Catching a yawn 'a family matter'

Yawning appears to be contagious, BBC

Contagious yawning may show the closeness of your relationships rather than your tiredness, say scientists.

The act of yawning gets more blood flowing around the brain.
The fact that it is contagious has never been fully explained, but one theory suggests it is linked to empathy between people.
An Italian study in the journal PLoS One found people were more likely to yawn in response to a close relative rather than just a friend.
The finding suggests contagious yawning may have evolved as a way of maintaining alertness within a group.
Some believe even animals such as dogs and chimpanzees have been found to be prone to it, and about half of all humans are thought to have this response.
The supposed link between empathy and contagious yawning was strengthened by earlier studies in which children with autism, who tend to be less capable of empathy than other children, were found to be less likely to do it.

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Our results demonstrate that yawn contagion is primarily driven by the emotional closeness between individuals ”

University of Pisa researchers

The University of Pisa researchers observed 109 men and women from a variety of nationalities in their day-to-day activities, and recorded instances of contagious yawning.

They found it was most likely between directly-related family members, slightly less likely between friends, and then less likely still between acquaintances and strangers.
The delay between yawn and response was greater between acquaintances and strangers, again suggesting that empathy and social familiarity played a role.
The researchers wrote: "Our results demonstrate that yawn contagion is primarily driven by the emotional closeness between individuals and not by other variables, such as gender and nationality."
Baboons aping Dr Catriona Morrison, an experimental psychologist from the University of Leeds, said that this primitive subconscious response could shed light on the evolution of the human brain.
She said: "Some have suggested that it developed from the days of cavemen when someone had to be on watch all the time - yawning increases cerebral blood flow so can improve alertness.
"Social behaviour is thought to be a conscious function of the brain, but this is unavailable to consciousness.
"We just don't have any control over it at all."
Dr Atsushi Senju, from Birkbeck College in London, said that a similar effect had been noted in a type of baboon, with contagious yawning more likely between close allies in a troupe.
However, he said: "It is still not certain that empathy is the cause - there are still those who believe that this is simply a natural reflex."

what are the greenest cars?

• guardian.co.uk,

The Nissan Leaf prototype electric car. Photograph: Bryan Mitchell/Getty Images

Petrol

Most vehicles still have conventional petrol or diesel engines. Contrary to what you may read in the media, they won't be dying out any time soon – instead they will become more efficient. Better efficiency means lower emissions. Petrol engines are favoured for smaller city-type cars as they are lighter, more responsive for urban driving and cheaper to manufacture. There are new petrol engines, such as two- and three-cylinder units, coming on to the market that are extremely efficient.
Example: Nissan Micra DIG-S 68.9 mpg, 95g/km CO2

Diesel

Diesel engines are more economical than petrol engines, which means they also have lower CO2 emissions. If you mostly drive long distances, an efficient diesel engine may be your smartest option. The downside is that diesel engines can emit particulates that harm local air quality – moreso than petrol engines. The emissions are reduced if the vehicle has a diesel particulate filter (DPF). However, the technology that makes diesel engines cleaner bumps up the cost.
Example: BMW 520d EfficientDynamics Saloon 62.8 mpg, 119g/km CO2

'Green' petrol and diesel models

Many car manufacturers offer green versions of their conventional models. These are more fuel-efficient and so have lower emissions. This is achieved by improvements such as better aerodynamics, reduced weight, lower-resistance tyres, longer gearing, remapped engine management systems, stop-start systems and less load on the engine from ancillary items. Green models often have a price premium. So you need to work out if your mileage will bring large enough savings on fuel to pay back the extra investment. At least one manufacturer is applying efficient technologies to all its vehicles.
Example: Volkswagen Polo BlueMotion 80.7 mpg, 91g/km CO2

Hybrid Electric Vehicle (HEV)

