issues in science 1
Here’s the first in a perhaps endless series of snippety bits on what’s hot in science, mainly from New Scientist. First I’ll cover the March mags.
A special report on the science of the teenager was useful to me as a carer of same. An interesting fact; humans take twice as long to reach maturity as our nearest primate relatives. This growth, though, is not spread evenly through our pre-adult lives. After birth, the growth is fast, but it decelerates to the age of three, after which it is gradual and slow up until adolescence (a vaguely defined point, as the onset of puberty varies enormously, age-wise, between individuals). Over the approximately three years of adolescence, there’s an average 15% overall growth, and this spurt is apparently unique to humans.
There’s a lot of debate about why this is, and no clear answers, but one of the ways to understand some of the weirdities of adolescence is to note the continual development of the brain through this period. The prefrontal cortex, involved in high-level executive processes, undergoes rapid pre-pubertal development followed by a dramatic slowing. Teenagers are no doubt trying to cope with the contradictory impulses this leads to as they try to protect links to childhood while investigating new ways of thinking. Apparently the best way to cope with this is to listen to Eminem, Limp Biskit and Fifty Cent over and over again, while experimenting with ring tones. Other brain areas affected include the pineal gland (hormones), the corpus callosum (left-right linkages, language), the cerebellum (balance) and the right ventral striatum (risks and rewards).
Other features included a scathing review of Michael Crichton’s State of Fear, a novel about global warming and environmentalism which comes down heavily on the sceptics’ side. Recent letters, though, have been in turn scathing about the review, so there’s no avoiding the hard work of fact-checking.
Also a new rechargeable battery has been developed in Nevada. It can be recharged in just six minutes, lasts ten times as long as current versions, and, in bursts, can be three times more powerful. Can’t see much use for it myself.
A special report on the science of the teenager was useful to me as a carer of same. An interesting fact; humans take twice as long to reach maturity as our nearest primate relatives. This growth, though, is not spread evenly through our pre-adult lives. After birth, the growth is fast, but it decelerates to the age of three, after which it is gradual and slow up until adolescence (a vaguely defined point, as the onset of puberty varies enormously, age-wise, between individuals). Over the approximately three years of adolescence, there’s an average 15% overall growth, and this spurt is apparently unique to humans.
There’s a lot of debate about why this is, and no clear answers, but one of the ways to understand some of the weirdities of adolescence is to note the continual development of the brain through this period. The prefrontal cortex, involved in high-level executive processes, undergoes rapid pre-pubertal development followed by a dramatic slowing. Teenagers are no doubt trying to cope with the contradictory impulses this leads to as they try to protect links to childhood while investigating new ways of thinking. Apparently the best way to cope with this is to listen to Eminem, Limp Biskit and Fifty Cent over and over again, while experimenting with ring tones. Other brain areas affected include the pineal gland (hormones), the corpus callosum (left-right linkages, language), the cerebellum (balance) and the right ventral striatum (risks and rewards).
Other features included a scathing review of Michael Crichton’s State of Fear, a novel about global warming and environmentalism which comes down heavily on the sceptics’ side. Recent letters, though, have been in turn scathing about the review, so there’s no avoiding the hard work of fact-checking.
Also a new rechargeable battery has been developed in Nevada. It can be recharged in just six minutes, lasts ten times as long as current versions, and, in bursts, can be three times more powerful. Can’t see much use for it myself.
posted by Stewart at 10:30 am
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