New book chronicles the life and mind of Alex, the world's smartest parrot
Scientific American Nov 22, 08 4:01 AM CST
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In her new book Alex and Me researcher Irene Pepperberg explains how her work with the African gray parrot shed light on human intelligence, Scientific American reports. The author says Alex’s smarts demonstrate why scientists should examine how an animal’s brain works, not just how it looks, because the human cortex resembles a bird’s cortical-like matter in form and function.
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Absolutely a nightmare, 24/7
Daily Telegraph (UK) Nov 7, 08 10:12 AM CST
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At the end of the day, it's not rocket science, but the Guardian reports that researchers at Oxford University have been working absolutely 24/7 to compile a fairly unique list of phrases which, with all due respect, are some of the most irritating in popular use. You’ve just read #1, #10, #6, #9, #2, and #5.
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ANALYSIS
People are extra sensitive these days, and science knows why
Slate Oct 18, 08 7:30 PM CDT
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From Larry David to John McCain, we’re all getting a little touchy these days, writes Emily Yoffe in Slate: “People are like tuning forks, ready to vibrate with indignation.” While economists argue humans are rational, “it seems we live in a culture devoted to retribution on behalf of the thin-skinned,” writes Yoffe, who delves into the science behind our over-active tempers.
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Apodiectic use could save niddering and oppugnant
Time Oct 4, 08 8:49 AM CDT
(Newser)
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The Collins English Dictionary is giving rarely used words a last chance before they are dumped from the new edition, Time reports. Language lovers were outraged at plans to exuviate (shed) words like oppugnant (combative), so the editors have made public a list of 24 candidates for deletion. If the words reappear in the dictionary's database of English usage before January, they can stay.
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Tour worries about sponsor interaction as foreign players increase
Golfweek Aug 26, 08 4:12 PM CDT
(Newser)
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The LPGA will begin mandatory oral English tests for its players next year, and those who fail face suspension and required tutoring, Golfweek reports. The tour is stressing the importance of English as players from Asia have come to play a prominent role in the sport. Of the 121 international players on the tour this year, 45 are from South Korea.
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Study suggests
that kids have innate
math abilities
Wired Aug 19, 08 8:30 AM CDT
(Newser)
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A study sure to fan a fiery disagreement among developmental psychologists has found that children can count objects even if their language lacks words for the numbers involved. Researchers found that Australian Aboriginal children, who know words for only a few small numbers, did just as well as English-speaking children on counting tasks, Wired reports.
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English as spoken in China may soon become a dialect
Wired Jun 29, 08 5:52 AM CDT
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Some 300 million English speakers in China are altering the language in small but important ways—and may be creating their own dialect, Michael Erard writes in Wired . So-called "Chinglish"—which stresses unique syllables, drops dos and dids, and adds sounds for questions—has already been studied in a Hong Kong exhibit and is used widely in Singapore books and films.
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comment
'Near-dirty' term deserves a trip to the showers
Esquire Jun 21, 08 12:42 PM CDT
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The word douchebag is in danger of losing its bite thanks to rampant overuse, writes Richard Dorment in Esquire . It's not that the "toxic mess of a man" population has increased, he observes. It may seem that way, what with reality TV and cable punditry promoting unsavory characters. But it's really that the term's literal meaning makes it clean enough to use on network TV.
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Nearly family, remote deserves a nickname
Guardian (UK) Jun 17, 08 6:42 PM CDT
(Newser)
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The English Project is looking for unique words used among friends and families, and it's found a particularly rich vein in alternative terms for the TV remote control, the Guardian of London reports. Favorites include: doobly, podger, blipper melly, didge, clicker
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Cell phone, computer make way into written and spoken Mandarin
I.D. Magazine May 28, 08 5:05 PM CDT
(Newser)
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New technology has kids in China generating their own modern lingo, I.D. Magazine reports. The millennia-old Mandarin language lacks terms for things like cell phones (which go as shou ji , or "hand machine") and USB (which goes as yo pan , a word created partly phonetically), forcing users to resort to slang. The new words are spread through television and other pop culture.
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How our feathered friends learn, play back song may hold answers for human speech
Boston Globe May 5, 08 4:54 PM CDT
(Newser)
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Being bird-brained might not be much of an insult: New MIT research paints a more intricate portrait of how songbirds learn to sing, with one part of the brain used for learning and another for singing itself. Rather than maturing from babbling to birdsong, the independent but overlapping pathways work together during different life stages.
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Statement political, no service denied: panel
Philadelphia Inquirer Mar 20, 08 5:10 PM CDT
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The owner of a Philadelphia institution can keep signs that ask customers to order their cheese steaks in English, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. A city agency ruled the signs at Geno's Steaks—"This is America. When ordering, please speak English"—do not violate discrimination rules; owner Joey Vento says he never turned away customers and just wanted to make a political point.
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Study finds brain wiring gives girls the edge
Scientific American Mar 6, 08 11:12 AM CST
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Study after study has found that girls have better language skills than boys, and scientists now think they've found a biological reason why, Scientific American reports. Researchers discovered that girls showed more activity in the language part of their brains, which deciphers abstract encoding, than boys. The boys had more activity in the regions of the brain linked to auditory and visual function.
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International financial hub finds Latinos' language skills lagging
Miami Herald Mar 3, 08 1:30 PM CST
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Miami's role as an international city—the "financial hub of Latin America," as one businessman calls it—is threatened by its residents' declining Spanish skills, the Miami Herald reports. Many descendants of the Cuban entrepreneurs and businessmen who flooded South Florida in the '60s and '70s speak only "kitchen Spanish"—good enough to talk to grandma, but not for business transactions.
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Taboo terms tainted
by Third Reich
Der Spiegel Jan 31, 08 5:10 PM CST
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German words like "Endlösung" (final solution) have been tainted, likely forever, by their association with the Nazis. A new dictionary looks at how the horrors of Hitler's regime changed the German language, Der Spiegel reports. The "Dictionary of Coming to Terms With the Past" looks at how the usage and meaning of approximately 1,000 German words has changed.
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