Why do men and women cheat? That is one of the oldest questions humanity has asked. I asked it when I was in my late teens. The answers I receive are numerous.
Cheating presupposes a relationship. Cheating supposes that someone has gone outside the agreement of that relationship. It could be a marital, financial or emotional relationship.
The picture below illustrates one.
Most of the times, we think emotional and marital relationship when we associate the word cheating in our minds. Lack of reciprocal sex, lack of love, lack of trust and willpower to be faithful are some of the reasons given for cheating.
Greed is one of the principal reasons why people cheat in financial relationships.
Could we add more? Please do. I’ll be privileged to have your comments
Probably helped by Toxoplasma gondii.Credit: The New York Times (NYT)
The predator-prey rivalry between the cat and rat is famous. It inspired a popular cartoon series, Tom and Jerry Show. One parasite, Toxoplasma gondii, can bring about changes in the rat so that it forgets its natural fear and apprehension for the cat. The parasite makes the rat to love its enemy, the cat.
The preferred site of the Toxoplasma gondii parasite is the brain. When it eventually gets there and encounters the lymphocytes, cells that protect the body, it retreats and encysts itself. The parasite sleeps when encysted, awaiting when the host’s immunity is compromised.
The same story for the rat can be told for man. Yet, the behavioral changes the parasite causes in the rat have not been demonstrated with certainty for humans.
When the cyst persists until favorable conditions, it attacks the nervous system, causing behavioral changes. The rat takes to liking the odor of the cat. Eventually, it gets attracted to the cat and does not take it as an enemy. The rat becomes easy prey and is then eaten.
Having the rat eaten is advantageous to the parasite because the cat’s intestine is where it undergoes sexual reproduction. Therefore, finding a cat host is more important than living inside a rat.
What about humans? Research has discovered that humans can have behavioral changes based on gender when infected with Toxoplasma gondii. Males have been found to be introverted, suspicious and rebellious while women could exhibit extroverted, trusting and obedient behavior. Pregnant women infected with the parasite could have a miscarriage or birth defect.
Lifecylcle of Toxoplasma gondii.Credit: ScienceNews.org
As you can see from the picture above, the life cycle of the parasite involves these three hosts. Humans are not prey for the cat, but they can make themselves susceptible to parasitic invasion through unhygienic practices – not washing hands carefully after handling cat litter, eating unwashed vegetables and undercooked meat.
Scientists have not yet decided if the parasite changes human behavior to docile obedience in face of danger like the rat. Such a discovery could help in treatment of schizophrenia and helping persons infected with the disease when their immune system is compromised.
Breastfeeding has benefits beyond childhood.Credit:U.S Department of Agriculture on Flickr.
The benefits of breastfeeding for children health and development are not in dispute. It strengthens mother-child bonding, protects children against early childhood diseases and stimulates brain development. In a recent study, Dr. Bernardo Lessa Horta of the Federal University of Pelotas, Brazil, has established that breastfeeding has benefits beyond childhood. It can persist even to adulthood.
He found that longer duration of breastfeeding is linked with increased intelligence in adulthood, longer schooling and higher adult earnings.
This study was conducted on nearly 6000 infants born in Pelotas for 30 years, starting from 1982. In the study, he discounted for well-known facts about breastfeeding such as the linkage between duration of breastfeeding and social class and income, effect of mother’s smoke on childhood development, and the effect of parents’ education on the child. In Pelotas, every mother breastfeeds her baby irrespective of social class, income or education.
The results of the study showed that infants breastfeed for at least a year had more significant adulthood gains than infants breastfed for less than a month, and that the longer the duration of breastfeeding, the greater the gains. Such gains included a full four IQ points, 0.9 more years of schooling and a higher income, of about 341 reais per month, when they get to the age of 30.
According to Dr. Horta, the likely mechanism at work are long-chain saturated fatty acids (DHA) found in breast milk which are essential for brain development.
Roadable Aircraft - Jess Dixon's flying automobile, c. 1940Credit: Wikimedia Commons
Cars kill people. Cars lose you time. They cause pollution of the environment. Building roads for cars, trucks and major vehicles costs money, planning time and involves infrastructure overhaul. Cars are cheaper and getting faster, you’ll agree. But can cars fly?
