How Dogs Understand What We Say

Do you want to go to the park? Mango Doucleff, of San Francisco, responds to her favorite command by perking up her ears and tilting her head.

Michaeleen Doucleff/NPR

Scientists — and anyone who lives with a canine — know that dogs pay close attention to the emotion in our voices. They listen for whether our tone is friendly or mean, how the pitch goes up or down and even the rhythms in our speech.

But what about the meaning of the words we say?

Sure, a few studies have reported on supersmart dogs that know hundreds of words. Chaser, a border collie in South Carolina, even learned 1,022 nouns and commands to go with them.

But otherwise, there's little evidence that dogs differentiate between speech with meaningful words and sounds that contain only inflections, says neurobiologistAttila Andics at the MTA-ELTE Comparative Ethology Research Group in Budapest.

"We know quite a bit about how much dogs get about how we say things," Andics says, "but we know quite little about how much dogs get about what we say to them."

That's about to change.

Psychologists reported Wednesday in the journal Current Biology that dogs do pay attention to the meanings of words. And they process that information in a different part of the brain from where they process emotional cues in speech.

She brought 250 dogs into the lab. And then for each one, Ratcliffe put a speaker on either side of the dog's head.To figure that out, graduate student Victoria Ratcliffe at the University of Sussex in England set up a clever experiment.

Then she played the command "to come" out of both speakers, at the same time. At first, the command sounded normal. It had both meaningful words and emotional cues in it.

Then Ratcliffe started to manipulate the speech in the command. In some instances, she removed all of the inflections in the speaker's voice. In other instances, she kept the inflections in the speaker's voice but removed the words (or replaced the words with gibberish).

For each command, Ratcliffe recorded which way the dogs turned their heads — toward the left speaker or toward the right speaker. Even though both speakers were playing the same sounds, a clear pattern emerged.

When the dogs heard commands that still had meaningful words in them, about 80 percent of the animals turned to the right. When they heard commands with just emotional cues in them, most dogs turned to the left.

That result sounds simple. But Andics, who wasn't involved in the study, says the findings show something surprising: "that dogs are able to differentiate between meaningful and meaningless sound sequences."

The study also suggests that a dog's brain breaks up speech into two parts: the emotional cues and the meaning of the words. Then it processes these two components on opposite sides of the brain: emotional cues on the right, meaning of words on the left. (Yes, it's opposite to the way the dogs turned.)

That's a bit similar to how we humans process speech. We also break up speech into several parts, such as the meaning of the words, clues about the speaker and emotional cues.

"But with humans, it's trickier," Andics says. "We believe the human brain processes various aspects of human speech in different stages and in many different parts of the brain."

Still, though, Andics says the new study offers one way that people may be able to communicate better with their best friends: Pick the ear you use carefully.

"Tell all the emotional things to the dog in his left ear," Andics says. "For commands that you want a dog to get clearly and precisely, tell them in right ear."

Article and images sourced from http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2014/11/28/367092004/how-dogs-understand-what-we-say

September Soiree: Judgment of Paris 40th Anniversary

Join The Commonwealth Club for its first annual September Soirée, hosted at the historic Green Gables estate in Woodside, celebrating the 40-year anniversary of the Judgment of Paris.

Sip, swirl and taste world-renowned wines from the winning Judgment of Paris wineries while supporting The Commonwealth Club at this benefit tasting event. You will have the opportunity to speak one-on-one with the winemakers, winery owners and vineyard specialists who crafted the wines that put California wines on the map 40 years ago. Take in the breathtaking scenery of the Santa Cruz Mountains from the extravagant Green Gables estate, which is recognized as a National Historic Place and was built by the famed architects Greene and Greene. As you stroll through the eloquent gardens you will make your way from one winery’s tasting station to the next and experience spectacular wines from Stag's Leap, Chateau Montelena Winery, Chalone, Veedercrest, Spring Mountain Vineyard, Freemark Abbey, and a 2000 Monte Bello from Ridge, among others, all paired with gourmet small plates carefully chosen to accentuate these defining wines of California.

