Category: cool stuff

Alcohol appears to trigger violent behaviour in people who have a particular overactive gene.

The MAOA gene produces an enzyme that breaks down brain chemicals involved with mood.

When alcohol is mixed with high levels of the enzyme it can create a ‘dangerous cocktail’, according to new research.

The finding raises the possibility that people could be screened for the gene and offered treatment, behavioural therapy or be warned to abstain from alcohol

via Faulty gene causes some people to become aggressive drunks – Telegraph.

Another Bubble Bursts – WSJ.com
Among the problems are the reality of recession and the uncertainty over Barack Obama’s policies. But the larger story is that the global economy is fast popping its latest monetary bubble, the one over the last 14 months in commodity prices and non-dollar currencies.

The original bubble was in housing prices and mortgage-related assets, which the Federal Reserve helped to create with its negative real interest rates from 2002 into 2005. This was Alan Greenspan’s tragic mistake, not that the former Fed chief will acknowledge it Continue reading “Why the 2nd Bubble is Bursting Now”

Efforts to restore populations of the giant tortoises of the Galápagos Islands have been among the world’s most visible and successful conservation programs. But the work came too late for several of the 15 generally recognized Galápagos species.

Or did it? Extensive DNA research on museum specimens and existing tortoise populations suggests there is the potential to restore Geochelone elephantopus, which lived on the island of Floreana.

Observatory – A Tortoise May Be Bred Back Into Being – NYTimes.com

Globalizations means fewer wars, less death | ScrippsNews
The “Human Security Brief 2007,” compiled by Canada’s Simon Fraser University, details the continuing overall decline in global conflict that began with globalization’s rapid expansion around the planet in recent years, to include the complete absence of classic state-on-state war since 2003.

As a result, total deaths from conflicts are now lower than the world has ever seen. For anyone looking for a “new world order” after the Cold War, this is it: far fewer wars and much less death from them.

Better yet, when Iraq’s bloody civil war is factored out of the equation, deaths from terrorism have declined globally since 9/11 by roughly 40 percent.

A Different Climate Change Apocalypse Than the One You Were Envisioning – Freakonomics – Opinion – New York Times Blog
Let’s say you are convinced that climate change is a huge threat and will have catastrophic consequences for humankind in the foreseeable future. How exactly do you envision that catastrophe playing out?

According to a fascinating new working paper (abstract here; download available here by Melissa Dell, Benjamin F. Jones, and Benjamin A. Olken, the answer to that last question may be an easy one: poor countries.

Our main results show large, negative effects of higher temperatures on growth, but only in poor countries. … In rich countries, changes in temperature have no discernible effect on growth.

What does this mean? Among other things, it may mean that many Americans — who are by definition rich — are worried about the wrong thing. Instead of thinking about weather apocalypses, they should instead be thinking about border invasions: the huddled masses from the poorest countries who will be seeking refuge as their own economies collapse. This would be Darwinism on the most epic scale imaginable — but instead of the finch with the shorter beak becoming extinct, it’ll be the poorest millions, or perhaps billions.

Welcome to the Zimmers

The name Zimmers comes from the British brand of metal-frame walkers. The lead singer, Alf, is 91. But he’s far from the oldest member. Buster (watch for the bushy beard) is a young-at-heart 100. Thanks to that old geezer Jeff Ullian for this video/