RESEARCH. Babies can distinguish naughty & nice

Even infants can tell the difference between naughty and nice playmates, and know which to choose, a new study finds. Babies as young as 6 to 10 months old showed crucial social judging skills before they could talk, according to a study by researchers at Yale University?s Infant Cognition Center published in yesterday?s issue of journal Nature . The infants watched a googly-eyed wooden toy trying to climb roller-coaster hills and then another googly-eyed toy come by and either help it over the mountain or push it backward. They then were presented with the toys to see which they would play with. Nearly every baby picked the helpful toy over the bad one. The babies also chose neutral toys ? ones that didn?t help or hinder ? over the naughty ones. And the babies chose the helping toys over the neutral ones. ?It?s incredibly impressive that babies can do this,? said study lead author Kiley Hamlin, a Yale psychology researcher. ?It shows that we have these essential social skills occurring without much explicit teaching.? There was no difference in reaction between boys and girls, but when the researchers took away the large eyes that made the toys somewhat lifelike, the babies didn?t show the same social judging skills, Hamlin said. The choice of nice over naughty follows a school of thought that humans have some innate social abilities, not just those learned from their parents. ?We know that they?re very, very social beings from very, very early on,? Hamlin said.

BEIJING. Thousands protest over ant aphrodisiac scheme

Thousands of people in northeastern China have protested on the streets and surrounded government offices demanding help recovering money from a get-rich-quick scheme to raise ants to make an aphrodisiac tonic. Hundreds of anti-riot troops and police in Shenyang, capital of Liaoning province, were deployed to stop protesters reaching the provincial government and Communist Party headquarters, residents said on the day before. The irate investors from across Liaoning, a rustbelt province striving to attract investment, have demonstrated in Shenyang since Monday and sporadic clashes with police have broken out, they said. Several thousand protesters gathered near the provincial government offices on the day before, a resident told Reuters by telephone. The investors ? many of them laid-off workers or farmers ? put their savings into Shenyang?s Yilishen Group for a scheme in which they raised ants to provide ingredients for a health tonic promising an aphrodisiac boost.

NEW YORK. Aztec-derived grain may cut heart risks from diabetes

People with type 2 diabetes may lessen their cardiovascular risk by eating a whole grain originating from the ancient Aztecs, researchers from the Canadian researchers suggest. They attribute eating Salba, as two of the three recommended daily portions of whole grains, with reduced systolic blood pressure and attenuated cardiovascular risk factors among individuals with well-controlled type 2 diabetes.