Researchers found that people find those who are more likely to break the rules more likeable, even after meeting them for just a short time.
They found that the people who achieve popularity by defying authority all tend to carry a specific "rebel" gene.
The findings could explain how Just William inspired the devotion of his bunch of Outlaws in the famous novels and why children labelled "teachers' pets" have traditionally attracted the attention of bullies.
"The idea is that your genes predispose you to certain behaviours and those behaviours elicit different kinds of social reactions from others," said Alexandra Burt, assistant professor of psychology at Michigan State University.
"And so what's happening is, your genes are to some extent driving your social experiences.
"So the gene predisposes (people) to rule-breaking behaviour and their rule-breaking behaviour made them more popular," Burt said.
Rule breakers tended to be on the less serious side of the rebellious scale, according to the research.
Typical behaviour might include heavy drinking, lying, dangerous driving or using drugs.
However, it was not usually associated with more extreme anti-social behaviour, such as violence or intimidation.
Studies estimate that between 40 and 60 per cent of the population carry the variation of the gene linked to rebellious behaviour.
For the study, researchers gathered 100 male college students who had never met before in a laboratory and got them to interact with each other in groups.
All of the students also had their DNA tested using a saliva swab.
Asked to fill in a questionnaire about who they liked the most, those with the "rebel" gene came out top.
A second experiment involving another 100 college students found the same result, according to the study, the findings of which are published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.
The gene itself is a particular form of a serotonin gene, a chemical in the brain which has been linked to the control of emotions and mood.
However, the researchers are unsure whether boys react more positively than girls to rebels.
They plan to repeat the experiment with female students to test if they too prefer a maverick.
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Pope likens "saving" gays to saving the rainforest
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Benedict said on Monday that saving humanity from homosexual or transsexual behavior was just as important as saving the rainforest from destruction.
"(The Church) should also protect man from the destruction of himself. A sort of ecology of man is needed," the pontiff said in a holiday address to the Curia, the Vatican's central administration.
"The tropical forests do deserve our protection. But man, as a creature, does not deserve any less."
The Catholic Church teaches that while homosexuality is not sinful, homosexual acts are. It opposes gay marriage and, in October, a leading Vatican official called homosexuality "a deviation, an irregularity, a wound."
The pope said humanity needed to "listen to the language of creation" to understand the intended roles of man and woman. He compared behavior beyond traditional heterosexual relations as "a destruction of God's work."
He also defended the Church's right to "speak of human nature as man and woman, and ask that this order of creation be respected."
"(The Church) should also protect man from the destruction of himself. A sort of ecology of man is needed," the pontiff said in a holiday address to the Curia, the Vatican's central administration.
"The tropical forests do deserve our protection. But man, as a creature, does not deserve any less."
The Catholic Church teaches that while homosexuality is not sinful, homosexual acts are. It opposes gay marriage and, in October, a leading Vatican official called homosexuality "a deviation, an irregularity, a wound."
The pope said humanity needed to "listen to the language of creation" to understand the intended roles of man and woman. He compared behavior beyond traditional heterosexual relations as "a destruction of God's work."
He also defended the Church's right to "speak of human nature as man and woman, and ask that this order of creation be respected."
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Unmasking Jupiter's Europa -Does Its Hidden Ocean Harbor Life?
Europa. One of the most interesting non-Earth locations in the solar system. Never mind ice and occasional puddles, this moon has entire oceans - and where there's water, we can't help but hope there's life. Recent results show that there are heat sources to drive evolution of such as well, but there's still debate over what's actually going on in there.
The key point of contention is the satellites crunchy ice covering. We know that the Jovian moon is coated in kilometers of frozen material, but that sort of handwaving figure can get you in trouble - exactly how many kilometers there are can make all the difference. We believe that the European core is heated by the massive tidal forces applied by Jupiter - but how does that heat radiate into space?
Most scientists believe that the subEuropan seas are locked under tens of kilometers of ice. Heat is then conducted from the warm core by bulk convective motion of ice - huge chunks of frozen material literally carrying the heat away with them as they move up through the icy layer, shuffling and refreezing as they dump heat into space.
Professor Richard Greenberg believes that the crust is thin, only a kilometer or so, and heat is carried out by simple conduction - much slower, but providing a constant flow of energy through a relatively fixed underwater region bordering the immense cliffs of ice.
