Science news
Jul. 14th, 2003 03:50 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
watertankFake lie-detector reveals women's sex lies
Women are more likely than men to lie about their sex lives, reveals a new study. Women's coyness about their sexual behaviour was unveiled by a US study involving a fake lie detector test.
Women change their answers depending on whether or not they believe they will be caught out not telling the truth, the researchers found. The number of sexual partners a woman reported nearly doubled when women thought they were hooked up to a lie detector machine.
"Women are more sensitive to social expectations for their sexual behaviour and may be less than honest when asked about their behaviour in some survey conditions," says Fisher, a psychologist. She says women appeared to feel under pressure to meet expectations of being more relationship-orientated and not promiscuous.
Brains hardwired to underestimate own strength
Human brains are wired to underestimate the amount of force exerted on other people, a study of "tit-for-tat" experiments has revealed.
To test the notion that the brain downplays sensations generated by body movements because it can predict what will happen, Daniel Wolpert and colleagues at University College London in the UK engaged six pairs of adult volunteers in "tit-for-tat" experiments.
Each volunteer took turns to squash their partner's left index finger below a lever recording the amount of force applied. Their partner was instructed to reply to each push with equal force. The researchers quickly discovered that both volunteers pushed harder and harder on the lever. Afterwards the volunteers were surprised to learn that everyone had been given the same instructions and that their partners had not been asked to increase the force used.
When the body makes a movement a message is sent to the brain warning it what to expect. In this way, the brain predicts and already knows the outcome of an action before it is performed. This explains why you cannot tickle yourself - your brain already knows what to expect and de-sensitises the signal from your skin.
Nanotechnology may create new organs
Scientists have built a minute, functioning vascular system - the branching network of blood vessels which supply nutrients and oxygen to tissues - in a significant step towards building whole organs.
The networks were etched on to 15 centimetre-wide silicon wafers and the paths were then used as a mould to set a layer of biodegradable polymer. Two of these were then sealed together with a microporous membrane sandwiched between them, producing a mini artificial vascular system.
The one-layer systems of kidney and liver cells were successfully implanted into rats for two weeks - 95 per cent of the cells survived
Women are more likely than men to lie about their sex lives, reveals a new study. Women's coyness about their sexual behaviour was unveiled by a US study involving a fake lie detector test.
Women change their answers depending on whether or not they believe they will be caught out not telling the truth, the researchers found. The number of sexual partners a woman reported nearly doubled when women thought they were hooked up to a lie detector machine.
"Women are more sensitive to social expectations for their sexual behaviour and may be less than honest when asked about their behaviour in some survey conditions," says Fisher, a psychologist. She says women appeared to feel under pressure to meet expectations of being more relationship-orientated and not promiscuous.
Brains hardwired to underestimate own strength
Human brains are wired to underestimate the amount of force exerted on other people, a study of "tit-for-tat" experiments has revealed.
To test the notion that the brain downplays sensations generated by body movements because it can predict what will happen, Daniel Wolpert and colleagues at University College London in the UK engaged six pairs of adult volunteers in "tit-for-tat" experiments.
Each volunteer took turns to squash their partner's left index finger below a lever recording the amount of force applied. Their partner was instructed to reply to each push with equal force. The researchers quickly discovered that both volunteers pushed harder and harder on the lever. Afterwards the volunteers were surprised to learn that everyone had been given the same instructions and that their partners had not been asked to increase the force used.
When the body makes a movement a message is sent to the brain warning it what to expect. In this way, the brain predicts and already knows the outcome of an action before it is performed. This explains why you cannot tickle yourself - your brain already knows what to expect and de-sensitises the signal from your skin.
Nanotechnology may create new organs
Scientists have built a minute, functioning vascular system - the branching network of blood vessels which supply nutrients and oxygen to tissues - in a significant step towards building whole organs.
The networks were etched on to 15 centimetre-wide silicon wafers and the paths were then used as a mould to set a layer of biodegradable polymer. Two of these were then sealed together with a microporous membrane sandwiched between them, producing a mini artificial vascular system.
The one-layer systems of kidney and liver cells were successfully implanted into rats for two weeks - 95 per cent of the cells survived
