Monkeys found to have human-like response
PRINCETON`, N.J., Oct. 19 (UPI) -- U.S. scientists report evidence that monkeys, like humans, experience an emotional response to slightly unrealistic images of themselves.
The emotional response was named "the uncanny valley" in 1970 by Masahiro Mori, a Japanese researcher of robotics. Mori found people enjoy looking at human images that are highly realistic or highly unrealistic. When examining human images that are generally realistic, but also have unrealistic or distorted features, Mori found people experience a feeling of revulsion.
The "valley," scientists said, is a reference to the drop in positive emotional responses when people view the slightly unrealistic images of humans.
In the new study, Princeton University Assistant Professor Asif Ghazanfar and researcher Shawn Steckenfinger studied the responses of macaque monkeys as they viewed computer-generated images of monkeys that were realistic, but less than perfect. The scientists found the monkeys averted their gaze and became fearful when shown the close-to-but-not realistic images.
The researchers say their results are the first such findings in any animal, other than human, that show there is a biological basis for the phenomenon.
The study appears in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Fear of being laughed at is universal
ZURICH, Switzerland, Oct. 19 (UPI) -- The fear of being laughed at is believed to be a universal phenomenon, but it occurs in varying degrees in different countries, Swiss researchers said.
A team at the University of Zurich, Switzerland and researchers from 73 other countries, found that the fear of being laughed at -- gelotophobia -- causes some people enormous problems in their social lives.
"This causes an anxiety or fear response in the person affected, leading them to avoid situations in which such circumstances may arise, and this may even become a problem that impacts on their social life," the researchers say in statement.
Their study involved 93 scientists who used a questionnaire translated into 42 languages to ask 22,610 people to find if they suffered from gelotophobia.
Results varied widely. In Finland, about 8 percent of people said they believe if people laugh in their presence they are laughing at them. In Thailand, the figure was 80 percent.
Photovoltaic organic polymer advance made
SANTA BARBARA, Calif., Oct. 19 (UPI) -- U.S. scientists report a major advance in synthesizing photovoltaic organic polymers that convert sunlight into electricity in non-silicon-based solar cells.
University of California-Santa Barbara Professor Guillermo Bazan and colleagues said they've been able to reduce reaction time by 99 percent, while more than tripling the average molecular weight of the polymers.
The scientists said the reduced reaction time effectively cuts production time for the organic polymers by nearly 50 percent, since reaction time and purification time are approximately equal in the production process, in both laboratory and commercial environments.
The higher molecular weight of the polymers increases current density in plastic solar cells by as much as a factor of more than four, a major benefit, the researchers said.
The methodology "will greatly accelerate research in this area," Bazan said, "by making possible the rapid production of different batches of polymers for evaluation.
"We plan to take advantage of this approach both to generate new materials that will increase solar cell efficiencies and operational lifetimes, and to reevaluate previously-considered polymer structures that should exhibit much higher performance than they showed initially."
The research appears in the early online edition of the journal Nature Chemistry.
Gardasil OK'd to stop male genital warts
WASHINGTON, Oct. 19 (UPI) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration says it has approved the use of the vaccine Gardasil to prevent male genital warts due to the human papillomavirus.
The FDA said it approved Gardasil (condyloma acuminata) to stop warts caused by HPV in boys and men ages 9-26 years. Genital warts are diagnosed annually in approximately 2 of every 1,000 men in the United States, the federal agency said.
The FDA previously approved Gardasil for use in girls and women ages 9-26 for the prevention of cervical, vulvar and vaginal cancer caused by HPV, as well as pre-cancerous lesions and genital warts.
HPV is the most common sexually transmitted infection in the United States and most genital warts are caused by HPV infection.
"This vaccine is the first preventive therapy against genital warts in boys and men ages 9 through 26, and, as a result, fewer men will need to undergo treatment for genital warts," said Dr. Karen Midthun, acting director of the FDA's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research.
Gardasil is manufactured by Merck and Company Inc. of Whitehouse Station, N.J.
