A behavioral model of "faking ecstasy," developed by Emory economist Hugo Mialon, is featured on the the New York Times blog "Freakonomics." Among Mialon's findings: more-educated men and women are more likely to fake it in the bedroom.
Read the post, and listen to a podcast on the many ways in which people "fake it."
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'Orgasm Inc' takes on female Viagra
Economists do it with models
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
What is the impact of zoos?
A recent American Zoo and Aquarium Association (AZA) study, which found that visits to zoos and aquariums have a positive impact on the conservation attitudes and understanding of adult visitors, is flawed and misleading, says Emory neuroscientist Lori Marino.
The journal of Society and Animals recently published a critical evaluation by Marino and colleagues of the 2006 AZA study “Why Zoos and Aquariums Matter.” (Download a PDF of the evaluation here.)
“There is no compelling evidence to date that zoos and aquariums promote attitude changes, education or interest in conservation in their visitors, despite some claims to the contrary,” Marino says.
“The impact of zoos remains an important, open question, deserving of a methodologically sophisticated study,” she adds.
Marino, an expert in dolphin and whale intelligence, believes that the high intelligence of these animals makes it immoral and cruel to use them as captive entertainers. She is set to give scientific testimony on April 27 before a committee of the U.S. House of Representatives, regarding the Marine Mammal Protection Act.
The law, which establishes basic requirements for the display of captive marine mammals, dates back to 1972. The death of an animal trainer last February, after a killer whale pulled her into a tank, brought oversight of the law into the national spotlight.
“Some zoos do good conservation work, and I think their efforts should be applauded and supported,” Marino said. “But the public needs to know what is real education and conservation and what’s just entertainment.”
Marino takes particular issue with the AZA study because she says it was methodologically flawed, was not published in a peer-reviewed journal, and is cited by some zoos and aquariums as evidence of their educational impact.
The AZA study was based on surveys of more than 5,500 visitors to 12 zoos and aquariums over three years.
Marino evaluated the AZA findings along with Emory psychologist Scott Lilienfeld, an expert in self-report research methodology, and co-authors from three other Atlanta universities who specialize in the sociology and culture of zoos.
The researchers cited six major weaknesses that they found in the AZA study. For example, their analysis noted that survey respondents were simply asked to report their opinions of whether their zoo visits had been educational, rather than actually being tested for new knowledge.
“That’s like a teacher asking students at the end of the class if they learned anything, and if they say, ‘yes,’ giving them an A,” Marino says.
Related:
Should killer whales be captive?
Inside the dolphin's tool kit
The journal of Society and Animals recently published a critical evaluation by Marino and colleagues of the 2006 AZA study “Why Zoos and Aquariums Matter.” (Download a PDF of the evaluation here.)
“There is no compelling evidence to date that zoos and aquariums promote attitude changes, education or interest in conservation in their visitors, despite some claims to the contrary,” Marino says.
“The impact of zoos remains an important, open question, deserving of a methodologically sophisticated study,” she adds.
Marino, an expert in dolphin and whale intelligence, believes that the high intelligence of these animals makes it immoral and cruel to use them as captive entertainers. She is set to give scientific testimony on April 27 before a committee of the U.S. House of Representatives, regarding the Marine Mammal Protection Act.
The law, which establishes basic requirements for the display of captive marine mammals, dates back to 1972. The death of an animal trainer last February, after a killer whale pulled her into a tank, brought oversight of the law into the national spotlight.
“Some zoos do good conservation work, and I think their efforts should be applauded and supported,” Marino said. “But the public needs to know what is real education and conservation and what’s just entertainment.”
Marino takes particular issue with the AZA study because she says it was methodologically flawed, was not published in a peer-reviewed journal, and is cited by some zoos and aquariums as evidence of their educational impact.
The AZA study was based on surveys of more than 5,500 visitors to 12 zoos and aquariums over three years.
Marino evaluated the AZA findings along with Emory psychologist Scott Lilienfeld, an expert in self-report research methodology, and co-authors from three other Atlanta universities who specialize in the sociology and culture of zoos.
The researchers cited six major weaknesses that they found in the AZA study. For example, their analysis noted that survey respondents were simply asked to report their opinions of whether their zoo visits had been educational, rather than actually being tested for new knowledge.
“That’s like a teacher asking students at the end of the class if they learned anything, and if they say, ‘yes,’ giving them an A,” Marino says.
Related:
Should killer whales be captive?
Inside the dolphin's tool kit
Monday, April 19, 2010
Animal tracker on tap at Science Tavern
Emory paleontologist Anthony Martin will be speaking at Atlanta Science Tavern on Saturday, April 24. Martin is an expert in trace fossils, including tracks, trails, burrows and nests. He attributes his groundbreaking discoveries of dinosaur tracks, and the first dinosaur burrows, to his passion for tracking modern-day animals.
