Influence of the epicanthal fold on the perceived direction of gaze.

“Judged direction of gaze from straight and turned heads is known to be biased from its true direction. We have tested the additional influence of epicanthal folds on the perceived direction of gaze. Western observers (U.S. residents of Western appearance) and Eastern observers (native Japanese) judged the direction of gaze from cathode ray tube-imaged heads with and without epicanthal folds (Japanese vs. Western models) when the heads, both straight and turned, gazed in different lateral directions… When the gazers’ heads were straight and gave eye contact, both Western and Eastern observers judged the gaze to be giving eye contact. However, with straight heads and gaze to the side, epicanthal folds produced significant differences in the judged direction of gaze. Observers judged the right and left eyes to be gazing in nearly the same direction when the gazer had the eye appearance that the observers were used to viewing within their own country, but in very different directions when the gazer had eyes typical of the other country. When the gazers’ heads were turned, the Western and Eastern observers judged the direction of gaze of the Western gazer’s right and left eyes similarly, but both judged large differences in direction of gaze between right and left eyes for the Eastern gazer. CONCLUSION: Direction of gaze from eyes that have epicanthal folds is judged very differently than gaze from eyes that do not have epicanthal folds. This difference is sensitive to the cultural experience of the observers.”

Bonus figure:

“FIGURE 1. Photos of the Western and Eastern models that provided the background over which we layered their eyes as they looked in different directions of gaze. Top left—Western gazer, head straight. Top right—Western gazer, head turned 30° to the observer’s left. Bottom left—Eastern gazer, head straight. Bottom right—Eastern gazer, head turned 30° to the observer’s left. The observers viewed these images in color.”

Photo: flickr/himenohogosha

Related content:
Discoblog: NCBI ROFL: [Insert joke about women drivers here]
Discoblog: NCBI ROFL: Who ever said scientists were polically correct?
Discoblog: NCBI ROFL: wtf?

When it comes to picking up clever tricks and learning to do something the way everybody else does it, social animals like humans, birds, and monkeys excel. One individual looks at what others in the group are doing and quickly learns to follow suit—an invaluable skill that scientists previously thought evolved in step with communal living.

But what about an individual that doesn’t live in a group and spends most of its life in solitude–would it still have that ability to watch and learn? Cognitive biologist Anna Wilkinson set out to answer that question by studying the red-footed tortoise, one of the loneliest beasts on the planet. These South American tortoises grow up without parents or siblings, and adults rarely cross paths. If a head-bobbing display determines that a stranger is of the opposite sex, the two will mate perfunctorily–otherwise they just ignore each other [ScienceNOW]. Yet in a new study published in Biology Letters, Wilkinson showed that even these hermits possess the ability to learn by watching others.

In her experiment, Wilkinson set up a V-shaped wire mesh with a bowl of treats placed inside the point of the vee. She then let a tortoise named Wilhelmina try to get to the treats, but the tortoise couldn’t figure out how to get around the mesh and instead tried unsuccessfully to go through it. After weeks of arduous training and about 150 attempts, Wilhelmina finally learned to go around the mesh to get to the treats.

Then the researchers let four other tortoises try the navigation test. Like Wilhelmina initially, they all failed to find a way around the mesh–but when they watched the trained tortoise maneuver her way to the bowl of goodies, they quickly picked up cues. Two tortoises caught on the first time they watched Wilhelmina, and two, including [Wilkinson's pet tortoise] Moses, managed on at least 11 out of 12 days [Science News] (but he could not part the mesh to get to the other side).

The antisocial tortoises’ remarkable accomplishment suggests that social learning, rather than a unique ability that evolved in social animals because it makes them more successful in group living, is simply another dimension of general learning, which depends only on an animal’s cognitive abilities, Wilkinson says [ScienceNOW]. Louis Lefebvre, an animal behaviorist at McGill University in Montreal, Canada, added: “Information in the environment is information in the environment, whether it’s given to you by an animal” or not…. “This study confirms it in a nice way” [ScienceNOW].

Related Content:
80beats: Careful Crossbreeding Could Resurrect Extinct Galapagos Tortoise
80beats: Lonesome George, the World’s Rarest Tortoise, Isn’t Ready to Be a Dad
80beats: Monkey Schoolmarms: Vervet Monkeys Learn Better From Female Teachers
80beats: Dogs Think Like Babies, While Wolves Think for Themselves

Image: Martin Krondorfe

What’s to be done with the waste oil left behind in fast food restaurants after all the French fries, onion rings, and chicken nuggets have been sizzled to perfection? While many enterprising tinkerers use the stuff to run modified cars, one group of scientists is hoping to use fast food waste oil in an entirely new way: They want to turn it into a “smart roof coating system” that would help keep houses warm in winter and cool in summer.

Presenting the idea at a meeting of the American Chemical Society, project leader Ben Wen from United Environment and Energy says the waste oil can be turned into a high-tech polymer that reacts to the environment.

Wen notes that most houses traditionally have light or dark roofs, depending on their geographic location. People who live in warm locations typically have white roofs (think of those Grecian islands) to reflect the sun’s heat and help keep the homes cool. Colder places typically have houses with darker roofs to absorb heat in the winter and warm the home. But what about those people who live in regions that have both punishingly hot summers and frigid winters? For them, Wen set out to make a roof coating that changes function with the seasons.

To make the roof coating, fast food waste oil is processed into a liquid polymer that hardens into a plastic after application. At a certain temperature, the roof coating undergoes a “phase change,” and switches from heat-absorbing to heat-reflecting. (Wen wouldn’t go into more detail about the science behind this cool trick, to the frustration of one science reporter.) The non-flammable, non-toxic material is also odorless–in contrast to some waste oil biodiesel blends that can have a distinct odor of fried foods.

CNET reports:

When tested the new roof coating showed a decrease between 50 and 80 percent in warm weather when compared to regular asphalt shingles, and an increase in roof temperature by 80 percent in cold weather.

PhysOrg adds:

The coating can be applied to virtually any type of roof. Wen expects that the coating can last many years and can be reapplied when it wears off. If further testing continues to go well, he estimates that the coating could be ready for commercial use in about three years.

Calling it the “most innovative and practical roofing coating materials developed to date,” Ben Wen added that the new technology would also “provide a new use for millions of gallons of waste oil after it is used to cook French fries and chicken nuggets.”

Related Content:
Discoblog:The Secret to Why French Fries Smell So Good: Ironing Boards?
Discoblog: Just Like Humans, Crows Embrace Junk Food…and Pay the Price
80beats: Dow Says Out With Solar Panels, In With Solar Shingles

Image: Ben Wen