A hybrid vehicle has a conventional engine and a battery-powered electric motor. The idea is that the engine is used most of the time, but in most hybrids the electric motor alone can provide power at low speeds. In urban use, this means a hybrid should offer reduced fuel consumption and CO2 emissions. At higher speeds, the engine and the electric motor work together to provide more power. Hybrid cars are generally more expensive than comparable non-hybrid ones, because they effectively have two powertrains.
Example: Peugeot 3008 Hybrid4 74.3 mpg, 99g/km CO2

Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV)

Plug-in hybrid vehicles will be here soon. These share similar technologies to hybrids plus you can plug these into an electricity supply to recharge the electric motor's battery. That means higher electric power capacity, a longer driving range on the electric motor – possibly more than 20 miles – and therefore lower exhaust emissions.
Example: Toyota Prius Plug-in Hybrid 134 mpg, 49g/km CO2

Electric Vehicle (EV)

We are at the start of an electric revolution. There are currently few electric vehicles on the market, but many manufacturers are entering the market. Electric vehicles do not produce any tailpipe emissions. If they are recharged using electricity from renewable sources, they are potentially the lowest emission vehicles you could use. Problems associated with electric cars are their limited range, the need to recharge and their high cost. However, they are ideal for short journeys in urban environments, where the number of recharging facilities is also expanding. Electric cars with the latest technology can be expensive, but their running costs are very low, and they can benefit from incentives such as congestion charge exemption and zero company car tax.
Example: Nissan LEAF N/A mpg, 0g/km CO2 if recharged from renewable energy

Extended-Range Electric Vehicles (E-REV)

Extended-range electric vehicles are electric vehicles at all times, with an electric motor powered by a battery, which is normally recharged by plugging in to an electricity supply. However, unlike pure electric vehicles, they have a range-extender generator on board – so if the battery charge runs out, then the generator starts up and recharges the battery, and continues to power the car. Extended-range generators are usually relatively small petrol engines and can provide up to an extra 300 miles range in some cases. Extended-range electric vehicles are even more expensive than pure electric vehicles because of the additional petrol engine. An E-REV is effectively the opposite to a hybrid – always electric with oil engine backup, as opposed to the other way round.
Example: Vauxhall Ampera 175 mpg, 40g/km CO2

Biofuel

Most fuel in the UK today includes a small percentage of biofuel, but some vehicles can be powered by biofuel in higher quantities, up to 90 or 100%. Biofuels are renewable; they can be produced from plant material or waste vegetable oil, for example. Some petrol engines can be adjusted to run on bioethanol or blends containing a high proportion of bioethanol, but bioethanol fuel is only available at a limited number of fuel stations. Some diesel engines can run on biodiesel or biodiesel blends, but these are also scarce, and can vary in quality.
Biofuels were in favour with the UK government a few years ago, until its environmental impacts became clear, such as rainforests being cut down to make way for biofuels. Since then much work has been done to ensure the sustainability credentials of biofuels,and if they are produced sustainably – for example from waste or non-food crops – then biofuels can become an important part of the overall transport fuels mix, providing a low-carbon fuel when other technologies may not be suitable. Although biofuels produce lower emissions, they do not necessarily improve fuel economy. Some mainstream manufacturers had cars a few years ago that could run on biofuels, but these are now in very short supply.
Example: Ford C Max FFV

Gas

Gas, such as liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) or compressed natural gas (CNG), can power some vehicles. Vehicles that run on LPG are usually dual-fuel conversions, ie they also run on petrol. LPG is a slightly cleaner fuel than petrol, and it is cheaper. LPG was promoted widely a few years ago, but with the recent emergence of other green car technologies it now has a much lower profile. CNG is used primarily for heavier commercial vehicles. Biomethane is renewable biogas derived from sources such as landfill sites, so it's very sustainable – it has one of the lowest carbon footprints of all transport fuels – but it is not widely available. As with biofuels, the lower emissions from gas does not necessarily translate to better fuel economy.
Example: Volkswagen Caddy EcoFuel Van

Hydrogen

Hydrogen is the ultimate future fuel, as its only emission is water. Some manufacturers are either producing or trialling cars powered by hydrogen, but there are significant hurdles such as the lack of a hydrogen refuelling infrastructure, the expense of making hydrogen-powered vehicles, and producing hydrogen sustainably.
Example: Honda FCX Clarity

Which should I choose?

