My Science School

They’re trying to get a date. Pairs of male dolphins will develop elaborate underwater routines to impress females. Bottlenose dolphins that engage in synchronized swimming with their peers tend to see the glass as being half full.

Some of these dolphins frequently swim in tight-knit groups, and they’re the ones who appear the most optimistic, according to a study of eight captive animals.

In the experiment, individual dolphins were trained to swim towards one of two targets. They were taught that when they reach the left one, they receive applause and eye contact, while the one on the right delivers herring – the jackpot – and dolphins swim faster towards it.

 

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They are yelling “back off!” dolphins sometimes snap their jaws when staking out territory, warning other dolphins to keep away. Dolphins can produce extremely loud sounds by rapidly clamping their jaws together. This behavior bangs their teeth together, producing an acoustic signal that transmits large distances. Jaw claps are generally understood to be an aggressive signal, used as a threat. But jaw clapping also occurs during play – the difference between real aggression and play aggression is often very subtle, just like in the case of humans.

 

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They’re saying hi. Dolphins meeting up will caress each other’s pectoral (or side) fins. Researchers think it’s a greeting, like when we shake hands. Dolphins are known to rub their bodies up against each other, but also to engage in intricate rubbing behaviors using the pectoral fins. Dolphins will rub their fins into the fins of other dolphins, engaging in a behavior that looks a lot like holding hands. They will also rub the bodies of their friends, moving their fins rapidly over the face, flank or genital region, producing what is likely to be a pleasurable sensation. Sometimes dolphins will seek out rubs by positioning their bodies under the fin of their friend. Researchers have observed a behavior where dolphins will rest their fin on the back of their friend, holding it in place for hours at a time – likely a signal to other dolphins of their friendship.

 

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Depends on where you eat ’em! While eating sounds are considered uncouth in many countries, noodles slurping is actually a respectful sign of enjoyment in Japan. Some Japanese justify their slurping because they say that slurping cools off hot noodles when the noodles come into full direct contact with one’s tongue and ultimately makes it easier to consume them. This group of people also remarked that as time got on, their habit of slurping noodles became so ingrained that regardless of the temperature of the noodles (i.e. hot or cold), they would still slurp their noodles.

 

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Stretching your arm in front of neighbors at the table disrupts their meals – and is a good way to accidentally upend the gravy boat. It is impolite to reach over someone to pick up food or other items. Diners should always ask for items to be passed along the table to them. In the same vein, diners should pass those items directly to the person who asked. Always scoop food, using the proper utensil, away from you. Always use serving utensils to serve yourself, not your personal silverware.

 

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Dinnertime is also meeting time for most families, when everyone can discuss the day without smartphones and laptop screens getting in the way. Phones and other distracting items should not be used at the dining table. Reading at a table is permitted only at breakfast, unless the diner is alone. Urgent matters should be handled, after an apology, by stepping away from the table. Should a mobile telephone (or any other modern device) ring or if a text message is received, the diner should ignore the call. In exceptional cases where the diner feels the call may be of an urgent nature, they should ask to be excused, leave the room and take the call (or read the text message) out of earshot of the other diners. Placing a phone, keys, handbag or wallet on the dinner table is considered rude.

 

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This rule goes back to medieval times, when diners eat shoulder-to-shoulder at narrow feasting tables with no elbow room to spare. Imagine a big old medieval feast given by a ruler or lord. Everybody and their mother wants to go to it, and boast about how they dined with such and such. Most of these feasts would have been served on long tables with benches instead of seats. People would pack in like sardines and there simply was no room to have your elbows on the table without jostling your neighbor and disrupting his ability to eat. Allowing your elbows to nudge the guy next to you and hit his arm while he’s bringing some food to his mouth would be obviously rude. As well, such accidents could cause quarrels, or even violence to break out.

 

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People’s reactions vary when they see a child sucking his thumb. Some feel strongly that it’s good for him to fulfill his own needs this way, while others feel just as strongly that it’s not. Because of the differing opinions offered on the subject, parents are sometimes unsure about what to do.