Greenberg does weaken his case by accusing a "Big Ice" cabal of scientists of suppressing his results, holding back his views to favor their own established model. The thing is, when you start talking about a conspiracy against you it doesn't matter if you're right or wrong: you sound a bit crazy. Especially when that "cabal" isn't a hidden core of ultra-billionaires, but probably about twenty guys with tenure who meet twice a year to talk about space moons.
On the upside, it seems the shadowy Europa lobby can't keep him silent and he's printing a book, "Unmasking Europa", putting forward his views and setting up the mother of all "I told you so"s if it turns out he's right. Again, he slightly weakens his case by fantasising an entire Europan ecosystem based on a few flybys of the Galileo probe, and it's not as if popular opinion will actually sway the scientists investigating the issue.
What is important is that such issues do now percolate to the public, one way or another. Science is no longer the preserve of those either rich enough to afford it or trying to build missiles out of it. Beside the cook books and crime novels you can find imaginings of the stars, controversies of the cosmos, and books about the entire universe. Which are slightly more interesting than "Five things you can do with leftovers" by Dolores Housewife.
The key point of contention is the satellites crunchy ice covering. We know that the Jovian moon is coated in kilometers of frozen material, but that sort of handwaving figure can get you in trouble - exactly how many kilometers there are can make all the difference. We believe that the European core is heated by the massive tidal forces applied by Jupiter - but how does that heat radiate into space?
Most scientists believe that the subEuropan seas are locked under tens of kilometers of ice. Heat is then conducted from the warm core by bulk convective motion of ice - huge chunks of frozen material literally carrying the heat away with them as they move up through the icy layer, shuffling and refreezing as they dump heat into space.
Professor Richard Greenberg believes that the crust is thin, only a kilometer or so, and heat is carried out by simple conduction - much slower, but providing a constant flow of energy through a relatively fixed underwater region bordering the immense cliffs of ice.
Greenberg does weaken his case by accusing a "Big Ice" cabal of scientists of suppressing his results, holding back his views to favor their own established model. The thing is, when you start talking about a conspiracy against you it doesn't matter if you're right or wrong: you sound a bit crazy. Especially when that "cabal" isn't a hidden core of ultra-billionaires, but probably about twenty guys with tenure who meet twice a year to talk about space moons.
On the upside, it seems the shadowy Europa lobby can't keep him silent and he's printing a book, "Unmasking Europa", putting forward his views and setting up the mother of all "I told you so"s if it turns out he's right. Again, he slightly weakens his case by fantasising an entire Europan ecosystem based on a few flybys of the Galileo probe, and it's not as if popular opinion will actually sway the scientists investigating the issue.
What is important is that such issues do now percolate to the public, one way or another. Science is no longer the preserve of those either rich enough to afford it or trying to build missiles out of it. Beside the cook books and crime novels you can find imaginings of the stars, controversies of the cosmos, and books about the entire universe. Which are slightly more interesting than "Five things you can do with leftovers" by Dolores Housewife.
Monday, December 22, 2008
Shocking revelation: Santa Clara University professor mirrors famous torture study
Replicating one of the most controversial behavioral experiments in history, a Santa Clara University psychologist has found that people will follow orders from an authority figure to administer what they believe are painful electric shocks.
More than two-thirds of volunteers in the research study had to be stopped from administering 150 volt shocks of electricity, despite hearing a person's cries of pain, professor Jerry M. Burger concluded in a study published in the January issue of the journal American Psychologist.
"In a dramatic way, it illustrates that under certain circumstances people will act in very surprising and disturbing ways,'' said Burger.
The study, using paid volunteers from the South Bay, is similar to the famous 1974 "obedience study'' by the late Yale University psychologist Stanley Milgram. In the wake of Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann's trial, Milgram was troubled by the willingness of people to obey authorities — even if it conflicted with their own conscience.
Burger's findings are published in a special section of the journal reflecting on Milgram's work 24 years after his death on Dec. 20, 1984. The haunting images of average people administering shocks have kept memories of Milgram's research alive for decades, even as recently as the Abu Ghraib scandal.
The subjects — recruited in ads in the Mercury News, Craigslist and fliers distributed in libraries and communities centers in Santa
Clara, Cupertino and Sunnyvale — thought they were testing the effect of punishment on learning.
"They were average citizens, a typical cross-section of people that you'd see around every day,'' said Burger.
