A half-pound bright blue lobster was caught last weekend by Steve Hatch and Robert Green at the mouth of the Thames River.  Now this bit made news because the odds of finding a true blue lobster is apparently 1 in 3 million. Compare that to the odds of an average person living in the USA being killed by lightning, which is only a mere 1 in 35,000 (so says Wikipedia).

Cooking now seems to be an unlikely fate for the lobster, as the caught lobster will be brought to the Mystic Aquarium and Institute for Exploration to join two other blue lobsters in their aquarium.

The azure crustacean will live out its days being observed (and hopefully not harassed) by the elementary school kids that pass by during their field trips.

Ever experienced trying to answer your vibrating cellphone only to find out that it wasn't vibrating at all? Apparently there's a name for this condition. Some call it "vibranxiety", others prefer to call it by the more important sounding term, "phantom vibration syndrome".

Others have wondered, and even worried, if there are any physical reasons for this phenomenon. They think that perhaps it may be caused by muscle memory or even nerve damage. Thankfully, experts say that this is simply a demonstration of how easily our brains form habits.

Alejandro Lleras, a sensation and perception professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, says that perceiving rings and vibrations is part of our perceptual learning process. He expounds:

When we learn to respond to a cellphone, we're setting perceptual filters so that we can pick out that (ring or vibration), even under noisy conditions... As the filter is created, it is imperfect, and false alarms will occur. Random noise is interpreted as a real signal, when in fact, it isn't.

Jeffrey Janata, director of the behavioral medicine program at University Hospitals in Cleveland adds,

Neurological connections that have been used or formed by the sensation of vibrating are easily activated... They're over-solidified, and similar sensations are incorporated into that template. They become a habit of the brain.

USAToday reports that as far as the cellphone companies are concerned, cellphones cannot sporadically vibrate on their own. Mark Siegel of AT&T says that all this vibration is perhaps "in the mind of the cellphone user only."

Given all this talk about vibrating cellphones not really vibrating, this blogger recalls that years ago in the ancient days of dial-up, he used to hear dial-up modem noises all the time. *Tssshriri~~~ng... beep... beep...*

What about you folks? Any "phantom" things you notice? Do you hear "monster kill" ring in your head when you go on a frag spree even if you're not playing Unreal? Do you hear the "overworld theme" from Legend of Zelda whenever you walk in an open field? Pavlovian conditioning is funny that way, huh?

A recent study at the Yerkes Research Center and the University of Texas has confirmed that captive chimpanzees have the ability to sustain multiple-tradition cultures that many researchers believe wild chimpanzees exhibit.

This means that captive chimps have the ability to learn cultures they've observed. To some this revelation provides further evidence that chimpanzees and humans have a common ancestor that has a level of cultural complexity.

In the study, the researchers taught several high-ranking members of different chimpanzee communities how to use tools in a certain way. It was then observed that those tool techniques were then eventually learned by other members of the community.

The captive chimps were able to develop "traditions" (in this case, certain ways to use tools) within their community. Eventually, it was also observed that 10 traditions spread throughout the chimpanzee groups, with traditions passing from group to group. On of the researchers Dr. Frans de Waal explains:

This study nicely summarizes our collaborative work of the last five years, showing we can artificially introduce cultures in chimpanzees, which supports the idea cultural variation observed in the wild is learned. ...We are the first to show cultures potentially can jump from group to group if you offer chimpanzees the opportunity to watch other groups. It’s a bit like Westerners learning to eat with chopsticks.

Does this mean that chimps can eventually learn to use chopsticks? Well, if you manage to teach one of the more popular chimps how to do it first, it might become a chimp fad, and others will do it just to be "cool." We kind of like that idea.

The cause of death of a petrified (or rather frozen) 5,100 year old iceman doesn't usually become big news on the Internet, particularly in Web 2.0 social bookmarking websites. That is, unless there's a rumored curse attached to the mummy.

The mummy, Oetzi, supposedly fell down a cavity and became entombed in a glacier, 3,210 meters feet above sea level. The mummy was discovered in 1991 by German mountaineer Helmut Simon.

