Don't Drink the Water
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First it was flouride (for your teeth.. yeah, right!) Now we've recently discovered antidepressants in the drinking water. What's next? Lemme tell ya...
Gene blocker turns monkeys into workaholics
from Reuters
WASHINGTON - Procrastinating monkeys were turned into workaholics using a gene treatment to block a key brain compound, U.S. researchers reported on Wednesday.
Blocking cells from receiving dopamine made the monkeys work harder at a task -- and they were better at it, too, the U.S. government researchers found.
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"The gene knockdown triggered a remarkable transformation in the simian work ethic. Like many of us, monkeys normally slack off initially in working toward a distant goal," he added.
For their study, Richmond and colleague used seven rhesus monkeys. They had to push a lever in response to visual cues on a projection screen, and got a drop of water as a reward.
Look, I'm not exactly a card-carrying member of PETA, but what kind of conditions does the monkey have to be in to consider a drop a water a reward? Additionally, how do they know that the dopamine-blocker didn't just make the monkeys really thirsty!
Although some employers might take a distinct interest in the work, the NIMH team said they are hoping to understand mental illness.
Yes, now we'll only need 500 monkeys typing for 500 years to produce the complete works of Shakespeare. Hurray!
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I'm just glad we live in America, where discoveries made by "goverment researchers" are only used the the purposes of good, and never for evil.
Fighting robots rumble in the ring
How cool is this?
Robo-boxers go at it in quintessential Japanese event
from the AP
Kickboxing, karate and taekwondo
Robo-One, begun four years ago to stimulate public interest in robots, is loosely based on K-1, a popular sport that combines elements of kickboxing, karate and taekwondo.
The Sixth Robo-One Contest during a recent weekend drew 90 robots running on software developed by amateurs from across Japan and South Korea to a hall in Kawasaki, southwest of Tokyo.
Unlike human boxing matches, the corner crew in these contests struggles with battery changes and, in one case, vigorously flapped handheld paper fans to cool the motors lodged in the robot's joints in between rounds.
When a metal part fell off one robot, its owner had to tape it back into the body.
According to Robo-One rules, a robot that gets pulled, pushed or punched down must get up on its feet before the referee counts to 10 to avoid a knockout.
I don't have anything clever to say about this one, I just thought it was cool.