Science Roundup

If you have been watching the news lately, you have probably realized that Bush and friends really don't care for science. Since I really don't care for them, we are gonna drop science today.
(sorry for lack of orignal updates lately, there will be more in the future)

Ancient Behaviors Hard-Wired in Human Brain

by Robert Roy Britt

Don't blame your lame smile or lack of an intimidating frown on your upbringing, a new study suggests. Such behaviors may be hard-wired in your brain. Scientists know many behaviors of lower organisms are innate. Ants instinctively follow other ants to a picnic basket. Birds operate largely on autopilot, dogs less so.

In people and monkeys, however, behavior is largely something learned, so researchers have assumed our hard-wiring is limited. If that's true, however, why do many reactions, such as aggression, play out the same among diverse populations around the world?

Scientists announced Tuesday they can elicit complex behaviors by stimulating specific areas in the brain of a small primate called the bush baby. Similar studies have been done on other primates. "We have now seen this feature in the brain of an Old World monkey and New World prosimian," said study leader Jon Kaas of Vanderbilt University. "The fact that it appears in the brains of two such divergent primates suggests that this form of organization evolved very early in the development of primates. That, in turn, suggests that it is characteristic of all primate brains, including the human brain."The triggered behaviors include aggressive facial gestures, defensive arm movements, putting hand to mouth and other reaching and grasping movements -- all survival skills.

"These results explain why certain behaviors – such as defensive and aggressive movements, smiling and grasping food – are so similar around the world," Kaas said. "It is because the instructions for these movements are built-in and not learned."

The results are detailed in the online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

[source]

Why Abstinence Only Sex-Education is Bullshit

Recently at A&M conservatives raised a huge shit-storm because someone was passing out free condoms. It has already been proven that abstinence only sex education was less effective at preventing unwanted pregnancy, no we have this

The Downside to Virginity Pledges

By LiveScience Staff

Young people who make pledges of virginity begin having sex later and have fewer sexual partners. But oddly they are infected with sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) just as often, a new study found. One reason is that they are less likely to use condoms when the first enter the world of sex, scientists said.

Because virginity pledgers are less likely to use condoms compared to others, they increase their risk of contracting disease. They are also less likely to seek health care for an STD, according to Bruckner and colleague Peter Bearman, professor of sociology at Columbia University.

The pledgers, not diagnosed or treated, may pack disease longer than other people, the researchers say.

"If pledgers have infections for longer periods of time than non-pledgers, this is a reason for concern," said Bruckner.

Other findings in the study:

• Among virgins -- those who have not had vaginal intercourse -- male pledgers are four times more likely to have anal sex

• Male and female pledgers are six times more likely to have oral sex than non-pledgers.

[the last part is hilarious]