In a fascinating example of vocal mimicry, researchers from the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and UFAM (Federal University of Amazonas) have documented a wild cat species imitating the call of its intended victim: a small, squirrel-sized monkey known as a pied tamarin. This is the first recorded instance of a wild cat species in the Americas mimicking the calls of its prey.

The extraordinary behavior was recorded by researchers from the Wildlife Conservation Society and UFAM in the Amazonian forests of the Reserva Florestal Adolpho Ducke in Brazil. The observations confirmed what until now had been only anecdotal reports from Amazonian inhabitants of wild cat species — including jaguars and pumas — actually mimicking primates, agoutis, and other species in order to draw them within striking range.

The observations appear in the June issue of Neotropical Primates. The authors of the paper include: Fabiano de Oliveira Calleia of Projeto Sauim-de-Coleira/UFAM; Fabio Rohe of the Wildlife Conservation Society; and Marcelo Gordo of Projeto Sauim-de-Coleira/UFAM.

“Cats are known for their physical agility, but this vocal manipulation of prey species indicates a psychological cunning which merits further study,” said WCS researcher Fabio Rohe.

[Science Daily]

Tibetans live at altitudes of 13,000 feet, breathing air that has 40 percent less oxygen than is available at sea level, yet suffer very little mountain sickness.

The reason, according to a team of biologists in China, is human evolution, in what may be the most recent and fastest instance detected so far. Comparing the genomes of Tibetans and Han Chinese, the majority ethnic group in China, the biologists found that at least 30 genes had undergone evolutionary change in the Tibetans as they adapted to life on the high plateau. Tibetans and Han Chinese split apart as recently as 3,000 years ago, say the biologists, a group at the Beijing Genomics Institute led by Xin Yi and Jian Wang. The report appears in Friday’s issue of Science.

If confirmed, this would be the most recent known example of human evolutionary change. Until now, the most recent such change was the spread of lactose tolerance — the ability to digest milk in adulthood — among northern Europeans about 7,500 years ago. But archaeologists say that the Tibetan plateau was inhabited much earlier than 3,000 years ago and that the geneticists’ date is incorrect.

When lowlanders try to live at high altitudes, their blood thickens as the body tries to counteract the low oxygen levels by churning out more red blood cells. This overproduction of red blood cells leads to chronic mountain sickness and to lesser fertility — Han Chinese living in Tibet have three times the infant mortality of Tibetans.

The Beijing team analyzed the 3 percent of the human genome in which known genes lie in 50 Tibetans from two villages at an altitude of 14,000 feet and in 40 Han Chinese from Beijing, which is 160 feet above sea level. Many genes exist in a population in alternative versions. The biologists found about 30 genes in which a version rare among the Han had become common among the Tibetans. The most striking instance was a version of a gene possessed by 9 percent of Han but 87 percent of Tibetans.

[NYTimes]

When Apple released the iPad, it was declared as many things, including a game changer. But once we held an iPad, with its thin frame, wide screen, and smooth exterior, we realized exactly how much of a game changer it really was. Gone were the keyboard, the mouse, and the bulk. In its place was a device that was literally all hands on.

Such a device lends itself to so many uses, and so we have a few that you may not have expected. In fact, there are so many great uses that we have spent an exhaustive few minutes digging through the selections and whittling it down to the ten best. With that in mind, we present our top ten unexpected uses for an iPad.

10. NERF Gun Target

At number ten we have something that is sure to appeal to everyone who likes NERF things. The iPad, with its big display, makes a perfect target for NERF Guns. All it really takes is drawing a target on the screen and going at it. You can even get really creative, and draw different targets on the screen with varying points assigned to each. Challenge your friends to a competition, and see who wins.

If you want to up your NERF game from there, then load up the iPad with a home movie. The object of the game is to shoot your mother-in-law when she comes on the screen. Points are awarded for a direct hit, but a bad shot will cost you. This takes the game from one requiring good aim to one requiring a good eye and timing as well. Please note – you can substitute the preferred target to anyone in the video that you see fit – it’ss a great way to work off stress in a variety of situations.

9. Hot Wheel Car Track And Mini City

The iPad is great for kids to play with, but it can also be something great for kids to play on. Take out your favorite drawing app and draw a road around the iPad wide enough for a Hot Wheel type car to fit. Add in a house, a store, a playground, a school, etc. – soon you will have a fun little virtual city for the kids in your life to drive around with their favorite small cars and have fun on.

