The Malaysian Insider

WASHINGTON, Feb 9 – People are afraid to lose money and an unusual study released on Monday explains why – the brain’s fear centre controls the response to a gamble.

The study of two women with brain lesions that made them unafraid to lose on a gamble showed the amygdala, the brain’s fear centre, activates at the very thought of losing money.

The finding, reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, offers insight into economic behaviour and suggests that humans evolved to be cautious about the prospects of losing food or other valued possessions.

NEW YORK, Feb 9 – Beer drinkers now have a good excuse to order another round – the brew may help keep bones strong, a study has found.

Researchers from the Department of Food Science & Technology at the University of California, have found beer is a rich source of silicon and may help prevent osteoporosis, as dietary silicon is a key ingredient for increasing bone mineral density.

These were the findings after researchers tested 100 commercial beers for silicon content and categorized the data according to beer style and source.

OSLO, Feb 8 – The main impact of climate change will be on water supplies and the world needs to learn from past cooperation such as over the Indus or Mekong Rivers to help avert future conflicts, experts said on Sunday.

Desertification, flash floods, melting glaciers, heat waves, cyclones or water-borne diseases such as cholera are among the impacts of global warming inextricably tied to water. And competition for supplies might cause conflicts.

“The main manifestations of rising temperatures...are about water,” said Zafar Adeel, chair of UN-Water which coordinates work on water among 26 UN agencies.

NEW YORK, Feb 7 — Brunello di Montalcino, the famed, rich red wine from Tuscany that was embroiled in an adulteration scandal for its 2003 vintage, has turned to technology to ensure a bottle’s authenticity.

A consortium of Brunello producers is using mobile phones and the Internet to assure consumers about the purity of the product.

“You can now SMS — text — to get the bottle’s history,” Stefano Campatelli, director of the Consorzorio del Vino Brunello di Montalcino said Thursday.

VANCOUVER (Washington), Feb 4 – Sallie Reavey picked up the phone at her charming Briar Rose Inn and the caller asked about rooms in mid-February. “We have a nice selection of rooms for those dates,” she replied, to which the caller gasped: “You still have rooms during the Olympics?”

Reavey had to tell him: wrong Vancouver.

The Briar Rose is in Vancouver, Washington, not Vancouver, British Columbia, the Canadian city that will host the 2010 Winter Olympics starting on Feb 12.