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A. An Expert Discusses False Memory Research
Narrator: This is Science Today. As many of us may have experienced, our memories are highly susceptible to distortion and suggestion. Elizabeth Loftus, a pioneer in false memory research and a psychologist at the University of California , Irvine has proven this to be the case.
Loftus: It turns out that we actually sometimes believe that thing happen to us or even have memories for things that never happened. And in the work that I do, I actually deliberately try to plant false beliefs for false memories into the minds of people so I can watch this process happen. So, we have gotten people to believe that they were lost in a shopping mall for an extended time, that they were frightened and crying and had to be rescued and reunited with the family. We've gotten people to believe that they broke a window and cut their hand; or that they met and shook hands with Bugs Bunny at Disneyland . All of these are things that didn't happen, and yet we can get people to remember that they did.
Narrator: For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin .
B. Scientists Develop a Better, Safer Test for Pernicious Anemia
Narrator: This is Science Today. About one million Americans over the age of 65 have trouble absorbing vitamin B12 and the reason may be due to pernicious anemia, a degenerative disease marked by an inability to absorb B12. But making an actual diagnosis can be tricky and if left undiagnosed, it puts patients at risk for developing debilitating fatigue and neurological problems. Now, researchers at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory have developed a better, safer test for pernicious anemia.
Buchholz: The gold standard for looking for B12 absorption problems is called the Schilling's test and it used radioactive Cobalt 57, which was quite a bit of radioactivity.
Narrator: Instead, Lab chemist Bruce Buchholz says their faster technique uses a specific type of carbon that involves a very low radiation exposure that's equivalent to that received on a cross-country airplane flight. And rather than the large shots used in the old test, this new one uses a finger prick technique similar to home blood sugar tests for diabetes. For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin .
C.
Researchers Study Stress Fractures in Racehorses
Narrator: This is Science Today. Stress fractures in racehorses can result in fatal injuries. In fact, the most recent figures available show that in 2004, 81 percent of fatal injuries in racehorses were caused by muscle and bone problems. Dr. Susan Stover, a horse anatomy expert at the University of California , Davis says that stress fractures are the accumulation of microscopic damage suffered during training and racing.
Stover: In most instances these factures we think are the result of the pre-existing injury that creates a local weakness in the bone so that the bone gives away under otherwise normal racing and training circumstances.
Narrator: Stover recommends that the racehorse industry reassess the training regimen and racing schedules.
Stover: Horses that are trained more intensely are at a higher risk for catastrophic injury. If we can work with training schedules to prevent these injuries we can probably make a big impact on the welfare of horses in training and racing.
Narrator: For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
D. A Second Blue Planetary Ring Discovered in Our Solar System
Narrator: This is Science Today. Researchers have discovered the second known blue ring in the solar system. This bright blue, outer ring is circling Uranus, the solar system's seventh planet. Physicist Seran Gibbard of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, who took part in the discovery, says the only other known example of a blue ring is around Saturn.
Gibbard: On Saturn, we know the source of the blue ring, which is a moon called Enceladus and actually, it was just found out recently by the Cassini spacecraft, which is at Saturn right now, that Enceladus is actually emitting these particles. No one knows why it is, but it's spitting out particles that are very small. That's what makes them look blue – small particles look blue.
Narrator: Uranus also has a moon called Mab that's associated with its blue ring.
Gibbard: It's believed that what's going on there is just that meteorites are striking the moon and kicking up this dust that then goes on to form the ring.
Narrator: This research indicates that the similarity between Saturn and Uranus' outer rings may be due to a similar production mechanism for both rings. For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin .
E. An Age-Related Study of Memory and Gambling
Narrator: This is Science Today. Cognitive psychologists at the University of California , Santa Cruz have been studying how age-related changes affect the way older adults make and remember their choices in life.
Mather: We are also looking just more generally at what are factors that make emotional events memorable. So, things that are really intensely emotional get remembered more.
Narrator: Study leader, Mara Mather says the next step is to use eye-tracking techniques to look more carefully at what is the target of attention. For instance, Mather says they're looking into whether there might be an age difference in memory for gambling.
Mather: Older adults do a lot of gambling and I know from my research that there is this bias they have to remember more positive things. And gambling is set up where everybody's going to remember the wins more than the losses. So, it's already set up in a situation where you're going to be biased about what you've won or lost and if you're a little bit more on that scale, you might be more likely to go back and do again.
Narrator: For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin .
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