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Daily Rounds: Hauser Backlash Targets Harvard; Spermless Mosquitoes; Dogs Comfort Rape Victims; Smoking In The Morning

Letter Says Harvard's Hauser Investigation Undermined Scientific Process | News | The Harvard Crimson "A letter signed by a group of prominent academics lambasts Harvard and the media for the role they played in the investigation of former Harvard psychology professor Marc D. Hauser. “[The investigation] has a distinctive ring of McCarthysim, and all the toxic implications of that witch-hunting era,” the authors of the letter write. The letter—which was signed by MIT Linguistics Professor Noam Chomsky, one of Hauser’s mentors—criticizes the scope of the inquiry into Hauser’s research, the media frenzy that followed the release of Harvard’s findings, and insinuations that Hauser’s body of work has been thrown into question by the investigation." (thecrimson.com)

Malaria: Genetically altered spermless mosquitoes mate with females - latimes.com "In a study released Monday, researchers from Britain and Italy genetically altered male mosquitoes so that they did not produce sperm — although they could still deliver seminal fluid while mating. Female mosquitoes who mated with these genetically altered males produced sterile eggs that didn't hatch, according to the paper published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Even better, they did not mate again — effectively removing those females from the breeding population."  (Los Angeles Times)

Dog Helps 15 Year-Old Rape Victim Testify - NYTimes.com Rosie is a golden retriever therapy dog who specializes in comforting people when they are under stress. Both prosecutors and defense lawyers have described her as adorable, though she has been known to slobber. Prosecutors here noted that she is also in the vanguard of a growing trial trend: in Arizona, Hawaii, Indiana, Idaho and some other states in the last few years, courts have allowed such trained dogs to offer children and other vulnerable witnesses nuzzling solace in front of juries. (nytimes.com)

Early Morning Smokers Are More Addicted And At Greater Risk Of Cancer : Shots - Health Blog : NPR "In essence when you have the first cigarette of the day is a surrogate for how addicted a person is," says Fiore. "A lot of heavily addicted smokers overnight go into withdrawal. By the time they wake up, their blood nicotine level has fallen substantially, and their neuroreceptors are screaming, 'You gotta feed me.'" (npr.org)

Losing Weight Improves Sex Lives of Men With Diabetes - NYTimes.com Losing just a small amount of weight can improve the sex lives of men with diabetes, new research shows. (well.blogs.nytimes.com)

This program aired on August 9, 2011. The audio for this program is not available.

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