When death approaches
"Chimpanzees deal with death in much the same way as humans, studies suggest. Scientists in Scotland filmed a group of chimps grooming and caressing an elderly female who died, and remaining subdued for several days afterward," BBC News reports. "… Staff at Blair Drummond Safari and Adventure Park in Stirlingshire used video cameras to document the death of a terminally ill female named Pansy, believed to be more than 50 years old. When she became lethargic in the days leading up to her death, other members of the group became quieter than usual and stayed with her at nights, grooming her more than they did normally. After her death, her daughter stayed near the body for an entire night, even though she had never slept on that platform before. All of the group were subdued for several days afterward, and avoided the place where she had died, spending long hours grooming each other."
Want to add 12 years?
"Four common bad habits combined - smoking, drinking too much, inactivity and poor diet - can age you by 12 years, sobering new research suggests. The findings are from a study that tracked nearly 5,000 British adults for 20 years," Associated Press reports, "and they highlight yet another reason to adopt a healthier lifestyle. … These habits combined substantially increased the risk of death and made people who engaged in them seem 12 years older than people in the healthiest group, said lead researcher Elisabeth Kvaavik of the University of Oslo."
Use e-mail to fib
"A study published in the Journal of Applied Psychology finds that people lie 50 per cent more via e-mail than they do with handwritten letters," Switched.com reports. "Although it's already been established that people are more likely to fib when sending text messages than when speaking on the phone or in person, researchers conducting the study were surprised to find a similar discrepancy across more comparable media. According to PsyBlog, Charles Naquin and his team of scientists attribute this mendacious tendency to something known as the moral disengagement theory, which is traditionally used to help explain why people do things that they know are wrong. What makes e-mail particularly conducive to moral disengagement is the greater 'distance' that users perceive. Instead of equating an e-mail with a handwritten letter, most compare it to a conversation; the unsend option on many e-mail servers engenders a greater sense of impermanence, thus senders subconsciously treat it more casually."
Bare naked for 10,000 years?
"For once lice are nice, at least for scientists investigating the origins of garments," ScienceNews reports. "Using DNA to trace the evolutionary split between head and body lice, researchers conclude that body lice first came on the scene approximately 190,000 years ago. And that shift, the scientists propose, followed soon after people first began wearing clothing. … It makes sense that people, or perhaps Neanderthals inhabiting cold parts of Europe, started making clothes around 190,000 years ago [Andrew Kitchen of Pennsylvania State University]explained, since both species had already lost most body hair and knew how to make stone tools for scraping animal hides. Homo sapiens originated approximately 200,000 years ago."
Elevator manners today
"There may be a reason chivalry is dead," Laurel Sweet writes for The Boston Herald. "A [Boston]man was slopped with a plate of pasta, punched, kicked, spat on and beaten with handbags by two women who told investigators they needed to 'teach him a lesson' for not holding an elevator door for them, police said. When Boston police arrived … to break up the lift tiff, they said they found noodles dripping off the back of Mohammed Warsame. Kenyana McQuay, 27, and Waltia Funches, 28, told officers Warsame was 'rude to them.' "
Waah, it's spring
"Wailing and crying as loudly as possible is not something most new mothers actively encourage in their babies," The Daily Telegraph reports. "However, at the annual Naki Sumo (crying baby contest) in Japan, that is precisely the aim of the game. Eager mothers bring the babies to the event, where sumo wrestlers and high priests are on hand to coax babies into a maddened state of wailing. The event, which marks the high point of spring, is held each year at the Sensoji Temple in Tokyo. The baby to cry loudest and longest wins the contest. The competition is also intended to generate good health for the babies."
Guide dog, not gay dog
"A restaurant in a northwest suburb of Adelaide [Australia]that refused a blind man entry because it thought his guide dog was 'gay' was ordered by the Equal Opportunity Tribunal to pay him $1,500 [Australian][$1,400 Canadian] The (Adelaide) Sunday Mail said Ian Jolly, 57, was barred from dining at the Thai Spice restaurant in May, 2009, after a staff member mistook his guide dog Nudge for a 'gay dog,' a tribunal heard [last]week." The restaurant displays a "guide dogs welcome" sign. As well as paying a fine, the restaurant agreed to give Mr. Jolly a written apology and attend an Equal Opportunity education course.
Source: News.com.au
Thought du jour
"It is even harder for the average ape to believe that he has descended from man."
- H.L. Mencken