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Pigeons’ high-risk strategies reveal why we all love a flutter How US subs stay in touch
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Pigeons’ high-risk strategies reveal why we all love a flutter
A gambling experiment has shown that pigeons like a flutter as much as humans — and that taking big risks in the hope of high rewards may be a fundamental part of our biological nature. Scientists have shown that when faced with a choice between a series of safe, small but guaranteed rewards or a single much larger reward that is less likely to happen, pigeons will almost always choose to gamble. The findings were a surprise to researchers, because Darwinist theory would predict that the birds would be honed by natural selection to act in a way that optimises the way they behave, rather than allowing them to take unnecessary risks that are going to leave them worse off in the long term. However, the scientists believe that if pigeons have an innate predisposition to gamble then this could be a widespread trait across the animal kingdom — and might even explain why so many people like to gamble, even though they know they are likely to be worse off over time. The experiment on pigeons indicates that there may be a fundamental biological reason for gambling rather than explanations based on purely human-centred preferences, such as the idea that gambling is practised because it is enjoyable and entertaining, said Thomas Zentall, professor of psychology at the University of Kentucky in Lexington. “The entertainment value of gambling shouldn’t really play a role with pigeons, yet we have found that most pigeons will choose to gamble if they are given a choice,” said Professor Zentall. “This seems to suggest that there is some fundamental behavioural system at work. If pigeons do it, it allows us to rule out other things that have been suggested to explain why people like to gamble so much, such as its entertainment value.” The study, published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, involved giving pigeons a choice between pecking at a coloured light that always gave them access to three food pellets, or pecking at a different coloured light that gave them two pellets but the gambling opportunity of “winning” 10 pellets 20 per cent of the time, or zero pellets 80 per cent of the time. Overall, the best strategy for optimal foraging would be to choose the three-pellet route. But eight out of 10 pigeons tested consistently chose to gamble — even though they were worse off at the end of the experiment than if they had played safe. “The main message is that there is a behavioural, biological mechanism at work that encourages pigeons, and possibly many other organisms, to gamble even though this was a sub-optimal strategy,” said Professor Zentall.
— The Independent |
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How US subs stay in touch
THE signal sounded like crickets chirping, but the encoded message transmitted from the camp atop the frozen Arctic Ocean was music to the ears of the USS New Hampshire submarine crew. Using a digital “Deep Siren” tactical messaging system and a simpler underwater telephone, officials from the Navy’s Arctic Submarine Laboratory at the camp last Saturday were able to help the submarine find a relatively ice-free spot to surface and evacuate a sailor stricken with appendicitis. The alternative would have been a ruptured appendix, or an emergency surgery on the table in the captain’s dining room, said a relieved Dan Roberts, the senior chief and corpsman who handles the crew’s medical needs. “It would have been rough.” The low-frequency system is built by Raytheon Co, which has been working on it for several years with $5.2 million in initial seed money from the Navy. Raytheon is the latest company trying to tackle the persistent challenge of communicating with submarines while they are travelling deep under the sea to avoid detection. Past systems have proven too complicated, and too expensive. The new system could revolutionize how military commanders stay in touch with submarines all over the world, allowing them to alert a submarine about an enemy ship on the surface or a new mission, without it needing to surface to periscope level, or 60 feet, where it could be detected by potential enemies. At present, submarines use an underwater phone to communicate with associates on top of the ice or with other submarines, but those devices are little more than tin cans on a string and work only at shorter distances. Submarines can also trail an antenna once they surface to periscope depth, or around 60 feet, but that makes them easier to detect. Captain Rhett Jaehn, the No. 2 official in charge of submarine operations and the officer in charge of the ice camp 150 miles north of Prudhoe Bay, said the Deep Siren was heavily used during the exercises and played a key role in facilitating the evacuation of the sick sailor. Improving the ability to communicate with submarines at any depth and any distance is a huge step forward, said Matthew Pesce, a former submariner who now works for the Arctic Submarine Laboratory, which organizes biannual ice exercises in the region, where submarines practice tactics and procedures. Pesce is based in Hawaii, but came aboard the USS New Hampshire for the exercises as adviser for Arctic equipment and issues, including the Deep Siren system. He said the system worked well, but some transmissions were not received properly, possibly due to issues related to the ice, or the alignment of the submarine. The new product could generate significant revenue for the company, said Stephen Moynahan, a senior Raytheon engineer, who came to the ice camp in early March to test how the system works under the ice cap, where varying salinity levels and long ice keels distort how sound travels.
— Reuters He gave no details on the scope of possible sales, but said Britain successfully tested Deep Siren in the Mediterranean last year, proving a range of more than 100 miles. Several other countries were interested and two planned sea trials this year, he said. A variant allows a submarine to deploy a buoy that can relay messages via satellite link. Moynahan said the new system, initially conceived by a Scottish submariner named Robert Kerr, provided only limited messaging ability, not bandwidth for transmitting huge chunks of data, but said its simplicity made it effective, especially in the current difficult budget environment. “This is a really big deal. This is a game-changing technology,” said Moynahan, who served as the rifleman guarding against polar bear attacks during a visit to the camp by Navy Secretary Ray Mabus and other top lawmakers and defense officials on Saturday. No bears turned up. Pesce said the system helped the submarine find a place to surface since locating ice-free waters in the Arctic was a little like “looking upward through a straw,” he said. |
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BUENOS AIRES: A NASA team has tested a space suit in a setting with extreme conditions akin to some of those found on Mars-an Argentine base in Antarctica-for possible use on a visit to the Red Planet. The NDX-1 space suit, designed by Argentine aerospace engineer Pablo de Leon, endured frigid temperatures and winds of more than 47 mph as researchers tried out techniques for collecting soil samples on Mars. Genome study brings blood
cancer into focus CHICAGO: Scientists have mapped out the full genetic code of 38 people with multiple myeloma, uncovering never-before suspected genes that play a role in the blood cancer and showing that a promising new drug might help. Studying the genetic blueprint of so many people with this cancer allows researchers to have a much more comprehensive picture of what drives the cancer, and it gives drug companies much better clues about how to shut down
the disease. Experts check for radioactive contaminants HONG KONG: Authorities across Asia stepped up checks this week on Japanese imports after radioactive contaminants showed up in food and water in quake-stricken Japan following blasts at a nuclear plant last week. Experts are most worried about three radioactive substances- iodine-131, caesium-134 and caesium-137 -- all of which can cause various types of cancer years later.
— Reuters |
NASA tests Mars space suit in
Antarctica