Cheaters Don’t Stop After The First Time For Alarming Reason, Science Says

Once a cheater, always a cheater. It’s a warning that you should be wary of a serial cheater — that people who aren’t loyal to a partner will cheat again. Whether you believe it’s true or not, a new study linking dishonesty and the brain may explain why serial cheaters continue to commit infidelity. The paper, titled “The brain adapts to dishonesty,” claims each time a person lies, they feel less guilty about doing so.

It’s all because of the amygdala, a region of the brain that provides a negative response when humans lie — but every time we are dishonest, the response weakens. The study states, We speculate that the blunted response to repeated acts of dishonesty may reflect a reduction in the emotional response to these decisions or to their affective assessment and saliency.

Elite Daily spoke to Neil Garrett, a co-author of the paper and researcher at Princeton Neuroscience Institute. He said the findings would need to be tested specifically on relationships to determine whether it applies to infidelity, but that a “similar mechanism could apply.” He told Elite Daily, The idea would be the first time we commit adultery we feel bad about it. But the next time we feel less bad and so on, with the result that we can commit adultery to a greater extent.

Garrett added, What our study and others suggest is a powerful factor that prevents us from cheating is our emotional reaction to it, how bad we feel essentially, and the process of adaptation reduces this reaction, thereby allowing us to cheat more. With serial cheaters, it could be the case that they initially felt bad about cheating, but have cheated so much they’ve adapted to their ways and simply don’t feel bad about cheating any more. Another possibility is that they never felt bad about cheating to begin with, so they didn’t need adaptation to occur, they were comfortable with it from the get-go.

Essentially, those little white lies — regardless of what they’re about, and whether you tell them to your parents, boss or friends — grow into more significant lies because we can deal with them better. Or, of course, you’re a raging sociopath with an inability to feel guilt about hurting someone you care about. Garrett also said the study would need to be modified to assess the impact of cheating on the amygdala, adding, I think one of the key differences would be that cheating in relationships often takes place over shorter timescales than in my study. So whether adaptation takes place at slower time scales and whether it generalizes to other types of behavior we find aversive like adultery, violence, etc are the key two things we’d need to test to start to answer this. The authors behind the study came to their conclusion after an experiment that tested participants’ capacity to lie. People were shown a jar filled with coins and asked to help a partner, who was only given a blurry image, guess how many were in the jar. But when they were told they would receive a financial reward if their partner overestimated the amount of money in the jar, they were more likely to lie — prompting a response from the amygdala.

Lloyd's of London confirms Brussels as EU base in Brexit shift

Lloyd's of London is to shift around 100 jobs to the heart of the EU to limit potential damage to the world's biggest insurance market from Brexit.

It made the announcement, as Sky News reported, less than 24 hours after Theresa May began the formal process to commence divorce talks with the EU.

The decision highlights the pressure felt by financial services firms to secure their continued access to the bloc once the UK leaves as so-called passport rights - which currently allow them to trade seamlessly across borders - are expected to be lost.

Lloyd's, which derives 10% of its revenue from the EU, said it intended to have the Brussels office "ready to write business" for the 1 January 2019 renewal season, subject to regulatory approval.

It had considered Luxembourg instead.

Chief executive, Inga Beale, said: "It is important that we are able to provide the market and customers with an effective solution that means business can carry on without interruption when the UK leaves the EU.

"Brussels met the critical elements of providing a robust regulatory framework in a central European location, and will enable Lloyd's to continue to provide specialist underwriting expertise to our customers.

"I am excited about the opportunities this venture will offer the market by providing that important European access efficiently."

Lloyd's has not been alone in mulling its response.

Large investment banks are also weighing the future of their UK-based operations, with Sky News revealing that Deutsche Bank had signed a 25-year lease on a new City base.

Goldman Sachs signalled earlier this week that it was accelerating plans to create more jobs on the Continent, with its London-based operations calling a halt to expansion.

JPMorgan, HSBC and UBS have also given strong indications that thousands of jobs may cross the Channel or go to Dublin.

Ms Beale called for the EU and UK to come to a sensible compromise in their looming divorce deal.