The Commonwealth Club chooses to celebrate this momentous event on its 40th anniversary year to offer the winemakers and winery owners a chance to tell their stories behind the triumph at the Judgment of Paris and the wines that started a renaissance in the Napa Valley, making it one of the premier wine regions of the world.

Join these pioneers of California wine in a toast to the Judgment of Paris and support The Commonwealth Club by purchasing a tax-deductible ticket to our September Soirée.

Time: 4 p.m. VIP reception check-in, 5 p.m. main event check-in and tasting 

Tickets may be purchased through Eventbrite or by calling 415.597.6737.

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/september-soiree-judgment-of-paris-40th-anniversary-tickets-26693360560

For more information: kabrams@commonwealthclub.org

WHEN

Saturday, September 10, 2016 from 5:00 PM to 8:00 PM (PDT) - Add to Calendar

WHERE

Green Gables Estate - Woodside, CA 94062 - View Map

Pacific Union’s July 2016 Real Estate Update

Normalizing annual home price growth was evident across parts of the Bay Area in July, with the median single-family home price in Contra Costa County, the East Bay, San Francisco, Silicon Valley, and Sonoma County rising by single-digit percentage points from one year earlier. Only single-family home prices in the Lake Tahoe region and Marin County posted double-digit percent annual appreciation. Price growth was flat in Napa County, while prices fell year over year in our Mid-Peninsula and Sonoma Valley regions.

Click on the chart accompanying each of our regions below for an expanded look at local real estate activity in July.

---

MARIN COUNTY

The pace of sales in Marin County slowed in July, with homes taking 46 days to sell, more than a week longer than in the previous month. The median sales price softened slightly from June to $1,186,000 but was up by 12 percent from July 2015.

The MSI closed July at 1.6, and buyers paid 98.3 percent of original prices.

Defining Marin County: Our real estate markets in Marin County include the cities of Belvedere, Corte Madera, Fairfax, Greenbrae, Kentfield, Larkspur, Mill Valley, Novato, Ross, San Anselmo, San Rafael, Sausalito, and Tiburon. Sales data in the adjoining chart includes single-family homes in these communities.

---

SAN FRANCISCO – SINGLE-FAMILY HOMES

The median single-family home price in San Francisco ended July at $1,370,000, in the same general range as it has been since February. Homes continue to fetch premiums, selling for 105.9 percent of original prices, although overbids are substantially smaller than they were last summer.

Homes sold in an average of 32 days, nearly identical to June’s pace of sales. The MSI finished July at 1.8, with a few more homes on the market than in the previous month.

---

SAN FRANCISCO – CONDOMINIUMS

San Francisco’s median condominium price cooled slightly on both an annual and monthly basis, dropping to $1,080,000 in July. Buyers paid 102.7 percent of original prices, a bit less of a premium than they did last summer.

Both the average days on market and the MSI remained unchanged from June, at 36 and 2.1, respectively.

---

SILICON VALLEY

The median sales price in our Silicon Valley region has been gradually dropping since April, but at $2.8 million it remains the most expensive region in which Pacific Union operates. Still, buyers netted slight discounts for the fourth consecutive month, with the average home selling for 98.8 percent of original price.

The MSI rose to 2.0, its highest level since March, and homes sold in an average of 26 days.

Defining Silicon Valley: Our real estate markets in the Silicon Valley region include the cities and towns of Atherton, Los Altos (excluding county area), Los Altos Hills, Menlo Park (excluding east ofU.S. 101), Palo Alto, Portola Valley, and Woodside. Sales data in the adjoining chart includes all single-family homes in these communities.

Mid-Peninsula Subregion

After dropping significantly in June, the median sales price in our Mid-Peninsula subregion rebounded in July to $1,640,000, although it was down on an annual basis. Sellers received 103.7 percent of asking prices, not dramatically different from the previous three months.

Homes took an average of 19 days to find a buyer — identical to June — while the MSI rose modestly to 1.4.

