Cloning A Neanderthal

Cloning A Neanderthal

George Church from Harvard University sparked controversy when in a Der Spiegel interview when he suggested the possibility of bringing Neanderthals back from extinction. In fact, controversy is probably too subtle of a term. An academic brawl would more closely describe what happened when Church posed the idea that an “extremely adventurous female” might offer herself to be a surrogate mother for a cloned Neanderthal baby, thus bringing Neanderthals back into existence. This has raised a lot of questions about whether or not bringing an extinct organism back into existence is even scientifically possible.

Is Scientific Research Ready?

I don’t have my doctorate in genetics or anything but I’m pretty sure this sounds like an odd thing to suggest and I’m not sure that the genetic and medical research that has been done is ready to support such an endeavor. A large argument for the possibility of it happening is that the Neanderthal genome has already been sequenced. The Neanderthal genome indicates that approximately 1-4% of modern day Eurasians DNA is comprised of Neanderthal DNA. This would mean that anatomically modern humans and Neanderthals would have cross bred, at least on occasion.
Is it really possible to construct an organism from fossil DNA? Most genetic scientists would say not. DNA degradation and contamination are extremely important factors when looking at creating an organism, especially one that has been extinct for roughly 30,000 years.
I’m sure that most biology or genetic students will tell you that using fossil DNA to reconstruct a species is impossible at this point in time. Keep in mind that the Neanderthal genome was mapped using fossil DNA. DNA degrades overtime changing some DNA bases to others which could be fatal to any organism. Plus, DNA occurs on chromosomes which we currently don’t have the ability to construct from fossil DNA.

Carrying a Neanderthal

Let’s say that creating an organism from fossil DNA is indeed possible. Would a human female actually be able to give birth to a Neanderthal without serious life threatening complications? Fossil analysis indicates that there are some distinct morphological differences between Neanderthal and Anatomically Modern Human anatomy. There is no conclusive research to determine the gestational growth rate of Neanderthals. It seems as though the gracile human female form would have trouble just keeping up with the growth rate of a robust Neanderthal let alone actually giving birth to it. The overall makeup of a Neanderthal skull is much larger and robust than that of an Anatomically Modern Human bringing into question whether or not it’s even possible for an Anatomically Modern Human to give birth to a Neanderthal.
To many, this seems like an extremely outrageous claim but to be fair, Church did come back and say that when he made these comments he was merely speculating and wasn’t about to put out an add looking for such a person. Despite his intentions, are these the short of discussions that should be happening in the scientific community? There are obviously a lot more pressing medical and environmental needs that scientific advancement should be used to address which leaves many wondering about the ethical integrity of such an endeavor.

Author Bio: Jessica Reynolds loves all aspects of science, especially anthropology and archaeology. After obtaining a degree in anthropology she decided to give up her trowel in favor of pursing writing. She makes a living by writing, currently for scientific poster printer postersession.com, a division of MegaPrint.

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Different Psychology Branches

Different Psychology Branches

Psychology is a field of study that deals with human mind. It is believed that the field of psychology involves reading minds. Better understandings of psychology have assisted the society function and grow smoothly. There are various branches of psychology. Here are short descriptions of ten major subdivisions of psychology.

Behavioral Psychology

It is the most popular term used for psychobiology, or biopsychology or behavioral neuroscience. Aside from the mental processes, this field of psychology studies the behavioral patterns of people. Basically, treatment in this branch is more physical, like chemical lesions and electrolytic lesions.

Abnormal Psychology

It deals with the behavioral abnormalities in a person, like mental retardation, psychoses and neuroses. Treatment in this branch often includes mesmerism and hypnosis. The abnormal psychology is also taught in Human Resource Management and Law.

Cognitive Psychology

It is one of the latest branches of psychology that deals with internal mental processes including language, problem solving, memory, and visual processing. It basically looks into concepts like decision-making, emotions, memory, aging, perception, etc.

Clinical Psychology

Clinical Psychology is the field of study that prevents, understands and relives psychological issues in a person. Treatments used in the sector include psychotherapy and psychological assessment. It also focuses on administration, program development, forensic testimony, consultation, teaching, and research. It is also known as counseling psychology.

Developmental Psychology

It is the study of change in human’s psyche with time. This field is also related to child care and development. This psychology branch helps to understand the causes and effects of changes in a person’s life.