Around 2004, Simon died while hiking in the same area he discovered the mummy. Also, Archaeologist Konrad Spindler, 55, the person who first inspected the mummy, died in April 2005. Rainer Henn, head of the forensic team studying the mummy, died in a car-crash on his way to give a lecture about the mummy. These series of incidents gave rise to, you guessed it, a supposed "curse."

Anyhow, it's now been determined that Oetzi died due to an arrowhead injury which caused massive internal bleeding. It is still unclear though if the arrow injury was "friendly fire" during a hunting trip, or if it was due to an intentional attack.

Oetzi died when he was around 45 years old. He was about 1.6 meters tall, had blue eyes, long curly brown hair, and numerous tattoos. He was carrying a longbow (1.8 meters long), around a dozen arrows, and an axe.

Well, now that the reason for the mummy's death has been identified to a certain extent, perhaps the folks who are a bit more superstitious regarding the curse can feel a bit more safe.

Remember that old (by old we mean 1990) Nintendo related medical condition where people's thumbs got sore because they played on their NES way too much? "Nintendinitis" was the term for the condition, and it was first used by a Wisconsin doctor to describe the condition of a 35-year-old lady who played too much. Well, news is that Nintendo once again gets some marketing support from the medical folks. This time the condition is called "Wiiitis."

The Doctor responsible for the term is Dr. Julio Bonis, and apparently this doctor played a bit too much. The good doctor writes in the New England Journal of Medicine:

The variant in this patient can be labelled more specifically as "Wiiitis" ...The treatment consisted of ibuprofen for one week, as well as complete abstinence from playing Wii video games. The patient recovered fully.

Reuters reports that the good doctor was convinced to write a case report on "Wiiitis" because a friend of his suffered from a similar condition. Bonis supposedly found other cases similar to this and he feels that he should give a name for the undiagnosed condition.

Yes, it's not tennis elbow, it's Wiiitis. Having said that, we now wonder what they'll call that pain in the wrists that FPS experts get when they compete at a LAN party non-stop for 24 to 48 hours. Would Carpal Tunnel Syndrome still be an apt description? Or should they start calling it FPS-itis?

A recent Roper survey commissioned by Sharp Electronics Corporation revealed that almost 90 percent of Americans believe that solar electricity should be an option for all new home construction. This shows a significant increase in interest in solar power as last year's survey showed that interest was only around 79 percent.

Below are the survey's findings as per the press announcement made by Sharp Electronics Corporation:

• 87 percent feel that homebuilders should offer solar power as an option for all new homes; older Americans are less enthusiastic, with 77 percent of those over age 65 supporting solar on new homes
• Respondents understand that solar power can be used to turn the lights on (82 percent), heat bath water (82 percent) or heat a swimming pool (80 percent)
• Respondents are less likely to understand that solar can power electric devices such as computers or appliances (71 percent). Americans over age 65 are least likely to recognize this functionality (56 percent). Those in the Northeast (63 percent) and Midwest (65 percent) were significantly less likely to identify this functionality for solar energy, compared to those in the South (75 percent) and West (78 percent)
• 82 percent say that a decrease in monthly energy bills is their primary motivation for installing solar power; other respondents indicated it was to reduce overall energy usage (79 percent), reduce oil dependence (77 percent) or because it is a secure source of energy (75 percent)
• 56 percent would be interested in learning more about solar for their homes if the system could be obtained for zero money down and their utility bills would be lowered right away. Younger adults, ages 25-34, are more encouraged by monetary savings, with 67 percent expressing interest.

Now that interest in using Solar Power as a means to save on electricity bills is on the rise, it seems that what the major companies need to do now is to figure out a cost-effective and affordable way of integrating Solar Power into homes.

 

Here's a bit of sad news for all you animal lovers out there. BBC reports that the first Chinese panda that was bred in captivity and released into the wild, has died.

