How Job Focus Affects Relationships

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Discord in a relationship due to the differing goals and a focus on job and career by one partner is grist for the mill in every genre'.  So understanding this phenomena will help your character development and your story arcs whether in a short story or a screenplay.

Here's a report from the University of Illinois that may provide you with additional insight into this all too common stressor in relationships.

Pay attention to your relationship work ethic, experts urge

Is a date with your partner as important to you as a meeting at work?  A University of Illinois study recommends that couples develop a relationship work ethic that rivals — or at least equals — their professional work ethic.

“When people enter the workplace, they make an effort to arrive on time, be productive throughout the day, listen attentively to co-workers and supervisors, try to get along with others, and dress and groom themselves to make a good impression,” said Jill R. Bowers, a researcher in the U of I’s Department of Human and Community Development.

Couples should be at least as invested in their relationship work ethic, prioritizing their partner and putting the same kind of energy into active listening, planning time together, finding a workable solution for sharing household tasks, and handling personal stress so that it doesn’t spill over into the relationship, the researcher said.

“But that can be hard to do when you get home and you’re tired and emotionally drained, and the second shift begins, with cooking, cleaning, laundry, and the demands associated with children that compete for communication and quality time with your partner,” she added.

Because effort at work is driven by pay, a person’s career often consumes most of his or her attention. “The job gets all your energy, and there’s little left over for what comes after. That’s why you have to be intentional about working on your romantic partnership,” Bowers noted.

The researcher is the lead author of a study that evaluated Intentional Harmony, a curriculum on work-life balance for dual-earner married couples developed by U of I professor Angela R. Wiley, Kathryn R. Branscomb, and U of I Extension family life educators.

The evaluation measured the impact of attending an Intentional Harmony workshop on work-partner balance skills and strategies as well as relationship satisfaction in 47 heterosexual couples. All couples took a pre- and post-test. Half of the couples attended the workshop before the training; the others did not attend the training until after their relationship skills were assessed.

Couples who attended the workshop improved significantly in their ability to manage work-partner role conflict and other relevant skills compared to the other group, and they also reported a greater reduction in physical and emotional stress. The evaluation also found that the study was most effective for women.

Improved organizational and time management skills can help couples balance work and family commitments, but “it’s complicated,” Bowers conceded.

“Sharing household tasks continues to be a big concern for couples. Flexible work schedules are often advocated as a way to balance work and family commitments, but these arrangements can blur the lines between work and family time. Establishing those boundaries is difficult enough, and not having those limits can make life even more stressful,” she said.

“You may not feel like you have the time or assume that everything’s okay because your partner isn’t complaining, but over time the consequences of shortchanging your relationship could mean serious relationship issues, and that has real implications for your mental and physical health. That’s why we advise taking your relationship work ethic seriously and making time for your partner intentional,” Bowers said.

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Story Source:  Materials provided by University of Illinois College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences (ACES). Jill R. Bowers, Angela R. Wiley, Blake L. Jones, Brian G. Ogolsky, Kathryn Branscomb. Helping Dual-Earner Couples Manage Work–Partner Interferences: A Program Evaluation. Marriage & Family Review, 2014.

Oldest fortified settlement ever found in North America

Source: etc.usf.edu

An artist's rendering of Fort Caroline based on era des-

criptions. The site is yet to be excavated by archeologists. 

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Okay, writers of historical fiction.   Here's a BIG one, the one you've been waiting for, the one with tremendous potential as a story source.

Here's the story:

. . .wait for it. . . 

Oldest fortified settlement ever found in North America

In an announcement likely to rewrite the book on early colonization of the New World, two researchers today said they have discovered the oldest fortified settlement ever found in North America. Speaking at an international conference on France at Florida State University, the pair announced that they have located Fort Caroline, a long-sought fort built by the French in 1564.

"This is the oldest fortified settlement in the present United States," said historian Fletcher Crowe. "This fort is older than St. Augustine, considered to be the oldest continuously inhabited city in America. It's older than the Lost Colony of Virginia by 21 years; older than the 1607 fort of Jamestown by 45 years; and predates the landing of the Pilgrims in Massachusetts in 1620 by 56 years."

Announcement of the discovery of Fort Caroline was made during "La Floride Française: Florida, France, and the Francophone World," a conference hosted by FSU's Winthrop-King Institute for Contemporary French and Francophone Studies and its Institute on Napoleon and the French Revolution. The conference commemorates the cultural relations between France and Florida since the 16th century.

Researchers have been searching for actual remains of Fort Caroline for more than 150 years but had not found the actual site until now, Crowe said. The fort was long thought to be located east of downtown Jacksonville, Fla., on the south bank of the St. Johns River. The Fort Caroline National Memorial is located just east of Jacksonville's Dames Point Bridge, which spans the river.

However, Crowe and his co-author, Anita Spring, a professor emeritus of anthropology at the University of Florida, say that the legendary fort is actually located on an island at the mouth of the Altamaha River, two miles southeast of the city of Darien, Ga. Darien is located near the Georgia coast between Brunswick and Savannah, approximately 70 miles from the Jacksonville site.

To make the discovery, Crowe flew to Paris and conducted research at the Bibliothèque Nationale de France, the French equivalent of the U.S. Library of Congress. There he found a number of 16th-century maps that pinpointed the location of Fort Caroline. Some of the maps were in 16th-century French, some in Latin, some in Spanish, and some were even in English.

Crowe was able to match French maps from the 16th to 18th centuries of what is today the southeastern coast of the United States with coastal charts of the United States published by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and with maps published by the U.S. Geological Survey.

One reason scholars claimed that Fort Caroline was located near Jacksonville is because, they believed, the local Indian tribes surrounding the fort spoke the Timucuan language, the Native American language of Northeast Florida.

"We proved that the Native Americans living near the fort spoke a language called Guale (pronounced "WAH-lay")," Spring said. "The Guale speakers lived near Darien, Ga. They did not live in Northeast Florida, where Jacksonville is."

The two scholars believe that Fort Caroline lies on Rhetts Island, southeast of Darien. "The fort appears to be situated in an impoundment used for duck hunting in the fall," said Crowe, "and thankfully, the site is protected by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources."

"The frustrating and often acrimonious quest to find the fort has become a sort of American quest for the Holy Grail by archaeologists, historians and other scholars," he noted. "The inability to find the fort has made some wonder if it ever existed."

In 1565, Spanish soldiers under Pedro Menéndez marched into Fort Caroline and slaughtered some 143 men and women who were living there at the time. After the massacre, Menéndez wrote the king of Spain that he had discovered the French fort at "31 degrees North latitude." Using GoogleEarth, Crowe found the fort close to where the Spanish general had reported.