If you want to make the iPad game more interesting for older kids, you can add a train track to the screen with a railroad crossing, a hospital, and a spooky graveyard. The idea is to cross the tracks before an imaginary train runs you over, otherwise you have to drive to the hospital. If you play it too many times, then you have to drive to the graveyard and the game is over.

For the adult version, draw a circular track with your favorite drawing app with the following labeled buildings: work, home, bar,casino, racetrack, liquor store, brothel, and Apple AppStore. In this fun and educational game, you drive your small car around the iPad track, picking up a paycheck each time you pass work. The goal is to get around the track without blowing your paycheck. Please note that we left out the bank out of convenience – in test plays we found that item to be unused.

8. Mess Free Virtual Aquarium

So, you like the look of a fish aquarium, but you really don’t like the mess. Well, let the iPad solve that problem for you. Simply find one of those fish aquarium videos on the web, and download it to your iPad. Now, when you want a little getaway, pull out the iPad and launch the video – instant aquarium.

You can hold your virtual aquarium in your hands for enjoyment, or you can lean it against the wall or work computer for extended periods of joy. You can even prop it up on a pillow at night time to be gently lulled to sleep by your precious little virtual fish. (Although for this use I would recommend previewing the aquarium footage first, just in case a shark or lobster makes an appearance and wrecks what would have been a gentle drift off to sleep).

7. Entertain A Cat

We all love our pets, but sometimes they do need to be entertained. The game changing iPad will come in handy for this as well. The easiest way to entertain a cat is to use the virtual aquarium from above. Nothing delights a cat more than virtual fish lazily floating by for their entertainment. The cat will love to watch the iPad video, and will even swat at the fish and try to catch them, making it a great way to tucker out that precocious feline.

6. Baby Shoe Shopping Tool

Let’s say that you have both a new iPad and a new baby, when suddenly your significant other informs you that you need to buy that adorable baby a new pair of shoes. This is easy, just place the infant’s foot close to the screen and draw around it with your drawing tool (your finger). Then take your iPad to the shoe store and compare the life size image to the available shoes for sale. You can easily match up the image and select the perfect size of shoe. This allows you to pick out the perfect shoes at your leisure without having to tend to a fussy baby in the meanwhile. This will also work for older children and small, non-well endowed adults with rather small feet.

The iPad life size shopping tool will also work great for gloves – simply hold the hand close to the surface and trace away. Match it up to the gloves when you get to the store, and you will soon have the perfect glove selected.

5. Deluxe Labeled Serving Tray

The flat, somewhat durable screen of the iPad coupled with its thin design lends itself nicely as a handy serving tray for contained light snack items. You can whisk around the room, offering your guests a delightful hor dourves from its lighted surface. For special events you can have the iPad showing a background with a message, and for that futuristic look have it playing a background video related to the event at hand.

If you’re having a dieting club gathering, then you can have different offerings on the iPad tray with each labeled accordingly with a dynamic screen. Perhaps you can use an entertaining video on the iPad trays which will serve as a deterrent to actually eating the food. This will not only save calories for the person being served, it will also stretch out your entertaining budget.

4. Beer Counter

Number four on our list is an area that has been needing a boost from technology for some time – beer drinking. The iPad, with its large screen and finger input, makes it easy to track how many beers you have consumed. It works is like this – pop open a beer, draw a line with a swipe of the finger. Repeat. You can use tally marks, individual marks, or something really creative.

The good thing to note is that the iPad screen is large enough to easily see when, after a few dozen beers, things around you get fuzzy. Plus, there is no stylus or pen to lose, and no hard to find buttons to contend with. If you can lift the beer to your mouth, then you can probably still drag a finger across the screen. For totaling purposes we suggest asking the barkeep or other person to tally it for you.

3. Bar Wing Man

The iPad is such a game changing device that it can even serve as your wing man when out bar hopping. Before embarking for the evening, load up the iPad with pictures of women that you find attractive. Now, when you go out to the bars, whip out the iPad after every so many beers. Hold the large screen close to the face, and scan across the bar. In this way you can avoid the dreaded Beer Goggle effect, where women appear more attractive as the night wears on. The pictures on the iPad serve as a standard to which you can hold yourself to, and the large screen allows you to clearly see it when you are otherwise inebriated.

The iPad bar wingman can also serve to get you out of a sticky situation. Have a sound effect sitting on your home screen, and when you need to bail out of a sticky situation, touch its icon. When the sound goes off you politely tell them that an emergency has come up, and slip quietly out an exit.