In the study, conducted two years ago, volunteers administered what they believed were increasingly powerful electric shocks to another person in a separate room. An "authority figure'' prodded the volunteer to shock another person, who was playing the role of "learner." Each time the learner gave an incorrect answer, the volunteer was urged to press a switch, seemingly increasing the electricity over time. They were told that the shocks were painful but not dangerous.
Burger designed his study to avoid several of the most controversial elements of Milgram's experiment. For instance, the "shocks'' were lower voltage. And participants were told at least three times that they could withdraw from the study at any time and still receive the $50 payment. In addition, a clinical psychologist interviewed volunteers to eliminate anyone who might be upset by the study procedure.
Like Milgram's study, Burger's shock generator machine was a fake. The cries of pain weren't real, either. Both the authority figure and the learner were actors — faculty members Brian Oliveira and Kenneth Courtney.
Burger found that 70 percent of the participants had to be stopped from escalating shocks over 150 volts, despite hearing cries of protest and pain. Decades earlier, Milgram found that 82.5 percent of participants continued administering shocks. Of those, 79 percent continued to the shock generator's end, at 450 volts.
Burger's experiment did not go that far.
"The conclusion is not: 'Gosh isn't this a horrible commentary on human nature,' or 'these people were so sadistic,'' said Burger.
"It shows the opposite — that there are situational forces that have a much greater impact on our behavior than most people recognize,'' he said.
The experiment shows that people are more likely to comply with instructions if the task starts small, then escalates, according to Burger.
"For instance, the suicides at Jonestown were just the last step of many,'' he said. "Jim Jones started small, asking people to donate time and money, then looked for more and more commitment.''
Additionally, the volunteers confronted a novel situation — having never before been in such a setting, they had no idea of how they were supposed to act, he said.
Finally, they had been told that they should not feel responsible for inflicting pain; rather, the "instructor" was accountable. "Lack of feeling responsible can lead people to act in ways that they might otherwise not,'' said Burger.
"When we see people acting out of character, the first thing we should ask is: 'What's going on in this situation?'''
More than two-thirds of volunteers in the research study had to be stopped from administering 150 volt shocks of electricity, despite hearing a person's cries of pain, professor Jerry M. Burger concluded in a study published in the January issue of the journal American Psychologist.
"In a dramatic way, it illustrates that under certain circumstances people will act in very surprising and disturbing ways,'' said Burger.
The study, using paid volunteers from the South Bay, is similar to the famous 1974 "obedience study'' by the late Yale University psychologist Stanley Milgram. In the wake of Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann's trial, Milgram was troubled by the willingness of people to obey authorities — even if it conflicted with their own conscience.
Burger's findings are published in a special section of the journal reflecting on Milgram's work 24 years after his death on Dec. 20, 1984. The haunting images of average people administering shocks have kept memories of Milgram's research alive for decades, even as recently as the Abu Ghraib scandal.
The subjects — recruited in ads in the Mercury News, Craigslist and fliers distributed in libraries and communities centers in Santa
Clara, Cupertino and Sunnyvale — thought they were testing the effect of punishment on learning.
"They were average citizens, a typical cross-section of people that you'd see around every day,'' said Burger.
In the study, conducted two years ago, volunteers administered what they believed were increasingly powerful electric shocks to another person in a separate room. An "authority figure'' prodded the volunteer to shock another person, who was playing the role of "learner." Each time the learner gave an incorrect answer, the volunteer was urged to press a switch, seemingly increasing the electricity over time. They were told that the shocks were painful but not dangerous.
Burger designed his study to avoid several of the most controversial elements of Milgram's experiment. For instance, the "shocks'' were lower voltage. And participants were told at least three times that they could withdraw from the study at any time and still receive the $50 payment. In addition, a clinical psychologist interviewed volunteers to eliminate anyone who might be upset by the study procedure.
Like Milgram's study, Burger's shock generator machine was a fake. The cries of pain weren't real, either. Both the authority figure and the learner were actors — faculty members Brian Oliveira and Kenneth Courtney.
Burger found that 70 percent of the participants had to be stopped from escalating shocks over 150 volts, despite hearing cries of protest and pain. Decades earlier, Milgram found that 82.5 percent of participants continued administering shocks. Of those, 79 percent continued to the shock generator's end, at 450 volts.
