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A.
A Study Finds We Want to Marry People Like Ourselves
Narrator:
This is Science Today. They say opposites attract,
but evolutionary anthropologist Monique Borgerhoff
Mulder of the University of California, Davis, says
in reviewing several studies on the subject, it
seems people want mates that reflect their own values.
Borgerhoff
Mulder: The standard view amongst evolutionary
psychologists is that men prefer women who are young
or have some sort of signals of high fertility or
good health and that women prefer men who are wealthy,
who are ambitious, who successful, who are tall,
as numbers of indicators.
Narrator:
And while these indicators are still relevant,
studies indicate there are stronger preferences
for finding a mate with similar traits.
Borgerhoff
Mulder: So you find ambitious people stating
a preference for pairing up with ambitious men and
attractive men with attractive women and women who
value family connections with men who value family
connections. So you get a lot of this seeking out
of similarity in addition to the very common trends
that evolutionary psychologists have found.
Narrator:
For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
B.
Wearable Robots Make Science Fiction A Reality
Narrator:
This is Science Today. A team of scientists at
the University of California Berkeley wants to make
science fiction a reality - and they are off to a
good start. Homayoon Kazerooni, a professor at the
School of Engineering has developed the first wearable
robotic device to enhance human strength, an idea
he says has been around for a very long time.
Kazerooni:
The whole idea of an exoskeleton evolved through fiction
books and movies. And a great number of scientists
have actually worked on this project. The very first
one started at general electric during the 50's on
a project called Hardy Man.
Narrator:
Kazerooni's team has been working on the exoskeleton
since 1994, and says they managed to succeed where
other researchers have failed because of recent advances
in computer and sensor technology.
Kazerooni:
For example, the Berkeley exoskeleton has more
than 40 sensors and all these sensors and actuators
talk to each other via a small local area network.
The communication is very fast, and that technology
was not available during the Fifties.
Narrator:
For Science Today I'm Larissa Branin.
C.
Computer Technology's Contribution to Brain Research
Narrator:
This is Science Today. For over a decade, UCLA's Laboratory
of Neuro Imaging has been dedicated to improving the
understanding of the human brain. It was about ten
years ago that Dr. Arthur Toga, the laboratory's director,
co-conceived the idea to set up a huge database that
would serve as a brain atlas for researchers and physicians.
Toga:
One of the great, lucky aspects of this project
was the power of computers has made it possible. You
know, fifteen years ago, it probably wouldn't have
been possible, so the emergence of supercomputers,
the ability to store all of this data, the ability
to acquire data at sufficient resolution, the MRI
scanners, all of these things emerged as the concept
emerged.
Narrator:
The result is a comprehensive, ever-evolving online
atlas of the human brain.
Toga:
We've already had many spin-off projects from
this, doing population studies of schizophrenia, Alzheimer's
disease, autism, brain development, normal brain aging
- and these have utilized the concepts that have emerged
from this brain atlas project.
Narrator:
For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
D.
Differences in Physical Activity Among Ethnic Groups
Narrator:
This is Science Today. A recent study suggests
most Americans spend little or no time on physical
activity - whether at the gym or during leisure time.
Gladys Block, who led the University of California,
Berkeley study says instead, Americans are nine times
more likely to watch television or movies - and there
are differences among ethnic groups, too.
Block:
Eighty-five percent of whites had no participation
in leisure time physical activities and it was higher
in African Americans than it was in whites. Ninety-one
percent of African Americans spent no time at all
on leisure time physical activities.
Narrator:
Block says Americans' busy schedules are one reason
physical activity is low on the national priority
list - but part of the reason for the ethnic group
differences are a lack of parks and areas to exercise
in urban areas.
Block:
Many African Americans live in low-income neighborhoods
where there may not be parks that are convenient to
walk to or take the children to and where they might
not feel safe walking.
Narrator:
For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
E.
Cellular Metabolism a Bit Sluggish? Blame it on Mom
…
Narrator:
This is Science Today. If your cellular metabolism
is on the sluggish side don't blame Dad. Cellular
organelles called mitochondria are responsible for
providing the cell with the energy it needs to function,
and according to Douglas Wallace, a professor of molecular
medicine at the University of California, Irvine,
mitochondrial genes come directly from mom.
Wallace:
The mitochondrial DNA has a totally unique genetic
system. Instead of having two copies per cell, one
gene from the mother and one gene from the father
like all the chromosomal genes, the mitochondrial
DNA comes exclusively from the mother, but each cell
has hundreds if not thousands of mitochondrial DNAs.
Narrator:
The reason for maternal inheritance, Wallace says
is that paternal mitochondria are simply outnumbered.
Wallace:
Mitochondrial DNA is inherited through the cytoplasm.
And since the human egg has a large cytoplasm with
about 200,000 mitochondria, where as the poor little
pathetic sperm has a tiny little bit of cytoplasm
and only about 40 mitochondria. Mitochondrial DNA
is exclusively maternally inherited.
Narrator:
For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
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