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As rebels attempt to regroup in advance of a new strategy to overpower Assad, and Western powers try to start from scratch with a new rebel formation that is presumably devoid of Salafi Jihadists, the US is calling on third party, non-state actors to arm the rebels in order to avoid becoming embroiled in a geopolitically sensitive conflict just ahead of presidential elections. As attentions turn to the chaos breaking out across the Middle East and North Africa (and even further afield), what chance do the rebels have of pushing Assad to his limits?read more

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They really do! A new study reveals that the way that the visual centers of men and women’s brains works is different: Men have greater sensitivity to fine detail and rapidly moving stimuli, but women are better at discriminating between colors. In fact, most of the people who are colorblind are men.

In the brain there are high concentrations of male sex hormone (androgen) receptors throughout cerebral cortex, especially in the visual cortex, which is responsible for processing images. Androgens are also responsible for controlling the development of neurons in the visual cortex, meaning that males have 25% more of them than females.
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It’s actually the opposite: A new study demonstrates that our genes are controlled by our culture and environment.

Here’s an example: In the Wall Street Journal, Matt Ridley writes: "All mammals can digest lactose sugars in milk as babies, but the lactase gene switches off at weaning when no longer needed. In much of Europe and parts of Africa, by contrast, most people can digest lactose even as adults, because the lactase gene remains switched on. (About 90% of East Asians and 70% of South Indians are lactose-intolerant to some degree.)
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