Study finds impact of science and religion on human brain

A new study published in the journal PLOS ONE has claimed to find the reason why there have been two segments of society; one includes those who support religion while another is of those who believe in science and not religion. According to the study team, difference which arises in perception of both groups is led by difference in their brains.

The study was conducted by researchers from Case Western Reserve University and Babson College on 159 to 527 adults. There were total eight experiments to know why some people take reference from religion to explain several things, whereas other lay emphasis on scientific evidence. The practice is continuing since centuries.

The Cognitive psychology studies claimed that people who are religious or spiritual seem to be less smart and intelligent than those who are more science centric. Also, people who are more religious turn to be also more empathic and pro-social. That is why more women than men are religious. On the other hand, atheists are found to lack empathy.

“When there's a question of faith, from the analytic point of view, it may seem absurd”, says study lead author Tony Jack. The findings also stated that more a person is religious more will be empathy in him. There is a positive correlation of faith and empathy with number of times individuals pray, meditate and engage in religious practices.

The study has its basis from the hypothesis that the human brain consists of two brain regions that oppose each other. People who are religious suppress the brain area used for analytical thinking, while the opposite is the case with people with scientific approach.

Both groups tend to ignore naturalistic view. What they should do is to have both approaches that are possible to follow together. The humans are made to both socialize and learn using the two networks of the brain. Such people are intellectually elite and understand that it is not necessary for science and religion to clash.

In a report published by the I4U, "It has now been found that in order to show belief in a supernatural entity or entities, human beings have to shut down the analytical centers of the brain. Instead the empathetic network must be activated."

"But, from what we understand about the brain, the leap of faith to belief in the supernatural amounts to pushing aside the critical/analytical way of thinking to help us achieve greater social and emotional insight."

According to a report in Tech Times by Rina Marie Doctor, "The results of the study showed that the more religious a person is, the more emphatic he or she is. However, the authors were not able to establish a cause and effect relationship for that."

They also found that both faith and empathy had a positive association with how many times individuals pray, meditate and engage in religious practices.

Despite its popularity, the team did not note a positive relationship between belief and mentalizing or interpreting behavior via intentional mental conditions such as needs, wants and goals.

"Controversy between faith and scientific evidence is deeply rooted in beliefs surrounding evolution and creationism. The recent study examines how the parts of the brain responsible for empathy and analytical reasoning are linked to faith and spiritual thinking," according to a news report published by HNGN.

"They actually might claim they are less intelligent," added Richard Boyatzis, a professor of organizational behavior at Case Western Reserve. "Our studies confirmed that statistical relationship, but at the same time showed that people with faith are more prosocial and empathic."

Japanese Fleet Kills 333 Whales In The Antarctic

Japan's whaling fleet has returned to base with the carcasses of 333 minke whales, in apparent violation of a ruling by the International Court of Justice.

Reuters quoted a statement by Japan's Fisheries Agency that said 103 male and 230 female whales were caught during the fleet's summer expedition to Antarctic waters. Ninety percent of the mature females were pregnant.

"The number of pregnant females is consistent with previous hunts, indicating that the breeding situation of minke whales in the Antarctic is healthy," Reuters quoted the agency as saying.

The Australian broadcaster ABC reports that the Japanese government's Institute of Cetacean Research said the ICR ship Nisshin Maru spent 115 days at sea, 65 of those surveying and slaughtering whales for biopsy sampling and conducting nonlethal satellite beacon experiments and marine water surveys.

Japan has said it conducts this "scientific whaling" strictly for research; however, the meat is sold commercially and government agencies say the ultimate goal is the resumption of commercial whaling.

Commercial whaling was banned by the International Whaling Commission in 1986, although killing whales for scientific research was allowed to continue. However as the Two-Way reported in 2014, the ICJ ordered a halt to all Japanese whaling:

"The court said the research program had generated only two peer-reviewed papers that together refer to nine whales.

