosomatic Medicine. “Importantly, the onset of cardiovascular disease occurs very prematurely among people with bipolar disorder, up to 17 years earlier than in the general population,” adds Benjamin Goldstein, a child and adolescent psychiatrist at the University of Toronto, who published a related study in 2015 in Circulation.

The possible factors underlying the connection are numerous and often overlapping. “Negative lifestyle behaviors, including suboptimal nutrition, being sedentary, cigarette smoking, and excessive use of alcohol and substances are more common among people with bipolar disorder,” says Goldstein. “The distress of the mood symptoms of mania and depression that define bipolar disorder, and the life stress that occurs as a consequence of symptoms, further adds to cardiovascular risk.”

Additionally, individuals with bipolar disorder are less likely to be screened for cardiovascular disease risk factors. “Even when these risk factors are identified, they are less likely to be prescribed the appropriate treatments, and patients may be less likely to consistently adhere to them” when they are prescribed the right medications, notes Fiedorowicz. In addition, many of the medications used to treat bipolar disorder may cause adverse effects “such as weight gain, increases in triglycerides, diabetes mellitus and even sudden cardiac death due to arrhythmia,” he says. Another potential influence is bipolar disorder’s effect on the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and the autonomic nervous system, which are activated both by acute stress and by bipolar mood states.

The magnitude of the elevated heart disease risk in people with bipolar disorder, however, exceeds the effects of traditional cardiovascular risk factors, suggesting the possibility of shared causes between the two diseases. “For example, episodes of mania and depression have been linked with increased levels of inflammation, which in turn is known to increase the risk of heart disease,” explains Goldstein. “There is also evidence of problems with the function and structure of blood vessels among people with bipolar disorder, and this occurs in the brain as well as the body.” He and colleagues are currently exploring the role of tiny “microvessels” in these processes.

Future research should focus on exploring these and other possible mechanisms, as well as interventional studies regarding targeted cardiovascular risk reduction strategies that would “take into consideration barriers to optimal heart health that are unique to people with bipolar disorder,” Goldstein says. On the treatment front, there is also a “need to disseminate the types of health care delivery models that can provide integrated psychiatric and other medical care to those with bipolar and related disorders,” Fiedorowicz adds.

While Fisher fit the bill for at least several of these risk factors at different points in her life, there is no definitive way to know whether her bipolar disorder or addiction history contributed to her death. It is clear, though, that an invaluable advocate for mental health has been lost. In that November column in The Guardian, she told the advice-seeker, “Think of [your diagnosis] as an opportunity to be heroic… an emotional survival. An opportunity to be a good example to others who might share our disorder.” She certainly accomplished that in her own life.

from Scientific American Content: Global

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The Most Popular Science Stories of 2016

It was a momentous year in science: astronomers detected gravitational waves for the first time, Zika virus spread around the globe and drought accompanied war to fuel a mass migration of refugees in Syria. These were among the stories our editors felt were the most important of 2016, and we invite you to read the entire collection.

But we also wanted to know which stories most captured our readers’ attention this year, so we looked at the data. Here is a list of the two most visited articles in each of our core topic areas. And because U.S. election news led the headlines in 2016, scroll down to see our top five stories about President-elect Donald Trump.

Space and Physics

1. Hints of new, exotic particles observed at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider stand to shake up foundational ideas in physics.
Read Here: Is Particle Physics About to Crack Wide Open?

2. A member of the Cassini mission to Saturn and a science writer made the case that one of Saturn's frigid moons is humans’ best option for an extraterrestrial home (sorry, Mars).
Read Here: Let's Colonize Titan

Sustainability and Climate

1. Faced with the rigors of a changing climate, Israel turned its drought-inflicted water deficit into a surplus with a string of new desalination plants.
Read Here: Israel Proves the Desalination Era Is Here

2. A study published in October showed that the polar vortex is shifting toward Europe, raising the potential for icy weather to dip into lower latitudes this winter.
Read Here: Dreaded Polar Vortex May Be Shifting

Mind and Brain

1. A long-running investigation of exceptional youths revealed what it takes to produce a whiz kid.
Read Here: How to Raise a Genius: Lessons from a 45-Year Study of Supersmart Children

2. New research is showing that female children with autism often display unique traits, leading many to be misdiagnosed.
Read Here: Autism—It’s Different in Girls

Technology

1. Researchers devised a new approach to harvesting superstrong fabrics—some even able to conduct electricity.
Read Here: Silkworms Spin Super-Silk after Eating Carbon Nanotubes and Graphene

2. In April some of the top minds in physics gathered to debate, in seriousness, whether human existence may just part of an alien's computer program.
Read Here: Are We Living in a Computer Simulation?