Babies begin sucking their thumbs for the same reasons they use pacifiers and frequent nursing or bottle drinking — to satisfy their sucking needs. The thumb is always there and so the child is always in control, which is not the case with the pacifier, breast, or bottle. And a baby who sucks his thumb may be less dependent on his parents to calm and soothe him since, with his thumb; he’s able at times to comfort himself.

It’s not unusual for a child to suck his thumb for years – sometimes until he is five, six, or even older. During the preschool years, sucking gradually decreases, and by the time he’s of school age, he’s usually sucking his thumb only at night before bed or during an anxious time, such as the birth of a sibling or a move to a new house. Some children, however, may occasionally suck their thumbs during the day when they first enter elementary school.

There are pediatricians who advocate thumb-sucking and even encourage new parents to help their baby get started on the habit. These doctors reason that thumb-sucking is a natural and easy way for a child to satisfy himself. Other doctors say that a child who’s given the breast or bottle on demand will already have his sucking needs met and will not need or desire a thumb. Finally, there are pediatricians who are against thumb-sucking, believing it’s an unnecessary habit that may harm the child’s teeth.

Just as pediatricians offer various opinions, parents, too, have different feelings about thumb-sucking. Many are unconcerned but do feel bothered by negative comments they hear from others. Friends, relatives, and even strangers will criticize a child for thumb-sucking and try to pressure his parents to stop him. For many families, this is the only problem connected with the habit.

In other families, thumb-sucking is looked on with ambivalence. Parents worry about their child’s teeth, about how long he’ll continue, about how he’ll finally give it up, and about whether they should try to make him stop. And there are parents who don’t want their child to suck his thumb at all, and worry about how to stop him right away.

What are parents’ choices? If they notice this habit during their child’s early months, they can try to feed more frequently, which may satisfy sucking needs. Otherwise, they can accept thumb-sucking- as a natural habit and try to make the best of it even if they don’t like it, or they can try to force the child to stop. This latter course can have negative consequences for the child, and it is usually unsuccessful because a thumb, unlike a pacifier, can’t be taken away. If the parents pull a child’s thumb out of his mouth, he’ll cry and then most likely will suck his thumb again as soon as he can. As he gets older, if they paint his thumb with one of the foul-tasting commercial products sold to discourage thumb-sucking, he’ll feel helpless and may whine, show increased aggression, or become obstinate.

Since sucking provides comfort, the more pressure parents put on their child to stop, the more attached and dependent on his thumb he may become. Fearing ridicule and feeling vulnerable, he may depend more and more on himself and his thumb for comfort. This is not an attempt to rebel or get back at his parents, although they may see increased thumb-sucking as a sign of stubbornness or “badness”. He has a strong desire to please his parents, but he also has a strong desire to suck his thumb in order to make himself feel better. One four-year-old who knew her parents disapproved of her thumb-sucking hid under a table to suck her thumb. Parents who want their child to stop this habit should try decreasing the pressure they put on him. This, in turn, may eliminate some of his need to soothe himself.

Another drawback to struggling over thumb-sucking is the bad self-image a child can eventually develop when he senses that his parents don’t like what he’s doing. Parents who try to make their child feel bad about his habit (“I don’t like that!”) may end up having him feel bad about himself. Some parents can remember back to their own childhood embarrassment and pain over the issue.

The best thing you can do if your child sucks his thumb is accept the situation and be patient. Try not to discourage him from thumb-sucking, at least through his preschool years when his need may be strongest. Usually by age five or six he’ll stop because his friends have stopped, he no longer has the need, or he’s self-conscious about doing it in public. Certainly, by these ages you and he can come up with a plan and perhaps incentives for stopping, and you can firmly let him know you want him to give up the habit.

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A baby feels calm when her natural sucking instinct is satisfied. Some babies suck their thumbs, some nurse frequently, some suck on fingers or a blanket, and many use pacifiers. When parents first offer a pacifier to their child, they see how tranquil she becomes and how convenient the pacifier is to use. It’s an easy, concrete, accessible way to soothe a crying baby. Parents can offer it in the car, leave it in the crib so their child can suck as she falls asleep, or, as she gets older leave it near her toys so she can use it whenever she wants.

