InakaBoyJoe - Slashdot User

Submission + - SPAM: ADHD is an advantage for nomadic tribesmen

Submitted by

FiReaNGeL

on Tuesday June 10, 2008 @02:15AM

FiReaNGeL writes: "A propensity for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) might be beneficial to a group of Kenyan nomads, according to new research that will be published in the open access journal BMC Evolutionary Biology. By studying adult men of the Ariaal of Kenya, they investigated whether ADHD would have the same implications in a nomad environment. They found that ADHD has been linked to greater food and drug cravings and novelty-seeking. It is possible that in the nomadic setting, a boy with ADHD might be able to more effectively defend livestock against raiders or locate food and water sources, but that the same tendencies might not be as beneficial in settled pursuits such as focusing in school, farming or selling goods."
Link to Original Source

Men Willing to Give up Sex for a 50in TV 139

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Monday February 11, 2008 @06:47PM from the tough-choices dept.

Active Seti writes "The NY Times reports that nearly half of British men surveyed would give up sex for six months in return for a 50-inch plasma TV. The firm found 47 percent of men would give up sex for half a year, compared to just over a third of women. 'It seems that size really does matter more for men than women,' the firm said. The survey also said a quarter of people would give up smoking, with roughly the same proportion willing to give up chocolate which could make buying a plasma TV a good alternative to programs for smoking cessation or weight loss. Of course the survey should be taken with a grain of salt since it was carried out for a firm selling televisions."

Submission + - Making Bacteria Behind Tooth Decay Self-Destruct

Submitted by

Ponca City, We Love You

on Monday January 07, 2008 @12:56AM

Ponca City, We Love You writes: "The ability of Streptococcus mutans to survive in its own acidic waste is one reason that the species is the main driver of tooth decay worldwide. The bacteria's acid-resistance has several components including a bacterial enzyme called fatty acid biosynthase M (FabM), which when shut down, makes S. mutans 10,000 times more vulnerable to acid damage. A team led by Robert G. Quivey, Ph.D have genetically engineered a mutant form of S. mutans with the FabM gene removed and now the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR) is funding the team to create a catalogue of proteins that, along with FabM, can serve as targets for a multi-pronged attack on bacteria that tend to evolve around single-thrust treatments. "Our first goal is to force the major bacterium behind tooth decay to destroy itself with its own acid as soon as it eats sugar," says Quivey. "After that, this line of work could help lead to new anti-bacterial combination therapies for many infections that have become resistant to antibiotics.""

Submission + - Freedom Information Act Takes Years To Get Docs (nytimes.com)

Submitted by

* * Beatles-Beatles

on Monday July 02, 2007 @01:09AM

* * Beatles-Beatles writes: "The Freedom of Information Act requires a federal agency to provide an initial response to a request within 20 days and to provide the documents in a timely manner. But the oldest pending request uncovered in a new survey of 87 agencies and departments has been awaiting a response for 20 years, and 16 requesters have been waiting more than 15 years for result

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/02/washington/02sec rets.html"

Submission + - U.S. Billionaire Heads to Space Station

Submitted by TurnAround on Sunday April 08, 2007 @08:07PM

TurnAround writes: A Russian rocket carrying the American billionaire who helped develop Microsoft Word roared into the night skies over Kazakhstan Saturday, sending Charles Simonyi and two cosmonauts soaring into orbit on a two-day journey to the international space station. Climbing on a column of smoke and fire into the clouds over the bleak steppes, the Soyuz TMA-10 capsule lifted off at 11:31 p.m. local time, casting an orange glow over the Baikonur cosmodrome and dozens of officials and well-wishers watching from about a mile away.

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