Health and Medicine

1. Scientists gathered more evidence that a widespread parasitic infection can alter human mood and behavior.
Read Here: Rage Disorder Linked with Parasite Found in Cat Feces

2. Even mild concussions sustained during recreational athletics or other activities might be more detrimental than anyone anticipated.
Read Here: A Single Concussion May Triple the Long-Term Risk of Suicide

Election 2016

Of course, the biggest news of the year—even for science—was the election of businessman and reality TV star Donald J. Trump as the 45th president of the U.S. Here are our top five stories about Trump’s successful quest for the Oval Office.

In the lead up to the election, Scientific American evaluated the candidates’ knowledge and positions on STEM issues.
Read Here: Grading the Presidential Candidates on Science

One of our bloggers, psychologist Scott Barry Kaufman, conducted an early assessment of Trump's personality and the true motivation behind his actions.
Read Here: Donald Trump's Real Ambition

In September Trump appointed a notorious climate change doubter, Myron Ebell, as the head of his Environmental Protection Agency transition team.
Read Here: Trump Picks Top Climate Skeptic to Lead EPA Transition

As evidence of Trump’s troubling views on science, Scientific American published a collection of his tweets and other public commentary.
Read Here: Trump's Views on Science Are Shockingly Ignorant

Once the surprising election results were in, one of the country’s most renowned journalists issued a call to action.
Read Here: Dan Rather: Now, More Than Ever, We Must Stand Up for Science

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How Alcohol Affects the Body in Cold Weather

Popping a bottle of champagne during a New Year's Eve bash may be a tradition, but drinking in excess while ringing in 2017 can be especially dangerous in cold weather.

Liquor can help you "feel" warmer as blood vessels on the skin's surface open, according to the University of Rochester Medical Center. However, that "feeling" of warmth does not mean your body temperature will be affected. You will still be just as likely to get frostbite or hypothermia.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advises people to abstain from caffeinated and alcoholic beverages while in the cold since "they cause your body to lose heat more rapidly."

Dr. Noah Rosen, director of Northwell Health's Headache Center in Great Neck, New York, said sipping a stiff whiskey drink may sound like a good idea to counteract cold temperatures, but it will only raise your blood alcohol level.

"It's a sensation of warmth but it's not actually increasing core body temperature," Rosen told ABC News.

For those with heart conditions, drinking in cold weather can be hazardous since people may be under additional strain from the cold and not realize it, the American Heart Association warns.

"Alcohol may increase a person’s sensation of warmth and may cause them to underestimate the extra strain their body is under in the cold," the AHA explained on its website.

from ABC News: Health

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How to Survive Your New Year's Day Hangover

With New Year's Eve on the horizon, you may be planning on downing a few glasses of champagne, festive punch or other alcoholic beverage to ring in 2017. But have just one glass too many, and you may be left feeling the effects on New Year's morning.

Here's what you need to know about kicking a hangover so you can start 2017 off on the right foot.

Plan Ahead

Dr. Noah Rosen, Director, Northwell Health's Headache Center in Great Neck, New York, said his biggest piece of advice is to be smart about what you drink during any New Year's Eve bash.

"It's probably easier to avoid problems than to treat problems," Rosen said.

He said it's especially key to balance alcoholic beverages with water or other hydrating drinks. He also said people who get chronic migraines should think twice before consuming too much bubbly.

"People who have a headache disorder are at a greater chance for having headaches induced by alcohol," Rosen said.

If you're especially worried, Rosen said it might help to avoid drinking darker alcohol. There's some evidence that darker liquor like whiskey can make a hangover worse, he said.

Skip the Grease

Dr. Robert Glatter, an emergency room physician at Lenox Hill Hospital, told ABC News that sipping water with a little bit of honey or munching on a banana can help replenish needed nutrients on New Year's Day.

