Want to read Slashdot from your mobile device? Point it at m.slashdot.org and keep reading!

 


Forgot your password?
Close
typodupeerror
×

Comment Re:Genetic or Developed? (Score 1) 195

by lisabeeren (#45045541) Attached to: Probe of Einstein's Brain Reveals Clues To His Genius

it appears that taxi drivers learning a city experience increases in size of certain brain structures implicated in memory:

http://www.mnn.com/green-tech/transportation/stories/brains-of-taxi-drivers-work-differently-than-average-people (couldn't find the journal article sorry)

but that old chestnut keeps coming up:

"What is not clear is whether those trainees who became fully-fledged taxi drivers had some biological advantage over those who failed. Could it be, for example, that they have a genetic predisposition towards having a more adaptable, 'plastic' brain?" Maguire said. "In other words, the perennial question of 'nature versus nurture' is still open."

Comment Re:"Life's not fair" (Score 1) 195

by lisabeeren (#45045457) Attached to: Probe of Einstein's Brain Reveals Clues To His Genius

And yet people will still say that your fate depends on how hard you try, rather than who your mother and father were.

your genes only explain so much, and trying hard seems like a plausible contributor to success. i'm comfortable with the idea that applying yourself can make you more successful. genes certainly contribute (you only need to look at the heritability of IQ), but other factors come into it, otherwise we wouldn't need to bother with education, etc.
Biotech

Submission + - Lab-on-a-chip counts and sorts sperm (gizmag.com)

Submitted by cylonlover
cylonlover writes: While just about everyone is familiar with home pregnancy testing kits, what many of us may not realize is that a (sort of) equivalent product exists for men — home sperm count kits. These kits, however, will simply tell users if their sperm count is above or below a standard value. While a yes or no answer like that might suffice for the pregnancy kits, a little more information would definitely help a man who suspects he might be infertile. Loes Segerink, a PhD student from The Netherlands' University of Twente, hopes to change that with this prototype lab-on-a-chip device. Segerink's chip counts exactly how many sperm are present in a sample of ejaculate, and can even differentiate between the good swimmers and the duds.
Image

Program Uses GPS To Track Sex Offenders 338

Posted by samzenpus from the where-do-you-think-you're-going dept.
43 sex offenders in Pennsylvania's Allegheny County are wearing GPS monitoring devices as part of a pilot program designed to keep track of their movements. If the offender moves into an "exclusion zone," police are called. “Exclusion zones for example [are] schools, daycares, playgrounds, facilities where children congregate for those sex offenders,” John Hudson, a security consultant, said. “We’ve identified in their red zones. If an offender with a device goes into one of the red zones, an exclusion zone, we’ll be notified immediately.”

Slashdot Top Deals

Our OS who art in CPU, UNIX be thy name. Thy programs run, thy syscalls done, In kernel as it is in user!

Close