"The actual latitude of what we believe is Fort Caroline is well within the margin of error of 16th-century navigational instruments, about 17 miles," Crowe said.

French colonists at Fort Caroline were astonished by the dazzling amounts of gold and silver worn by the Indians near the fort. These reports were dismissed as fiction by previous researchers, who argued that North Florida has no deposits of either precious metal.

"We studied the trade routes of the Guale Indians and found that they led directly to the gold and silver deposits near Dahlonega, Ga.," Spring said. In 1828, Dahlonega became the site of America's first mint, and over the years about $600 million worth of gold, in 2013 dollars, has been recovered there.

For 150 years, scholars have thought that "French Florida" meant Northeast Florida, including Jacksonville, Lake City and Gainesville. The Crowe and Spring study is expected to fundamentally redefine the term.

Crowe noted that "French Florida forms a great oval extending from the Santee River of South Carolina, down to the St. Marys River, which serves today as the border between Georgia and Florida. French Florida extends from Darien on the coast, up to Milledgeville, east of Macon."

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Story Source: Materials provided by Florida State University. "Oldest fortified settlement ever found in North America." ScienceDaily.

The Sun Orbits the Earth, Crocodiles Climb Trees, and Other Scientific Oddities

OH, REALLY?  One in four Americans think the Sun orbits the Earth.  
Not in the way the Flat Earth Society satarises strange beliefs.  But for real in a Michigan State University survey of basic scientific knowledge and attitudes toward scientists.  Researchers conclude that while Americans struggle with science they do respect scientists

Out of nine questions asked that covered the physical and biological sciences, the average score was 6.5 correct answers.  For example:

• 74 percent of those queried knew that Earth revolved around the sun, while 
• 48 percent knew that human beings developed from earlier species of animals.  

Compare this to research published some ten years ago that concluded that one third of human adults are incapable of learning from experience, and 24 percent having the relationship between the Earth and Sun confused isn't all that surprising. What scares me is the result that 33.3% of all adults are complete idiots keeps me up many nights - and is part of the reason I no longer drive and drink more than I ever used to.

OH REALLY II:  Stock Market Declines Directly Correlate to Increased Mental Disorders
Oxford University reports that falling stock prices lead to increased hospitalizations for mental disorders based on data on daily hospitalizations for mental disorders in Taiwan over 4,000 days between 1998 and 2009.  

Hence, I conclude, if you want to lose your mind, invest in the stock market.  Right?


WHAT THEY DON'T TELL YOU:  London's bicycle sharing had positive overall health effect
A report in the British Medical Journal concludes London's bicycle sharing scheme has had a positive overall health effect, but the benefits of cycling in the cycle hire zone are clearer for men than for women and for older users than for younger users, finds a study.  

What the report doesn't tell you is that the rate of bicycle theft has become so high that other European cities are stopping the program.  My conclusion is the exercise comes from running after the culprit yelling, "stop, thief."  Running is the cheapest exercise, after all.

SCARIER THAN SCARY"  Stroke survivors often return to driving without being evaluated for ability
According to the American Heart Association, Stroke survivors often resume driving without being formally evaluated for ability -- though stroke can cause deficits that can impair driving, according to researchers.

Combine this conclusion with the facts that we have a rapidly aging population that prior research has established that one third of which are complete dolts, and you'll want to come live in my bomb shelter with.

WTF, OVER? Slim, attractive men have less nasal bacteria than heavy men
New research reveals a link between a man's Body Mass Index (BMI) and the amount of bacteria colonizing their noses. The results show that heavier men harbor more potentially pathogenic species of bacteria in their nose, compared with slimmer, more traditionally attractive men.  This from Wiley.

Not sure where to start with this one.  I have an image of lab-coated research assistants in shopping malls, walking up to both good looking and ugly, obese guys (now there's value judgments for you.) and randomly sticking cotton swabs up their noses.  Who in the name of Madam Curie came up this concept?  And who funded it.  And why?

SACRE' MERDE:  Crocodiles climb trees, bask in the tree crowns
That's quite the headline, ain't it?  But's that is the result of a study published out of the University of Tennessee.  

Wait a minute.  We don't have crocodiles in the Americas.  We have alligators.  Do alligators climb trees to bask in the sun?  And scare the living daylights out of the occasional day hiker or pack of Cub Scouts?  I think not.  So why is the U of T investigating foreign crocodiles rather than the typical, red-blooded American alligator?

AND SOMETHING USEFUL:   Geographical passwords easier to remember
According to Inderscience Publishers, it's much easier to remember a place you have visited than a long, complicated password, which is why s computer scientist is developing a system he calls geographical passwords.

And if you've never been anywhere?  What then?

FINALLY: US military awaits pizza that lasts years
According to a recent story by the Associated Press, the military is researching a pizza that can stay on the shelf for up to three years and still remain good to eat.

Soldiers have been asking for pizza since lightweight individual field rations — known as meals ready to eat, or MREs — replaced canned food in 1981 for soldiers in combat zones or areas where field kitchens cannot be set up.  So, researchers at a the U.S. Army Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center in Massachusetts, they same folks who invented the inedible meal to save money on resupplying troops in combat, are closing in on a recipe that doesn't require any refrigeration or freezing.

Want a pizza that last years?  Visit any college student's apartment.  You'll find three year old pizza served for breakfast daily.  I know.  I've done that.

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Story sources:  I've been threatened with lawsuits if the sources are revealed, so you'll just have to trust us.

Truth is Stranger than (Science) Fiction

Source: www.waroftheworldsthetruestory.com

H. G. Wells, author of "The World Set Free," published 1914, 

in which Wells anticipates the development of atomic weapons.

From warp drives to hyperspace, science fiction has continuously borrowed from, and sometimes anticipated, the state of the art in scientific progress. This has resulted in the perception that science and science fiction have a causal relationship, one finding direction from and fulfilling the science fantasy laid out before it.

Does Science Fiction Lead to Science?

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But that is rarely the case, according to Lawrence Krauss, a Foundation professor in the School of Space and Earth Exploration and the Department of Physics at Arizona State University. No doubt, science fiction has taken inspiration from the cutting edge science of its day. And, as Stephen Hawking reaffirmed in the preface of Krauss's bestselling book, the Physics of Star Trek, science fiction helps inspire our imaginations. But Krauss believes science fiction is not a match for reality.

"Truth is stranger than fiction," Krauss said at the 2014 annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Chicago.

