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Kosal

Source: http://karmatoons.blogspot.com/

LOS ANGELES, June 24 (Xinhua) — Eldest children are more likely to be more intelligent than their younger siblings, according to a new study.

    Eldest children have IQs 2 to 3 points greater than younger siblings’, and the reason is not genetics, but the way their parents treat them, according to the study published in the latest issue of the journal Science.

    Researchers at the University of Oslo collected data from 240,000 Norwegian men and found that firstborns had an average IQ of 103.2, about 2 points higher than second-born males and about 3 points higher than men born third.

    Lead author Petter Kristensen, an epidemiologist at the University of Oslo and a second-oldest son, said he did not believe in the “birth-order effect” when he started his research, which was originally aimed at assessing the validity of IQ tests.

    In the research, Kristensen and his colleagues required that all conscripts in the Norwegian army undergo an IQ test. Kristensen looked at test results of all conscripts ages 18 to 19 between 1985 and 2004.

    His analysis found that firstborns had an average IQ of 103.2, about 2 points higher than second-born males and about 3 points higher than men born third.

    Using the same data, the researchers sought to find an answer to the cause of this disparity. They looked at second- and third-born men who became the eldest in their families due to the death of one or two older siblings.

    The researchers found that those men had IQs close to that of firstborns, with second-born men at 102.9 and third-borns at 102.6.

    The findings suggested that the mechanism behind the birth-order effect is not biological but related to social interactions within families.

    The researchers surmised that older children are showered with attention early in life and treated as leaders in the family. They are handed more responsibility after younger siblings are born and live with higher expectations from their parents.

    Though the IQ disparity may not sound like a lot, experts said even a few IQ points could make a big difference over the course of a lifetime — and set firstborns on a trajectory for success. 

A view of planet Venus eclipsed by a thin crescent moon is seen in Srinagar, the summer capital of India controlled Kashmir, June 18, 2007. Countries in West Asia and Europe had a better view of the event on Monday, called Occultation of Venus by the moon, while most places in India saw only the disappearance phase of the event when Venus suddenly vanished behind the bright limb of the moon, local media reported. (Xinhua Photo/Javed Dar)

From Times Staff and Wire Reports

June 19, 2007

Apple Inc. said the battery on its iPhone mobile device would let users talk three hours longer than planned, raising prospects of a successful debut next week.

The battery will provide as much as eight hours of talk time on one charge, more than rival phones, Apple said.

The iPhone, a combination mobile phone and iPod media player that will cost as much as $599, also offers six hours of Internet use, seven hours of video playback or 24 hours of audio playback.