"I look for all kinds of animal tracks, across all kinds of substrates — beach sand, gravel, mud, pine needles and leaves," Martin says. "I track our cat across the carpet at home. It drives him nuts. I'll follow his little, round prints into the closet and he'll look up at me like, 'Wait a minute! You're not supposed to know I'm here!'"
Atlanta Science Tavern is a growing group of people from a range of backgrounds who enjoy having lively conversations with scientists in a friendly, casual setting. This Saturday’s event begins at 7 p.m. at Manuel’s Tavern. Click here for more details.
If you go, be sure to ask Martin about how he tracked the swimming pattern of an ancient fish, in a lake that disappeared millions of years ago.
Photo by Steve Henderson shows Martin with an alligator trace on the Georgia coast.
Related:
Dinosaur burrows yield clues to climate change
"I look for all kinds of animal tracks, across all kinds of substrates — beach sand, gravel, mud, pine needles and leaves," Martin says. "I track our cat across the carpet at home. It drives him nuts. I'll follow his little, round prints into the closet and he'll look up at me like, 'Wait a minute! You're not supposed to know I'm here!'" Atlanta Science Tavern is a growing group of people from a range of backgrounds who enjoy having lively conversations with scientists in a friendly, casual setting. This Saturday’s event begins at 7 p.m. at Manuel’s Tavern. Click here for more details.
If you go, be sure to ask Martin about how he tracked the swimming pattern of an ancient fish, in a lake that disappeared millions of years ago.
Photo by Steve Henderson shows Martin with an alligator trace on the Georgia coast.
Related:
Dinosaur burrows yield clues to climate change
Friday, April 16, 2010
The nature of an Emory education
Anna Snyder works on her laptop, amid the trees near Rich hall. Photo by Carol Clark.“I love to study while hanging out in my hammock, because every once in a while I can stop and look up at the sky. It’s such a sane thing to do,” says Anna Snyder.
The junior ethno-musicology major carries her Skeeter Beater Pro in her backpack and strings it up during breaks between classes, in green spaces throughout campus. “All you need is two trees that are close enough together,” she says.
If it’s good weather on Earth Day, April 22, Snyder says she will definitely be enjoying some of it from her hammock. This year is the 40th anniversary of the day dedicated to raising awareness of the environment, and Emory has a lot to celebrate.
The university just adopted an ecological plan to nurture its woods and streams, including some of the best-preserved hardwood forests in the Piedmont province of the Southeast. Despite its location in bustling Atlanta, bio-diversity thrives on the Emory campus: 48 percent of the university's 700 acres is undeveloped land. (Photo of Lullwater forest, above, by Bryan Meltz.) In addition to its soaring trees, Emory stands out among U.S. campuses for its large square footage of buildings certified as LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design), and its commitment to sustainability.
The new Emory Bio-Inspired Renewable Energy Center is tackling one of the biggest challenges of our era: the quest for cheap, green sources of hydrogen fuel.
Many students realize that green jobs are the future, says Ciannat Howett, Emory director of sustainability initiatives. “When our students leave Emory’s gates, they are heading into a future that none of us can fully imagine,” she says. “But this we know: they will be confronted with the most significant environmental challenge faced by any modern civilization.”
Click here for the week-long schedule of Earth Day events.
How do you plan to celebrate?
Related:
A policy of 'No Child Left Inside'
Bringing new energy to solar quest
Thursday, April 15, 2010
A policy of 'No Child Left Inside'
An Emory Oxford College student takes notes during a recent geology field trip to the Georgia coast. Photos, above and below, by Carol Clark.Ciannat Howett, director of sustainability initiatives at Emory, writes in Emory Report on the need to connect students with the natural world, starting in elementary school. An excerpt:
Emory has the longest-running faculty-development program in the country, the Piedmont Project, to encourage the use of nature as a classroom and the campus as a living laboratory.
In a course co-taught in Emory’s Rollins School of Public Health and the environmental studies department, students were asked to find a natural water source on campus and to calculate how much of their day they would need to set aside for hauling water just to meet their daily needs for drinking, bathing, and food preparation. They then were asked to test the quality of the water to see if it was something that they really would want to use. This simple lesson is a life-changer. Students from a land of safe and accessible water are awakened to the realities and hardships of water scarcity for millions of people around the globe.
Ideally, educating for a sustainable future begins early. Since 1992 Eloise Carter, an Emory biology professor, has taught K-12 teachers ways to integrate environmental education into their lesson plans and to develop their schoolyards into outdoor classrooms.
It is impossible to measure the impact on a child of being taken outside—away from the confines of a desk—to feel the wind and sun on her skin and to see nature as having important lessons to teach. Perhaps it is time to enact a national policy of “No Child Left Inside.” Here at Emory, the doors are thrown fully open—for 60-year-old professors or 18-year-old first-year students.
Related:
A creek runs through this classroom
'Sustainability is in our DNA'
Water policies flush with success
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