Are City-Dwelling Animals Getting Smarter?

Evolutionary biologists from the University of Minnesota believe the brain size of several animals including mice, shrews, bats, and gophers have increased due to selective pressures from humans. The sizes of brains of mice from cities were 6% bigger than the brains of mice from rural areas. The disruption of the natural forest habitats in Minnesota by humans may have caused animal brain sizes to grow as they learned new ways to survive and reproduce in their changing environments.

Testing Water Quality with a Smart Phone

Scientists used International Space Station technology to create an app that can inexpensively test the quality of water. Using the mWater app, you can incubate a water sample (with a $5 kit) and then take a photograph to analyze the water for bacterial counts. The data and GPS coordinates are uploaded from your phone to a water database. mWater requires little training and can be used by health and sanitation workers to test water sources globally.

There's an app for that...

Google Glass Potentially Useful in Hospitals

Google Glass is a pair of glasses that uses technologies such as video display, sound features, audio output and Wi-Fi to run Android Apps, like those on a smart phone. Google Glass could be used in hospitals for recording administered medicines, real-time clinical video documentation, and even for basic alerts about patients and paperwork. Currently, iPads are extremely popular with clinicians due to their technological capabilities and portability. Google Glass may fill a similar role in the future.

Run a hospital with eyeglasses

Facebook Makes us Feel Lonely and Sad

A University of Michigan study published in this month's PLOS One journal has found that the more a person uses Facebook, the sadder and lonelier they feel. The study on college-aged adults suggests that individuals who are more social in real life tended to be more sensitive to Facebook-associated sadness and anxiety. The authors suggest that there is a tendency for Facebook users to compare their own social activities and status to those on Facebook, which may lead to a sense of missing out. The solution: use Facebook less and instead interact with others via the telephone or in person.

What not to 'Like'about Facebook

How the Open Office Plan Reduces Communication

A study published in the Journal of Environmental Psychology suggests that those open floor plans in offices (where you can see all your coworkers), which were initially thought to encourage the exchange of ideas, a community spirit, and networking among staff, actually discourages communication due to a lack of privacy. Workers in private offices were the most satisfied with their ease of interaction. Other related environmental factors included space, noise, and light in the office.

Factors that influence workplace satisfaction

Six Ways to Maximize Your Job Satisfaction

Work is the primary source for income, intellectual challenge, and socializing for most people. As a result, it can significantly impact our sense of overall happiness. In the July 23 web blog of Psychology Africa, Dr. Rene Dawis, an authority on job satisfaction and work adjustment, provides six steps to job satisfaction. Steps include knowing yourself and your needs, recognizing job stress and poor working conditions, having realistic expectations for work, and assessing the future of your professional career.

Tips to improve satisfaction at work

Simpler, Cheaper Method for In Vitro Fertilization

The World Health Organization estimates about 140 million couples worldwide struggle with infertility-many of whom spend thousands of dollars on standard in vitro fertilization. Now, European scientists developed a simplified technique with the same outcome for about €200 or $265 USD. For over 100 women treated so far, the pregnancy rate was about 34 percent for both techniques. 14 babies have been born using the simple method and 13 using the standard procedure.
 

Babies for Less 'R' Us
 

Blood Cancer Drug May Help Reduce Spread of Breast Cancer

Researchers at The Mayo Clinic found that a drug that turns on the gene encoding protein kinase D1 (PRKD1) can stop the spread of tumor cells in a breast cancer animal model. In most breast cancers, the gene for PRKD1 is turned off, allowing the tumor to spread. Decitabine, used to treat blood cancers, turns the gene for PRKD1 back on, halting metastasis. Scientists hope to use this information to design a clinical trial promoting re-expression of PRKD1.