She said: "It is now crucial that the UK Government and the European Union proceed to negotiate an agreement that allows business to continue to flow under the best possible conditions once the UK formally leaves the EU.

"I believe it is important not just for the City but also for Europe that we reach a mutually beneficial agreement. We stand ready to help and support the Government as best we can."

Lloyd's made the announcement as it published annual results - with 2016 profits flat on the previous 12 months.

It said pricing pressures made for an "extremely challenging" environment despite gross written premiums rising 11%.

Pre-tax profits came in a £2.1bn.

Samsung Galaxy S8: Firm unveils 'comeback' phone after Note 7 fire woes

Samsung has unveiled new versions of its flagship smartphone as it looks to bounce back from the disaster of its fire-prone Note 7 handset.

The Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus bump up the screen size by doing away with a physical home button and dramatically reducing the frame - or bezel.

Taking up nearly all of the front of the phone, the screen curves around the side like the previous model.

The Samsung logo is gone and the home button is instead 'virtual' and on the display itself.

The S8 comes in at 5.8 inches (up from 5.1 on the S7) and the Plus measures 6.2 inches (up from 5.5 on the S7 Edge).

Apple's iPhone 7, one of the phone's closest rivals, is sold in 4.7 inch and 5.5-inch versions.

But - possibly to cover the cost of such a fancy screen - Samsung has also significantly hiked the price.

The S8 will be £689 and the Plus £779 (that's up from £569 and £639 on the S7).

Tech fans saving up for the release can also look forward to trying out the firm's new Siri-like personal assistant, Bixby.

The voice-activated feature can handle many of the functions done via touch and can recognise and retrieve information from the web when a user scans an object, such as an item of clothing or book, with their camera.

As for the battery - which sparked last year's PR disaster and subsequent recall of the Note 7 - Samsung says the S8 cells will go through multiple inspections that include X-rays and extreme temperature stress tests.

They are also said to have better longevity, retaining most of the charge after several years of use.

Last year's Note 7 fire debacle, where battery problems caused some to combust, led to the device being banned from planes in the US and forced Samsung to remove the handset from sale.

"The Galaxy S8 is the most important phone for Samsung in a decade and every aspect will be under the microscope following the Note 7 recall," said Ben Wood, a smartphone industry analyst with UK-based CCS Insight.

Other features of the S8 include iris scanning to unlock the phone, the front-facing camera boosted from five to eight megapixels, and an optional docking station to turn the phone into a desktop computer.

The new models, unveiled at dual events in London and New York, will go on general sale in the UK on 28 April and a week earlier in the US.

Article 50: Pit your Brexit wits against Adam Boulton

By Adam Boulton, All Out Politics Presenter


So we're off. The trigger has been pulled, we are on the way out: soon-to-be ex-members of the EU.


For well over a year it's been Brexit means Brexit means more Brexit, whatever that means.


Now it's time to test your knowledge. Just how much do you know about the European Union - and the UK's imminent departure?

Genital mutilation also occurs in the US, activists call on states to make it illegal

Every day, an estimated 8,000 girls worldwide are cut and marred in a debilitating process known as female genital mutilation, or FGM.

But survivors and experts stress that this is not a faraway human rights violation. A portion of it is happening right here in the United States of America.

“Not a day goes by where I am not contacted by a girl who has been cut in this country, or forced to visit another country to have it done,” Jaha Dukureh, an infant FGM survivor, activist and founder of the support and educational foundation Safe Hands for Girls, told Fox News. “Sometimes, it is doctors performing it under the guise of plastic or vaginoplasty procedures, or in quiet and underground settings.”
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Jaha Dukureh, FGM survivor, activist and founder of "Safe Hands for Girls" campaigns for U.S lawmakers to do more to end the inhumane practice.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, more than half a million girls in the United States have endured, or remain at risk, of suffering FGM – a threefold uptick from their 1990 projection. FGM is considered a cultural practice that ensures “a girl’s purity and eligibility for marriage,” and typically involves the partial or complete extraction of the external female genitalia.

BRITAIN'S FAILURE TO TACKLE FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION A 'NATIONAL DISGRACE': LAWMAKERS

“There are many who are secretly doing it here in the USA,” noted Wahid Boctor, an Egyptian-American and former Director of Arab-American Television. “It is done very secretly and mostly women who do to their kids or grand kids.”

