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Music can commonly be heard in operating rooms. Music has been shown to reduce stress in the surgical team and reduces patient anxiety before surgery.

On the other hand, it has been revealed that music can generate negative effects of divided attention that cause distraction in surgical routines, as this study suggests.

Radiohead and tumors

73 different studies with almost 7,000 patients show that music It also contributes to recovery after surgery. Pain, the need for analgesics, anxiety, patient satisfaction and length of stay are factors that are positively influenced when music is played, according to this systematic review of studies on the subject.

And if all this were not enough, it is not unusual for some brain surgeons who operate near parts of the brain that control important functions, such as speech or movement, to keep patients awake. to better determine where the tumor gives way to some vital part.

In the following video, you can hear a patient playing the violin and, finally, another patient playing a very popular musical song on his guitar while he is undergoing surgery: Creep, by Radiohead:

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Music helps surgery be done better (and also helps to know if a tumor is being operated correctly)

was originally published in

Xataka Science

by
Sergio Parra

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Household air pollution, driven largely by indoor stoves, caused 700,000 deaths in Africa, while increased outdoor air pollution claimed 400,000 lives. It is just one of the latest examples of how humans have altered ecosystems..

That's what it's about The primate that changed the world, of Alex Richter-Boix. A text punctuated by findings, curiosities and stories, especially interwoven stories about everyday aspects that, from this new point of view, are no longer so. What the hell: Alex makes the everyday become epic. Rats, pigeons, a piece of gum...

Ecosystems

There are two hypotheses to approach the Earth's ecosystem from a holistic point of view. On the one hand we have the Gaia hypothesis, popularized by James Lovelock. In contrast to this kind vision of the biosphere is the so-called Medea Hypothesis, popularized by paleontologist and astrobiologist Peter Ward, from the University of Washington. The two sides of the coin. Alex reveals to us how the human being is a primate that changed the world, but also that the world has not stopped changing.

Not in vain, Álex not only has theoretical training, but also practical, because after obtaining a doctorate in Biology from the University of Barcelona, He has worked chasing frogs in swamps in several countries, lifting rocks in search of newts, counting insects, photographing thousands of tadpoles and diving into the world of population genetics and amphibian microbiomes in order to understand microevolutionary processes and the responsiveness of organisms to fluctuations environmental issues, climate change and emerging diseases.

The primate that changed the world: Our relationship with nature from the caves to today (geoPlaneta Ciencia)

Today on Amazon for €18.95

We have been interacting with the environment for thousands of years, altering plant and animal communities, domesticating species and landscapes for our needs, even altering atmospheric and geological cycles. Biodiversity is escaping us without our being barely aware. What becomes extinct, what disappears, is forgotten in less than a generation. This book attempts to combat this great ecological amnesia by looking back to 300,000 years ago, when a new species of primate appeared that would be capable of shaping its environment to unsuspected limits. This capacity defines us as human beings, but it is also responsible for the ecological crisis that our planet is suffering today. We can only face it if we know where we come from.

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The news

Books that inspire us: 'The primate that changed the world' by Alex Richter-Boix

was originally published in

Xataka Science

by
Sergio Parra

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Although surveys on sexual tastes or paraphilias are often carried out, in reality such surveys have limitations: the sincerity of the respondent.

Another thing is the big data that we can extract from the searches made by men and women on pornographic video platforms, such as PonrHub. Through these searches we also have limitations, but there are advantages other than surveys: scrutinize a certain intimacy in greater depth.

Humiliating sex: more for them than them

Violence against women remains devastatingly pervasive and starts alarmingly young, according to new data from the WHO. However, the majority of rapes occur in the domestic environment or by family members or close friends. as is also the case with homicides.

In Xataka Science

There may be involuntary orgasms during rape and it is important to record this

Rape statistics do not reflect the truth about the number of sexual assaults or rapes, but rather tell us about the difference in perception, attitudes and general awareness towards sexual offenders. And, of course, just because someone disapproves of sexual violence does not mean that, in their privacy, may harbor morbid fantasies related to forced or humiliating sex.

