Helmut Kool - Slashdot User

Empathy Is For the Birds 201

Posted by samzenpus on Wednesday June 30, 2010 @10:30PM from the polly-want-to-make-an-emotional-connection? dept.

grrlscientist writes "Common Ravens have been shown to express empathy towards a 'friend' or relative when they are distressed after an aggressive conflict — just like humans and chimpanzees do. But birds are very distant evolutionary relatives of Great Apes, so what does this similarity imply about the evolution of behavior?"

Comment Re:Not a black mark (Score 1) 467

by Helmut Kool on Thursday October 15, 2009 @04:28AM (#29754475) Attached to: Is Working For the Gambling Industry a Black Mark?

Say you play video poker in Vegas. Are the cards not dealt completely randomly? Do the previous cards dealt affect the cards dealt in the next round? Is the game not completely analogous to if somebody dealt you the cards in real life from a well shuffled deck? To my best knowledge that is how video poker machines should work according to the law. And there isn't any need for them to work in any other way because the pay tables make sure that the casino will win on the long run.

Human Laughter Up To 16 Million Years Old 149

Posted by samzenpus on Saturday June 06, 2009 @03:45AM from the a-pierolapithecus-catalaunicus-walks-into-a-bar dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Published today in the journal Current Biology, a new study shows that laughter is not a unique human trait, but a behavior shared by all great apes. Tickle a baby chimpanzee and it will giggle just like a human infant. This is because laughter evolved millions of years ago in one of our common ancestors, say scientists."

More Fake Journals From Elsevier 249

Posted by Soulskill on Saturday May 09, 2009 @12:16PM from the at-least-they're-consistent dept.

daemonburrito writes "Last week, we learned about Elsevier publishing a bogus journal for Merck. Now, several librarians say that they have uncovered an entire imprint of 'advertorial' publications. Excerpta Medica, a 'strategic medical communications agency,' is an Elsevier division. Along with the now infamous Australasian Journal of Bone and Joint Medicine, it published a number of other 'journals.' Elsevier CEO Michael Hansen now admits that at least six fake journals were published for pharmaceutical companies."

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