"You don't need to overdo it on a greasy meal," Glatter said in an earlier interview. "Especially greasy foods can irritate your stomach."

Try Caffeine but Don't Overdo It

Since alcohol can disrupt sleep, picking up a giant coffee for a hangover can seem like a smart answer in the morning. But experts advise being cautious on caffeine intake.

Rosen said it can help to have the same amount of coffee or tea you have other days so you don't compound your hangover with caffeine withdrawal. However, too much caffeine can irritate the stomach and make nausea worse.

Hope Genetics Are on Your Side

Dr. Crystal Lantz-DeGeorge, an internal medicine physician University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center, said in an earlier interview with ABC News that some people are genetically predisposed to have worse hangovers than others due to how they process alcohol.

In general, a person first absorbs the alcohol through the intestines into the bloodstream. As the liver filters the blood, it uses chemicals, including an enzyme, to break down the alcohol first into acetaldehyde and then acetic acid, which is removed in your waste. Lantz-DeGeorge said it’s the buildup of acetaldehyde “that causes all the hangover symptoms.”

Lantz-DeGeorge said if your body isn’t making these chemicals fast enough to break down acetaldehyde into acetic acid, you’re going to have an even worse hangover.

People of certain ethnicities, including those of East-Asian descent, are more likely to have a genetic mutation that makes them more efficient at breaking down alcohol into acetaldehyde, which causes common hangover symptoms, according to Lantz-DeGeorge.

When All Else Fails, Try a Sprite

Rosen said there is some preliminary data out of Asia that has shown drinking 7Up or a Sprite-type drink can help speed the breakdown of acetaldehyde into acetic acid, meaning the worst parts of the hangover are minimized.

While the data is preliminary, Rosen said at the very least sipping a noncaffinated drink like ginger ale or Sprite can help with hydration during a hangover.

from ABC News: Health

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Reynolds' Stroke Highlights When People Follow Loved Ones in Death

The death of actress Debbie Reynolds a day after daughter Carrie Fisher died has put a spotlight on people who die shortly after loved ones do.

Reynolds, 84, died Wednesday after suffering a stroke, according to her family, while Fisher of “Star Wars” fame died Tuesday, a few days after suffering cardiac arrest.

There is no evidence linking the two deaths, but some published medical studies have found that people appear to be more at risk of dying in the months to years after losing a loved one.

In a 2013 study published in American Journal of Public Health, researchers studied 171,720 couples older than 60 and found a rise in mortality for people who unexpectedly lost a spouse, compared with those whose spouse died because of a chronic condition.

Similarly, in a 2016 study published in Annals of Epidemiology, researchers found that parents had an increased risk of dying up to three years after their child's death, compared with parents who had not lost children. Deaths among bereaved parents because of coronary artery disease were especially high in comparison with non-bereaved parents, the researchers found.

Dr. Guilherme Oliveira, a cardiologist at Harrington Heart and Vascular Institute at the University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center, said it’s unclear whether a specific death can directly contribute to the death of a family member, but pointed out that doctors have long known that emotions can have a physical effect on health.

"People under severe stress can get a hypertension crisis," Oliveira said. It "can cause a stroke or heart attack or pulmonary edema."

It’s unclear what may have caused Reynolds' stroke or whether she had hypertension.

Separately, doctors have also long known about a rare condition called the takotsubo syndrome, nicknamed the "broken heart" syndrome. Despite its name, however, the syndrome is rarely fatal and is believed to occur when a surge in hormones causes the heart muscle to dilate and weaken.

Oliveira said the condition is thought to be caused by "an event that shocks the body psychologically or physically."

The syndrome is associated with "negative emotions," but can also be caused by shockingly positive news and mainly affects older women, Oliveira said.

Additionally, physical stress on the body such as burns, infection or other trauma can cause the syndrome to develop.

Dr. Mehgan Teherani, a pediatric resident at Phoenix Children’s Hospital who’s currently working at the ABC News Medical Unit, contributed to this story.

from ABC News: Health

Read More

How Alcohol Affects the Body in Cold Weather

Popping a bottle of champagne during a New Year's Eve bash may be a tradition, but drinking in excess while ringing in 2017 can be especially dangerous in cold weather.

