http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4q1dgn_C0AU

Daniel Gilbert, a psychologist at Harvard University, explains the difference between synthetic and natural happiness, and explores what it means to be happy. The unexpected joy of being stuck and of having few choices is an illuminating insight that challenges capitalist ideology on happiness as an accumulation of wealth and ever increasing options. Perhaps dearth is just as satisfying, Daniel Gilbert suggests after conducting extensive studies on amnesiac patients and average people.

“Adipocytes store excess energy in the form of triglycerides and signal the levels of stored energy to the brain.” A recent studies shows  “that adipocyte-specific deletion of Arntl (also known as Bmal1), a gene encoding a core molecular clock component, results in obesity in mice with a shift in the diurnal rhythm of food intake, a result that is not seen when the gene is disrupted in hepatocytes or pancreatic islets.”

“Previous studies have shown that dysregulation of the feeding rhythm without an increase in total food intake can lead to obesity in rodents.”

Click here to read the article

There was a tutorial last semester on molecular clocks. This is certainly a great read (or a leisurely perusal) if you are interested in molecular clocks and their impact on our health.

Check out Andrew Read’s take on research on the evolution of infectious diseases and how this is becoming a more pressing issue through this link.