" 'In light of the fact that [Japan's program] has been going on since 2005 and has involved the killing of about 3,600 minke whales, the scientific output to date appears limited,' the court wrote in its judgment.

"By a 12-4 vote, the court based in The Hague decided Japan must 'revoke any extant authorization, permit or license granted in relation to' its whaling program, 'and refrain from granting any further permits' related to it.

"Japanese officials have said the whaling program, called JARPA II, is for research on whales' age, sexual maturity and pregnancy rates, according to court documents. Some elements of the program were slated to go on for six to 12 years.

"But the court noted that an expert who was called on to testify ... said Japan's program 'operates in complete isolation' from other Japanese and international research efforts into Antarctica's wildlife."

Japan denies that the latest hunt violated the court's decision because it was conducted under a new research plan that has yet to be ruled on by the ICJ.

News of the hunt sparked outrage among conservation groups and a political row in Australia, where environmental activist group Sea Shepherd accused the Australian government of doing nothing to protect the whales, some of which it said were killed illegally in the Australian Whale Sanctuary.

Australia's environment minister, Greg Hunt, told AFP that the Australian government opposes whaling "clearly, absolutely and categorically."

Spots on opposite sides of Moon suggest its axis tilted

A new study hints that the Moon’s poles may have shifted over billions of years, with geological activity beneath its crust being the most likely reason behind this.

“The ice at the poles of the Moon records the interior evolution of the moon, which seems crazy — that is the last place you would think to look,” said Planetary Science Institute and Southern Methodist University researcher and study lead Matt Siegler. “Also, that means the ice has to be really old, and therefore may record the ancient delivery of ice to the inner solar system.”

Various observations from space missions over the years hints that there is a lot of water ice in the Moon, particularly in dark craters located near the poles. Keeping this in mind, Siegler’s team took data from two spacecraft – the Lunar Prospector, which went around the Moon from 1998 to 1999, and the still-active Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO).

While there was nothing shocking about the ice deposits at both of the Moon’s poles, Siegler and colleagues discovered a large ice patch near each of the poles. These were “displaced” from the actual pole by about 5.5 degrees, and located in such a way that they can be connected by an imaginary straight line through the center of the Moon. According to Siegler, that means the moon’s axis has shifted by 5.5 degrees over time.

“Models are models, so you can make the migration happen any time between 1.5-4.5 billion years ago depending on how you tweak parameters (such as the past rigidity of the lunar crust), but it most likely was around 3 billion years ago,” Siegler observed. He added that the poles eventually shifted by approximately 125 miles over the next one billion years, or about one inch per 126 years.

The researchers believe this axis shift took place because of changes in how lunar mass was distributed internally.

“Planets can change their orientation if their internal mass distribution changes. Pockets of dense material tend to be close to the equator to minimize the planet’s spin energy,” said University of California-Santa Cruz’s Ian Garrick-Bethell in a Nature editorial accompanying the study. He cited the example of New York’s latitude shifting slightly southward “if a huge pile of lead weights” appeared in the city, and shifting northward if the city’s density went down.

The octopus that ruled London

Scientists have long pointed out the extraordinary scale of genetic differences between octopuses and most other animals. But the creatures also had the power to inspire terror in Victorian Britain.

Adults paid sixpence and the under-12s got in for half-price. Queues spilled into the grounds of Crystal Palace in autumn 1871 as the public waited for a glimpse of the biggest sensation in London.

It wasn't a freak show or a demonstration of the latest technology that attracted them, but a creature that had been around for millions of years, living in every ocean.

An advertisement in the Times informed potential visitors to Crystal Palace's new aquarium the chance to view "thousands of living creatures of the sea", but what everyone wanted to see was "the wonderful Octopus, or Devil Fish".

The eight-legged, boneless cephalopod mollusc (not a fish) had become a literary sensation, with the publication of Victor Hugo's novel Toilers of the Sea five years earlier. It featured a fight between a fisherman and a giant octopus. Hugo claimed the animal, well known previously to seafarers but little seen by anyone else, drank the blood of its "victims".