Community Psychology

The field of study that deals with the dynamics in a community and psychology of individuals is known as community psychology or critical psychology. It teaches the concept of interdependence, succession, cycling, adaptation and diplomacy. It assists a community understand citizen participation, social justice, and empowerment.

Evolutionary Psychology

The evolutionary psychology studies the most primitive psychological stimuli in people. This field deals with the adaptive skills of human beings. For example, scientists believe that linguistic skills are picked naturally by humans, but this doesn’t hold true with the case of reading and writing.

Educational Psychology

This sub-division of psychology is utilized in educational institutions. It deals with sex education in children, adolescence, peer pressure, gifted students, learning disorders, etc. Educational psychology is also known as school psychology. In most of the cases, educational psychologists work as school counselors.

Personality Psychology

The field of personality psychology governs the personality tests and legitimate IQ tests. This branch of psychology allows an individual to see his own picture. It also deals with different personality disorders including narcissistic personality disorder. It helps people to understand themselves better.

Legal Psychology

Basically legal psychology is same as clinical and cognitive psychology. However, it is the job of a legal psychologist to help in crime investigation procedures. Legal psychologists provide extra push to the investigation by judging the statements and testimonies of the victims or the witnesses. Moreover, their job also includes understanding a victim or witness’ perception form legal perspectives.

About Author: 

Scott Garcia is a career counselor and a blogger. Lean his thoughts on bachelor’s program in psychology.

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How to Use Technology to Make You More Productive

Productivity Progress

How to Use Technology to Make You More Productive

We use technology in our personal and work lives every single day in many ways.  What many of us often don’t do is to take a step back and appreciate just how much of an impact various technology products and initiatives have on our lives.

One of the biggest plus points of technology is the manner in which it allows us to always be doing something, whether that be playing a game, connecting with friends, or catching up with news stories from around the world.

We focused on how you can utilize technology as a powerful force for increasing your level of personal productivity.

The Device

Note that we focused on the element of always doing something. With that in mind, your consideration for a device should stretch no further than a light laptop or notebook, or ideally a tablet device.

The latter is likely to be your best option, as it will typically have more battery life and easy to use wherever you are, saving you the nuisance of having to open your laptop on the train, for example, and take up twice as much room as you would with a tablet.

Think about the small things that might make life easier on the move, too, such as a touch pen for navigating a device, or earphones for when you need to watch or listen to something.

What Not to Forget

We all know someone who has invested in a brilliant product, then forgotten to sign up to some kind of internet service plan. Your best option is often to look at your home service, and see if your provider offers some kind of ‘use our hotspots anywhere’ benefits. If they don’t, then you’ll have to invest in a standalone plan for when you’re on the move.

Remember that if you travel and stay in various locations that 99% of hotels will have Wi-Fi that is free to use, so your actual billed usage may not be so high.

What to Do

Once you have got your device and connection sorted, what you do is pretty much your choice. However, we are talking productivity, remember, so you should take the time to learn or discover something new, rather than waste hours playing Angry Birds or Temple Run, however fun or tempting that may well be.

· If you are using technology for work, catch up with e-mails, check in with clients, or read that important report that your boss sent you weeks ago. Download some great apps so that you can always be connected with your own business, whether that be to update social feeds or look at your latest financial data.

· Students can also benefit massively, and this is where the learning side of productivity comes in. It may be reading something from an educational body, or an influential blog or commentary related to their studies.

The trend throughout all of this is that we now have the power to make the most of every minute of every day. Wasted time should become a thing of the past for everyone, with us learning more and being more productive than ever before thanks to technology.

This article is written by Jaguar PC, the original leaders in VPS hosting, providing the best web hosting services since 1998.

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Dissertation Writing Tips

Dissertation Writing Tips

For many, writing a dissertation can seem like a daunting task. In order to achieve the goal of a well written dissertation, it's necessary to break the task down into smaller chunks. These tips give ideas that should help to make the dissertation writing process go that much more smoothly:

Tips on Planning the Dissertation

Many students are tempted to start writing as soon as possible. However, planning is time well spent. A dissertation that has been well planned out beforehand will be better organised and the arguments will be better structured.
Two ideas that can be particularly useful for sorting information according to topic are both mind maps and the use of index cards. Mind maps allow students to get a good overview of where the dissertation will be going once the writing stage begins. Index cards can be used to prepare necessary quotes and references for each section.

