Incite

A Parrot with a Sense of Humor

A little humor to brighten your day - from a parrot!

Corin says:"An African Grey Parrot called N'kisi has a vocabulary of 950 words and can 'communicate' (as opposed to repeat). He has a sense of humour as well. Amazed by this [article on the BBC web site] I searched a little and found a recording of the bird with his owner. Initially I thought 'why they hell did you put the microphone next to the person and not the bird?' before I realised it wasn't the person I was listening to but the bird."

Boing Boing: Parrot uses 950 words to converse with people

technorati tags:parrot, talking, humor, smart, intelligent

Startling Scientists, Plant Fixes Its Flawed Gene

The finding implies that some organisms may contain a cryptic backup copy of their genome that bypasses the usual mechanisms of heredity.

In a startling discovery, geneticists at Purdue University say they have found plants that possess a corrected version of a defective gene inherited from both their parents, as if some handy backup copy with the right version had been made in the grandparents' generation or earlier.

The finding implies that some organisms may contain a cryptic backup copy of their genome that bypasses the usual mechanisms of heredity. If confirmed, it would represent an unprecedented exception to the laws of inheritance discovered by Gregor Mendel in the 19th century. Equally surprising, the cryptic genome appears not to be made of DNA, the standard hereditary material.

The discovery also raises interesting biological questions - including whether it gets in the way of evolution, which depends on mutations changing an organism rather than being put right by a backup system.

"It looks like a marvelous discovery," said Dr. Elliott Meyerowitz, a plant geneticist at the California Institute of Technology. Dr. David Haig, an evolutionary biologist at Harvard, described the finding as "a really strange and unexpected result," which would be important if the observation holds up and applies widely in nature.

Read more:  Startling Scientists, Plant Fixes Its Flawed Gene

Technorati Tags: DNA, backup

Psychology Today: Mixed Signals

This is interesting and fun:

Men often misinterpret a woman's innocent smile or a compliment as a sexual come-on--but why? Gender stereotypes imply that men are socialized to oversexualize the world. But research suggests there are real evolutionary reasons that men an women get their signals crossed
...

The researchers discovered that men tended to overestimate women's sexual interest, while women underestimated men's willingness to commit. But interestingly enough, both men and women were more accurate in rating women's commitment levels, and when asked to imagine that the sexual target was their sister, men rarely misread sexual intent.

Read more: Psychology Today: Mixed Signals

Could Chocolate Also Be Good for You?

Because I've been hammering you with so much bad news lately - Mad Cow Disease and unsafe voting machines, etc. - I thought I'd pass along some fun news.

The New York Times article linked below talks about the benefits of chocolate! It may be good for your heart and circulation. Now, before you get too carried away, it needs to be refined in a different way than it is currently - to contain more flavonols - but Mars candies is working on that right now!

"Raw cocoa contains flavonoids, plant-based compounds with protective antioxidants like those in green tea. The antioxidants, which may help decrease blood pressure and improve circulation, according to preliminary study results released at a daylong session centered on the medical uses and developmental potential of the cocoa tree."

Read more: Beyond Delicious: Could Chocolate Also Be Good for You?