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Text Messages No Substitute for Mother’s Voice
A study finds girls’ stress levels decrease after speaking with mom, but not after text messaging.
Long-Term Love Not Just a Fairy Tale
A new study finds nearly three-quarters of Americans remain “very in love” after a decade of marriage.
Portraits Can Get Your Pulse Pounding
New research recording physiological reactions of museum-goers suggests we respond to art with our bodies as well as our brains.
Female Pop Stars: Prepare to Disrobe
An analysis of Rolling Stone magazine covers finds female artists are increasingly sexualized and presented as sex objects.
Everyone’s a Critic: Babies Prefer Picasso
A study of 9-month-old babies found they prefer the brighter paintings of Picasso to the subtle shadings of Monet.
Accidental Deaths Linked to Macho Code of Honor
Accidental death rates are higher in states where challenges to one’s masculinity are taken seriously.
Extraverts More Likely to Believe in Free Will
Philosophers’ views on freedom and moral responsibility are influenced by inherited personality traits. If they can’t be objective, can anyone?
On Immigration Polls, a Lot of People Lie
UC Berkeley sociologist Alexander Janus says social desirability pressures cause some liberals to lie about their true opinion on immigration — even when asked in an anonymous poll.
Sarcasm Boosts Creativity? Yeah, Right.
New research from Israel suggests exposure to sarcasm may enhance creative thinking.
archive
Sensory Deprivation Boosts Musicians’ Skill Level
Canadian researchers report floating in an isolation tank increased the technical skill level of young jazz players.
Religious Affiliation and Brain Shrinkage
New research finds membership in a minority religion seems to hasten a loss of volume of the hippocampal region of the brain.
Why Whites Avoid Movies With Black Actors
New research suggests white audiences tend to stay away from movies featuring minorities due to the assumption that they are not the films’ intended audience.
Teddy Bears Soften Pain of Social Exclusion
New research from Singapore suggests touching a stuffed animal can counteract the tendency of ostracized people to engage in antisocial behavior.
Study Links Facebook Use with Narcissism
New research from Australia suggests Facebook users are more extroverted and narcissistic than Internet users not plugged into the social network.
Dip in Arts Attendance Tied to Decline of the Omnivore
A new NEA study finds the group of people who regularly attend arts events is both shrinking and getting less active.
A Chimp Couldn’t Have Created That Painting
New research finds even nonexperts can differentiate between masterful abstract art and similar works painted by a child or an animal. See for yourself with our enclosed art quiz.
Staunching Aggression From the Womb
Government investment in prenatal and postnatal health care could help prevent violent behavior later in life, researcher says.
Misinformation is as Close as Your Inbox
New research suggests e-mail is an all-too-effective way of spreading false political rumors.
Wording Change Softens Global Warming Skeptics
New research finds Republicans scoff at “global warming,” but are much more receptive to the notion of “climate change.”
related to NEWS
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- Pirate Party Docks at Berlin’s Parliament
- Conservatives’ Politics of Fear a Biological Response
- Who Owns Government-Funded Research Papers?
- Republicans Like Candidates Who Look Republican
business
- A Perennial Epicenter, Now for Same-Sex Marriage
- Prop 8 May Be Same-Sex Couples’ Least Worry
- Pressure to Conform Can Inspire Creativity
- Learning to Read When a School System Falters
- Better Super Bowl Makes for Better Ads
science
- Why Robot Maids Won’t Do the Dishes
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- Feds Put Chimp Experiments in Cage
culture
media
- Bitter About Your Life? Blame Facebook
- Miller-McCune’s Top Stories of 2011
- Pop Charts Still Dominated by Men
- Searing Look at Rio’s Homicidal Police
- PBS to Show ‘Where Soldiers Come From’
legal affairs
- A Perennial Epicenter, Now for Same-Sex Marriage
- Prop 8 May Be Same-Sex Couples’ Least Worry
- Five Orcas, Five Slaves or Five Persons?
- California’s Medical Marijuana Morass
- The FCC and Indecency: Here We Go Again
environment
- Quake Rescues Reserve, Shakes Baja Fishing Town
- Children’s Books Increasingly Ignore Natural World
- Conservation’s Earnest Message Could Use Levity
- Traffic Solution: Make Drivers Less Lonely
- Street Makeovers Put New Spin on the Block
health
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Children’s Books Increasingly Ignore Natural World
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from the source
House Bill Puts Transportation in Partisan Crossfire
Transportation used to be one of the few guaranteed areas of agreement when ideology trumped pragmatism in D.C. But that’s no longer the case.
Pressure to Conform Can Inspire Creativity
New research suggests less-creative people do more innovative thinking when they are told individualism is the norm, and instructed to conform.
Better Super Bowl Makes for Better Ads
A lot of people say they watch the Super Bowl mostly for the ads. But it turns out a good game surrounding those ads makes them seem better.
Overseas Troops Finally Get Fair Shot at Voting
After decades of obstacles hindering the voting process, new laws will allow overseas and military voters to submit their votes in time for the 2012 election.
Neglected Tropical Diseases Neglected No More?
World health leaders announce coordinated push to eradicate or control neglected tropical diseases.
Children’s Books Increasingly Ignore Natural World
A survey of award-winning children’s picture books from 1938 to 2008 suggests our increasing estrangement from the natural environment.
Traffic Solution: Make Drivers Less Lonely
Rather than moaning about too many cars on the road, the Ridesharing Institute says the real key to battling traffic congestion and pollution is filling empty passenger seats.
Numerology Doesn’t Know the Score
Various ways of assigning numbers to events, people, and actions is an ancient parlor game, but let’s not take it beyond that.
Conservatives’ Politics of Fear a Biological Response
Researchers looking at how we fixate on threats uncover more evidence of a biological component to the red-blue divide.
Morning People May Be More Creative in the Afternoon
New research finds problems that require a flash of illumination to solve are best approached during the time of day when you’re not at your peak.
Hall of fame
Slugging — The People’s Transit
In Washington, D.C., commuters have taken thousands of cars off highways via a homegrown rideshare system known as “slugging.” Can the government create more slugs — without stepping on any?
Bacteria ‘R’ Us
Emerging research shows that bacteria have powers to engineer the environment, to communicate and to affect human well-being. They may even think.
A New Take on Political Ideology
An evolutionary psychologist proposes a new framework for understanding the root causes of our political beliefs.
The Real Science Gap
It’s not insufficient schooling or a shortage of scientists. It’s a lack of job opportunities. Americans need the reasonable hope that spending their youth preparing to do science will provide a satisfactory career.
Triumph of the Cyborg Composer
David Cope’s software creates beautiful, original music. Why are people so angry about that?
