Monkey see, monkey eat
If a colourblind capuchin monkey were human, he’d never be allowed to pilot an aircraft. But recent research has shown these monkeys are better at finding camouflaged insects than their full-coloured vision counterparts. Amanda Melin from the University of Calgary studies the eating behavior of wild capuchin monkeys in Costa Rica. She and her colleagues have found that dichromatic monkeys, which are red-green colourblind, make more attempts to catch camouflaged insects than trichromatic monkeys who can detect red, orange, yellow and green. Capuchin monkeys rely heavily on insects for their diet and about 50 per cent of insects they eat are camouflaged. This is the first evidence of a selective advantage for colour-blindness. Why are colourblind monkeys better at picking out camouflaged objects? Primatologists say colourblind individuals might have less colour information entering the brain, leaving more mental resources to process differences in shapes and contrasts.
Source: Animal Behaviour
-Mandy Lo
I’ll tell you later
Procrastination is an issue in many a student’s academic career, and for one University of Calgary professor, it’s become the focus of his most recent publication. In an analysis of 691 other studies on procrastination, Dr. Piers Steel concludes that procrastination can be reduced to a simple mathematical equation. The variables include how much a person can expect to succeed with the given task, the value, desirability, and availability of the task, and the person’s sensitivity to delay. According to Steel, procrastinators have less confidence in their ability to complete the task, termed a lowered expectancy. He also warns that perfectionism is not the cause of procrastination, and perfectionists are more likely to procrastinate less and worry more. True procrastination comes when a person believes it advantageous to start sooner, but does not. With an estimated 15 to 20 per cent of the general population procrastinating, Steel encourages that research into procrastination not be delayed, as the growth of this “self-regulatory failure” is spreading.
Source: Psychological Bulletin
-Sandy Huen
Circumcised is safer?
Two randomized, controlled trials investigating HIV in Uganda and Kenya were stopped early when they reached the conclusion that circumcised men have about half the risk of acquiring HIV infection from females as do men who are not circumcised. A similar South African study from 2005 that was also stopped early found that circumcision decreases risk of infection from female to male transmission by at least 60 per cent. These results indicate that adult male circumcision could be used as an important addition to other HIV preventative strategies.
Source: BMJ
-Mayce Al-Sukhni