As explained Seth Stephens-Davidowitz in his book on big data Everybody lies Regarding the searches made by users of platforms such as PornHub, 25% of the searches have to do with sex with violence, humiliation or pain. Double that in the case of men. You can see more data from these searches and other similar studies in the following video:

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The news

These are the strangest searches that men and women make for porn videos

was originally published in

Xataka Science

by
Sergio Parra

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In Ancient Egypt, if a family cat died, all family members plucked their eyebrows as a sign of mourning. Cats, throughout history, have acquired an enviable status.

However, beyond the human devotion, it is also true that cats present some truly surprising characteristics. Especially when it comes to sounds..

Meowing and music for cats

Cats are capable of producing almost 100 different sounds, while dogs only 10. A cat, in fact, has the ability to change its meow to get what it wants. It can even imitate a baby's cry to get food.

In Xataka Science

Many new college students report having separation anxiety from pets (especially dogs).

Cats also have 36 muscles in each ear and they function like satellite dishes, directing them towards the source of the sound, so they are able to pick up sounds very accurately, extracting nuances that we are probably not capable of extracting ourselves.

Therefore, by combining their ability to produce sounds with the ability to record them, it has been possible to compose music specifically designed for cats that is capable of calming them. Which is a real advantage when the cat is stressed because he has to go to the vet or undergo surgery.

You can listen to this song designed specifically for cats, and tested by A study scientific study carried out by researchers at Louisiana State University (LSU), in the following video:

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The news

Cats have a great ability to create sounds and also to hear them.

was originally published in

Xataka Science

by
Sergio Parra

.

Despite the doomsaying discourses, which have always been the hegemonic ones in all periods of history, it is enough to take a look at a few decades in advance to, simply, feel very proud of how we have improved the world in all areas, from social to environmental.

Every time someone comes to you with the refrain that the world is going to the abyss and that values have been lost, send it to them.

Reasons for optimism

1. Hunger can disappear from our planet by 2030 if current improvements are maintained.
2. More than one billion people have escaped extreme poverty since 1990.
3. The number of children out of school has been divided by two in 20 years.
4. The human development index (health, longevity, level of education, standard of living) has progressed in all regions of the world between 1990 and 2014.
5. The fertility rate has gone from 5 births per woman in 1960 to 2.5 births in 2014.
6. In 1900 very few people benefited from a social security system. Today it is the norm.
7. Since 2001, people are more generous every year than the year before.
8. The amount allocated to international public development aid has increased steadily for 50 years.
9. Most states in the world are democracies. Two centuries ago they were only 5 %.
10. In 2016, Burma emerged from an authoritarian regime of more than 50 years through democratic means.

In the following video you can see the 40 extra reasons, in case you still have any doubts that each time, in general, we live in a little better world:

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The news

50 reasons to be optimistic with objective data about various areas of life and society

was originally published in

Xataka Science

by
Sergio Parra

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You wanted a second part of the 40 key concepts to understand the world. Here you have it. Another 40 more. With much more information and sources.

In your life you will have received so much counterintuitive information in such a short time. 15 minutes equal to a year. Guaranteed. Welcome to this hyper-mega-compressed pill for your brain.

1. Look for causes, not villains

When something goes wrong, don't try to find one person or group to blame for everything. Bad things can happen even if no one wants them to happen.. It is more productive to dedicate your energy to understanding the multiple interrelated causes or system that has created the situation.

2. Glorify systems, not heroes

What makes the world a better place are the systems, the procedures, the regulations, the firewalls, the checklists, the ecosystems. However, we prefer to look for geniuses, heroes or charismatic politicians because our brain understands the world better by individualizing. Don't let him do it. Even the best innovations are the result of a system, not an isolated brain.

In Xataka Science

40 key concepts to improve your understanding of the world

3. Be careful with popular culture

Sentences, proverbs, apothegms... even these same concepts can be reviewed, challenged and questioned. Getting carried away by them is a bad idea. TOOtherwise, we will almost always find another equally popular idea that contradicts the first one..

Also be careful with what everyone says without checking it. Because no, Napoleon was not shorter than average. No, Frankenstein's monster was not green. No, in the Sherlock Holmes novels he never dressed like that, nor did he smoke a pipe, nor did he say "elementary dear Watson."