Defining the Mid-Peninsula: Our real estate markets in the Mid-Peninsula subregion include the cities of Burlingame (excluding Ingold Millsdale Industrial Center), Hillsborough, and San Mateo (excluding the North Shoreview/Dore Cavanaugh area). Sales data in the adjoining chart includes all single-family homes in these communities.

Article and images sourced from http://blog.pacificunion.com/pacific-unions-july-2016-real-estate-update/

Sifaka Exhibit Opens!

Get ready to have a new favorite animal at SF Zoo! We have a brand new exhibit opening August 19, featuring Coquerel's sifaka! If you like lemurs, you're going to love sifaka. These animals move in a unique way that's often described as jumping or dancing. The newly-constructed exhibit is an extension of the Lipman Family Lemur Forest and includes a Baobab tree climbing structure along with other plants native to Madagascar. Stay tuned for more information coming soon! 

Article and images sourced from http://www.sfzoo.org/announcements/sifaka-exhibit-opening-weekend

Tartine Manufactory Is Here, and It’s Magnificent

A Massive Bakery and Bar Filled with Sandwiches, Pizzas and Pastries

San Francisco can be a pretty nice place.

50-degree days in August notwithstanding.

But an undeniable sign of niceness: Tartine, with its pastries the size of your head and bread good enough to make fully functioning adults weep tears of carbohydrate-induced joy.

So grab a tissue or an absorbent bagel and ready yourself for Tartine Manufactory. It’s the massive, long-awaited sequel to the Guerrero Street bakery, and it’s now open for breakfast, lunch and between-meal snacks (dinner’s coming soon). Go on, take a look.

The bright warehouse space is all whites and golden-brown woods, with pops of color from the ceramic tiles and dishes. And it’s where you’ll now be able to buy armfuls of bread, thanks to the imposing bakery inside. You’ll see it when you enter off 18th Street to spend your free time watching with wide eyes as burnished loaves emerge from the oven.

Bread is just one part of the operation, though. There are sweet and savory tarts and pastries. Flatbread sandwiches and salads. And porchetta. Definitely eat some porchetta.

Then there’s the coffee bar. And the regular bar serving low-proof cocktails, beer, wine and housemade sodas and shrubs. Soon, there will be pizza, and don’t forget the forthcoming ice cream counter with soft-serve, gelato and ice cream sandwiches.

Because there just wasn’t enough happening here already.

Vitals

Tartine Manufactory
595 Alabama St
(at 18th)
San Francisco, CA 94110
official website

Article and images sourced from http://www.urbandaddy.com/sfo/food/38285/Tartine_Manufactory_A_Massive_Bakery_and_Bar_Filled_with_Sandwiches_Pizzas_and_Pastries_San_Francisco_SFO_Mission_Cafe

Bay Area Home Styles: Spotlight on the Mid-century Modern

An Eichler-style home in San Rafael’s Terra Linda neighborhood.

This is the third installment in a series of bimonthly posts about architecture styles, each dedicated to a popular home type that can be found in the Bay Area. 

Sleek, stylish, and sophisticated, the Mid-century modern home is truly a thing of beauty. The Modernism movement spanned the 1930s through the 1970s, and the Mid-century modern home style peaked in popularity in the 1940s and 1950s (hence the name). These homes can be found all over the country, but the style was especially popular on the West Coast.

Included in the Mid-century modern category are Ranch-style, Split-Level Ranch, Contemporary, and Shed-style homes. You can read more about these substyles in this CIRCA Old Houses article. (Warning: eye candy ahead.)

Flat, low-pitched roofs; sharp angles; and an open design concept are all hallmarks of the Mid-century modern home. If you can picture the home styles highlighted in the television show “Mad Men,” you get the idea. And, speaking of “Mad Men,” we think if the Mid-century modern home was a drink, it would definitely be a well-aged scotch, served neat.

Grown-up and a bit on the serious side, the Mid-century modern home removed the frills and added a touch of the future. A pared-down aesthetic, clean lines, and natural hues are hallmarks of Mid-century modern design. And with expansive walls of glass, this style also considered outdoor space in its philosophy of the home. The indoor-outdoor living concept was new to home design in the 1950s.