Burger's experiment did not go that far.
"The conclusion is not: 'Gosh isn't this a horrible commentary on human nature,' or 'these people were so sadistic,'' said Burger.
"It shows the opposite — that there are situational forces that have a much greater impact on our behavior than most people recognize,'' he said.
The experiment shows that people are more likely to comply with instructions if the task starts small, then escalates, according to Burger.
"For instance, the suicides at Jonestown were just the last step of many,'' he said. "Jim Jones started small, asking people to donate time and money, then looked for more and more commitment.''
Additionally, the volunteers confronted a novel situation — having never before been in such a setting, they had no idea of how they were supposed to act, he said.
Finally, they had been told that they should not feel responsible for inflicting pain; rather, the "instructor" was accountable. "Lack of feeling responsible can lead people to act in ways that they might otherwise not,'' said Burger.
"When we see people acting out of character, the first thing we should ask is: 'What's going on in this situation?'''
Dead man receives calls in grave
NEW YORK - (UPI) -- New York defense lawyer John Jacobs continues to receive voice-mail messages three years after he was buried with his beloved cell phone.
Jacobs' family buried him with his fully charged Motorola T720 phone after he died of pancreatic cancer, the New York Post reported Sunday.
His wife, Marian Seltzer, also a defense lawyer, continues to pay his monthly $55 phone bill and his cell number is etched into his gravestone under the words "Rest in Peace."
The first call after death came during the funeral from Jacobs' son, Simon. "The poor grave diggers. I thought they'd have a heart attack," Seltzer said.
Seltzer and her two sons, who regularly leave messages, hear this when they dial his number: "Hi. You've reached the voice mail of John Jacobs. After you hear the beep, leave a voice mail and I will return your call."
http://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2008/12/21/Dead_man_receives_calls_in_grave/UPI-33961229889731/
Jacobs' family buried him with his fully charged Motorola T720 phone after he died of pancreatic cancer, the New York Post reported Sunday.
His wife, Marian Seltzer, also a defense lawyer, continues to pay his monthly $55 phone bill and his cell number is etched into his gravestone under the words "Rest in Peace."
The first call after death came during the funeral from Jacobs' son, Simon. "The poor grave diggers. I thought they'd have a heart attack," Seltzer said.
Seltzer and her two sons, who regularly leave messages, hear this when they dial his number: "Hi. You've reached the voice mail of John Jacobs. After you hear the beep, leave a voice mail and I will return your call."
http://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2008/12/21/Dead_man_receives_calls_in_grave/UPI-33961229889731/
TOP MAFIA FIGURE IMPLICATES VATICAN
The grandson of Lucky Luciano, Gambino, 63, just released from prison also sets the record straight about the JFK and Hoffa assassinations.
By Greg Szymanski
Sept. 26, 2007
Tony Gambino of the infamous Gambino New York crime family said besides Mob Bosses, the outfits that benefit most from organized crime are the corrupt Vatican and U.S. government.
The grandson of Lucky Luciano, Gambino made a guest appearance Tuesday on Greg Szymanski's radio show, The Investigative Journal on Liberty Radio at www.libertyradiolive.com The entire interview can be heard at www.arcticbeacon.com as well as Liberty Radio.
The high-level former mobster talked openly for an hour, indicting top Vatican and U.S. government officials with complicity in high crimes, treason and assassinations as they worked together "like a tight-knit happy family" with the Gambino and other Mafia families.
With America's fascination of the Mafia, Gambino's statements should shake the halls of St. Peter's Basilica, as well as Capitol Hill, since he talked about his first hand knowledge of George Bush, the Pope and other high level Jesuits complicity and knowledge of 9/11
By Greg Szymanski
Sept. 26, 2007
Tony Gambino of the infamous Gambino New York crime family said besides Mob Bosses, the outfits that benefit most from organized crime are the corrupt Vatican and U.S. government.
The grandson of Lucky Luciano, Gambino made a guest appearance Tuesday on Greg Szymanski's radio show, The Investigative Journal on Liberty Radio at www.libertyradiolive.com The entire interview can be heard at www.arcticbeacon.com as well as Liberty Radio.
The high-level former mobster talked openly for an hour, indicting top Vatican and U.S. government officials with complicity in high crimes, treason and assassinations as they worked together "like a tight-knit happy family" with the Gambino and other Mafia families.
