A Big Smile For You

I am giving you a chance to think What you will do in this situation THINK .................. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . THINK................. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . THINK.................. MORE.......................... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . OK, SO YOU GIVE UP? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HERE'S THE ANSWER

With the help of a little singing bird, Penn State physicists are gaining insight into how the human brain functions, which may lead to a better understanding of complex vocal behavior, human speech production and ultimately, speech disorders and related diseases. Dezhe Jin, assistant professor of physics, is looking at how songbirds transmit impulses through nerve cells in the brain to produce a complex behavior, such as singing. Songbirds are particularly well suited for studying speech production and syntax -- the rules of syllable or word sequence -- because there are more similarities between birdsong and human speech than one may initially think. "We are not only interested in birds," Jin told attendees today (Mar.18) at the American Physical Society's March meeting in Portland, Ore. "We are ultimately interested in studying how the human brain works and better understanding ourselves." While many animals communicate vocally, songbirds are among the few th...

People who consume high amounts of caffeine each day are more likely to suffer occasional headaches than those with low caffeine consumption, a team of researchers at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) reports in a study recently published in the Journal of Headache Pain . But in findings that had “no obvious reason”, the researchers, led by Knut Hagen from NTNU’s Faculty of Medicine, also reported that low caffeine consumption was associated with a greater likelihood of chronic headaches, defined as headaches for 14 or more days each month. The results are drawn from a large cross-sectional study of 50,483 people who answered a questionnaire about caffeine consumption and headache prevalence as a part of the Nord-Trøndelag Health Survey (HUNT 2), a county-wide health survey conducted in 1995-1997 on a wide range of health topics. To drink or not to drink Caffeine is the world’s most commonly consumed stimulant, and has long been known to have both positive an...

Parents are being warned to keep washing detergent capsules away from children after an increase in chemical injuries at a London eye hospital. Thirteen children treated for this type of injury who were aged under five had been playing with the capsules. Eye doctors say children are attracted by the colourful and malleable nature of the capsules. If the capsule breaks, it releases a harmful alkaline solution which can cause scarring or even blindness. Writing in the British Medical Journal, Melanie Corbett, consultant ophthalmologist at the Western Eye Hospital said: "Parents must keep liquid detergent capsules out of children's reach - their contents can cause irreversible damage to the eye. "If any chemical enters your child's eye, you should wash it out immediately, with large quantities of water," she added. The cleaning products industry introduced liquid capsules as fabric detergents for the first time in 2001. Irreversible damage Inside most of these capsu...