"The imagination of nature far exceeds the human imagination, which is why we constantly need to probe the universe via experimentation to make progress," he said. "In fact, I tend to think that what makes science fiction most interesting is what they missed, not what they got right."

Krauss gave his talk, "Physics of the future," on Feb. 14 at AAAS as part of a session titled "Where's my flying car? Science, science fiction and a changing vision of the future."

H.G. Wells and the atomic bomb
As examples, Krauss mentioned the World-Wide-Web, developed at the CERN scientific laboratory and which governs the world in ways that were not anticipated. He also described "The World Set Free," often quoted as a prophetic book by H.G. Wells, which was published in 1914 and anticipated the development of atomic weapons that could be used in war. It even coined the term "atomic bombs" decades before they became a harsh reality in the modern world and perhaps influencing some of the scientists who went on to create these weapons.

"Nevertheless not only did Wells' continually burning atomic weapons bear no resemblance to the engines of destruction in the real world," Krauss emphasized, "he thought it would unite the world into one society whereas we are painfully aware that it hasn't changed human thinking, except to divide the world into nuclear haves and have-nots."

"Nevertheless it is instructive, and fun, to compare the 'science' of science fiction with that of the real world," said Krauss, who also is the director of the Origins Project at ASU. "Rather than dwelling on things that don't work, it is fun to explore closely related things in the real world that might work."

100 pound bags of water
Krauss discussed a variety of classical science fiction standbys -- space exploration, faster than light travel, time travel and teleportation. It seems almost tragic that science fiction is full of space travelers, freely and technologically effortlessly fulfilling their manifest destiny in space while we remain stuck on Earth. But the reality of the situation, according to Krauss, is that space travel costs a lot of money and energy, is a very risky endeavor and humans, as "hundred-pound bags of water," are not built for space.

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On a more positive vein, Krauss described how exotica live warp drive and time travel are not ruled out by known laws of nature, though from a practical perspective even if possible in principle they are likely to be impossible in practice. While it is not likely that humans will be "beamed" from one place to another, quantum teleportation might revolutionize computing in ways that science fiction has just begun to come to grips with, said Krauss, who has authored more than 300 scientific publications and nine books, including the international bestseller The Physics of Star Trek, right) a tour of the Star Trek universe and our universe, and Beyond Star Trek, which addressed recent exciting discoveries in physics and astronomy and takes a look at how the laws of physics relate to notions from popular culture.

Krauss concluded that predicting the future of science if fraught with problems.

"The best part of physics of the future is that we have no idea what the exciting discoveries of the future will be," he said. "If I knew what the next big thing would be, I would be working on it now!"

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Story Source:  Materials provided by Arizona State University. "Is truth stranger than fiction? Yes, especially for science fiction." ScienceDaily.

LGB Individuals Living in Anti-gay Communities Die Early - 12 Years Early

In itself, this study has a shocking result: LGB people have a life expectancy twelve years less when living in anti-gay communities as opposed to living in a more accepting environment.  

For a writer, this creates a situation rife with character and story possibilities.  How would a character react to living day to day having to hide their real selves, afraid of exposure, yet probably unaware how their circumstance will shorten their lives by a significant number of years.  We think we live in a progressive society, yet this data reveals that anti-gay sentiment as with racism is still rampant and a major health risk to those that endure it.

Here's the study report:

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In the first study to look at the consequences of anti-gay prejudice for mortality, researchers at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health found that lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) individuals who lived in communities with high levels of anti-gay prejudice have a shorter life expectancy of 12 years on average compared with their peers in the least prejudiced communities. 

"The results of this study suggest a broadening of the consequences of prejudice to include premature death," noted the study's lead author, Mark Hatzenbuehler, PhD, assistant professor of Sociomedical Sciences.

"Our findings indicate that sexual minorities living in communities with higher levels of prejudice die sooner than sexual minorities living in low-prejudice communities, and that these effects are independent of established risk factors for mortality, including household income, education, gender, ethnicity, and age, as well as the average income and education level of residents in the communities where the respondents lived," said Dr. Hatzenbuehler. "In fact, our results for prejudice were comparable to life expectancy differences that have been observed between individuals with and without a high school education."

In order to examine the relationship between prejudice and mortality, the researchers constructed a measure capturing the average level of anti-gay prejudice in the communities where LGB individuals lived, beginning in 1988, using data on prejudicial attitudes from the General Social Survey, one of the primary sources of social indicator data in the social sciences. This information on sexual orientation and community-level prejudice was then linked longitudinally to mortality data via the National Death Index, through 2008. Thus, the authors were able to examine whether mortality risk differed for LGB individuals who lived in communities that were characterized by high versus low levels of prejudice. 

By the end of the study, 

• 92% of LGB respondents living in low-prejudice communities were still alive; in contrast, only 
• 78% of the LGB respondents living in high-prejudice communities were still alive.

The authors also found that suicide, homicide/violence, and cardiovascular diseases were all substantially elevated among sexual minorities in high-prejudice communities. 

• LGB respondents living in high-prejudice communities died of suicide on average at age 37.5, compared to age 55.7 for those living in low-prejudice communities, a striking 18-year difference. 
• Homicide and violence-related deaths are one of the most direct links between hostile community attitudes and death, and results indicated that homicide rates were over three times more likely to occur in high-prejudice communities than in low-prejudice communities.
• Of the deaths in high-prejudice communities, 
• 25% were due to cardiovascular disease, compared to 
• 18.6% of deaths in the low-prejudice communities. 

"Psychosocial stressors are strongly linked to cardiovascular risk, and this kind of stress may represent an indirect pathway through which prejudice contributes to mortality. Discrimination, prejudice, and social marginalization create several unique demands on stigmatized individuals that are stress-inducing," said Dr. Hatzenbuehler.

A significant strength of the study was the ability to document the associations between prejudice and mortality at the community level. Also of note, Dr. Hatzenbuehler points out, the community-level measure of prejudice does not rely on sexual minorities' perceptions of how stigmatizing their communities are, but rather was based on the prejudicial attitudes of all respondents living in that community. "Therefore, this approach overcomes many of the limitations of individual-level measures of stigma and prejudice, which have characterized most stigma and health research to date."

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Story Source:  Materials provided by Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health. Mark L. Hatzenbuehler, Anna Bellatorre, Yeonjin Lee, Brian K. Finch, Peter Muennig, Kevin Fiscella. Structural stigma and all-cause mortality in sexual minority populations. Social Science & Medicine, 2014

Four for Valentines Day: Chocolate 101, Sexy Underwear, Love is Heart Healthy, and Where Love Resides

Valentine's Day! Chocolate 101
Here’s a brief look at where chocolate comes from, nutritional information, how it’s made, and the ingredients that make chocolate -- whether milk, dark or white -- a memorable treat.