Your iPad bar wingman will be there when you need him, and there is little danger that he is going to get hooked up with someone else, leaving you dangerously on your own.

2. Blind Date Screener

The way it works is like this – when you have a blind date, tell them that you will be found holding a sign. As you would expect, you would be found holding the iPad with a boldly written sign across its front. But there are actually two prepared worded sign images on the device. The correct one, with her name, and another waiting on the home screen.

When contact is first made, and you like what you see, then simply switch off the iPad and enjoy the date. She may like your inventiveness on the sign, and it could serve to break the ice.

But if you suddenly need a place to hide, then hit the bailout icon. The next image loads, changing the name to something similar but different. There will be no physical sign to hide, and you simply state that you are waiting for another person. When the coast is clear you make your getaway, saved by your wit and your iPad.

1. Partner Intensifier

The Number one position on our list of unexpected iPad uses gives us a way to enjoy our intimate times with a partner that much better. This is how it works – before the encounter, find a picture, pictures, or video of a person that you are highly attracted to. It is important that you crop the picture to the head, allowing it to display as large as possible in the portrait view of the iPad.

Then, when in the middle of the lovemaking act, take out the iPad with the images(or video) loaded, and place it directly over the face of your partner. You will have to hold the iPad in place with at least one hand, so we suggest using the tried and true missionary position. With the bright and colorful pre-selected images super imposed over the body of your partner it will be easy to let your imagination take over, promising an intense session.

If anything is said, simply remind them that the next time it is their turn. And guys, if she shows up toting pictures of your friend’s head on her iPad, then go with it for the moment (it could still be a great experience) but make a mental note to explore this later.

Health insurance companies like to keep secrets. And they like to save money. Example: You have surgery, and weeks later you get a bill for using an out-of-network anesthesiologist. Ridiculous, right? You didn’t choose who put you under, so you shouldn’t have to pay extra. But your insurer sent the bill anyway, hoping you wouldn’t notice.

Fighting back against this kind of trickery—and winning—is a lot easier than you think, says Kevin Flynn, president of Healthcare Advocates, a Philadelphia-based firm that helps patients wrangle with their health plans. We checked with Flynn and other insurance-industry insiders, lawyers, doctors, and regulators to uncover nine little-known ways to get the health coverage you deserve—for less.

Don’t pay if you don’t have a say.
When you purposely see an out-of-network doctor, your plan usually makes it clear that it’ll cost you. But when you have surgery, the hospital chooses the anesthesiologist. If you get that annoying “out-of-network” bill, Flynn says, draft a strongly worded letter stating you had no say about the anesthesiologist—in-network or otherwise—and, therefore, won’t pay any additional fees. “If you don’t have direct control, you are not liable,” Flynn says, adding that this tack is likely to work every time, but few consumers know about it.

You may be eligible for more coverage.
Depending on your state, you could be eligible for more benefits than your plan is telling you about. Take Maryland, for instance. Health plans operating there must pay for expensive infertility coverage. But one state over, in Virginia, they don’t. It’s unlikely that your plan is trumpeting info about state-mandated coverage, though. It’s up to you to get the scoop. One good place to check is Families USA (www.familiesusa.org), a consumer group that keeps tabs on state rules, suggests Kevin Lembo, Connecticut’s official health care advocate for consumers. Another option: Contact your state’s insurance commissioner.

To get tested, talk up your symptoms.
Your insurer doesn’t want to pay for a colonoscopy if it’s not necessary. But if your best friend is diagnosed with colon cancer and you want the $675 test to put your mind at ease, here’s how to get one covered: Mention to your doctor that you’ve had some blood in your stool and a lot of gas lately—or simply that your bowel habits have changed. Your plan has to pay for the test if you have gastro complaints, health experts say. (Only 21 states require insurers to cover colonoscopies for general screening.)

Stall first, answer questions later.
When Wendy Decenzo became pregnant with twins, she wasn’t worried about health insurance. Her husband, Chris, had made sure to get a health plan that covered pregnancy well before they started trying. But when Wendy began going for prenatal visits, coverage was denied. Their plan, Blue Cross of California, wouldn’t say why. Instead, the insurer asked the Decenzos to sign release forms allowing the plan to view their medical histories, which the law says are private.

Chris believes the company was looking for any info that the Decenzos may have accidentally omitted when they applied for coverage. If an omission were found, the couple might have been denied coverage. “It seemed like a fishing expedition in order to deny us,” Chris says. So they refused to sign, and three months later the plan started paying for the prenatal appointments, even going back and paying for earlier visits that hadn’t been covered. Flynn says lots of insurers try this trick, but since their review process usually lasts only 60 to 90 days, they often drop the inquiry after that. Sometimes, procrastination pays.