Pre-Research Planning Tips

A useful tip is to start planning the dissertation prior to, or very early on in the research stage. If the subject is one that the student is not overly familiar with, then a good tip is to read a basic book on the subject, to get an overview. The purpose of pre-research planning is to have an idea of what topics will be covered and what research and information will be needed.

Research Tips

Once students are clear about what topics will be covered in the dissertation, the research stage will be more organised. Relevant information and quotes can be placed directly into the section for that topic thus saving much time later on.
An important tip for saving time and for avoiding falling into plagiarism by mistake, is to take care to reference while taking notes. Whether it's a quote or ideas formatted into the student's own words, the sources need to be acknowledged. Better to do that from the beginning than to have to be searching for the references later on. Likewise many tutors will tip their students to do their bibliography as they go along.

Post-Research Planning Tips

Before beginning to write it's a good idea to consolidate the planning and ensure that there is enough material for each argument that will be made. When this is done then the dissertation writing is actually relatively easy, as time isn't wasted trying to work out what to say.

Dissertation Writing Stage Tips

The dissertation needs to have an introduction, different chapters or sections according to topic and a conclusion. The basic premise is to say what will be said, then say it, then summarise what's been said. An important tip is to make the introduction interesting, as tutors probably have a pile of dissertations to read and at the very least it will make their job less tedious. It will also give them a favourable first impression of your work. Start writing whatever chapter is most inspiring. Introductions are often best written after the main body of the dissertation has been written. Back up arguments, cite sources and try to follow a logical structure. Leave plenty of time for proofreading and revision so that by the time the dissertation is completed, it's the best that it could be. Good luck!

This article was written on behalf of ukdissertations.com; Struggling with any aspect of your dissertation? Get help by our expect dissertation writers.

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Five Tips for Making The Most of Your Studies

How to make the most of your student life, for your success as well as enjoyment.

Work toward a goal

Nothing focuses you like a goal, an object in mind. Many studies show that students see university or college as a means to an end, as opposed to an end in itself, and in one particular study, less than a quarter of students responded that they were attending university 'for the experience'. From a similar study, it was reported that almost half the students surveyed planned to enter permanent full-time employment and over one-third planned to look for work.

Around 5 percent, a significant minority, said they had no idea what their plans would be after university. History is littered with examples of successful people who went through many years of obscurity and hard work before achieving the success they have today, and there's whole industry which has grown up around training people to focus on goals in order to achieve success; however, your university or college gives you a comparatively short period of a few years to define, maintain and hone your focus. Figure out what you want to do, and drive toward it.

     ___________
    //   |||   \\         
 __//____|||____\\____   
| _|      |       _  ||
|/ \______|______/ \_|| Adam will drive this car.
_\_/_____________\_/_______

Study as a group

You're not the only one taking your course, so why not benefit from the wit, wisdom and different perspectives of your course mates ? Get together and compare notes. Set each other quizzes and competitions. You may well find that your university or student union promotes interaction between students via the various social media sites, such as Facebook. You may also find that other students on your course are from foreign countries, and would welcome your interaction to make them feel at home. You could also find some benefit from the outlook and knowledge that they bring to the table, which is likely to be from a radically different culture to your own.

Plan ahead for exams

Work back from the exam dates, map out your revision in advance with a timetable and stick to the timetable. Don't allow yourself to be dragged off-track. Keep a calendar in a prominent place, in clear sight from your desk or place of study, with your timetable upon it.

On the exam day itself, make sure you're there in plenty of time. If you arrive late, or rush up with barely a minute to spare, it's almost guaranteed to put you off your stride. Make sure you take everything you need with you, leave in plenty of time, make sure you know exactly where you're going, and double-check the date and time.

Spread yourself out

"A little but often" is an oft-repeated phrase, one which will help you in your studies, in tandem with the timetable described above. Don't try to 'cram' all your revision into the last few days before the exam. Keep it in bite-sized chunks, spread out over a manageable, and hopefully stress-free, extended period.

Organize

Nothing will frustrate you more than looking for lecture notes or textbooks that you know you have somewhere, but just can't lay your hands on. Have a system for filing, and organize your textbooks. Once you've made a system, remember to stick to it. Keep your focus.

Lastly, remember to enjoy yourself. There's an old saying "All work and no joy, makes Jack a dull boy". If you've implemented all the strategies outlined above, have all your work in hand, and have no surprises waiting for you around the corner, you should still have time in your day for a walk in the park, coffee with friends, some sports, or whichever other leisure pursuit takes your fancy.