Cocoa Seeds, Not Beans
Cocoa comes from the cocoa plant grown in the remote areas of West Africa, Asia and South America. While often called cocoa beans, cocoa plants actually are large, brightly colored pods filled with many seeds.

Cocoa to Chocolate
Cocoa seeds are removed from the pod, dried and roasted, giving them a distinct dark color and unique flavor. After roasting, cocoa seeds are ground into a paste called chocolate liquor. The liquor separates into dry cocoa and cocoa butter, or fat.

Chocolate Ingredients
Cocoa is heated and combined with other ingredients, such as sugar and milk, to create chocolate bars and candy. Dark chocolate is at least 35 percent cocoa liquor; and milk chocolate, 10 percent. White chocolate has cocoa butter, but no chocolate liquor. Chocolate contains protein, magnesium, and flavanols (antioxidants). Dark chocolate has caffeine; white chocolate does not. Dairy-based chocolate provides calcium.

Chocolate Safety
The roasting process kills bacteria on the cocoa seeds. Because of the high fat, low moisture content, chocolate generally does not spoil. A white coating, called "chocolate bloom," may appear on the surface of a chocolate bar. This is either the cocoa butter or sugar rising to the top of the chocolate, often due to high temperatures or sun. The presence of chocolate bloom does not mean that the chocolate is unsafe to eat.

Chocolate for Heath
Antioxidants, like the flavonols found in chocolate, may boost the body's immune system. There is still a lot more research that needs to be done, but exciting emerging research shows that chocolate may be good for both cardiovascular health and even memory. The sweetness in chocolate certainly makes it taste good, but chocolate should always be consumed in moderation due to sugar and fat content.

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Sexy Underwear is Underwear That Makes You Feel Sexy

Television makeover shows and glossy magazines can leave women feeling guilty for not wearing “sexy” lingerie – especially on Valentine’s Day.  But in fact, many different types of underwear could make them feel feminine, according to an expert on underwear consumption.

Dr Christiana Tsaousi, a lecturer in marketing and consumption at the University of Leicester’s School of Management, believes underwear choices are hugely affected by personal taste influenced by social background, professional status and upbringing, and why every woman's underwear needs are individual.

"On Valentine's Day, some women may feel the only way to feel feminine is to wear the "sexy" underwear promoted by the media in general. But this is really not the case.  Reality makeover shows and media in general have one purpose – to make women look feminine in line with western ideals,” she said.

“They present femininity as this thing where you feel nice about yourself because you have a body that needs to be expressed. Having that as an aim, participants on the shows are given underwear that’s going to mold the body in a certain way.”

But Dr Tsaousi, who has conducted extensive research into the consumption of underwear, says that women think very carefully about choosing the right underwear for the right situation – and that comfort is often as important as “sexiness”.

“Women learn to choose underwear for the right situation. In an ideal world, it would be good if reality shows acknowledge that women can feel feminine by wearing different underwear.

“Some women don’t like these shows because they always show a specific type of femininity, which is not the reality in most cases. They can make you feel guilty about the way you look and the way you feel about your body if you aren’t wearing underwear considered sexy.

“When partners are looking to buy underwear as Valentine’s gifts for their wives or girlfriends, they should choose underwear which will fit their partners well and will make them feel comfortable – rather than the stereotypical tiny, uncomfortable types. This will ultimately lead to them feeling nice about themselves.”

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Being in Love is Heart Healthy
Vanderbilt Heart and Vascular Institute cardiologist Julie Damp, M.D., says being involved in a healthy, loving relationship is good for the heart.  "There are different theories behind why that might be," Damp said.

Most of the theories seem to be related to the fact that people who are married or who are in close, healthy relationships tend to be less likely to smoke, are more physically active and are more likely to have a well-developed social structure. Along with that, they may have lower levels of stress and anxiety in their day-to-day lives, may seek medical attention more quickly, and may be more likely to take preventive medications.
A recent study from Finland showed that married men and women had a significantly lower risk of both having heart attacks and dying from a heart attack compared to people who were single.

"There is also a theory that people who are in loving relationships may experience neuro-hormonal changes that have positive effects on the body, including the cardiovascular system," she said, explaining that there are certain hormone levels in the body that vary depending on the level of an individual's stress and anxiety.

"This has not been proven, but the idea is that being in a relationship that is positive may have positive effects on your cardiovascular system over long periods of time," Damp said. In fact, studies have shown that relationships that involve conflict or negativity are associated with an increase in risk for coronary artery disease.

Giving your loved one a box of dark chocolates and a bottle of red wine won't hurt either. Studies suggest they are good for the heart, as well.

• Dark chocolate contains flavonoids, which are antioxidants. Antioxidants have positive effects on many different body systems including the cardiovascular system. The high concentration of cocoa in dark chocolate appears to be what offers the flavonoid benefit.
• "Dark chocolate has been shown to be associated with lower blood pressure, lower blood sugar levels and improvement in the way your blood vessels dilate and relax," Damp said.

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Where Love Resides

PIC: Posterior Insula
AIC Anterior Insula

A region deep inside the brain controls how quickly people make decisions about love, according to new research at the University of Chicago.  The finding, made in an examination of a 48-year-old man who suffered a stroke, provides the first causal clinical evidence that an area of the brain called the anterior insula "plays an instrumental role in love," said UChicago neuroscientist Stephanie Cacioppo, lead author of the study.

In an earlier paper that analyzed research on the topic, Cacioppo and colleagues defined love as "an intentional state for intense [and long-term] longing for union with another" while lust, or sexual desire, is characterized by an intentional state for a short-term, pleasurable goal.

In this study, the patient made decisions normally about lust but showed slower reaction times when making decisions about love, in contrast to neurologically typical participants matched on age, gender and ethnicity.

Other studies show that the anterior insula is associated with love, and the posterior insula is associated with lust.  In this study, researchers examined a 48-year-old heterosexual male in Argentina, who had suffered a stroke that damaged the function of his anterior insula. He was matched with a control group of seven Argentinian heterosexual men of the same age who had healthy anterior insula.

The patient and the control group were shown 40 photographs at random of attractive, young women dressed in appealing, short and long dresses and asked whether these women were objects of sexual desire or love. The patient with the damaged anterior insula showed a much slower response when asked if the women in the photos could be objects of love.  "The current work makes it possible to disentangle love from other biological drives," the authors wrote.

