New Scientist compiles life’s top ten greatest inventions. Fun stuff !

For other curious women who have also wondered about the biological necessity for menstrual cramps, here’s an explanation from the FDA :

… is a result of the normal production of prostaglandins by cells in the lining of the uterus. The lining of the uterus–which has built up and thickened during the early stages of the menstrual cycle–breaks up and is sloughed off at the end of the cycle and releases prostaglandins…
The prostaglandins, in turn, make the uterus contract more strongly than at any other time of the cycle. They can even cause it to contract so much that the blood supply is cut off temporarily, depriving the uterine muscle of oxygen and thus causing pain. Women who suffer painful contractions may be producing excessive amounts of prostaglandins. Or, it may be that some women are just more sensitive to them

When I took the ‘Environment & Population Assement’ class last year, we had an economic professor from Rice University come in and give a guest lecture on the economics of environmental policy-making. To be honest, he went a little too in-depth into economic theories for a public health class. But I did learn about the basic economics that influence decision making. And one of the fundamental difficulties is putting a value to the benefits provided by nature.

Breath in. The air is free. But we’d all agree it’s not worthless. So, what’s the price tag on benefits provided by nature? In 1997, the University of Vermont’s Robert Costanza and his co-authors put the answer at $33 trillion per year in a now-famous paper in the journal Nature. In the decade following, the science of “ecosystem services” has bloomed. This young discipline studies how nature–through climate regulation, soil formation, crop pollination, flood protection, and so on–supports human welfare, and estimates its value in economic terms.

A sizeable grant from the Gordon & Betty Moore Foundation is helping fund a project to “create a set of computer models and tools that will give a sophisticated portrait of the ecosystem dynamics and value for any spot on earth“. If it is successful, it will certainly provide a fast way for policy makers to comprehend the impacts of their decisions.

Technorati Tags: economics, ecosystem services, environment

Here’s a fascinating story on how the parasite Toxoplasma gondii could have influenced (partly) the manner in which people from different parts of the world developed along different cultural lines.

When the parasite infects the brains of rats and mice, it alters their behavior, making them more reckless than normal–reckless enough that they don’t avoid cats the way good sense would dictate. As a result, they’re devoured, at which point the micro-organisms are able to reproduce–something they can only do in felines…

Humans eat toxoplasma too, in such things as unwashed vegetables …

… But while we don’t go running out to find a mountain lion or other big cat to play with, it could well be that humans experience subtler behavioral changes than a rat would–a mild increase in the tendency to be adventurous, say. And because toxoplasma infection is actually quite common in humans, and varies from one region to another–about a third of Americans show antibodies to the parasite, but in Brazil the number rises to nearly 70%, while in South Korea it’s under 5%.

Wierd ! But as the Time writer put it,

… it’s a little horrifying that cultural diversity could be a symptom of parassitic infection.

Technorati Tags: Toxoplasma gondii, culture

Most travelers resort to tackling jet lag with melatonin or sedatives and caffeine pills. But the most useful solutions to jet lag are actually napping and caffeine.

“Using a combination of nap and caffeine is better than using them separately, if you can believe it. It takes 15 to 30 minutes for caffeine to kick in. So you do the two together. All it takes is a cup of coffee — not even a pill. By the time the caffeine is working, your nap is over.”

Technorati Tags: jet lag, caffeine, naps, melatonin, sedatives

Everyone knows that stress is detrimental to health, and new research shows that stress hormones can remodel the brain and also harm the immune system.

A good fix for mental stress is exercise. Now, if only we could find the time and energy !

Technorati Tags: stress, immune system, brain

Scientists at the National University of Singapore have discovered that curry eating enhances cognitive performance in the elderly. [Via] The compound curcurin found in turmeric (a staple ingredient of curry), is an antioxidant that may inhibit buildup of plaques in people with Alzheimer’s. Hmmm. I have two questions:

Has it been shown Alzheimer’s occurs less frequently in Asian populations ?

Could the boosted brain power in elders have something to do with the traditional respect that these elders elicit in Asian populations ?

Technorati Tags: curry, brain power, elderly, Alzheimer’s

Instinct is a strong word, poorly defined. Personally, it manifests as a strong sense of one set of choices being right. It’s also usually accompanied by a racing heart, sweaty palms and my brain groaning against what it thinks is a ’stupid’ decision. There is an overwhelming sense of something feeling like the right thing to do, but no logical rasons to back it up.

Scientists say that intution actually functions as a survival mechanism, and scientists have even found the part of the brain involved, and even perhaps the specific cells.

“Intuition is fast, based on pattern matching,” explains John Allman,
Ph.D., head of a laboratory at the California Institute of Technology
that focuses on brain evolution. “Our brains are constantly comparing
current experience with the past, trying to find a fit so that we can
make a quick decision. When we find a match, often in a fraction of a
second, our intuition boils down a lot of experience into a simple,
visceral metric: I feel good about this or not,“

Hmmm. So that means some part of my brain does actually process the information to come to a satisfactory decision; but too quick for the rest of my brain to register it logically. So it has nothing to do with the heart or the gut. Interesting.

The article also lists some of the “lies that intuition tells you“.

People love to tell stories about their inner wisdom, but most are
pretty quiet about all the times they’ve been bamboozled by intuition.
Everyday, millions of us buy lousy stocks, hire careless baby sitters,
and marry Mr. Wrong — all because our gut told us it “felt right.”

Bottomline ?

… if you’re deciding if you should marry or whether to take that job
in Boston, use your gut. Buying real estate or deciding whether to go
through with that knee surgery? Check your intuition at the door, and
listen to the numbers.

Technorati Tags: intuition, gut feeling, instinct