Liquor can help you "feel" warmer as blood vessels on the skin's surface open, according to the University of Rochester Medical Center. However, that "feeling" of warmth does not mean your body temperature will be affected. You will still be just as likely to get frostbite or hypothermia.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advises people to abstain from caffeinated and alcoholic beverages while in the cold since "they cause your body to lose heat more rapidly."

Dr. Noah Rosen, director of Northwell Health's Headache Center in Great Neck, New York, said sipping a stiff whiskey drink may sound like a good idea to counteract cold temperatures, but it will only raise your blood alcohol level.

"It's a sensation of warmth but it's not actually increasing core body temperature," Rosen told ABC News.

For those with heart conditions, drinking in cold weather can be hazardous since people may be under additional strain from the cold and not realize it, the American Heart Association warns.

"Alcohol may increase a person’s sensation of warmth and may cause them to underestimate the extra strain their body is under in the cold," the AHA explained on its website.

from ABC News: Health

Read More

How to Survive Your New Year's Day Hangover

With New Year's Eve on the horizon, you may be planning on downing a few glasses of champagne, festive punch or other alcoholic beverage to ring in 2017. But have just one glass too many, and you may be left feeling the effects on New Year's morning.

Here's what you need to know about kicking a hangover so you can start 2017 off on the right foot.

Plan Ahead

Dr. Noah Rosen, Director, Northwell Health's Headache Center in Great Neck, New York, said his biggest piece of advice is to be smart about what you drink during any New Year's Eve bash.

"It's probably easier to avoid problems than to treat problems," Rosen said.

He said it's especially key to balance alcoholic beverages with water or other hydrating drinks. He also said people who get chronic migraines should think twice before consuming too much bubbly.

"People who have a headache disorder are at a greater chance for having headaches induced by alcohol," Rosen said.

If you're especially worried, Rosen said it might help to avoid drinking darker alcohol. There's some evidence that darker liquor like whiskey can make a hangover worse, he said.

Skip the Grease

Dr. Robert Glatter, an emergency room physician at Lenox Hill Hospital, told ABC News that sipping water with a little bit of honey or munching on a banana can help replenish needed nutrients on New Year's Day.

"You don't need to overdo it on a greasy meal," Glatter said in an earlier interview. "Especially greasy foods can irritate your stomach."

Try Caffeine but Don't Overdo It

Since alcohol can disrupt sleep, picking up a giant coffee for a hangover can seem like a smart answer in the morning. But experts advise being cautious on caffeine intake.

Rosen said it can help to have the same amount of coffee or tea you have other days so you don't compound your hangover with caffeine withdrawal. However, too much caffeine can irritate the stomach and make nausea worse.

Hope Genetics Are on Your Side

Dr. Crystal Lantz-DeGeorge, an internal medicine physician University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center, said in an earlier interview with ABC News that some people are genetically predisposed to have worse hangovers than others due to how they process alcohol.

In general, a person first absorbs the alcohol through the intestines into the bloodstream. As the liver filters the blood, it uses chemicals, including an enzyme, to break down the alcohol first into acetaldehyde and then acetic acid, which is removed in your waste. Lantz-DeGeorge said it’s the buildup of acetaldehyde “that causes all the hangover symptoms.”

Lantz-DeGeorge said if your body isn’t making these chemicals fast enough to break down acetaldehyde into acetic acid, you’re going to have an even worse hangover.

People of certain ethnicities, including those of East-Asian descent, are more likely to have a genetic mutation that makes them more efficient at breaking down alcohol into acetaldehyde, which causes common hangover symptoms, according to Lantz-DeGeorge.

When All Else Fails, Try a Sprite

Rosen said there is some preliminary data out of Asia that has shown drinking 7Up or a Sprite-type drink can help speed the breakdown of acetaldehyde into acetic acid, meaning the worst parts of the hangover are minimized.

While the data is preliminary, Rosen said at the very least sipping a noncaffinated drink like ginger ale or Sprite can help with hydration during a hangover.

from ABC News: Health

Read More

Reynolds' Stroke Highlights When People Follow Loved Ones in Death

The death of actress Debbie Reynolds a day after daughter Carrie Fisher died has put a spotlight on people who die shortly after loved ones do.