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Story sources:

1. Institute of Food Technologists (IFT). "Valentine's Day! Chocolate 101." ScienceDaily.
2. Tsaousi, C. ‘What underwear I like?’ Taste and (embodied) cultural capital in the consumption of women’s underwear. Journal of Consumer Culture, 2014 
3. Vanderbilt University Medical Center. "Love is good for the heart, cardiologist says." ScienceDaily.
4. Stephanie Cacioppo et al. Selective decision-making deficit in love following damage to the anterior insula. Current Trends in Neurology, February 2014

The Small But Important Difference Between Apes and Humans

Credit: Image courtesy of University of Oxford

An area of the brain that appears unique to humans (in red).

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We are obviously different from apes and monkeys despite the fact that 99.6% of our DNA is the same as found in chimpanzees.  For millenia, we assumed humans had language and apes don't, and that's what makes us different.  But apes do have language, and can learn American sign language equivalent to a human six year old.  Well, humans make tools and that makes up unique.  Not so, says science.  Apes, monkeys, dolphins and ants all make tools as well.  So much for that.

Social organization?  Not really.  Consider the sophisticated social organization of elephants.  Wolves.  Ants.

So how are we truly different?  Oxford University researchers have identified an area of the human brain that appears unlike anything in the brains of some of our closest relatives.

The brain area pinpointed is known to be intimately involved in some of the most advanced planning and decision-making processes that we think of as being especially human.

'We tend to think that being able to plan into the future, be flexible in our approach and learn from others are things that are particularly impressive about humans. We've identified an area of the brain that appears to be uniquely human and is likely to have something to do with these cognitive powers,' says senior researcher Professor Matthew Rushworth of Oxford University's Department of Experimental Psychology.

MRI imaging of 25 adult volunteers was used to identify key components in the ventrolateral frontal cortex area of the human brain, and how these components were connected up with other brain areas. The results were then compared to equivalent MRI data from 25 macaque monkeys.

This ventrolateral frontal cortex area of the brain is involved in many of the highest aspects of cognition and language, and is only present in humans and other primates. Some parts are implicated in psychiatric conditions like ADHD, drug addiction or compulsive behaviour disorders. Language is affected when other parts are damaged after stroke or neurodegenerative disease. A better understanding of the neural connections and networks involved should help the understanding of changes in the brain that go along with these conditions.

Professor Rushworth explains: 'The brain is a mosaic of interlinked areas. We wanted to look at this very important region of the frontal part of the brain and see how many tiles there are and where they are placed.

'We also looked at the connections of each tile -- how they are wired up to the rest of the brain -- as it is these connections that determine the information that can reach that component part and the influence that part can have on other brain regions.'

From the MRI data, the researchers were able to divide the human ventrolateral frontal cortex into 12 areas that were consistent across all the individuals.

'Each of these 12 areas has its own pattern of connections with the rest of the brain, a sort of "neural fingerprint," telling us it is doing something unique,' says Professor Rushworth.

The researchers were then able to compare the 12 areas in the human brain region with the organisation of the monkey prefrontal cortex. Overall, they were very similar with 11 of the 12 areas being found in both species and being connected up to other brain areas in very similar ways.  However, one area of the human ventrolateral frontal cortex had no equivalent in the macaque -- an area called the lateral frontal pole prefrontal cortex.

'We have established an area in human frontal cortex which does not seem to have an equivalent in the monkey at all,' says first author Franz-Xaver Neubert of Oxford University. 'This area has been identified with strategic planning and decision making as well as "multi-tasking." '

The Oxford research group also found that the auditory parts of the brain were very well connected with the human prefrontal cortex, but much less so in the macaque. The researchers suggest this may be critical for our ability to understand and generate speech.

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Story Source:  Franz-Xaver Neubert, Rogier B. Mars, Adam G. Thomas, Jerome Sallet, Matthew F.S. Rushworth. Comparison of Human Ventral Frontal Cortex Areas for Cognitive Control and Language with Areas in Monkey Frontal Cortex. Neuron, 2014

People Remember Unattractive Faces More Than Attractive Ones

Great eyes, full lips and harmonious features: actress Angelina Jolie is in possession of all of these. That she is regarded as the epitome of female attractiveness doesn’t come as a surprise for Dr. Holger Wiese of the Friedrich Schiller University Jena (Germany). “Her features combine many factors which contribute to the attractiveness of a face,” the psychologist says. In his research, he mostly deals with the perception of faces.

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”On the one hand we find very symmetrical and rather average faces appealing,” he explains. “On the other hand, people who are perceived as being particularly attractive stand out by additional traits, which distinguish them from the average.” Apart from being attractive, features like big eyes or a distinctively shaped mouth ensure a high recognition value. “We tend to remember those faces well,” according to Wiese.

But this isn’t generally true for all attractive people – as Wiese and his colleagues, Carolin Altmann and Professor Dr. Stefan Schweinberger have shown in the new study. “We could show that the test subjects were more likely to remember unattractive faces than attractive ones, when the latter didn’t have any particularly noticeable traits,” Holger Wiese says.

For their research the psychologists of Jena University showed photos of faces to their test subjects. One half of the faces were considered as being more attractive, the other half as less attractive and all of them were being thought of as similarly distinctive looking. The test subjects were shown the faces only for a few seconds to memorize them. During the ensuing test phase they were again shown faces and they had to decide if they recognized them.

The scientists were surprised by the result: “Until now we assumed that it was generally easier to memorize faces, which are being perceived as attractive – just because we prefer looking at beautiful faces,“ according to Wiese. But the new scientific results are showing that such a correlation cannot be easily sustained. Moreover, Wiese and his colleagues assume that the recognition in the case of attractive faces is distorted by emotional influences which exacerbate the recognition at a later time. This is suggested by evidence from the EEG-recordings during the memory tests.

Additionally the Jena psychologists’ study revealed a further interesting secondary aspect: In the case of attractive faces, scientists detected considerably more false positive results. In other words: in the test phase the test persons stated that they recognized a face without having seen it before. “We obviously tend to believe that we recognize a face just because we find it attractive,“ Wiese supposes.

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Story Source: Materials provided by Friedrich Schiller University Jena.  Holger Wiese, Carolin S. Altmann, Stefan R. Schweinberger. Effects of attractiveness on face memory separated from distinctiveness: Evidence from event-related brain potentials. Neuropsychologia, 2014

Elance.com & Haas Business School: How to Succeed as a Freelancer

Simply put, freelancers who understand their own skills and experience, have a career path in mind, a goal, and who accept and decline jobs based on this focus, are more successful in landing contract jobs.  

