News Currents for February 24, 2012: The Unexpected

(Inside Science) -- This week’s edition of News Currents features three stories that might be considered unexpected: how embracing math and statistics transformed the career of an Oakland A’s pitcher, how the World of Warcraft video game increases the cognitive ability of senior citizens, and news of a bird that cares for chicks from other mothers.

Please read on for more information about these stories.

The recent movie “Moneyball” showed the increasing importance of advanced statistical analysis to the management of sports teams. In general, it has seemed that not much of the new wave of insights has trickled down from team management to its players. But, here’s a story about how looking at pitching as an analytical puzzle allowed pitcher Brandon McCarthy to turn from also-ran to star.

Watch for more stories about the science and analytical examination of sports in the next few weeks, as I will be reporting from the Sloan Sports Analytics Conference at the end of next week. Should be lots more interesting sports stories ahead for readers of Inside Science News Service and the Currents blog. (We will also be reporting from a physics conference, a meeting of the American Physical Society).

World of Warcraft is one of those massively multiplayer online role-playing games that takes over people’s lives. A new study shows that for people of a certain age, the game’s complexity and intellectual demands can improve cognitive performance on a test. Other studies that were set up in other ways show different results, but could this particular game be a good way to exercise the brain? Along related lines, the New York Times Well blog had an interesting piece on how physical exercise might help fuel the brain.

There’s a bird in New Zealand, the pukkeko, that has an atypical approach to raising offspring. The birds reproduce in groups that often include multiple males and females. The females often end up raising chicks that are not their own offspring. Scientists are still working to better understand the evolutionary reasons for such an arrangement. Here’s a link to a story.