There’s nothing wrong with a pacifier, and a child who uses one is not harmed. Yet, despite growing acceptance, some people believe pacifiers symbolize dependency and immaturity, especially when used by a child past infancy. A parent can easily feel under attack when told, “That thing looks awful hanging out of her mouth”, or “She’s much too old to use a pacifier”.

Parents look to their pediatricians for advice and support on all aspects of child rearing, including pacifier use, but there are pediatricians who oppose pacifiers. One mother never let her child take her pacifier along on doctor visits because the pediatrician disapproved. It was easier for this mother to hide what she did rather than face ridicule or a challenge to her parenting beliefs.

Aside from dealing with outside criticism, many parents have their own doubts. When and how will the child ever give up such a comforting and satisfying object?

Children do give it up. Gradually, and in spite of the strong attachment you may now observe, your child will limit her use of the pacifier to times when she’s tired or feeling stress. By age two, she may wean herself completely from it, or at least let you know, by rejecting it at times or accepting it less often, that she’s ready to stop using it.

However, if you decide to take your child’s pacifier away before she shows a willingness to give it up on her own, do so gradually over several weeks. Be prepared for the possibility that she’ll begin sucking her thumb, blanket, or other object. Offer substitutes such as a glass of juice, extra holding and cuddling, gentle patting on the back, or a new source of comfort such as a stuffed animal or pillow.

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A child clutching a blanket is a familiar sight. Between the ages of six and nine months, many young children become attached to a security object such as a blanket or stuffed animal. The attachment may last until the child is five or older. This is a natural part of development, although not all children pick out a special object, and some choose several soft items to hold on to. A child with a strong attachment may wake up clutching his blanket and hold it as his parents pick him up. He may put the blanket against his face and carry it around with him as he gets older.

To a young child, a blanket or other soft object is a source of comfort. As he moves away from infancy and his close union with his mother, he nurtures and cares for his special object, receiving warmth and comfort in return. He may use his blanket most often during times of transition throughout the day—when he goes to sleep, wakes up, feels tired or hurt, goes for a car trip, visits the doctor, or goes to day care—and during major changes in his life or routine. Such changes can include the birth of a sibling, the beginning of day care or nursery school, or a parent’s absence. Children who are left to cry themselves to sleep or whose dependency needs are not consistently met may become particularly dependent on an object for comfort.

The child’s attachment to his special object may go through different stages. At times he’ll have an intense need for his blanket and will let his parents know that he wants it, even if he can’t yet tell them in words. At other times, during calm periods and as he gets older, he may have less need for the special object.

One child had a strong attachment to a stuffed animal she’d been given when she was a few months old and took the toy everywhere. When she turned four, her attachment began to lessen. First she threw the animal out of her bed, although she quickly retrieved it. Then she began moving it, night by night, into less favorable positions on the bed. Eventually she simply put it away on a shelf.

If your child is attached to a special object, you may find it hard to trust that he’ll ever give it up. You may wonder if you should remove it or wean him away from it, but such actions are unnecessary. As time goes on, his desire for the object will diminish and he’ll give it up on his own. However, you may not see this happen until he’s five, since many four - and five-year-olds keep their objects with them at night as a source of comfort. Interestingly, when parents recognize how strong and long-lasting their child’s attachment is, they sometimes begin to feel protective of the object themselves.

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A baby, until the age of six months or so, usually is content to be held by relatives and family friends. She may even smile and play when her parents place her in someone else’s arms. But between seven and nine months, she’ll begin to resist people other than her parents, and may cry and reach for her parents when someone else tries to hold her. During this stage, she may even feel anxious about her grandparents and familiar baby-sitters.

Such reactions, which are a normal part of a baby’s development, result from her growing awareness of the world. She recognizes her parents as special and different and views them with pleasure. Because she has good feelings about them, she wants to be with them and isn’t as comfortable or trusting with other people.

Also, at this age she believes that something exists only as long as she can see it. When her parents walk out of sight, she feels anxious and cries. When she’s back in their arms, she feels pleasure.