Reynolds, 84, died Wednesday after suffering a stroke, according to her family, while Fisher of “Star Wars” fame died Tuesday, a few days after suffering cardiac arrest.

There is no evidence linking the two deaths, but some published medical studies have found that people appear to be more at risk of dying in the months to years after losing a loved one.

In a 2013 study published in American Journal of Public Health, researchers studied 171,720 couples older than 60 and found a rise in mortality for people who unexpectedly lost a spouse, compared with those whose spouse died because of a chronic condition.

Similarly, in a 2016 study published in Annals of Epidemiology, researchers found that parents had an increased risk of dying up to three years after their child's death, compared with parents who had not lost children. Deaths among bereaved parents because of coronary artery disease were especially high in comparison with non-bereaved parents, the researchers found.

Dr. Guilherme Oliveira, a cardiologist at Harrington Heart and Vascular Institute at the University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center, said it’s unclear whether a specific death can directly contribute to the death of a family member, but pointed out that doctors have long known that emotions can have a physical effect on health.

"People under severe stress can get a hypertension crisis," Oliveira said. It "can cause a stroke or heart attack or pulmonary edema."

It’s unclear what may have caused Reynolds' stroke or whether she had hypertension.

Separately, doctors have also long known about a rare condition called the takotsubo syndrome, nicknamed the "broken heart" syndrome. Despite its name, however, the syndrome is rarely fatal and is believed to occur when a surge in hormones causes the heart muscle to dilate and weaken.

Oliveira said the condition is thought to be caused by "an event that shocks the body psychologically or physically."

The syndrome is associated with "negative emotions," but can also be caused by shockingly positive news and mainly affects older women, Oliveira said.

Additionally, physical stress on the body such as burns, infection or other trauma can cause the syndrome to develop.

Dr. Mehgan Teherani, a pediatric resident at Phoenix Children’s Hospital who’s currently working at the ABC News Medical Unit, contributed to this story.

from ABC News: Health

Read More

How Alcohol Affects the Body in Cold Weather

Popping a bottle of champagne during a New Year's Eve bash may be a tradition, but drinking in excess while ringing in 2017 can be especially dangerous in cold weather.

Liquor can help you "feel" warmer as blood vessels on the skin's surface open, according to the University of Rochester Medical Center. However, that "feeling" of warmth does not mean your body temperature will be affected. You will still be just as likely to get frostbite or hypothermia.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advises people to abstain from caffeinated and alcoholic beverages while in the cold since "they cause your body to lose heat more rapidly."

Dr. Noah Rosen, director of Northwell Health's Headache Center in Great Neck, New York, said sipping a stiff whiskey drink may sound like a good idea to counteract cold temperatures, but it will only raise your blood alcohol level.

"It's a sensation of warmth but it's not actually increasing core body temperature," Rosen told ABC News.

For those with heart conditions, drinking in cold weather can be hazardous since people may be under additional strain from the cold and not realize it, the American Heart Association warns.

"Alcohol may increase a person’s sensation of warmth and may cause them to underestimate the extra strain their body is under in the cold," the AHA explained on its website.

from ABC News: Health

Read More

How to Survive Your New Year's Day Hangover

With New Year's Eve on the horizon, you may be planning on downing a few glasses of champagne, festive punch or other alcoholic beverage to ring in 2017. But have just one glass too many, and you may be left feeling the effects on New Year's morning.

Here's what you need to know about kicking a hangover so you can start 2017 off on the right foot.

Plan Ahead

Dr. Noah Rosen, Director, Northwell Health's Headache Center in Great Neck, New York, said his biggest piece of advice is to be smart about what you drink during any New Year's Eve bash.

"It's probably easier to avoid problems than to treat problems," Rosen said.

He said it's especially key to balance alcoholic beverages with water or other hydrating drinks. He also said people who get chronic migraines should think twice before consuming too much bubbly.

"People who have a headache disorder are at a greater chance for having headaches induced by alcohol," Rosen said.

If you're especially worried, Rosen said it might help to avoid drinking darker alcohol. There's some evidence that darker liquor like whiskey can make a hangover worse, he said.

