No wonder the Republican Right wing is so anti-science. If knowledge about the wonders of nature were to become widely understood, their entire game would be up.
Just like it took Al Gore and Jerome a Paris to break the delusion of "oil forever" and trigger the decline of the global petroleum oilgarchy, so now the underlying science of another cornerstone of their social and political control has been exposed. Only now does it finally make sense: how can the remaining loyal Bushies continue to follow The Decider when his failure and incompetence are so overwhelmingly obvious.
A queen bee needs to keep her subjects calm and quiet, and she does so by secreting a scent that prevents worker bees from learning, according to new research.
The study, published this week in the journal Science, found that a component in the queen's pheromone inhibits the sterile worker bees' ability to learn from negative experiences.
http://www.sfgate.com/...
By preventing "aversive learning," the queen ensures that her youngest offspring will stay in the hive and not use their stings, even if something unpleasant occurs. The active scent element is very similar to the brain compound dopamine, which is involved in learning and memory in humans as well as insects.
"Aversive learning is when the animal makes an association between a particular odor and a nasty experience," said senior study author Alison Mercer, a neurobiologist at the University of Otago in New Zealand.
This explains SOOOO much! No matter how many times they are embarrassed and objectively proven wrong, Bush's minions seem completely incapable of thinking for themselves, and continue to act in their own worst interest, not to mention the interests of the country.
Honeybees separated from the queen extended their stings when they detected the odor. But young honeybees exposed to the queen's pheromone did not respond to the smell.
The young bees that groom the queen are exposed to very high levels of her pheromone. Older bees, which forage for food outside the hive, are capable of aversive learning -- otherwise they would have little chance for survival.
The scientists do not yet know how bees develop the aptitude for aversive learning as they age. The queen's mind control is specific for aversive learning; bees are still able to learn to recognize tasty foods.
Of course, the way to destroy this insidious influence threatening to destroy our democracy is to eradicate the Queen, and therefore destroy the entire hive. Like killing the original vampire, killing the ultimate Queen bee is necessary to release those under the spell.
Get Away from our Constitution, You Bitch!