With America's fascination of the Mafia, Gambino's statements should shake the halls of St. Peter's Basilica, as well as Capitol Hill, since he talked about his first hand knowledge of George Bush, the Pope and other high level Jesuits complicity and knowledge of 9/11
Scientists propose 'leap hour', to fix time system
International timekeeping experts are proposing a "leap hour" every 600 years rather than an extra second every few years.
New Year will arrive a second late this year, the 24th time since 1972, when time across the globe is adjusted to account for changes in the Earth's rotation.
The leap second will be added on to the final minute of 2008 because the planet is gradually slowing down as it spins on its axis.
The tweak will help correct the time-lag which shows up on ultra-accurate atomic clocks.
But the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), which manages leap seconds, is proposing to abolish them in favour of the leap hour.
Over hundreds of years, the universal time zone - a modern version of Greenwich Mean Time - would gradually drift east from Greenwich, reaching Paris before the "leap hour" moved it back west again. Such a move would see GMT lose its status as the zone in which local time is the same as the universal time by which clocks are set.
The proposed change, reported in New Scientist magazine, would mean Britain would have legal issues to contend with as GMT has been enshrined in law since 1880 as the standard by which national time is calculated.
Britain and China oppose the change but it is backed by the US, France, Germany, Russia, Japan and Italy.
New Year will arrive a second late this year, the 24th time since 1972, when time across the globe is adjusted to account for changes in the Earth's rotation.
The leap second will be added on to the final minute of 2008 because the planet is gradually slowing down as it spins on its axis.
The tweak will help correct the time-lag which shows up on ultra-accurate atomic clocks.
But the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), which manages leap seconds, is proposing to abolish them in favour of the leap hour.
Over hundreds of years, the universal time zone - a modern version of Greenwich Mean Time - would gradually drift east from Greenwich, reaching Paris before the "leap hour" moved it back west again. Such a move would see GMT lose its status as the zone in which local time is the same as the universal time by which clocks are set.
The proposed change, reported in New Scientist magazine, would mean Britain would have legal issues to contend with as GMT has been enshrined in law since 1880 as the standard by which national time is calculated.
Britain and China oppose the change but it is backed by the US, France, Germany, Russia, Japan and Italy.
Saudi court rejects divorce plea from EIGHT-year-old girl married to 58-year-old man
A Saudi court has rejected a plea to divorce an eight-year-old girl married off by her father to a man who is 58, saying the case should wait until the girl reaches puberty.
The divorce plea was filed in August by the girl's divorced mother with a court at Unayzah, 135 miles north of Riyadh just after the marriage contract was signed by the father and the groom.
Lawyer Abdullar Jtili said:"The judge has dismissed the plea, filed by the mother, because she does not have the right to file such a case, and ordered that the plea should be filed by the girl herself when she reaches puberty."
"She doesn't know yet that she has been married," Jtili said then of the girl who was about to begin her fourth year at primary school.
Relatives who did not wish to be named said that the marriage had not yet been consummated, and that the girl continued to live with her mother.
They said that the father had set a verbal condition by which the marriage is not consummated for another 10 years, when the girl turns 18.
The father had agreed to marry off his daughter for an advance dowry of £5,000, as he was apparently facing financial problems, they said.
The father was in court and he remained adamant in favour of the marriage, they added.
Mr Jtili said he was going to appeal the verdict at the court of cassation, the supreme court in the ultra-conservative kingdom which applies Islamic Sharia law in its courts.
Arranged marriages involving pre-adolescents are occasionally reported in the
Arabian Peninsula, including in Saudi Arabia where the strict conservative Wahabi version of Sunni Islam holds sway and polygamy is common.
In Yemen in April, another girl aged eight was granted a divorce after her unemployed father forced her to marry a man of 28.
The divorce plea was filed in August by the girl's divorced mother with a court at Unayzah, 135 miles north of Riyadh just after the marriage contract was signed by the father and the groom.
Lawyer Abdullar Jtili said:"The judge has dismissed the plea, filed by the mother, because she does not have the right to file such a case, and ordered that the plea should be filed by the girl herself when she reaches puberty."
"She doesn't know yet that she has been married," Jtili said then of the girl who was about to begin her fourth year at primary school.
Relatives who did not wish to be named said that the marriage had not yet been consummated, and that the girl continued to live with her mother.