Simon Lunn works as a freelance writer for UK Essays. Founded in 2003, it has supported students with Masters Dissertation help for many years.

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An Overview of Career in Journalism and Communications

Students who wish to enhance their skills in writing and work in collaborative, fast-paced environments can consider a degree program in journalism and communications. Graduates of communications and journalism degree program can start their careers as advertising managers, television reporters or broadcast news analyst.

Students of the bachelor’s degree obtain instruction in editing, speaking and writing techniques for different media and get courses in strategic communications, multimedia production, news reporting and writing, and media ethics and laws. The hands-on experience can be obtained by completing internships at media outlets, writing for a college newspaper or producing content for radio stations or campus television. In order to succeed in this sector, students need to keep up-to-date as the techniques of distributing information are expanding continuously.

Communications and Journalism Careers

Advertising Manager

The job of advertising manager is to supervise the departments that are engaged with the advertising campaigns. They cooperate with other staff and agency supervisors to gain campaign placement in media outlets, set budgets, manage client accounts and oversee advertisement creation. These professionals may work in advertising departments of big companies, media sales firms or advertising agencies. Advertising managers must be able to understand every aspects of promotional campaign.

According to the BLS, the job opportunities for advertising managers will decline by 2% from 2008 to 2018, but it is expected that professionals with digital technologies and new media will have better opportunities. The average annual wage of advertising managers is $98,720.

Television Reporter

Television reporters deliver, edit, shoot and write new reports as part of a team. They usually work in the field, setting up live location shots and covering breaking news events. Some of them work in studio. Television reporters may be sent to attend interview sources and event at any time, therefore they have very busy schedules. The median yearly salary of television reporters is $53,590.

Broadcast News Analyst

Broadcast News Analysts are the professionals who deliver commentary and stories to television audiences. They set up the flow of a news update between live shots from the reporters on-the-scene, sports, weather forecasts or other components while offering commentary and interpretation. They read world, national or local news stories, edit and write scripts, collect information from wire services and interview guests in the studio. Some of them may specialize in areas, such as sports or financial news.

The job prospects of broadcast news analyst are predicted to increase by 4% in the coming years. Prospective candidates may face strong competition for positions in top markets and big cities. Broadcast news analysts with a willingness to relocate and subject-matter knowledge will have better opportunities in new media technologies. The average annual wage of broadcast news analysts in 2010 was $72,710. And it’s a field with an array of potential salaries.

About Author: Scott Garcia is a career counselor and written tons of articles for various magazines. Find out what he has to say about online carpentry schools.

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Seven Easy Tips to Help With Student Stress

Student Stress

For many, college can be the happiest time of their life, although it is said that they often don't realise that until they are finished college! One of the reasons why college life doesn't always feel that great at the time are the many stresses inherent in college life. There are exams to be studied for, assignment deadlines to be made, new friends to be made and old friends to keep in touch with. Living away from home for the first time can also be stressful in the early years. Yet, while all that is true, with the right stress management, college life can easily live up to its image as the happiest time of life. The following are some tips aimed at cutting down on stress.

Time management

This is one of the foremost ways to reduce the stress of student life. College is often the first time living away from home for many people. Students find they can stay up late and nobody gives out to them if they don't go to class. For many the thrill of this newfound independence disappears soon after they start trying to juggle their class timetables with socialising, fitness and general life. Time is an asset once it is harnessed correctly, and the first step to harnessing time is noting priorities for example, going to the gym or having movie nights with friends. The next step is to write down a loose timetable of each day and slot in each activity to its own time frame.

Sleep

Apart from adequate nutrition, sleep is one of the most important factors in building a resilience to stress. Without enough sleep, little stresses grow to become big stresses and the tired student finds them overwhelming. While some people need less sleep than others, a good amount to aim for is seven hours a night. Stresses and worries that loomed large in the previous day can often seem like nothing after a good nights’ sleep. It helps to refocus the brain and a new day can often bring with it a new perspective. 

Get moving

When students have mountains of essays to complete and exams to study for, they can often find themselves hunched over their desk for hours on end. Sitting for long periods of time can create physical stress on the body. It can also create mental stress as students can feel engulfed by their work. Taking the time out for something as simple as going for a twenty minute walk can do wonders for mental and physical stress. College is a great time to try new sports. Along with good time management, focusing on mastering a new sport can help take up mind space that would otherwise be used to stress about other things. Exercising can also create happy hormones that help to fight stress.

