An Age of Magic

Scientists tell us what we already know – females are brighter than males.

Come on, tell us something new! it is well accepted that the female mind is sharper than the male mind – we women have had to survive on our wits since the year dot, while men have used their muscle to fight adversity we women have had to use our intelligence through the ages. So of course female animals are brighter than male animals…even dogs!

A study has found that female canine brains are different from that of their male counterparts. And in at least once task the females have the edge. Scientists studied a range of common household dogs of both sexes to see whether they understood a simple cognition task that humans understand by the age of one. The task involved the realisation that objects do not change shape simply because they disappear from view.

They set up a wooden board and using a system involving blue tennis balls and used four different scenarios. Using 25 female and 25 male dogs each was firstly shown either a small or large ball emerging and then reappearing. The animals were then shown a small or large ball disappearing that being replaced by the opposite of what had been taken away. Scientists then measured the dogs’ reactions to something that they would consider ‘impossible’ by measuring how long they stared at the new ball. But when they broke down the results they discovered that the male dogs had not noticed anything odd at all – yet the females had stared at the unexpected object for up to 30 seconds.

This was more than three times the time they spent when the ball did not change. The scientist explained there are three possible explanations for the phenomenon. The first is that evolution may have caused differences in the brains of the animals, while another is that females duties as child bearers mean their brains show greater nurturing skills. The female mind has been genetically geared towards nurturing and as ‘defenders of the nest’ this is how females operate. Something we already knew a long time ago.

Popularity: 37% [?]

Heads are rolling at Sony!

If your own a Sony Playstation you must be rather anxious right now following the reports of hackers stealing players credit card details from the company. How on earth was this allowed to happen…? in this day and age with such advanced technology why is it that hackers can so easily break through security systems…?

It would seem that a few jobs will be on the line after this incident and I am waiting to hear about any customers who have suffered financial loss after having their details stolen from their accounts. Looks like Sony could be up for compensating in huge amounts of money…

Popularity: 51% [?]

Large families mean lots of birthdays!

I have five children of varying ages and living in various parts of the world; my three youngest live with me at home of course, however my two eldest sons live abroad – one in Europe and the other in Australia. Now being a mother-in-law too I have an extra birthday to put on the calendar and no doubt within the next few years several more when the grandchildren start arriving!

My kids birthdays are scattered throughout the year which means I have a date on the calendar always rolling up – for the older one’s I try and come up with something new and unusual each year but it can be a challenge. A couple of year ago I went the gourmet birthday gift route and ordered a huge chocolate mud cake online for my son in Oz to be delivered to him and that was a great success with him and his mates. He sent me a photo of it and it looked scrummy – this year I have to try and top that!

Popularity: 31% [?]