Bay Area residents are likely familiar with Eichler-style homes and may have wondered why a developer became so well-known that his name has become closely associated with the Mid-century modern style. According to the Eichler Network, Joseph Eichler (1900-1974) built nearly 11,000 single-family homes in California beginning in the late 1940s.

“In Northern California, they [Eichler homes] can be found in areas in and around Marin county, the East Bay, San Mateo County, Palo Alto, Sunnyvale, San Jose, San Francisco, and Sacramento. Three small communities of Eichlers in Southern California stand in Orange, Thousand Oaks, and Granada Hills.”

Eichler homes typically feature open floor plans, glass walls, and post-and-beam construction. It is said that Eichler became intrigued with the architect Frank Lloyd Wright after living in a Wright-designed home. Wright is best known for the long, low Prairie-school style home, which stressed organic architecture.

Interested in learning more about the Mid-century modern home? This Pocket Guide to Mid-Century Modern Style is a nice resource and includes more information about furniture, color schemes, and home accessories. The Mid-Century Modernist website is a tribute to the movement and features articles about homes, culture, architecture, and interiors. Make sure to check out this HGTV page all about Mid-century Modern architecture, which covers key elements and famous examples; don’t forget to take the video tour of a home while you are there. Still can’t get enough photos of Mid-century modern homes? Browse this gallery of Mid-century Modern Homes Across America, presented by Dwell.

If you are lucky enough to live in a Mid-century modern home, congratulations on having very good taste in design. And, if you are a home shopper on the hunt for the perfect sleek beauty, we hope you will soon be dwelling in your own modern marvel.

(Photo: Flickr/hunter lewis wimmer)

Article and images sourced from http://blog.pacificunion.com/bay-area-home-styles-spotlight-on-the-mid-century-modern/

Fighting the Ivory Trade, 365 Days a Year

WORLD ELEPHANT DAY 2016

It's a simple, grim fact: Up to 33,000 elephants are killed each year to satisfy the demand for ivory products in China, Hong Kong, Thailand, the United States and other major markets.  

WildAid is working to end the ivory trade and protect elephants. With your support, here's what we're doing to fight for Africa's elephants, 365 days a year:

 

 

1. Exposing illicit ivory markets.

 

Ivory Protest, Hong Kong (Alex Hofford)

Our investigations have uncovered overwhelming evidence of ivory traders in Hong Kong flouting licensing regulations and routinely replenishing their stocks with ivory laundered from recently poached African elephants. WildAid is a leading voice in urging Hong Kong policymakers to shutter the local trade. (Click here to view undercover footage from the investigation.)  

  

2. Educating consumers to reduce the demand for ivory. 

 

WildAid's campaign to reduce consumer demand for ivory in China is reaching millions of people and changing their views on ivory, with a roster of iconic ambassadors such as Prince William, Yao Ming, David Beckham and Li Bingbing, China's most famous actress. We leverage your support to secure pro bono broadcast airtime and placement for our PSAs and billboards from dozens of media partners in China, worth $197 million for all our campaigns in 2015.

As a result, public awareness of the elephant poaching crisis has grown rapidly, and an overwhelming majority of the Chinese public supports government action to end the trade. WildAid has expanded this campaign to Thailand, and next month we're launching a US initiative against the domestic illegal wildlife trade, with ivory a primary focus. 

 

3. Empowering the people of Africa to protect wildlife. 

 

Poaching Steals from Us All: That's the message of our new campaigns in Tanzania, Kenya and South Africa starring pro athletes, musicians and national opinion leaders. We're working to build public and political support for the conservation of elephants, rhinos, lions and other magnificent animals. 

WildAid is fighting on multiple fronts to save elephants. That's why your support is more crucial than ever. Will you join us with a contribution to protect elephants for future generations?  

Article & images sourced from http://wildaid.org/news/fighting-ivory-trade-365-days-year