I’m not sure if this really qualifies as a Friday Science entry, but I found it on SEED. I think it falls in to the social science category. A group of researchers at Yale have discovered that humans aren’t the only ones to exhibit irrational decision making.

The political economy study was designed using our evolutionary cousins, Capuchin monkeys. Yes, I said political economy study. The researchers were studying the origins of irrational decision making. For instance every once in awhile a person who invests in stock rather than bonds tends to do better than someone who invested only in bonds. It’s the riskier decision that does better than the slow and steady mentality, but researchers wanted to know why people are most likely to choose the slow and steady system.

The researchers taught the monkeys how to use money to purchase food. The monkeys were allowed to choose from two “vendors�. One vendor showed the monkeys two apples slices, but when the monkey paid, the seller would only give the monkey one slice half of the time. The other vendor only displayed one apple slice, but when the monkey paid, this seller would provide the monkey with an extra or bonus slice half of the time. The monkeys regularly chose to buy from the second vendor.

The study showed that the monkeys weigh loss almost exactly as much as we do. We prefer gains over losses. How often do we flock to some store because they’re offering some sort of “Bonus Buy�? Just another example of how we’re really no different from monkeys. How humbling.

I know I didn’t get a Friday Science done for last week, but I was on VACATION. I had been planning to take a week off just to get some things done around the house that I never get done on weekends, but my working vacation turned into an actual vacation. Trust me; no one’s more surprised than I am.

Sunday afternoon I drove up to Tulsa to spend some time with Mom. I pulled in to the drive way and saw my mom swinging all by herself in her new porch swing. She had wanted one for a long time, so the siblings pitched in got her a really nice swing with a shade thingy and everything. The next day, my mom, sister and I went to a day spa for girly spa stuff and then to lunch were I ate the best chimichanga that I’ve had in along time (it was made with crack).

I drove home on Tuesday where Chris and I proceeded to pack up the car with camp gear and on Wednesday we headed out to Osage Hills State Park. We didn’t get a chance to go camping at all last year and I was having a hard time believing that we were actually going. It was great. We had the entire tent section to ourselves. I saw more wild life on this trip than I did during last years trip to Colorado. We saw wild turkey, deer, gray squirrels, humming birds, armadillos, a fox, and one persistent little raccoon. We also took a trip over to the Tall Grass Prairie Preserve and saw herds of Bison. The only bad thing about the trip was the ticks. Ticks are very bad here this year (one little girl has already died from a tick bite). I wound up with two stuck to me. If there’s anything that will bring me to whiney baby crying fit stage, it’s ticks. Next time, I’m bathing in DEET before we go.

I’m sure Chris will have more to say and possibly some pictures when he gets back. He took a drive to Houston with my dad and should be back today or tomorrow. I’m tired. I need a vacation from my vacation.

UPDATE: Wednesday, May 24, 2006

I’ve got some pics from trip on Flickr. I only have the basic (free) account, which allows only 3 sets of pics and I’ve already used them, so if you get lost just look for the “osage” tag.

Here they are.

Researcher Ray Baughman has developed artificial muscles that are powered by chemical energy which is fueled by alcohol. Current machines that mimic natural muscles are hydraulic or gear powered and fueled with electric currents, but Baughman’s artificial muscles are made of an elastic metal called “shape memory wire”.

Baughman says that these artificial muscles can do over a hundred times more work and are a hundred times stronger than actual muscles. The artificial muscles work a lot like the muscles in your body. The shape memory wire is coated with a catalyst and when alcohol is added the memory wire heats up and contracts. The muscles expand when the alcohol is gone.

The application for these artificial muscles is limitless. They can be used as prosthetic limbs to self-sufficient robotic androids. Imagine, androids fueled by alcohol. Wait…isn’t that how Bender works?

Chris and I were wandering around the local thrift store looking for a trivet when we came to the book isle. We stood there looking past the Harlequin Romances for anything good (which isn’t easy because they don’t believe in alphabetizing there). Fuzzy vision was beginning to set in when Chris reached across for a copy of A Million Little Pieces and as he pulled it from the shelf all I could do was stare at the cover with all the candy dots and say “I’m not going to eat that”.

I am sitting at the computer avoiding the trip to Sam’s.
I want to run away to Mexico.
I wish my family was whole.
I love Chris, Hooper, my Prana pants (Magic Pants).
I miss J and Friday at Stonewall’s.
I fear that my boss will decide to retire and I’ll have to find a new job.
I hear Chris’s computer playing Mark Knopfler and Emmylou Harris.
I wonder if we will ever buy a house or my student loans will ever get payed off or if we’ll ever win the lottery, which would solve all those problems.
I regret going to OSU for grad-school.
I am not sure if I will ever be skinny.
I dance when I’m happy and my PCR reactions work.
I sing all the time.
I cry when I’m angry and tired and also at that stupid Cheerios commercial where the couple adopt those kids from Russia.
I am not always reading.
I make good cookies.
I write with poor grammar.
I confuse myself and Chris when I talk about work.
I need a kayak.
I should start running.
I start my vacation in one week!
I finish nothing.
I tag Chris

I have a few friends who are vegetarians and therefore probably eat a lot of beans. I tend to eat vegetarian lunches that contain lots of beans, so even I understand the dangers of beans. Beans are hard to digest and they produce embarrassing flatulence, but now thanks to two strains of bacteria beans may no longer be a gassy problem.

Venezuelan researchers found that fermenting beans (black beans for this study) with Lactobacillus casei and Lactobacillus plantarum reduces the amount of indigestible fibers in beans. It also reduced levels of raffinose which is a compound that if consumed by intestinal bacteria produces methane (i.e. gas or farts).

Not only does this discovery make beans more nutritious, it makes bean eaters less farty in public and less likely to fart loudly in yoga class.