Zero tailpipe emission vehicles are ideal for urban areas. Electric vehicles achieve this. They are available today, and the choice will increase with time. If you need a longer range than a pure electric vehicle offers, a hybrid or an E-REV may be the answer, as both are low emitters but don't have the range limitations of a pure electric.
If you want an economical vehicle for long distances, an efficient diesel may be the best bet. If you want a vehicle with a low purchase price and low running costs mainly for short urban journeys, with occasional longer distance driving, there are increasing amounts of highly efficient petrol cars. Whatever type of car you need, there will be class-leading models – find out what these are at green-car-guide.com.
• Paul Clarke is editor of green-car-guide.com

FUTA: PUBLIC EDUCATION SYSTEM COULD COLLAPSE

Dailymirror

The Federation of University Teachers Associations (FUTA) said yesterday the Higher Education Ministry had given priority to private education and not public education in the country and owing to this the country’s public education system could collapse.
“The Higher Education Minister is expected to represent the public education system and not private education. However he has become the mouthpiece for private universities. This is a big issue as it can create a serious threat to state sector higher education,” FUTA President Dr. Nirmal Devasiri
said. We have decided to take our message to the academic community in other parts of the country and will decide on our next action in January and write to the minister about our concerns
Dr. NIRMAL DEVASIRI

He said FUTA had made several demands from the government this year including an increase in government allocation for higher education from 1.9 per cent to 6 per cent in the 2012 budget.
He said the university autonomy was lacking and was a growing concern among universities and there was a need for more job-oriented courses of study. He said these were some of the many concerns university teachers had faced.
“We have decided to take our message to the academic community in other parts of the country and will decide on our next action in January and write to the minister about our concerns,” he said. Mr. Devasiri said while the federation did not oppose private universities, the public higher education system faced issues that were not heeded by the Higher Education Ministry.
He said private higher education could be a threat to public higher education as has proven to be the case in developed countries such as Britain where study programmes were removed due to a lack of profit-worthiness. “The main drive is profit maximisation. Once education becomes a commodity there will be a serious threat to the public education system including the liberal arts which are not profit sensitive,” he said.

UNI STUDENTS ENGAGING IN PROTESTS TO BE OSTRACIZED

Dailymirror

Following a large protest involving thousands of university students from several universities in the country on Wednesday, the Higher Education Ministry on Thursday warned that it would not have discussions with university unions on their grievances in future, if they continue to stage public protests.
A large number of students from the Sri Jayawardenapura University as well as members of the Inter University Student Federation (IUSF) from Kelaniya, Colombo, Ruhuna and other areas of the country came together opposite the University Grants Commission, and staged a protest urging the authorities to remove the Vice Chancellor of the Sri Jayawardenapura University whom they accused of abuse of power and being corrupt to boot.

Ministry Secretary Dr Sunil Jayantha Navaratne said that the ministry will address this issue and give the students a date to meet with ministry officials to discuss the issue. However, Higher Education Minister S.B Dissanayake had decided the ministry will not tolerate public protests any longer, he said. “If students want us to address their concerns they may write to us or call us to inform us about their grievances. However the minister is of the view that those who hold public protests in future will not be entertained by the government,” Dr. Navaratne said.
He said that the incident where a Peradeniya student was ragged by fellow students was being investigated but that it could not be resolved easily as students deny their involvement in ragging. “They do not come forward which makes it difficult to resolve the root cause of the issue,” he said, pointing out that ragging had reduced in the past few years.