Ancient arts for old farts
After studying a group of 112 adults between the ages of 59 to 86, researchers at UCLA have concluded that frequent practice (at least three times a week) of an exercise called tai chi chih-a simple form of tai chi-can significantly boost the immune systems of older adults. The exercises appeared to promote resistance to the virus varicella zoster. The same virus that causes chickenpox in kids, v. zoster can remain dormant for many years until a weakened immune system allows it to reemerge, creating a painful rash known as shingles. In the study, participants were divided into two groups, one taking tai chi chih three times a week, and the other attending health education classes that focused on lifestyle issues, such as stress management and sleep habits. After 16 weeks, both groups received a dose of the shingles vaccine Varivax. The level of immunity in the tai chi group was found to be comparable to levels of immunity normally seen in middle-aged people-two times greater than that of the control group. Tai chi devotees also displayed improvements in bodily and mental health.
Source: UCLA news service
-Abigail Slinger
Monkey see, monkey do
Cambridge University researcher, Dr. Antonio Moura, has discovered evidence of learned behaviours among the primates of Central and South America. Studying a group of 10 capuchin monkeys in northeast Brazil, Moura documented the group’s recurring behaviour of loud stone-banging. When Moura approached the group, the monkeys selected stones and banged them on rock surfaces in an aggressive manner. Moura theorized that this was an attempt to scare off a potential predator, which the monkeys took Moura to be, or to communicate the threat of the predator to other monkeys. As the group became more accustomed to his presence, Moura found that the frequency of stone-banging incidents decreased. In a few cases, Moura observed adults and juvenile monkeys banging rocks in mimicry of the elder monkeys’ behaviour. This imitation would suggest that the behaviour is acquired socially, from one monkey to another, rather than induced by a particular environmental cause.
Source: University of Cambridge news service
-A.S.
A game cube like no other
A “virtual reality cube” at Iowa State university, called C6, is getting a $5 million (U.S.) upgrade. The room is a 10-foot cube that immerses the user in eight-channel audio and 96-megapixel 3-D images. The upgrade, C6’s first since it opened in 2000, gives the previously-outdated room twice the resolution of any other virtual reality room in the world. The technology employed by the C6 is geared towards the U.S. military, as the Air Force hopes to use virtual reality to allow operators to control multiple unmanned aerial vehicles remotely, with the aid of visuals of the airspace around the vehicle, the terrain below, and information about radars and weapons systems on board. According to the researchers, the “tsunami of information” coming from the aerial vehicles is difficult to communicate, and a virtual space like that provided by the C6 would be the only large-scale and immersive environment where an operator can have effective control of the unmanned vehicles.
Source: Iowa State University news service
-Sandy Huen