Yes, cars can fly. Prototypes have been tested and they are workable. Welcome the “Flying Roadster” by AeroMobil (the video). Version 3.0, according to official sources, will be available in 2017. Jacob Hall, who covered a South By South West (SXSW) pitch by AeroMobil for the Entrepreneur.com quotes AeroMobil co-founder and CEO Juraj Vaculik as saying: "We deeply believe we need a revolution in personal transportation.”
In another related development, which is no longer news because Apple, a rival technology company has publicly made its intention of going into electric cars known, Google has announced that its driverless cars will be available to the public come 2020.
Imagine cars that change colors on-demand, or bridges and buildings whose colors reflect the amount of strain or stress applied to them. We would all benefit from such innovation.
Last week, March 12, researchers at the University of California, (UCL), Berkeley, announced the creation of a thin semiconductor film of silicon, 120 nanometers thick, that when flexed or bent can reflect colors on a wide variety of the light spectrum; a color-changing sensor film.
Attempts at creating a color changing sensor is not new. Last year, in a research funded by the National Science Foundation, (NSF), researchers at the same University, but the Riverside campus, created a nanosphere-laced polymer that changes color under stress using gold nanoparticles. What differentiates the silicon film from other sensors is that the range of reflected light is much flexible and the material used was much more permeable to bending or flexing.
The colors of a butterfly excites the emotions.Credit: Stux on Pixabay.
The idea behind the invention came from nowhere but nature. They conceived the idea of imitating butterflies and beetles who create iridescent displays of colors.
According to one of the researchers, "the next step is to make this larger-scale and there are facilities already that could do so," said Chang-Hasnain. "At that point, we hope to be able to find applications in entertainment, security, and monitoring."
Cars of tomorrow might respond like a chameleon to its environment, or change to colors reflecting the amount of pressure applied to the body, or in relation to the amount of stress or strain undergone during its lifetime. The possibilities are enormous.
You will not believe it. The house of the world’s number one terrorist, before his death, looks like an everyday house you can find on the streets of Lagos.
It’s not his house actually; just a hideaway in Pakistan.
This series of 21 pictures on Time.com shows a man running away from the world, lost to worldly splendor but surrounded by death, destruction and disaster. A man who had seen his dying days and that of the terror organization he helped to create.
The room has an ordinary bed, common wardrobes and looks like an everyday suburban house.
One would have hoped his hideout was somewhat luxurious; with the wealthy and powerful of Pakistan. Wishful thinking!
Osama Bin Laden's Paskistan Hideaway.
Choices are a basic fact of life. Some choices can be a turning point in our lives while some are inconsequential and will only satisfy some ego.
Whatever choice you are making, now and in the future, judge the merits of the possible outcomes of that choice before taking the leap.
Take a look at the picture below. This is a horrible sight. The deed is a barbaric act. The victim concerned has accepted her fate; look at how calm and composed she appears! Justice will never come to her aid. The mob has decided on her. The mob is justice.
This is barbaric, oh Nigerians!Credit: Onlinenigeria.com
That is the face of Nigerian law. The rule of law has vanished. It exists only for the well-to-do. As a Nigerian, who reads the daily news, I understood that the people, our people, are scarred beyond repair, both mentally, physically and emotionally. The stories of crimes that go perpetrated without the criminals getting punished, rather the criminals become victors, is aplenty. The quest for riches and money is beyond imagination.
These and many more reasons have made people to resort to taking laws into their hands.
The rule of law can go to hell, a typical Nigerian on the street will tell you. If you cross check his stories, he’ll turn out speaking the truth.
Does it mean our society should endure mob injustices like this?
No matter the crime she must have committed, as a human, she deserves to be taken to the authorities; handed over to the police. The law should be a constraint upon human behavior and not something to be shunned because the poor and the weak are not protected since they do not have the money to fund a case.
In Nigeria, let respect for human rights be a platform we should be standing on.
Most of the times, we think emotional and marital relationship when we associate the word cheating in our minds. Lack of reciprocal sex, lack of love, lack of trust and willpower to be faithful are some of the reasons given for cheating.
Greed is one of the principal reasons why people cheat in financial relationships.
Could we add more? Please do. I’ll be privileged to have your comments