This developmental stage can be difficult for parents because it sometimes causes embarrassment and makes it hard to accept help with childcare. A relative or friend, offering to care for the baby, may feel rejected by the child’s anxious cries. Some adults blame the parents, saying, “You’ve spoiled her by holding her so much!” Or they may try to persuade the baby to come, saying, “I won’t hurt you. You have to get used to other people”.

When your baby enters this developmental stage, remember that anxiety about strangers and separation is normal. It isn’t necessary to force her to go to other people—she’ll soon do that willingly. Just try to meet her needs and have others talk to her and play with her while you hold her. You can explain to people that, while you understand their feelings of frustration and rejection, you know that your child is acting as most children her age do.

During this stage, many babies have trouble separating from their parents at day care or when a baby-sitter comes. Explain the situation to your caregiver and let her know that your baby may need extra holding and comforting. If your child cries as you go, you also may find it hard to separate. Have your caregiver try to distract her. Call shortly after leaving if you’d like to reassure yourself that all is going well.

At times you might be tempted to leave while your baby is distracted and unaware that you’re going. While this eliminates the initial rush of tears, she may react with surprise and fear when she discovers you’ve left. It’s always better to say a quick good-bye.

You’ll know that your child’s fear of strangers and separation is lessening when you see her reach for someone other than you, and when you see her go happily to someone who’s reaching for her. As this stage passes, she’ll once again feel more comfortable and content with others.

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Is a “good” baby one who sleeps a lot and doesn’t cry much? Most people say “yes”, and their answer is understandable. “Good” and “bad” are judgmental terms people often use to describe the behavior and temperament of a baby. A “good” baby is a quiet one, and a “bad” baby is fussy.

Parents often believe that their child is a reflection on them. They want a contented baby who’s easy to care for and who gives them a feeling of success. And many parents feel bad if their baby cries or has colic. Yet, the fussing baby is not “bad” and the quiet one is not “good”. All babies are different. Labeling and judging them for their behavior is inappropriate because they’re only expressing their needs in the best way they can. When they cry and fuss, they’re telling their parents that something’s wrong. They’re tired, hurt, uncomfortable, hungry, wet, scared, or needing to be held.

Labeling babies begins very early. One new mother was told by a maternity nurse that her hungry infant had been crying in the nursery. “What a bad baby you have!” Out in public, a well-meaning person will approach a mother and infant and say, “What a good baby. Is he always like this?” Such a question can put the mother in a bind. Although she may answer “yes”, she may also remember that the previous week he cried all during a shopping trip.

One of the hardest times to deal with a crying infant is at night, when a wakeful baby may truly seem “bad”. If you’ve been giving to your child all day, you may feel drained and resentful when you have to give again at night. You may grit your teeth when awakened at 3 A.M. and feel overwhelmed. But if you can think of your baby as expressing needs rather than being “bad”, you may feel more accepting.

Once you understand that his crying is a kind of communication, you may find yourself responding differently, trying to understand why he cries or why he doesn’t sleep as much as you think he should, or as you would like. And you may also feel less harassed when he fusses in public. It’s easier to be comfortable with him when you no longer feel pressured to have a “good” baby.

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Crying is a baby’s way of communicating. Particularly in the early months, a child cries when she’s hungry, cold, wet, tired, or wants to be held and played with. Between six and nine months, she may cry - particularly at night - because she doesn’t understand that her parents exist unless she sees them. She knows the world as either pleasurable or uncomfortable; when her needs are met she feels good, and when they aren’t she feels bad and cries.

Many parents wonder how they should respond when their child cries. If they pick her up each time, will her demands increase? Is there a chance she’ll become spoiled? Parents who wish to follow their instincts and respond to their child’s tears often are confused by people who say, “Don’t pick her up, you’ll spoil her”, “Let her cry, it’s good for her lungs”, or, “You can’t always be there for her”.

The truth is that picking up a crying baby won’t spoil her. Rather, it will help her develop a sense of security that will actually make her less likely to cry in the long run. Babies whose cries bring a helpful response begin to anticipate that whenever they cry, someone will respond. This cause-and-effect connection gives a child a secure and comfortable feeling and also teaches her to trust her parents. Learning to trust is a critical part of early development. If her parents don’t respond to her cries, or respond erratically and unpredictably, she’ll quickly sense that there’s little she can do to affect her environment. In such a situation, she’ll learn to mistrust those around her.