Talk to someone

When stress is overwhelming, it can be helpful to talk about it. When people talk about stresses they often discover new ways around the thing that is stressing them out. Whether it is with a friend, a relative or a college counsellor, just the act of talking can diminish the stress. Most colleges will have a counselling service on hand for students for when they need to talk.

Be aware of limits

When a big exam is looming or a deadline is suddenly remembered, it is easy for students to fall into the trap of pushing themselves to their limit and past it. It is well known that many students catch colds around the time of big exams for this very reason. By getting to know and accept their limits, students can avoid unnecessary stresses like colds and learn how best to overcome obstacles. 

Eat well

Poor food choices can make people sluggish and sap their energy. Food is fuel and college students need plenty of fuel. A healthy balanced diet will increase energy and overall health. Sometimes people can mistake physical stress for mental stress but by following a healthy diet these physical stresses can be erased.

Socialise

It can be all too easy to get engrossed in studying and forget to live. It is important to socialise every now and then because brains need downtime. Students can meet up with friends or join a college society where they can make new friends. Sometimes all it takes is new surroundings, like trying out that new coffee shop near college or going to see a movie. 

When students are feeling totally stressed, it is the little things like eating well, getting good sleep, exercise and socialising that get forgotten as the object that is causing the stress takes up their whole focus. By following and remembering these tips when feeling most stressed, students will see that stressing out can be overcome and that there are many healthy ways to achieve their goals. 

This article was written on behalf of firm, Oxbridge writers. Founded in 2003, it has helped students around the world with their essay writing.

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Enjoy Student Life: London West End Theatres

A student in London is usually trying to make ends meet and adding social activities is generally a forlorn event. However, London's West End theatre district provides many financial opportunities for students to attend the district's over 40 theatre's world class shows. The West End theatres provide cost effective theatre tickets for families and students in a number of different venues.

London West End is one of the world's largest theatre districts because of its showing of quality and popular leading shows, musicals, special theatrical events and fine dining. There isn't a day or week that goes by in which the West End doesn't have a world class quality stage performance taking place. Shaftesbury Avenue is central London's major street where the earliest theatres were built and is the heart of the theatre district. Shaftesbury Avenue contains the Lyric, Apollo, Gielgud and Queen's theatres and its name sake. 
The longest running show is presently at the Queen's Theatre and is offering special student discounts. London theatre trickets are not always available because they are high in demand. Theatres such as the Queen's Theatre London often provides student deals and discounts for its many musicals, mysteries, comedies, dance and plays. Student schedules allow them to take in weekly matinees and evening performances for half price. 

Buying Queen's Theatre tickets, as well as tickets to other theatres, is as easy as using the ticket booth in Leicester Square or purchasing tickets directly from the theatre's box office. For students under the age of 26, discounted tickets are offered to get young people more interested in the arts and to keep theatre students engaged in quality stage performances. 

Another student discounted ticket option is by applying for a particular pass by contacting the theatre with the age of the student. A membership card is then sent to the student which offers great theatre performances for as little as £5. Queen's Theatre London and other West End theatres provide school group theatre discounts combined with discount restaurant packages. 

Websites and electronic theatre site boards publish half price tickets as well as same day tickets which are sold when the box office opens or 2 hours prior to show time. Students often take advantage of standing tickets which are first come first serve, where they purchase cheap tickets to stand in the back of the theatre. Previously purchased tickets at full price are often returned or the person's suddenly find that they can not attend a performance. These returned tickets are offered to students more often at a discounted rate. 
Buying Queen's Theatre tickets, as well as tickets to other theatres, is as easy as using the ticket booth in Leicester Square or purchasing tickets directly from the theatre's box office. For students under the age of 26, discounted tickets are offered to get young people more interested in the arts and to keep theatre students engaged in quality stage performances. 
Another student discounted ticket option is by applying for a particular pass by contacting the theatre with the age of the student. A membership card is then sent to the student which offers great theatre performances for as little as £5. Queen's Theatre London and other West End theatres provide school group theatre discounts combined with discount restaurant packages. 

Websites and electronic theatre site boards publish half price tickets as well as same day tickets which are sold when the box office opens or 2 hours prior to show time. Students often take advantage of standing tickets which are first come first serve, where they purchase cheap tickets to stand in the back of the theatre. Previously purchased tickets at full price are often returned or the person's suddenly find that they cannot attend a performance. These returned tickets are offered to students more often at a discounted rate. 

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