Nor has it been documented that a real pirate ever drew a treasure map (let alone marked the location of the treasure with an X). Oh, and the pirates didn't have a peg leg or a parrot on their shoulder either. The Vikings' helmets also did not have horns. Chastity belts have never existed. Brown sugar is usually worse than white, orange juice is as harmful as soda...

In the following video you can see the rest of the key concepts to improve your understanding of this very complex world:

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The news

40 other key concepts to improve your understanding of the world

was originally published in

Xataka Science

by
Sergio Parra

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Intelligence, in part, is determined by genes. Skin color, however, does not influence intelligence because the genes involved in skin pigmentation are very few, so it is not precisely the skin that distinguishes us from each other.

Studying these kinds of things should not be anathema. There is always genetic influence, there is always environmental influence, and both genetic and environmental influence feed off each other in ways that we are not yet able to distinguish.

Censorships

What we should not demand is the dismissal of a professor for his ideas or approaches, as happened to Edward O. Wilson. Nor should we give a letter of nature to the harassment that they also suffered in 2017 Sergei Tabachnikov and Theodore Hill after publishing a study in Mathematical Intelligencer where a mathematical model was proposed to explain that there was more variability in intelligence between men and women (that is, that there are more geniuses among the male gender, but also more idiots).

In Xataka Science

Putting ourselves in the shoes of others does not help to eliminate prejudices: it is much more effective to talk to them

The study was accepted after peer review, but its publication was finally withdrawn due to pressure from the Women in Mathematics association at Pennsylvania State University, among others. A scientific article is only withdrawn if it is proven that there is academic fraud, not because the ideas it conveys do not fit with our ideology.

Finally, the criticism of poorly understood genetic determinism involves the assumption of an environmental determinism so inflexible that, if true, it would turn us into puppets. Individuals lacking free will manipulated from birth by our parents, the media, culture. It didn't matter what our parents were like, what was on television or what country we were born in: we would never be free to choose. We would just be what they want us to be. We would not be responsible for our actions. We would kill others or decide to have children because we have been manipulated into it.

In Xataka Science

'Deaths of despair' are increasing in non-Hispanic whites in the US, but decreasing in Hispanics, blacks and women

Those who should be imprisoned would be the promoters of those ideas and not ourselves (who, in fact, ironically, would become those who would democratically decide how to manipulate the next generation based on how we have been manipulated).

It doesn't sound even remotely less terrifying than genetic determinism.
Fortunately, things are not that simple. Neither in terms of genes, nor in terms of the environment.

To better understand this whole great debate, I recommend the following video, which analyzes the assumption of what would happen if we found a lost tribe of people with green skin who... are more intelligent than us:

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The news

We should not censor research on the importance of genes in intelligence or other abilities, but rather their political use

was originally published in

Xataka Science

by
Sergio Parra

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Pay attention to the first seconds of the following video. Depending on what you are thinking, depending on what your brain is focused on, you may hear one phrase or another. The phrase will always be the same, but every time you listen to the video you will hear a different phrase if you change your thought.

It's not a Matrix bug. It is not magic or witchcraft. It is just one more example of how sloppy our brains sometimes are, and that evolution is blind and random. Welcome to McGurk effect: what researchers call a 'perceptual phenomenon' and which arises from a mismatch between sound and visual signals.

Bike or Rental?

Before watching the following video, think about the word "bike" or "rental." Every time you play it, you will hear one word or another, just changing your thinking:

He McGurk Effect suggests that, in a multisensory conversation (that is, in which information reaches us from different senses), the brain is governed by a principle of 'causal inference'. From a pair of syllables, one visual and the other auditory, the brain calculates the probability that they come from the same speaker, and based on that one sound is perceived and another. That's why in the video you can hear "bike" or "rental" depending on whether you are thinking of one word or the other.

Michael Beauchamp, professor in the Department of Neuroscience at Baylor College of Medicine, explains the McGurk effect in a study: If we visually see lips pronouncing the syllable 'ga' and simultaneously hear the sound 'ba', our brain will 'hear' the 'da'. That is, what the eyes see can change what the ear perceives.

If you want to feel the magic again, here is the video again (sometimes the effect is not as powerful if you use headphones, by the way):

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The news

Every time you watch the following video you will hear something different even if nothing changes: the McGurk effect

was originally published in

Xataka Science

by
Sergio Parra

.