Of course, there’s a wide range of parental behavior between the extremes of total responsiveness and unresponsiveness. No matter how hard parents try to calm and comfort their child, there’ll be times when she remains frustrated. But if they’re consistently caring during the early months, she’ll start life with a sense of trust.

Comforting a crying child is very important, but it also can be difficult, especially if she cries often or during a busy moment. If you find that your baby needs a lot of comforting during the day, you may want to try a cloth infant carrier that will let you hold her close while leaving your hands free. The contact and constant movement can be very soothing to a child.

If your baby does a lot of crying at night, you may feel frustrated and unsure about how to respond. Your natural instinct may be to pick her up, but you also may be tired and you may be getting negative advice. Your pediatrician might advise you to let your child “cry it out at night”, particularly once she turns three months old. Many people advocate ignoring a child’s cries in the hope that she’ll learn to sleep through the night. One theory says that if parents refuse to comfort or feed their child during the night, she’ll stop crying after twenty minutes to an hour and go back to sleep. After many days or weeks of this routine, she’ll no longer wake up at night.

Although the prospect of an evening of uninterrupted sleep may certainly be attractive to you, when you comfort your baby, you let her know that she can depend on you, that she’s worthwhile, and that you care about meeting her needs. Holding and soothing her, you give her a sense of security and a basis for developing trust in her world.

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Many new parents are surprised at how much time, attention, and effort childcare involves. When they discover that their baby is naturally demanding and dependent, they sometimes worry about “giving in” to all his needs. If they pick him up when he cries, offer a bottle or breast on demand, or keep him near through the day, will he soon become too dependent? In our society, independence is viewed as a positive trait, and many parents are concerned if their babies seem too attached to people or objects. Yet, when parents fully understand their child’s dependency needs, they can see there’s no need to worry about their baby’s lack of self-sufficiency.

Infants and young children are almost totally dependent on adults; this is a natural and necessary condition of early childhood. It’s normal for babies to want the constant comfort of being cared for, held, fed, changed, loved, and played with and there’s nothing harmful about giving to a young child. A child whose needs are met and who has a strong attachment to his parents develops a foundation of trust that will allow him to gradually become independent.

Some adults feel that it’s never too soon to start teaching a child to become independent: “He’s going to have to learn sometime that he can’t always have his way”. “He has to find out what life is really like”. And some people also believe that giving in to a child’s needs in infancy will make it that much harder to get him to give up his dependencies later on.

Parents who are uneasy about how dependent their young child is may, in an attempt to foster independence, make conscious decisions not to meet all of his needs. They may hesitate to pick him up when he cries, or hold back on cuddling or frequent nursing. They may feel guilty and full of self-doubt whenever they do give more than they think they should.

However, if your baby learns to trust your care and support, he’ll turn into a toddler who explores his surroundings with confidence. And as he grows, his natural drive for independence will begin to show. The ten-month-old will want to feed himself, the two-year-old will cry out, “I’ll do it myself”, the three-year-old will feel good going off on his tricycle, and the five-year-old will happily spend time with his friends.

Your young child will always have a strong need to be cared for, of course, but as he gets older, he’ll become more and more independent, and you’ll spend less time giving. Although there will be times when he temporarily becomes more dependent - when he enters preschool, when the family moves, when a sibling is born - if his early dependency needs have been met, he’ll move into the world with a greater sense of trust and confidence.

NASA is planning to capture one. Its Asteroid Redirect Mission may attempt to nab an asteroid in a space probe’s “capture bag” and release the roving rock into lunar orbit. NASA hopes to begin landing astronauts on its captured asteroid by the mid-2020s.

Smaller asteroid impacts may be less catastrophic, but they can still cause significant damage. The space rock that exploded over Chelyabinsk, Russia, in 2013 was only 62 feet (19 m) wide, and it injured more than 1,200 people while damaging thousands of buildings as far as 58 miles (93 kilometers) away from the site of impact. NASA is starting to look for more of those smaller asteroids, now that most of the larger ones have already been cataloged.

 

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