They said that the father had set a verbal condition by which the marriage is not consummated for another 10 years, when the girl turns 18.
The father had agreed to marry off his daughter for an advance dowry of £5,000, as he was apparently facing financial problems, they said.
The father was in court and he remained adamant in favour of the marriage, they added.
Mr Jtili said he was going to appeal the verdict at the court of cassation, the supreme court in the ultra-conservative kingdom which applies Islamic Sharia law in its courts.
Arranged marriages involving pre-adolescents are occasionally reported in the
Arabian Peninsula, including in Saudi Arabia where the strict conservative Wahabi version of Sunni Islam holds sway and polygamy is common.
In Yemen in April, another girl aged eight was granted a divorce after her unemployed father forced her to marry a man of 28.
Amino acid good for sex, helps trees too
UMEA, Sweden, Dec. 20 (UPI) -- Swedish researchers have found that an amino acid that aids sexual performance in men also helps spruce trees develop stronger root systems.
A team led by Torgny Nasholm, a forestry professor at the Swedish University of the Agricultural Sciences, created a fertilizer laced with arginine, Vasterbotten-Kurrien reported. The amino acid improves sperm production and blood circulation in the genital area.
Nasholm found that trees given the fertilizer had stronger root systems. As an additional environmental benefit, the trees were able to draw nitrogen more effectively, allowing less nitrogen fertilizer to be used.
A team led by Torgny Nasholm, a forestry professor at the Swedish University of the Agricultural Sciences, created a fertilizer laced with arginine, Vasterbotten-Kurrien reported. The amino acid improves sperm production and blood circulation in the genital area.
Nasholm found that trees given the fertilizer had stronger root systems. As an additional environmental benefit, the trees were able to draw nitrogen more effectively, allowing less nitrogen fertilizer to be used.
Solstice Science: Why Winter Starts Dec. 21
While snow marks the beginning of winter for many people, the first official day of winter is Sunday, Dec. 21, known as the December solstice.
It's a point in time that marks a transition in our planet's annual trip around the sun.
The sun comes up each day because Earth rotates once on its axis every 24 hours or so. Seasons, and the arrival of the solstice, are a result of Earth being tilted 23.5 degrees on its spin axis coupled with the planet's 365-day orbit around the sun.
Imagine Earth as an apple sitting on one side of a table, with the stem being the North Pole. Tilt the apple 23.5 degrees so the stem points toward a candle (the sun) at the center of the table. That's summer for the top half of the apple.
Keep the stem pointing in the same direction but move the apple to the other side of the table: Now the stem points away from the candle, and it's winter on the top half of the fruit. The very top of the apple, representing the north polar region, is in total darkness 24 hours a day.
At winter solstice, the sun arcs low across the Northern Hemisphere sky for those of us below the Arctic Circle, and the stretch of daylight is at its shortest. At the June solstice, the sun gets as high in our sky as it can go, yielding the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere.
As long ago as the fourth century B.C., ancient peoples in the Americas understood enough of this that they could create giant calendars driven by sunlight. They built observatories of stone to mark the solstices and other times important for planting or harvesting crops. Shrines and even tombs were also designed with the sun in mind.
It's a point in time that marks a transition in our planet's annual trip around the sun.
The sun comes up each day because Earth rotates once on its axis every 24 hours or so. Seasons, and the arrival of the solstice, are a result of Earth being tilted 23.5 degrees on its spin axis coupled with the planet's 365-day orbit around the sun.
Imagine Earth as an apple sitting on one side of a table, with the stem being the North Pole. Tilt the apple 23.5 degrees so the stem points toward a candle (the sun) at the center of the table. That's summer for the top half of the apple.
Keep the stem pointing in the same direction but move the apple to the other side of the table: Now the stem points away from the candle, and it's winter on the top half of the fruit. The very top of the apple, representing the north polar region, is in total darkness 24 hours a day.
At winter solstice, the sun arcs low across the Northern Hemisphere sky for those of us below the Arctic Circle, and the stretch of daylight is at its shortest. At the June solstice, the sun gets as high in our sky as it can go, yielding the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere.
As long ago as the fourth century B.C., ancient peoples in the Americas understood enough of this that they could create giant calendars driven by sunlight. They built observatories of stone to mark the solstices and other times important for planting or harvesting crops. Shrines and even tombs were also designed with the sun in mind.
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