This report is based on an analysis of assignments made on Elance.com, but confirms my own experience.  

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• When I made work proposals to prospective clients saying, "I can do any type of writing," I rarely got the assignment.  
• When I focused on what I do best and applied for that type of work, more often than not, I got the assignment.

This is not new advice.  Variations of  "To thine own self be true," appears both in the Christian Bible and in Shakespeare's Hamlet and in other sources as well. Here's the report of an analysis of the experiences of freelancers on Elance.com conducted by the UC Berkeley Haas School of Business.

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According to Elance.com, the online workplace lists more than three million registered freelancers worldwide, and each month it posts 100,000+ freelance jobs ranging from omputer programming and web design to finance and engineering. As an increasing number of freelancers depend on the virtual workplace, how can they make themselves more attractive to potential employers?

New research suggests freelancers who demonstrate work commitment through an incremental career path, by moving between similar -- but not identical -- types of jobs, are the most likely to be hired. The findings also conclude that competitors who work on only one type of job or on too many disparate types of jobs are disadvantaged when it comes to winning assignments.

Freelancers should specialize
"Previous findings would suggest that freelancers should specialize in a particular type of work so prospective employers know what they're good at," says Leung, "But I was curious about how freelancers can demonstrate their skills and commitment in an online world to acquire more jobs. My research suggests that employers on Elance.com appear to value freelancers who demonstrate their commitment by making incremental moves between jobs."

Leung observes that nuances in the online workplace will continue to affect hiring trends in the future. For workers, direct competition with other freelancers searching for online work presents new challenges. And in the virtual workplace, Leung says employers are often concerned with how engaged and committed a virtual, non-local worker will be despite the availability of information, such as a freelancer's job history and ratings/feedback from prior employers.

To understand how employers navigate the uncertainty of not meeting a potential hire in person, Leung analyzed millions of job applications and more than 100,000 worker profiles around the world from a 2007  Elance.com data set. Leung began by calculating how similar jobs on Elance were to one another. He then looked at the jobs each freelancer completed and found that those who exhibited some movement in their past history -- by taking jobs that were similar to one another but not the same -- were more likely to get hired through the website than those freelancers who accumulated experiences from dissimilar jobs or from jobs that were identical.

An adviser to Elance.com, Leung says the rise in contract and temporary employment is leading employers to increasingly embrace such a virtual workforce for specific skills and flexible employment arrangements. He also notes that in contrast to past characterizations of contract employees being low skilled and low paid, today's freelancers are performing highly skilled tasks.

This study suggests virtual labor markets will continue to change employment and career opportunities. By better understanding the market's dynamics, Leung says, freelancers will be more prepared to demonstrate their credibility and competence to employers.

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Story Source: Materials provided by University of California - Berkeley Haas School of Business. M. D. Leung. Dilettante or Renaissance Person? How the Order of Job Experiences Affects Hiring in an External Labor Market. American Sociological Review, 2014

Climate Change: Shorter Arctic Winters & The California Water Shortage

As I've mentioned, published scientific studies run in cycles.  Here are two more about the subject of climate change that support the last post on this blog.  

• "Winter" in the Arctic 24 Days Shorter than 1950
• The Water Supply for California the Lowest in a Decade

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Arctic Winter 24 Days Shorter than in 1950

Research, sponsored by the European Space Agency (ESA) and published in The Cryosphere, also reveals that climate change has dramatically affected the thickness of lake ice at the coldest point in the season: In 2011, Arctic lake ice was up to 38 centimetres thinner than it was in 1950.

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"We were stunned to observe such a dramatic ice decline."
"We've found that the thickness of the ice has decreased tremendously in response to climate warming in the region," said lead author Cristina Surdu, a PhD student of Professor Claude Duguay in Waterloo's Department of Geography and Environmental Management. "When we saw the actual numbers we were shocked at how dramatic the change has been. It's basically more than a foot of ice by the end of winter."

The study of more than 400 lakes o the North Slope of Alaska, is the first time researchers have been able to document the magnitude of lake-ice changes in the region over such a long period of time.

"Prior to starting our analysis, we were expecting to find a decline in ice thickness and grounded ice based on our examination of temperature and precipitation records of the past five decades from the Barrow meteorological station," said Surdu "At the end of the analysis, when looking at trend analysis results, we were stunned to observe such a dramatic ice decline during a period of only 20 years."

The research team used satellite radar imagery from ESA to determine that 62 per cent of the lakes in the region froze to the bottom in 1992. By 2011, only 26 per cent of lakes froze down to the bed, or bottom of the lake. Overall, there was a 22 per cent reduction in what the researchers call "grounded ice" from 1992 to 2011.

Researchers were able to tell the difference between a fully frozen lake and one that had not completely frozen to the bottom, because satellite radar signals behave very differently, depending on presence or absence of water underneath the ice.

Radar signals are absorbed into the sediment under the lake when it is frozen to the bottom. However, when there is water under the ice with bubbles, the beam bounces back strongly towards the radar system. Therefore, lakes that are completely frozen show up on satellite images as very dark while those that are not frozen to the lake bed are bright.

Researchers used the Canadian Lake Ice Model (CLIMo) to determine ice cover and lake ice thickness for those years before 1991, when satellite images are not available.

Winter 24 Days Shorter in the Arctic
The model simulations show that lakes in the region froze almost six days later and broke up about 18 days earlier in the winter of 2011 compared to the winter of 1950. Shorter ice-cover seasons may lead to shifts in lake algal productivity as well as thawing of permafrost under lake beds.

"The changes in ice and the shortened winter affect Northern communities that depend on ice roads to transport goods," said Surdu. "The dramatic changes in lake ice may also contribute to further warming of the entire region because open water on lakes contribute to warmer air temperatures, albeit to a lesser extent than open sea water."

California Water Supply Lowest in a Decade

Satellite data show that California's Sacramento and San Joaquin River basins are at near decade-low water storage levels. These and other findings on the State's dwindling water resources were documented in an advisory report released today from the UC Center for Hydrologic Modeling (UCCHM) at the University of California, Irvine.

Responding to Governor Jerry Brown's recent declaration of a drought emergency in California, a team of UCCHM researchers has updated its research on the state's two largest river basins, and the source of most its water. The region also encompasses the Central Valley, the most productive agriculture region in the country. The Central Valley depends entirely on the surface and groundwater resources within the river basins to meet its irrigation needs and to produce food for the nation.

Using satellite data from NASA's Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) mission, the researchers, led by UCCHM Director and UC Irvine Professor Jay Famiglietti, found that as of November 2013, total water storage in the river basins -- the combination of all of the snow, surface water, soil moisture and groundwater, and an integrated measure of basin-wide water availability -- had declined to its lowest point in nearly a decade. GRACE data for the record-dry 2013-2014 winter months were not yet available for analysis.

The data show particularly steep water losses between November 2011 and November 2013, the early phase of the current drought. Famiglietti and fellow UCCHM researchers estimate that the basins have already lost 10 cubic kilometers of fresh water in each of the last two years -- equivalent to virtually all of California's urban and household water use each year. "That's the steepest decline in total water storage that we've seen in California since the GRACE mission was launched in 2002," Famiglietti said.

Researchers noted that snow pack, surface water and soil moisture storage in the river basins were all at their lowest points in nearly a decade, illustrating a growing threat to groundwater supplies in the Central Valley, and highlighting the urgent need to manage them sustainably. Groundwater is typically viewed as a strategic reserve that supplements sparse surface water supplies in times of drought.

By combining their satellite-based estimates of 10 years (October 2003 -- November 2013) of Central Valley groundwater storage changes with long-term estimates of groundwater losses from the U. S. Geological Survey, the researchers noted that steep declines in groundwater storage are typical during droughts, when Central Valley farmers are forced to rely more heavily on groundwater to meet irrigation demands.

The advisory report underscores that the rates of declining groundwater storage during drought almost always outstrip rates of groundwater replenishment during wet periods, and raises fears about the impact of long-term groundwater depletion on sustaining a reliable water supply in the current, record-setting drought. The team's previous 2011 study estimated that the Central Valley lost 20 cubic kilometers of groundwater during the 2006-2010 drought.

Communities on track to run out of water within months
Historically, drought conditions and groundwater depletion in the Central Valley are responsible for widespread land subsidence, reductions in planted acreage, higher food costs and ecological damage.

Famiglietti notes that if the drought continues "Central Valley groundwater levels will fall to all-time lows." Stephanie Castle, a UCCHM researcher who contributed to the report, believes that groundwater supplies should be more actively managed. Castle states that "the path of groundwater use that we are on threatens the sustainability of future water supplies for all Californians." She noted that several communities within the state are on track to run out of water within the next few months.

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Story Sources:  

1. Based on materials provided by University of Waterloo.  Journal Reference: C. M. Surdu, C. R. Duguay, L. C. Brown, D. Fernández Prieto. Response of ice cover on shallow lakes of the North Slope of Alaska to contemporary climate conditions (1950–2011): radar remote-sensing and numerical modeling data analysis. The Cryosphere, 2014
2. Based on materials provided by UC Center for Hydrologic Modeling. "Satellites show 'total' California water storage at near-decade low." ScienceDaily.

When the Midwest U.S. Becomes Desert; What Then?

Part of the fun of writing for any author or screenwriter is to put characters in new or unusual conditions to see how they react.

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These could be important thought experiments, for it seems humanity as a whole is working this experiment on ourselves without too much consideration on where it might lead.  Already, the southern U.S. and northern Mexico are experiencing drought conditions with about half the rainfall than just a decade ago as weather patterns "shift" to the north.

While debate about why this is happening continues, the fact that it is happening is obvious.  This report predicts that at the current rate of warming, Alaskan and Canadian tundra will become woodlands and grasslands by the year 2100.  There are many questions about this change to be answered, fertile ground for writers of fiction.  Try putting your characters in a world where the southern U.S. is sandy, barren desert, the strip from Seattle to New England is similar to what was found in the south, and Canada north is the temperate zone for agriculture, and most comfortable for human habitation.  

1. How might this change the human condition?  
2. How will this change the current geo-political situation?  
3. What will people be forced to do to survive let alone prosper?  
4. Will society collapse into anarchy? 
5. Or will other political systems evolve?

I'm sure you can come up with many more questions than this.  

Here's the report out of the University of Arkansas:

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Climate researchers have calculated that the spread of plant species in nearly half the world's land areas could be affected by predicted global warming by the end of the century.

An international research team led by Song Feng, an atmospheric scientist at the University of Arkansas, used a scenario projecting an annual 3- to 10-degree increase in Celsius temperatures by 2100 to calculate that climate types will change in 46.3 percent of the global land area.

That scenario is referred to by climate scientists, according to Song, as "business as usual" because it assumes that "what we continue to do today we will do in the future, meaning that there will be no significant measures to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions that are warming the planet," he said.

The scenario has been adopted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and calls for moderate to strong warming in the middle and high latitudes of the northern hemisphere and weaker warming in the tropics and the southern hemisphere.

"Climates are associated with certain types of vegetation," Feng said. "If the surface continues to get warmer, certain native species may no longer grow well in their climate, especially in higher latitudes. They will give their territory to other species. That is the most likely scenario."

Native vegetation is the best expression of climate
Their study examined shifts in climate regimes around the world using the Köppen-Trewartha climate classification, which is based on the concept that native vegetation is the best expression of climate. The researchers analyzed observations made from 1900 to 2010, and simulations from 1900 to 2100 from 20 global climate models participating in a project of the World Climate Research Programme.

"Changes in precipitation played a slightly more important role in causing shifts of climate type during the 20th century. However, the projected warming plays an increasingly important role and dominates shifts in climate type when the warming becomes more pronounced in the 21st century," said Feng, an assistant professor of geosciences in the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences.

"Those vast changes also imply that the global land area is experiencing vegetation-type conversions, with species distributions quite different from those that are familiar to us in modern civilization," he said. "This study is on the broad scale, it showing the big picture."

Overall, models consistently project increasing precipitation over the high latitudes of the northern hemisphere and reduced precipitation in southwestern North America, the Mediterranean, northern and southern Africa and all of Australia, according to the study.

Based on the projected changes in temperature and precipitation, current climates will shift toward warmer and drier climate types. Regions of temperate, tropical and dry climate types are projected to expand, while regions of polar, sub-polar and subtropical climate types are projected to contract.

Predictions show the tundra in Alaska and Canada giving way to trees, shrubs and plants typical of more southerly climates, as well as other global landscape changes.

