Preschool kids can figure out another person’s preferences by using—believe it or not—statistics.
In one experiment, children aged 3 and 4 saw a puppet named “Squirrel” remove five toys of the same type from a container full of toys and happily play with them.
Across children, the toys that Squirrel removed were the same (for example, all five were blue flowers).
However, the contents of the container were varied—for one-third of the children, 100 percent of the toys were the same type (so, in this example, all were blue flowers).
For another third of the children, only 50 percent were that type (that is, half were blue flowers and half were red circles).
Fin
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Aug. 13, 2010 — The FDA has approved Ella, a new morning-after contraceptive pill effective for up to five days after unprotected sex or contraceptive failure.
An FDA expert advisory panel last June unanimously urged the FDA to approve the drug. Called Ella in the U.S., the drug already is approved in Europe and sold there as EllaOne.
The only other emergency contraceptive is Plan B. Unlike Ella, which will be available only by prescription, Plan B is sold without a prescription for women aged 17 and older.
Side effects of Ella, similar to those of Plan B, include headache, nausea, abdominal pain, pain/discomfort during menstruation (dysmenorrhea), fatigue, and dizziness.
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Scientists have found that early life adversity through poverty, social isolation or abuse in childhood is linked to heightened reactivity, which can lead to heart disease later on.
“Many diseases first diagnosed in mid-life can be traced back to childhood,” said Karen A. Matthews, a professor of psychiatry and epidemiology at the University of Pittsburgh.
“Having some bad health habits in your 20s and 30s is part of the reason why people get diseases later on. However, it isn”t the whole reason. The evi
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July 10, 2010 — Is this the beginning of the end of the antibiotic era?
NDM, a gene that makes germs impervious to many antibiotics, is spreading worldwide among bacteria in the gut that most commonly cause infections. The gene lives on a DNA strand called a plasmid that is easily swapped among different species of harmful gut bacteria.
The gene evolved in India — NDM stands for New Delhi metallo-beta-lactamase — but is widespread in Pakistan and Bangladesh as well. It’s been isolated all across the U.K., prompting a national alert. It’s also popped up in the U.S., Canada, Sweden, Australia, and the Netherlands.
The bad news comes from a sobering report by Timothy R.
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Aug. 6, 2010 — Green laser pointers may emit high levels of invisible and potentially dangerous infrared light, a new study says.
Researchers report that green laser pointers deliver light that is brighter to the eye than red lasers, but the infrared light emitted by some inexpensive models could damage the retina of the eye.
Charles Clark, PhD, of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), led a research team measuring the output of several green laser pointers.
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