Released April 2006, Xiang Xiang was found dead last February. It is believed that the panda likely died due to a fight with wild pandas. Injuries included broken ribs and there is evidence that the panda had fallen from a high area. It is believed that the Xiang Xiang had fought with other pandas over food and territory.

Zhang Hemin, head of the Wolong Giant Panda Research Centre, says that although this may seem like a setback and all are sad that Xiang Xiang has died, this doesn't necessarily mean that "the project has failed". "The lessons we have learn(ed) from what happened to Xiang Xiang will help us adapt and improve the project," Hemin says.

Giant pandas are an endangered species with only 1,600 remaining in the wild. Around 200 of them live in captivity. Officials say that the delay in the reporting Xiang Xiang's death was due to the need to fully investigate the causes.

New research into cheetah mating habits reveal that when it comes to ensuring a good genetic mix for their offspring (with the dangers of being inbred and all), female cheetahs do the best they can. Research shows that half of Serengeti cheetah litters are composed of cubs with different fathers.

However, as beneficial as this genetic mix may be for the offspring, it may not be as beneficial for the mothers, as they put themselves at great risk. Dada Gottelli, the Zoological Society of London's lead scientist for the research explains:

Mating with more than one male poses a serious threat to females, increasing the risk of exposure to parasites and diseases...

Females also have to travel over large distances to find new males, making them more vulnerable to predation, so infidelity is a heavy burden.

As dangerous as this is for the mother cheetahs, this revealed genetic diversity adds hope to the welfare of future generations of cheetah.

Reuters informs that it is currently estimated that there are below 10,000 individuals in the species' breeding population. The danger of inbreeding is always there as the cheetah is a threatened species and the numbers of these great cats are in decline in the areas they inhabit. Will infidelity ultimately save their species? Cat lovers certainly hope.

Proponents of using weed for medical purposes have something to be happy about. The American Civil Liberties Union reports that a U.S. Department of Justice appointed judge, Judge Mary Ellen Bittner, has submitted her final recommendation to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. The recommendation? End the agency's monopoly on research-grade marijuana available for FDA approved studies.

This break (if people in power listen to Judge Bittner) in DEA control over the supply of research-grade marijuana means that the possibility for Medical Marijuana becoming available in pharmacies as a legal prescription drug just grew.

All that has to be done now is for DEA Deputy Administrator Michel Leonhart to accept the recommendation for the break in the monopoly to take effect. The possible problem in this situation? The Deputy Administrator has no deadline for doing so and may reject the recommendation.

As dependent as this is on one person's judgment call, what gives proponents of medical marijuana hope is that it seems that popular sentiment is in favor of the use of medical marijuana. Some 13 states have laws that protect patients who use medical marijuana (with a physician's recommendation of course), and national polls indicate that 75 percent of Americans support the use of medical marijuana.

For those who see medical marijuana as an effective solution to their needs, getting it legally (Legalized, FDA approved medical marijuana, and all that jazz) is certainly better than getting it from the streets.

If you want to check out the Judge Bittner's recommendation, feel free to head to it using our "read" link below.

A study conducted at the Berkeley and Davis campuses of the University of California has revealed that it is possible to render free-floating HIV in breast milk inactive by flash-heating the milk.

Studies by the research team have shown that flash-heating breast milk can kill bacteria while retaining most of the milk's nutritional and antimicrobial properties, as well as most of the milk's important antibodies.

What's noteworthy about the discovery is that the process - heating a glass jar of expressed breast milk in a pan of water over a flame or single burner - can be easily done, even by people who belong in resource-poor communities.

Research into this process began when HIV-positive women in Zimbabwe asked how they could make their milk safe for their babies. Barbara Abrams, UC Berkeley professor of epidemiology and maternal and child health and senior author on the study, notes:

We wanted to be sure that there was scientific evidence that flash-heated milk was truly free of HIV, nutritious and immunologically beneficial. This study was done in response to the concerns of the mothers in Zimbabwe, and in addition provides evidence that field studies are warranted.

The findings are set to appear in the July 1 issue of the "Journal of the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes". If you're curious about it, it is now available online. You can head to it via our read link below.