a neat story from the insect world:

In what researchers describe as "un-peaceful coexistence," multiple ant species stake out the same territory and compete for the same food, but no single species wins out since some are better at finding resources and others better at guarding them.

Some ants, they found, sent out many scouts to look for food, so their species was better at finding resources, said researcher Fred Adler of the University of Utah. Others kept more ants in the colony and were better able to defend what was brought back.

Adler and colleagues described this as a "dominance-discovery trade-off."

Not only were some ants better at locating the food and others at holding onto it, but each was proficient at scavenging for a particular type of food.

adam smith would be proud. read more here.

p.j. o'rourke has a great piece on adam smith's wealth of nations... on NPR, of all places. it's worth a listen.

Smith's logical demonstration of how productivity is increased through self-interest, division of labor, and trade disproved the thesis (still dearly held by leftists and everyone's little brother) that bettering the condition of one person necessarily worsens the condition of another. Wealth is not a pizza. If I have too many slices, you don't have to eat the Domino's box.

By proving that there was no fixed amount of wealth in a nation, Smith also proved that a nation cannot be said to have a certain horde of treasure. Wealth must be measured by the volume of trades in goods and services - what goes on in the castle's kitchens and stables, not what's locked in strongboxes in the castle's tower.

Labels: economics, well being

folks with a damaged insular cortex are able to stop smoking immediately and permanently. the insula is on the left side of the brain and is involved in emotional processing, hinting that addiction may be primarily emotional after all. interestingly, studies show that it's this part of the brain that is altered during extensive meditation (though the insula is large and has numerous functions).

a million questions follow from this. what is it about the insula? does this work with all additions? would it work for non-drug addictions such as shopping (a personal question)? will surgery or new drugs targeting the insula replace nicorette and hypnotism? does this poke holes in or confirm the disease theory of addiction?

individual differences in insular activity, linked to genetics, may also help us understand more about the addictive personality.

reference: Nasir H. Naqvi, David Rudrauf, Hanna Damasio, Antoine Bechara. Damage to the Insula Disrupts Addiction to Cigarette Smoking. Science. 2007 Jan 26; 315(5811):531-534.

Labels: drugs, neuroscience