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Cats, which have lived alongside people for thousands of years, have adapted their “meows” to better communicate with humans, according to Nicholas Nicastro and Michael Owren of Cornell University’s Psychology of Voice and Sound Laboratory. “Cats are obviously very dependent on people for their needs,” says Nicastro. “I think cats have evolved to become better at managing and manipulating people.”

One way they are trying to prove this is by analyzing a range of vocalizations of domestic cats and then screening people’s reactions to them. To compare their results, they are doing the same thing with the calls of wild cats.
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Nicotine can kill brain cells and stop new ones forming in the hippocampus, a brain region involved in memory, says Pier Piazza of France’s National Institute for Health and Medical Research (INSERM) in Bordeaux. The finding might explain the cognitive problems experienced by many heavy smokers when they try to quit.

The team allowed rats to self-administer doses of nicotine daily for six weeks. At blood nicotine levels comparable to those found in smokers, they found the creation of new neurons in the hippocampus was cut by up to 50 per cent. Cell death also increased.The implications for smokers and for those using nicotine gum or patches to help them give up are unclear.
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Roman Catholic bishops should avoid telling congregations that their parish priests sexually abused children if the bishops believe the priests won?t do it again, according to Vatican official Gianfranco Ghirlanda. He says church leaders have no legal or moral responsibilities if such abuse occurs.

The Vatican appeals court judge says church leaders must protect the “good name” of their priests. “From a canon law perspective, the bishop and the superior are neither morally nor judicially responsible for the acts committed by one of their clergy,” says Ghirlanda, who is dean of canon law at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome.His statements are in the influential Jesuit magazine Civilta Cattolica, which reflects the thinking of the Vatican.
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