Skip the Grease

Dr. Robert Glatter, an emergency room physician at Lenox Hill Hospital, told ABC News that sipping water with a little bit of honey or munching on a banana can help replenish needed nutrients on New Year's Day.

"You don't need to overdo it on a greasy meal," Glatter said in an earlier interview. "Especially greasy foods can irritate your stomach."

Try Caffeine but Don't Overdo It

Since alcohol can disrupt sleep, picking up a giant coffee for a hangover can seem like a smart answer in the morning. But experts advise being cautious on caffeine intake.

Rosen said it can help to have the same amount of coffee or tea you have other days so you don't compound your hangover with caffeine withdrawal. However, too much caffeine can irritate the stomach and make nausea worse.

Hope Genetics Are on Your Side

Dr. Crystal Lantz-DeGeorge, an internal medicine physician University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center, said in an earlier interview with ABC News that some people are genetically predisposed to have worse hangovers than others due to how they process alcohol.

In general, a person first absorbs the alcohol through the intestines into the bloodstream. As the liver filters the blood, it uses chemicals, including an enzyme, to break down the alcohol first into acetaldehyde and then acetic acid, which is removed in your waste. Lantz-DeGeorge said it’s the buildup of acetaldehyde “that causes all the hangover symptoms.”

Lantz-DeGeorge said if your body isn’t making these chemicals fast enough to break down acetaldehyde into acetic acid, you’re going to have an even worse hangover.

People of certain ethnicities, including those of East-Asian descent, are more likely to have a genetic mutation that makes them more efficient at breaking down alcohol into acetaldehyde, which causes common hangover symptoms, according to Lantz-DeGeorge.

When All Else Fails, Try a Sprite

Rosen said there is some preliminary data out of Asia that has shown drinking 7Up or a Sprite-type drink can help speed the breakdown of acetaldehyde into acetic acid, meaning the worst parts of the hangover are minimized.

While the data is preliminary, Rosen said at the very least sipping a noncaffinated drink like ginger ale or Sprite can help with hydration during a hangover.

from ABC News: Health

Read More

Reynolds' Stroke Highlights When People Follow Loved Ones in Death

The death of actress Debbie Reynolds a day after daughter Carrie Fisher died has put a spotlight on people who die shortly after loved ones do.

Reynolds, 84, died Wednesday after suffering a stroke, according to her family, while Fisher of “Star Wars” fame died Tuesday, a few days after suffering cardiac arrest.

There is no evidence linking the two deaths, but some published medical studies have found that people appear to be more at risk of dying in the months to years after losing a loved one.

In a 2013 study published in American Journal of Public Health, researchers studied 171,720 couples older than 60 and found a rise in mortality for people who unexpectedly lost a spouse, compared with those whose spouse died because of a chronic condition.

Similarly, in a 2016 study published in Annals of Epidemiology, researchers found that parents had an increased risk of dying up to three years after their child's death, compared with parents who had not lost children. Deaths among bereaved parents because of coronary artery disease were especially high in comparison with non-bereaved parents, the researchers found.

Dr. Guilherme Oliveira, a cardiologist at Harrington Heart and Vascular Institute at the University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center, said it’s unclear whether a specific death can directly contribute to the death of a family member, but pointed out that doctors have long known that emotions can have a physical effect on health.

"People under severe stress can get a hypertension crisis," Oliveira said. It "can cause a stroke or heart attack or pulmonary edema."

It’s unclear what may have caused Reynolds' stroke or whether she had hypertension.

Separately, doctors have also long known about a rare condition called the takotsubo syndrome, nicknamed the "broken heart" syndrome. Despite its name, however, the syndrome is rarely fatal and is believed to occur when a surge in hormones causes the heart muscle to dilate and weaken.

Oliveira said the condition is thought to be caused by "an event that shocks the body psychologically or physically."

The syndrome is associated with "negative emotions," but can also be caused by shockingly positive news and mainly affects older women, Oliveira said.

Additionally, physical stress on the body such as burns, infection or other trauma can cause the syndrome to develop.

Dr. Mehgan Teherani, a pediatric resident at Phoenix Children’s Hospital who’s currently working at the ABC News Medical Unit, contributed to this story.

from ABC News: Health

Read More