Beyond the brutality of the ritual procedure itself and the chance of death, FGM has a string of long-term consequences – from the physical to the psychological. Complications include sexual dysfunction, incontinence and increased risk of HIV transmission.

HONOR KILLING IN AMERICA: DOJ REPORT SAYS GROWING PROBLEM IS HIDDEN IN STAT

A bipartisan effort has sought to criminalize the practice. The 2013 Transport for Female Genital Mutilation Act made it illegal to transport U.S girls abroad for FGM – sometimes referred to as “vacation cutting.” Since 1996, it has been a federal crime.

However, only 24 states have laws in place that designate FGM unlawful, while 26 do not. Activists assert that such legal loopholes need to close, and at least some states are trying to follow suit.

Last month, Virginia’s General Assembly unanimously passed legislation to criminalize the act as a Class 1 misdemeanor, which holds a maximum jail term of one year. Critics say that while that’s a step in the right direction, the punishment is significantly lower than the five-year sentence initially proposed by Republican State Sen. Richard Black.

“States need to make this illegal because the federal courts don’t have the time to prosecute these all over the country,” Black’s aide Michelle Stanton said. “States need to educate people and the federal law needs to add the civil liability – to give the girl standing to sue if mutilated – and that will make a big impact.”

Massachusetts has a bill in-motion seeking to prohibit FGM in the state as a form of gender-based violence – including jail time and financial penalties for practitioners and families that “perpetuate this abuse.”

Law enforcement agencies have pledged in recent times to make the issue a higher priority. Last month, the FBI recognized the International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation and reiterated that individuals suspected of perpetuating or facilitating the crime will be investigated and prosecuted accordingly. Special Agent Kerry Sparks, who focuses on FGM cases as part of the bureau’s International Human Rights Unit (IHRU), stated that the practice continues at the hand of both medical practitioners and “female elders within the communities.”

“The FBI is dedicated to investigating this horrendous crime and works with U.S government and foreign law enforcement partners to gather intelligence and investigate any allegations of criminal activity,” said FBI spokesperson Samantha Shero.

Just two weeks ago, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) deported an Ethiopian man in Georgia to his home country – after he served 10 years behind bars – for the 2006 genital mutilation of his then 2-year-old daughter.

But, as Dukureh stressed, while laws are important – they are not the solution to ending the practice.

“Until we look at this from a holistic perspective, it will only be driven further underground. We need more educational programs, more awareness and we can’t forget about the girls who have already had to endure this and so we need more doctors helping,” she said.

Activists also underscore the importance of educating refugees and immigrants on arrival – especially from countries in the Middle East and Africa where it is widely practiced – of its strict illegality in the U.S., something which the State Department itself does not do.

According to Stanton, as long as the U.S. allows immigration from countries where it is widely practiced – from Egypt and Somalia to Iran, Iraq and Yemen – the problem “will continue to spread.”

“Immigrants are not educated that this is a human rights abuse with no health benefits and lifelong consequences,” said Amanda Parker, senior director at the women’s activist organization the AHA Foundation, founded by FGM survivor Ayaan Hirsi Ali. “Raising awareness with immigrants should be a priority for the administration to ensure that women and girls know their rights and their families and communities would know that this is a harmful practice that will not be tolerated.”

Chocolate bars could shrink in health watchdog bid to cut obesity

England's health watchdog says sugar reduction targets for the food industry intended to tackle the childhood obesity crisis can be met - despite only being voluntary.

Public Health England (PHE) has published guidelines for the food industry to cut overall sugar content across nine food groups - including chocolate confectionary, cakes and biscuits - by 20% in the next three years.

PHE believes the voluntary measures will cut 200,000 tonnes of sugar from children's diets each year and contribute to a 20% reduction in the number of overweight children in the next decade.

Currently a third of 11 year-olds are overweight and obesity is considered one of the gravest public health issues facing the NHS.

Under the guidelines, firms have been asked to reduce sugar by 5% this year and 20% by 2020.

