The roots of racism are in our brains, based on empathy

The roots of racial prejudice lie deep within the brain, research has suggested.

A study found that when we watch someone from our own race do something our brain simulates the action mentally as a form of empathy, known as 'mirroring'.

But when we see someone of a different race do the same thing we make much less effort to empathise.

Researchers asked a group of white men to watch film clips of white, black and Asian men picking up a glass of water and drinking.

While the men watched the videos the scientists hooked them up to machines that monitored whether their brains mimicked the action.

The men's brains lit up most when watching someone of their own race.

All the viewers were white but the researchers believe the results would still have been similar with any other group.

Writing in the Journal Experimental Social Psychology, Dr Michael Inzlicht said he believed people are born with a tendency to group others on how like themselves they are.

Dr Inzlicht said the research did not necessarily mean prejudice was innate, adding that discrimination about race, religion or hair colour was 'probably learnt'.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1269561/Our-brains-make-empathise-people-race.html#ixzz0maQzZ1HM

just to understand the apartheid: http://www.apartheidmuseum.org/

Twitter not all that popular among teenagers, report finds

This just in: Most American teenagers could not tweet less.

According to a new report released Wednesday, only 8 percent of online teens have embraced Twitter, a notable low for a generation so passionate about technology. Think of the millions of text messages that teens send. Think of their endless hours on Facebook.

Twitter has not caught on in nearly the same way -- and experts suggest the difference is that most teens want to socialize with their friends and peers, not broadcast to the larger world.

"Most teens are not interested in being truly public," says Danah Boyd, a researcher with Microsoft Research and a fellow at Harvard's Berkman Center for Internet and Society. Even though Twitter allows users to limit their circle of friends, it is "fundamentally a public system," she says, and teens "look at this and say, 'Is this the best tool for doing what I want?' "

The new report, from the Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project, found that older teens are more likely than younger ones to use Twitter, and that high school girls are the most interested, with 13 percent using Twitter, compared with 7 percent of boys the same age.

Researchers say most Twitter-minded teens follow the tweets of celebrities -- be it Miley Cyrus, Lance Armstrong, Chad Ochocinco, Shaquille O'Neal or Ashton Kutcher.

"I don't know a single person who uses Twitter," says Samara Fantie, 17, of Gaithersburg, who added that with so many of her friends on Facebook, Twitter seems beside the point.

Fantie listed its drawbacks, saying it appears to be less secure, more public and too condensed. "Teenagers like to talk, and 140 characters is just not enough," she said. Facebook "does everything Twitter offers, only it's better. It would be like going backwards."

The Pew findings are consistent with those of Eszter Hargittai of Northwestern University. In a study of 1,115 college freshmen, done less than a year ago, she found that 85 percent of those surveyed had never used Twitter, 10 percent used it once and did not go back and 4 percent were using it regularly. "They're more interested in friends and not keeping in touch with the world more broadly," she says.

Lynn Schofield Clark, a researcher at the University of Denver, says the finding about few teens on Twitter may be surprising to adults who assume that teens are always seeking the spotlight. But she notes that teens have become more wary of revealing too much, and "Twitter seems to take away the control they want."

"There is a growing awareness of privacy levels," she said.

The report showed that social networking is more popular than ever among teens, used by 73 percent of those ages 12 to 17. That's a big jump from recent years, with 55 percent using social networking sites in November 2006 and 65 percent using them in February 2008.

"It is steadily climbing," says Amanda Lenhart, the lead writer of the Pew report. "This is a very important way to manage your social life."

Still, one form of teen connectivity was down: blogging.

Just 14 percent of teens said they blogged in 2009, compared with 28 percent in 2006. That's a nearly 50 percent slip in three years, at a time when overall adult blogging has remained steady. Older adults are blogging more than before, while younger adults are blogging less.

Researchers say the decline is probably a reflection of the move away from MySpace, with its blogging feature, to Facebook, with its status updates and other postings.

Victoria Kelley, 17, of North Potomac says that some of her friends blog, but fewer than before, partly because "maybe teenagers want more instant feedback from their friends." Kelley says she blogged briefly a couple of years ago on LiveJournal.com, but found that "it takes so long to think about something interesting to write" and that daily life can sometimes be as ordinary as: "I went to school today, I did homework, I went to bed."

Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/03/AR2010020302591.html

Do you have twitter?? What's your opinion about it? Do you believe that we can communicate with only 140 characters?

How much water do we need?

Why do we need water?

Water makes up 50 to 70 per cent of an adult's total body weight and, without regular top-ups, our body's survival time is limited to a matter of days.
Water's essential for the body's growth and maintenance, as it's involved in a number of processes. For example, it helps get rid of waste and regulates temperature, and it provides a medium for biological reactions to occur in the body.
Water's lost from the body through urine and sweat, and must be replaced through the diet. If you don't consume enough you can become dehydrated, causing symptoms such as headaches, tiredness and loss of concentration. Chronic dehydration can contribute to a number of health problems such as constipation and kidney stones.

How much water do we need?

The body gets its fluid from three sources:
Drinks, either plain water or as part of other beverages including tea, coffee and squash
Solid foods, especially fruit and vegetables (even foods such as bread and cheese provide small amounts of fluid)
As a by-product of chemical reactions within the body
Most healthy adults need between one and a half to three litres a day, so aim to drink six to eight medium glasses of fluid daily. Beverages such as tea, coffee and fruit juices count towards fluid intake, and may bring with them other nutrients or benefits.
You may require more fluid if you're very physically active or during periods of hot weather.
You can judge whether you're drinking enough by the colour of your urine. If it's a pale straw colour then your fluid intake is probably fine. If your urine is dark yellow, you probably need to drink more.
How to maintain fluid levels
Start as you mean to go on, with a glass of water when you wake.
Find time to make yourself regular drinks during the day - don't forget that tea, coffee and juices can count. Just watch out for the amount of sugar consumed in some soft drinks.
Keep a bottle of water in your bag, as it's a convenient way of providing fluid if you're travelling or exercising.
Get into the habit of having a glass of water with every meal.
The sensation of thirst is not triggered until you're already dehydrated, so it's important to drink before you get thirsty.
Increase your intake of fresh fruit and vegetables, as they have a high water content.

As we can see, it's very important drinking water everyday in order to maintain our body healthy!!

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/health/treatments/healthy_living/nutrition/healthy_water.shtml