MetaFilter posts tagged with mice

Intelligence Tests

kliuless — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 10:40:00 -0800

Is Psychometric g a Myth? - "As an online discussion about IQ or general intelligence grows longer, the probability of someone linking to statistician Cosma Shalizi's essay g, a Statistical Myth approaches 1. Usually the link is accompanied by an assertion to the effect that Shalizi offers a definitive refutation of the concept of general mental ability, or psychometric g." Myths, Sisyphus and g - "Over the years I have not encountered a single endorser of Shalizi's article who actually understands the relevant subject matter. His article is loved for its reassuring conclusions, not the strength of its arguments. I am sure many 'thinkers' resisted Darwinism, the abandonment of geocentrism, and even the notion that the Earth is a sphere, for similar psychological reasons." Nuthin' but a 'g' thang

So I've always had the intuitive hypothesis that there are different types of intelligence; that different people tend to process information in different ways, whether due to habit or nature. But then there are all those people who say that intelligence can be boiled down to a single factor, the mysterious "g" (which I assume stands for either "general intelligence" or "gangsta"). Since this went against years of casual observation, I was somewhat pleased to see the eminent Cosma Shalizi write an essay debunking the notion of "g". But then I saw this blog post defending the notion of "g", and claiming that Shalizi makes a bunch of errors. Basically, the disagreement revolves around the question of why most or all psychometric tests and tasks seem positively correlated with each other. Shalizi points out that this correlation structure will naturally lead to the emergence of a "g"-like factor, even if one doesn't really exist; his opponent points out that if no "g" exists, it should be possible to design uncorrelated psychometric tests, which so far has proven extremely difficult to do. The latter post, by a pseudonymous blogger calling himself "Dalliard", contains a bunch of references to psychometric research that I don't know about and have neither the time nor the will to evaluate, so I'm a bit stumped. Normally I'd leave the matter at that, shrug, and go read something else, but I realized that my intuitive hypothesis about intelligence didn't really seem to be explicitly stated in either of the posts. So I thought I'd explain my conjecture about how intelligence works. In a nutshell, it's this: What if there are multiple "g's"? ...just imagine several dozen hyperplanes, and project them all onto one hyperplane... Remember that psychometric tests are simple mental tasks, but most of the mental tasks we do are complex, like computer programming or chess or writing. And for those tasks, learning and practice matter as much as innate skill, or more (for example, see this study about the neurology of chess players). Therefore, everyone can be "smart" in some way, if "smart" means "good at some complex mental task".

also btw To Make Mice Smarter, Add A Few Human Brain Cells (previously)

Probiotics...better than valium?

cherrybounce — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 06:33:00 -0800

Why the bacteria in food like yogurt may be the answer to anxiety and depression. Probiotic-rich food is good for your gut, but it may also be good for your brain, say researchers.

New frontiers in invasive species containment

silby — Sat, 23 Feb 2013 17:23:19 -0800

Scientists to drop dead mice laced with Tylenol on Guam from helicopters

Badass Mouse is badass.

Kitteh — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 07:15:52 -0800

The little mouse that eats scorpions AND adorably howls at the moon.

Clever Critters

quin — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 07:17:22 -0800

Trickmousing: mice doing tricks, being awesome. MouseAgility has many other videos in the archives.

Why a calorie is not a calorie

NortonDC — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 20:08:24 -0800

The known knowns, known unknowns, and perhaps even the unknown unknowns of why a calorie is not a calorie.

feed with soft paint brush when very young or fussing

that's how you get ants — Sun, 10 Jun 2012 17:25:02 -0800

How to care for a baby mouse.

Loving You, as the Mouse Loves the Rice

barnacles — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 08:30:01 -0800

Mouse Loves Rice isn't really a well-known song in the English-speaking west, but it's been huge throughout east Asia since it first hit the net in 2004. The music video (here in English) covers all the big timeless truths about life: beauty, the nature of love, sacrifice, and human-mouse transformation. The original version was in Mandarin, but you can also hear it in Cantonese (compare with the same artists' version in Mandarin), Korean, Japanese, Khmer, Vietnamese, Thai, as a short instrumental, as a Tom and Jerry Dance Remix (maybe you'd prefer a different remix?), or – and why the hell not?! – in Swedish pop-punk English. And speaking from first-hand experience in karaoke bars in three countries on three continents, you can almost certainly find the English version of this song at a karaoke house near you. Next time you're out karaoke-ing, sing it. And tell them MetaFilter sent you.

John Calhoun's Mouse Utopia

saladin — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 08:39:45 -0800

How do you build a mouse Utopia? In 1972, John B. Calhoun detailed the specifications of his Mortality-Inhibiting Environment for Mice: a practical utopia built in the laboratory. . . . To its members, the mouse civilization of Universe 25 must have seemed prosperous indeed. But its downfall was already certain—not just stagnation, but total and inevitable destruction.

Excitingly trans-genic mice

Blasdelb — Sun, 24 Jul 2011 23:47:03 -0800

"On the surface, it looks as if our identity as male or female is determined in the womb. The decision seems final – a genetic switch flicks towards either setting, and locks into place for the rest of our lives." "This tidy image is wrong. Two recent studies in mice have shown that the switch isn’t locked – it’s held under constant tension by two rival genes – DMRT1 and FOXL2. It’s a tug-of-war fought over sexual fate, which goes on throughout our lives. Take away either contestant, and its adversary pulls the switch to the opposite setting. Ovaries can transform into testes and vice versa, even in adults."

Serotonin, mice and a good time

Brandon Blatcher — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 10:52:43 -0800

Interesting effect on the lack of the neurotransmitter serotonin in male mice.