Letters are your best bet.
It may seem a bit inconvenient, but the old-fashioned letter is by far the best way to communicate with your health plan. “Don’t do anything over the phone. It takes forever and when you’re done there’s no record of it, so it didn’t happen,” says Rhonda Orin, a Washington, D.C.–based attorney and author of Making Them Pay: How to Get the Most From Health Insurance and Managed Care.

Letters almost always get a response, adds Lembo, the Connecticut health care advocate. Some plans will answer e-mail, but many won’t. And to whom, exactly, should you address your mail? Experts recommend following your plan’s appeal process for letters and sending copies to your state insurance commissioner. Also, keep copies of every letter you’ve sent your plan and everything they’ve sent back. That way, when your insurer says, “We never said we’d cover that,” you can say, “I have it right here in writing.”

Doctors can be good weapons.
You just got four massage sessions, under doctor’s orders, for lower-back pain—but your insurer refuses to pay for them? Ask your doctor for help. He can tell the insurer he’s going to complain to the state board that regulates health plans.

“Health plans may not fear you, but they do respect the board,” says James Moss, a retired Kentucky surgeon. He intervened on a patient’s behalf and, by pressuring the board, helped the patient win coverage. Another option: Say you’ll call your congressman and/or state Medicare office to lodge a formal complaint, Moss says.

Caveat: Don’t actually contact your state board yourself if a claim is denied. Janice Weiss, a Jupiter, Florida–based attorney who fights health plans for consumers, says some of her clients who went this route ended up hurting their cases when the state agency ruled their claims invalid; that left them little recourse with their insurance companies. Instead, while working your plan’s appeals process, just suggest you may take the matter to your state.

A little research can go a long way.
If you want a special CT scan or MRI, your doc probably won’t authorize it unless it’s an absolute must. Persuade her with expert info from the American College of Radiology’s Appropriateness Criteria, says Anne Roberts, executive vice chair of the department of radiology at the University of California, San Diego. Used primarily by doctors but open to the public, it’s an up-to-date list of the types of imaging that are right for various conditions (Click here for a link to the radiology site.) Arming yourself with the info doesn’t guarantee coverage, but it’s a proactive step in the right direction.

There are ways to get drugs cheaper.
Doctors are often wowed by the latest and greatest drugs, which tend to be the most expensive. Make sure these newer, high-end meds are what you need before you leave the doctor’s office. Sometimes your insurance plan won’t pay for them at all; other times it’ll charge higher co-pays. In many cases, drugs have generic versions that are just as effective but cheaper than the newer ones. Always ask your doc (or the pharmacist) for generics. And if you really need a medicine that doesn’t have a generic version, order it by mail. Many plans have a less-expensive mail-order pharmacy option. Another prescription trick for people who have chronic conditions like allergies: Ask your doc to write you a prescription for two or three months’ worth of medication instead of one. Goodbye, extra co-pays.

An advocate can help you win.
Imagine being turned down for coverage after running up $125,000 in medical bills. That’s what happened to the parents of a daughter with anorexia just before they sought help from Kevin Flynn, of Healthcare Advocates. For $400, he took over the fight with their insurer and—after a year’s worth of combat—won.

Flynn is a patient advocate, part of a growing industry that makes its money from helping you. Some advo-cates help you interact with your doctor, while others specialize in insurance disputes. Most of all, firms like Flynn’s keep the letters going out on your behalf, saving you time, energy, and headaches. “The insurers know that advocates know the laws, the regulations—things a regular consumer might not know. That makes them nervous,” Flynn says.

Advocates can even get policies changed. One of Flynn’s clients, who had rectal cancer, was having trouble getting his insurance plan to pay for a new radiation therapy. The insurer claimed the treatment wasn’t ready for prime time, but Flynn found six studies showing its usefulness for the disease, got the coverage—and got the insurer to rewrite its policy.

To find an advocate, contact the Patient Advocate Foundation, says Laura Weil, interim director of Sarah Lawrence College’s Health Advocacy Program. Another helpful resource is the Society for Healthcare Consumer Advocacy. Also try checking with the medical association for a particular condition, like the Multiple Myeloma Association or the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders; many of these groups keep lists of advocates. See the links below for help:

Patientadvocate.org

SHCA_AHA.org

National Institutes of Health

Anad.org