However, there are no penalties for companies that miss the targets - meaning the Government's central strategy for tackling obesity is reliant on goodwill from manufacturers.

MPs on the House of Commons Health Select Committee are among critics who have accused the Government of watering down the strategy, but PHE says it believes the scheme will work.

Chief executive Duncan Selbie said: "We asked for this to be a voluntary plan because we did not want to spend two years trying to regulate and arguing whether a Jaffa cake was a biscuit or a cake.

"We think this is actually a pro-business plan, and this is the most ambitious anti-obesity plan anywhere in the world.

"British food manufacturers will be leading the world in this."

Food producers can meet the targets in three ways; by reformulating food with less sugar, increasing the volume of lower-sugar products they sell, or by reducing portion sizes.

The measures are intended to lead to lower sugar content across all categories, but the confectionary sector may be forced to reduce the size of chocolate bars and sweets.

Given the high volume of sugar in confectionary reducing portion size may be the only relevant option, a move that could prove controversial with consumers if it is not accompanied by a price cut.

The targets also apply to restaurants, fast food and coffee outlets, known as the "out-of-home" sector, which accounts for 20-30% of all food consumption and typically sells food with a higher proportion of sugar than the retail sector.

Mr Selbie insisted he is not instructing manufacturers to make smaller chocolate bars, but said the obesity crisis was too grave to ignore.

He said: "This is not moralistic and it is not hysterical, this is about children and we have a problem."

Spiders could theoretically eat every human on Earth in one year

Spiders are quite literally all around us. A recent entomological surveyof North Carolina homes turned up spiders in 100 percent of them, including 68 percent of bathrooms and more than three-quarters of bedrooms. There's a good chance at least one spider is staring at you right now, sizing you up from a darkened corner of the room, eight eyes glistening in the shadows.

Spiders mostly eat insects, although some of the larger species have been known to snack on lizards, birds and even small mammals. Given their abundance and the voraciousness of their appetites, two European biologists recently wondered: If you were to tally up all the food eaten by the world's entire spider population in a single year, how much would it be?

Martin Nyffeler and Klaus Birkhofer published their estimate in the journal the Science of Nature earlier this month, and the number they arrived at is frankly shocking: The world's spiders consume somewhere between 400 million and 800 million tons of prey in any given year. That means that spiders eat at least as much meat as all 7 billion humans on the planet combined, who the authors note consume about 400 million tons of meat and fish each year.

Or, for a slightly more disturbing comparison: The total biomass of all adult humans on Earth is estimated to be 287 million tons. Even if you tack on another 70 million-ish tons to account for the weight of kids, it's still not equal to the total amount of food eaten by spiders in a given year, exceeding the total weight of humanity.

In other words, spiders could eat all of us and still be hungry.

To arrive at this number Nyffler and Birkhofer did a lot of sophisticated estimation based on existing research into A) how many spiders live in a square meter of land for all the main habitat types on Earth, and B) the average amount of food consumed by spiders of different sizes in a given year.

These numbers yielded some interesting factoids on their own. For instance, one study estimated that global average spider density stands at about 131 spiders per square meter. Some habitats, like deserts and tundra, are home to fewer spiders. On the other hand, spider densities of 1,000 or more individuals per square meter have been observed under certain “favorable” conditions — since Nyffler and Birkhofer don't define what “favorable” means in this context, I'm going to assume it refers to dark, dusty places like the area under my bed.

If you gathered up all the spiders on the planet and placed them on a very large scale, together they'd weigh about 25 million tons, according to Nyffler and Birkhofer. For comparison, the Titanic weighed about 52,000 tons. The mass of every spider on Earth today, in other words, is equivalent to 478 Titanics.

Spider biologists have also generally found that spiders consume approximately 10 percent of their body weight in food per day. That's equivalent to a 200-pound man eating 20 pounds of meat each day.

Conversely, it would take approximately 2,000 pounds of spiders to consume a 200-pound man in one day.

In the end, spiders' voracity actually works out to mankind's benefit. Since they primarily feast on bugs, their hunger means fewer pests in the garden, fewer mosquitoes in the yard and fewer flies in the house.

The Washington Post reached out to a spider for comment on this story. Its reply: