Be Prepared

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Another massive earthquake has shaken the Americas, this time in the South. Chile was struck overnight with an intense 8.8 magnitude quake in the Pacific Ocean near the port of Concepcion.

To put it into scale, this quake is a thousand times more powerful than the one to hit Haiti in January. A thousand times stronger than one that killed an estimated 230 000 people. And yet the death toll in Chile has reached only 147 people so far. What made the difference?

In a word: preparedness. Being situated along the Pacific Ring of Fire, Chile calls itself a "seismic country" and has developed an effective network of seismic experts, emergency responders, and citizens who are well educated on earthquakes.

Apparently this area was due for a big one, as the Nazca tectonic plate has been sliding under the South American plate at a rate of 80mm per year. This makes for a very seismically active region, but the last major quake to hit this area was in 1835, famously witnessed by Charles Darwin during his travels on the Beagle. French and Chilean seismologists knew this one was coming, and say it fills in a major "seismic gap" they had observed in the record.

In both quakes, buildings collapsed, infrastructure was damaged, and lives were disrupted. But in Port-au-Prince, a city of about a million people, one in every five people died. In Concepcion, one in every 1700. That is the difference preparedness can make - preparedness that cannot happen under the continual exploitation experienced by the people of Haiti.

~Rheanna Sand

Death of the Sexy App?

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They said it best in Avenue Q: the internet is for porn.

The stats are all there if you'd care to look for them... Internet pornography is a $2.5 billion industry in the U.S. alone. 25% of search engine requests are sex-related. And according to Neilson Online, one quarter of employees visit internet porn sites during working hours. (I guess "hard at work" just took on a whole new meaning)

But the dark underbelly of internet activity has recently been pushed into, then back out of, then back into the limelight. First by the growing popularity of sex-related apps to surface on the iPhone, then by their apparent expulsion from the App store, and now by the rumours of an "Explicit" section, created solely for their dirty, dirty selves.

It's a lot of back and forth from Jobs and Co. But for a company that essentially turns the internet into a handheld device, it was inevitable. And the conflict is simple: just like that one naive lady-puppet from the broadway show who was oblivious to all the World Wide Wanking going on, Apple's female clientele were apparently both alarmed and disturbed by the growing trend of busty babes making appearances on their phones (and the phones of their young children.)

It's always amusing to watch technology clash with our basic human needs, and in a way, you can blame evolution. Our minds evolved in stages—the more primitive regions responsible for sexual impulses often overpowering the more recently evolved logic centers. But luckily, this classic Battle of the Sexes appears to have been peacefully resolved, at least for now.

Now if you'll excuse me, that Chippendales App won't launch itself.

- Brit Trogen

GMAs - Genetically Modified Athletes

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The celebration of sport and achievement is a common link for all mankind. Watching athletes at the Vancouver 2010 Olympics push the limits of the human body is astonishing and inspiring. Maybe this week I'll get off the couch.

But, as in any major sports arena - the question is often asked - how much of this is real?

To find out more, visit: http://www.scienceinseconds.com/blog.php?id=146

--Torah Kachur

Skeleton Science

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In a sport measured to a hundredth of a second, every aspect of equipment design is important. Careening down a frozen track at 130km/h with nothing but a helmet and your own body strength to protect you, as Olympic skeleton athletes do, causes you to pay attention to detail.

This is why Canadian skeleton rider Jeff Pain spoke out against what he perceives as illegal modifications to the sled runners by the German team. He claimed there are magnetic fields in the runner posts, and implied that these fields confer a competitive advantage to the rider.

The idea is that two fields interact to absorb vibrations. Think of bringing two repelling magnets together: it almost feels the same as a hydraulic mechanism, like a shock absorber. So if the rider feels fewer shocks, the ride is smoother. More strength and attention can be devoted to better lines, and ultimately, faster runs.

And, according to FIBT rules, "all types of treatment are forbidden, including those which cause only a local variation of physical characteristics" with an explanation further down that "physical" includes terms like "electromagnetic."

A magnetic field IS an electromagnetic field, so its clear that using magnets in the runners would constitute an illegal modification. But the German team vehemently denied these allegations, and previous inspections during World Cup rounds have never found anything illegal in their sleds. Plus, they finished 7th, 10th, and 13th in the Men's final last night, with Canadian Jon Montgomery stealing gold in a dramatic finish.

I'm guessing in this case, Jeff Pain doesn't mind letting it go.

~Rheanna Sand

The Ultimate Sacrifice

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Imagine what it would be like to live a totally selfless life... You'd never ignore a homeless person on the street. You'd never refuse to help a friend move so you could secretly watch Big Bang. And you'd definitely never go out in public knowing full well that you were showing all the symptoms of swine flu.

But would you walk out into a deserted field to die at the first sign of a sniffle?

A species of ant called Temnothorax unifasciatus may be the most altruistic species on the planet, putting all of your meager attempts at charity to shame. Because when any member of this ant species becomes infected with a deadly fungus, they immediately abandon their nest and walk away, facing death alone in order to protect their relatives.

It's the first time such a behavior has been recorded in a social insect like ants, though it's been seen before in species like elephants and cats. Humans certainly don't have it's equivalent. We seem to be more of the "if I'm going down, I'm taking you all down with me," mind set. And it took researchers quite a while to prove that it was in fact a conscious choice on the part of the ants, and not the result of a "zombie fungus" that was forcing them to do it.

Of course, there's a clear evolutionary advantage to altruism. Even though the individual performing it may not personally profit by increased offspring, the advantage will be conferred onto their close relatives, who share some of their genetic makeup. And in cases like this, it's very clear that if the diseased ants didn't take it upon themselves to leave, the entire nest would be in danger of infection.

But in an age where we humans can spend months arguing over who will or will not be paying for what medical procedure in the laughably named "health care" debate, it's nice to see real world proof that selflessness can work. At least for ants.

- Brit Trogen

Love Hangover

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Satisfied?

Did everyone have a successful Valentine's Day? Replete with chocolate, swooning, snuggling and ummm.. other stuff?

How about today? Did you wake up next to the same farting, snoring, hairy creature of a few days ago?Welcome to the Love Hangover.

February 15th is the day that we start to think "what is all this love business?" Too bad it is just simple chemistry. That spark of the first date = endorphins and adrenaline. The swoon of the first kiss = probably just an overactive sense of smell. And that tender feeling after the whole bedroom thing is over = oxytocin.

Oxytocin is a chemical most famous for inducing labour. But I can't say I'm surprised to find that childbirth is induced by something also used for creating interpersonal attachments. Both often painful. The hormone stimulates a very tiny area of the brain associated with reward. But this area of the brain is also associated with stress and anxiety. Again, I'm not surprised.

I don't mean to knock love or the inkling of it. Love is incredible, its fascinating and demanding and rewarding and difficult all at the same time. But it is also a physiological response. There is something at the biological level that connects you to your partner, there is a scientific basis for the butterflies in your tummy and the sharp intake of breath at the sight of him or her.

We will probably never understand the love of poets and writers at the scientific level. But we may very well start to explain it.

--Torah Kachur

Year of the Tiger

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On Sunday, the Chinese calendar moves from the year of the Ox into the year of the Tiger, meaning both a celebration of, and a threat to this majestic big cat species.

First for some good news: in Sumatra, strategically placed video cameras have captured the first film evidence of the wild Sumatran tiger. A mother and two, year-old cubs can be seen on the tape sniffing the camera as they curiously walk by.

Another recent finding reported in Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution looked at the ancestral relationships between the five major big cats: jaguars, leopards, snow leopards, lions and tigers. It was known that these five groups have been evolving separately from little cats for a long time, but it was not known what the genetic relationships were within the big cats.

As it turns out, the tiger and snow leopard are sister species, meaning they split off as a separate group early on. The other three, lions, jaguars, and leopards, have been evolving separately as a group as well.

What this means is the tiger is more ancient and unique than we thought. Which is kind of a shame…considering the already devastating thirst in Asian countries for tiger body parts. Skins are sold as luxury items for homes or clothing. Teeth are revered as jewellery, and tiger penises are dried and ground up for men to take, so they can be more virile.

But personally, I can't think of anything more unluxurious, or an act more ugly, or more impotent than poaching or farming these awesome creatures. Let's hope celebrating the year of the tiger can shed some light on this problem rather than exacerbating it.

~Rheanna Sand