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Story Source: Song Feng et al. Projected climate regime shift under future global warming from multi-model, multi-scenario CMIP5 simulations. Global and Planetary Change, January 2014

Are We Hard-wired to Believe in Immortality? Science Suggests, Yes

I came across this study four days ago, and haven't posted it because it really surprised me, and I wanted to think it through a little.  In short, this innovative research finds that our brains appear to be hardwired to believe in life before birth and after death.  Not based on evidence or religious belief, mind you.  But an intuition present in the youngest of us, children.

I like to think I'm rational, but. . .

• For years I scoffed at stories friends told of seeing ghosts, until I had two experiences with something that made me wonder what I had plainly seen and heard.
• I've always thought ESP and precognitive recognition where, well, questionable at best.  Until, I had several experiences that shook my skepticism.

These experiences haven't changed my thinking as much as opened me up to other possibilities or explanations.  To at least consider them.

After all, physicists and mathematicians tell us there is convincing evidence that there are eleven dimensions to our universe.  We can only see three and experience the fourth, time.  The others?  I can't even come close to wrapping my mind around one additional dimension, let alone seven.  

Imagine a sandbox with a pile of clean beach sand in it.  Each grain of sand in the sandbox represents one scientifically vetted fact that we as humans know. While the pile of sand in the sandbox is high, with more sand trickling atop the pile each day, we've barely made a dent in the the amount of unexplored sand on the beaches of the world. Or the sand under the oceans.  

Can we someday know all?  Or is it as British geneticist and evolutionary biologist J.B.S Haldane once said, "My own suspicion is that the Universe is not only queerer than we suppose, but queerer than we can suppose."  The older I get, the more I read and try to learn, the more I see the truth of this statement.  No matter how much we learn, we are limited by the physical capacities of our biology and the seemingly incomprehensible nature of things.  

Eleven dimensions?  How would one start to grasp this concept?

Here's the story.

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Most people, regardless of race, religion or culture, believe they are immortal.

That is, people believe that part of themselves-some indelible core, soul or essence-will transcend the body's death and live forever. But what is this essence? Why do we believe it survives? And why is this belief so unshakable?

A new Boston University study led by postdoctoral fellow Natalie Emmons and published in the January 16, 2014 online edition of Child Development sheds light on these profound questions by examining children's ideas about "pre-life," the time before conception. By interviewing 283 children from two distinct cultures in Ecuador, Emmons's research suggests that our bias toward immortality is a part of human intuition that naturally emerges early in life. And the part of us that is eternal, we believe, is not our skills or ability to reason, but rather our hopes, desires and emotions. We are, in fact, what we feel.

Emmons' study fits into a growing body of work examining the cognitive roots of religion. Although religion is a dominant force across cultures, science has made little headway in examining whether religious belief-such as the human tendency to believe in a creator-may actually be hard-wired into our brains.

"This work shows that it's possible for science to study religious belief," said Deborah Kelemen, an Associate Professor of Psychology at Boston University and co-author of the paper. "At the same time, it helps us understand some universal aspects of human cognition and the structure of the mind."

Most studies on immortality or "eternalist" beliefs have focused on people's views of the afterlife. Studies have found that both children and adults believe that bodily needs, such as hunger and thirst, end when people die, but mental capacities, such as thinking or feeling sad, continue in some form. But these afterlife studies leave one critical question unanswered: where do these beliefs come from? Researchers have long suspected that people develop ideas about the afterlife through cultural exposure, like television or movies, or through religious instruction. But perhaps, thought Emmons, these ideas of immortality actually emerge from our intuition. Just as children learn to talk without formal instruction, maybe they also intuit that part of their mind could exist apart from their body.

Emmons tackled this question by focusing on "pre-life," the period before conception, since few cultures have beliefs or views on the subject. "By focusing on pre-life, we could see if culture causes these beliefs to appear, or if they appear spontaneously," said Emmons.

"I think it's a brilliant idea," said Paul Bloom, a Professor of Psychology and Cognitive Science at Yale who was not involved with the study. "One persistent belief is that children learn these ideas through school or church. That's what makes the prelife research so cool. It's a very clever way to get at children's beliefs on a topic where they aren't given answers ahead of time."

Emmons interviewed children from an indigenous Shuar village in the Amazon Basin of Ecuador. She chose the group because they have no cultural pre-life beliefs, and she suspected that indigenous children, who have regular exposure to birth and death through hunting and farming, would have a more rational, biologically-based view of the time before they were conceived. For comparison, she also interviewed children from an urban area near Quito, Ecuador. Most of the urban children were Roman Catholic, a religion that teaches that life begins only at conception. If cultural influences were paramount, reasoned Emmons, both urban and indigenous children should reject the idea of life before birth.

Emmons showed the children drawings of a baby, a young woman, and the same woman while pregnant, then asked a series of questions about the child's abilities, thoughts and emotions during each period: as babies, in the womb, and before conception.

The results were surprising.
Both groups gave remarkably similar answers, despite their radically different cultures. The children reasoned that their bodies didn't exist before birth, and that they didn't have the ability to think or remember. However, both groups also said that their emotions and desires existed before they were born. For example, while children generally reported that they didn't have eyes and couldn't see things before birth, they often reported being happy that they would soon meet their mother, or sad that they were apart from their family.

"They didn't even realize they were contradicting themselves," said Emmons. "Even kids who had biological knowledge about reproduction still seemed to think that they had existed in some sort of eternal form. And that form really seemed to be about emotions and desires."

"We sometimes see connections where potentially none exist, we hope there's a master plan for the universe, we see purpose when there is none, and we imagine that a soul survives without a body."

An universal belief in the eternal existence of our emotions?
Why would humans have evolved this seemingly universal belief in the eternal existence of our emotions? Emmons said that this human trait might be a by-product of our highly developed social reasoning. "We're really good at figuring out what people are thinking, what their emotions are, what their desires are," she said. We tend to see people as the sum of their mental states, and desires and emotions may be particularly helpful when predicting their behavior. Because this ability is so useful and so powerful, it flows over into other parts of our thinking. We sometimes see connections where potentially none exist, we hope there's a master plan for the universe, we see purpose when there is none, and we imagine that a soul survives without a body.

These ideas, while nonscientific, are natural and deep-seated. "I study these things for a living but even find myself defaulting to them. I know that my mind is a product of my brain but I still like to think of myself as something independent of my body," said Emmons.

"We have the ability to reflect and reason scientifically, and we have the ability to reason based on our gut and intuition," she added. "And depending on the situation, one may be more useful than the other."

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Story Source: Materials provided by Boston University,  written by Barbara Moran.

Journal Reference:  Natalie A. Emmons, Deborah Kelemen. The Development of Children's Prelife Reasoning: Evidence From Two Cultures. Child Development, 2014