The Future Gets Closer, Part IV: Mouse Edition

StrikeTheViol — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 12:38:26 -0800

Some scientists have used stem cells to regenerate myelin in mice, paving the way for new MS treatments. Other scientists have created mice from two fathers. Meanwhile, using stem cells to treat paralysis advances from mice to monkeys.

USDA glues acetaminophen-laced frozen mice to cardboard, bombs Guam treetops to kill snakes

East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 08:20:01 -0800

USDA glues acetaminophen-laced frozen mice to cardboard, bombs Guam treetops to kill snakes

Queer Science

Asparagirl — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 23:58:50 -0800

Less than two weeks after a controversial paper came to light advocating the pre-natal treatment of some female fetuses with a hormone to make their behavior more stereotypically female (previously discussed here) comes news of actual animal research on causing the opposite inclination. By knocking out the fucose mutarotase gene, scientists in South Korea have apparently created "Lesbian mice" who prefer other female mice and who resist the attempts of male mice to mate with them. Article abstract, and coverage by The Telegraph.

Why should I and noble Lords trust the Executive to deal with mice when they cannot deal with the economy?

cider — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 13:44:13 -0800

Earlier this month, there was an entertaining debate in the House of Lords about pest control in the Palace of Westminister, where the Lords meet. via kottke.org A sample: Baroness Finlay of Llandaff: I thank the noble Lord for his reply. How many calls have there been to the mouse helpline? Has the accuracy of that information been checked, given that the staff report seeing mice on a daily basis at the moment in the eating areas? Has consideration been given to having hypoallergenic cats on the estate, given the history? Miss Wilson, when she was a resident superintendent in this Palace, had a cat that apparently caught up to 60 mice a night. The corpses were then swept up in the morning.

What horror lies within

h00py — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 06:59:00 -0800

How disgusting can the inside of computer become? See now! Some people smoke near their computers. Some people secrete their chip packets inside their computer boxes. You think you can get away with it until you need someone to find out why your computer is fucked up and then.. Ah hah! Could it be.. you have an alien fetus? Mice? The detritus of your fucked up lifestyle? All living within your box? Feel bad about yourself now!

Up, up and away.

Mitheral — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 18:50:22 -0800

George Steinmetz takes aerial landscape photos from lightest powered aircraft in the world, a motorized paraglider (and sometimes a helicopter, a motorized hang glider, and a hot air balloon). Some of the places he has photographed include Arabia's Empty Quarter; Africa; the Dead Sea; the Altiplano; the Salt Deserts of Iran; and China. Warning: Flash based image display. He's also done more conventional location photography of other people places and things including Antarctica; tree-dwelling people in Indonesian New Guinea that had no prior contact with anyone outside their language group; the Jackson Laboratory Mouse House which ships over two million mice per year for medical research.

It's Thursday evening in the 21st century and I still don't have a jetpack. And now mice can hover. It's unfair.

ardgedee — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 17:39:04 -0800

Somewhere on Earth, in a laboratory, a mouse is levitating. Science is awesome.

Mouse of Mirrors.

darth_tedious — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 23:34:12 -0800

We Are All Mice Within the Lesser Vastness of the Not-Kaleidoscope. (SLYT) Structure elevates random into beautiful; individual impasse, in multiplicity, resolves into vibrant design; mirrors are weird; enter, The Duck. via Wired. (Can't find the original link any longer.)

Clones produced from mice frozen for 16 years

homunculus — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 13:42:14 -0800

Production of healthy cloned mice from bodies frozen at −20°C for 16 years. Mammoths next?

The Perfect Marriage of Great Science and Great Hair

hermitosis — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 07:24:19 -0800

A 2007 Nobel Prize-winning breakthrough in genetics may hold the key to eliminating Trichotillomania: the gene Hoxb8 governs grooming behavior in mammals.

Somewhere, over the brainbow...

kisch mokusch — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 03:09:26 -0800

Brainbow. Using some very cool genetic tricks, Harvard scientists have found a way to make transgenic mice that express various mixtures of different coloured fluorescent proteins in their neurons. The result, individual brain cells with up to 90 distinct colours. Not surprisingly, this visually impressive work is in this month's issue of Nature.

A Plague of Mice

jonson — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 00:31:54 -0800

Sweet mother of Christ that is a lot of mice. The Guiness Book of World Records' official record for worst mouse infestation ever (with video) will freak the shit out of you. Literally millions of meat-eating pig devouring Australian biblical plague mice!!

mini gnarly

nickyskye — Mon, 03 Sep 2007 21:59:41 -0800

Radical Rodents: Chopsticks, Bunsen, Harry & Curly, surfing mice. An Australian man trained several mice on tiny surfboards. More surfing critters, a surfing dog and another one. Surfing parrot (video repeats in a couple of spots).

MIT reverses autism in mice

christopherious — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 17:03:22 -0800

MIT researchers can reverse some symptoms of autism and mental retardation in mice by suppressing a specific enzyme. The research, conducted at the Picower Institute for Learning and Memory, is due to be posted on PNAS Online some time this week. Here is the MIT article. The specific symptoms reversed included hyperactivity, purposeless/repetitive movements, attention deficits and learning/memory challenges. The research was funded by the FRAXA Foundation, the Simons Foundation, the Wellcome Trust, and the National Institutes of Health. According to the CDC, the genetic causes treated by this particular technique (called FXS) affects one in 4,000 males and one in 6,000 females of all races and ethnic groups. I would be interested in hearing about reactions that might be taking place in the various autism-related communities.