top story in Findings
Help Black Children? Sure! Teens? Not So Much.
New research finds support for school projects differs according to the race and age of the recipients.
Fear Heightens Appreciation of Abstract Art
Does abstract art fail to evoke a profound emotional response? Try viewing it while you’re terrified.
Oxytocin Levels Predict Longevity of Love Affairs
New research links levels of the “cuddle hormone” with falling, and staying, in love.
The Perceived Delicacy of the Female Conductor
New research finds listeners judge symphonic music differently when they’re told the conductor is a woman.
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.
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.
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.
Sex on the Brain Proves Costly for Men
New research suggests the mere idea of an encounter with a woman can impair men’s cognitive performance.
Bitter About Your Life? Blame Facebook
New research suggests heavy Facebook users are more likely to believe other people have happier lives.
archive
‘Fair Trade’ Chocolate Perceived as Healthier
For many consumers, the label “fair trade” promotes the inaccurate assumption that a chocolate bar is lower in calories than its competitors.
How the Unconscious Mind Boosts Creative Output
New research finds we’re better able to identify genuinely creative ideas when they’ve emerged from the unconscious mind.
For Better Grades, Try Bach in the Background
New research from France finds students learned more when a videotaped lecture was underscored with classical music.
College Football Wins Lower Guys’ GPA
The gap in grade point averages between male and female students widens when their college football team is winning.
Pop Charts Still Dominated by Men
New research finds predictions made in the late 1990s that women were nearing equality in pop music have failed to materialize.
Another Cognitive Benefit for Musicians, Athletes
New research from Germany finds honing one’s music or sports skills enhances at least one important mental ability.
Look Out, Kids: Competitiveness Peaks in Middle Age
New research finds middle-aged men are most willing to engage in competitive risk-taking.
Are the Arts Irrelevant to the Next Generation?
New research from Norway finds a steep drop in interest in art, literature and classical music among college students between 1998 and 2008.
Drawing Helps Kids Recount Details of Sex Abuse
Research finds child sex-abuse victims discuss their experiences in greater detail after drawing a picture of the traumatic events.
Distrust Feeds Anti-Atheist Prejudice
New research finds atheists are widely perceived as untrustworthy, which may be a major factor in why they’re disliked more than other minorities.
related to Findings
politics
- Think Tanks Are Nonpartisan? Think Again
- Overseas Troops Finally Get Fair Shot at Voting
- Pirate Party Docks at Berlin’s Parliament
- Conservatives’ Politics of Fear a Biological Response
- Who Owns Government-Funded Research Papers?
business
- Overcrowded Prisons Giving Old Inmates New Life
- Help Black Children? Sure! Teens? Not So Much.
- Announcing Our New Name
- Airport to Nowhere: Spain’s Costly No-Fly Zone
- Think Tanks Are Nonpartisan? Think Again
science
- Is Radiation Actually Good For Some of Us?
- Why Robot Maids Won’t Do the Dishes
- 20,000 Robots Under the Sea
- Teens Weigh Ethical Animal Research Dilemmas
- Animal Research’s Changing Equation
culture
media
- Announcing Our New Name
- 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
legal affairs
- Five Orcas, Five Slaves or Five Persons?
- California’s Medical Marijuana Morass
- The FCC and Indecency: Here We Go Again
- Pets, Vets and Stalking Horses
- Should Animals Be Considered People?
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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Was Lou Gehrig's ALS Caused by Tap Water?
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Fear Heightens Appreciation of Abstract Art
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A Possible Solution for Space Junk
from the source
Public Schools Good for People Without Kids, Too
What makes communities strong and vibrant? Researchers say local schools bring a raft of positives to town — even for the childless — beyond creating an educated populace.
Help Black Children? Sure! Teens? Not So Much.
New research finds support for school projects differs according to the race and age of the recipients.
Think Tanks Are Nonpartisan? Think Again
Once seen as non-ideological “universities without students,” the American think tank has, in many cases, become a partisan stalking horse that devalues the sector’s scholarship.
A Possible Solution for Space Junk
Swiss scientists plan to send a “janitor satellite” into orbit to attempt to clean up space debris.
Surplus Government Property: Homeless Help vs. Revenue
Turning unloved federal property into homeless services centers has been federal law for a quarter century, but tough times have bureaucrats hoping to shove that tradition into the cold.
Fear Heightens Appreciation of Abstract Art
Does abstract art fail to evoke a profound emotional response? Try viewing it while you’re terrified.
Presidents’ Day: Just Another Presidential Fable
A number of folk stories and a few divisive rumors have surrounded the office of the U.S. presidency, and skeptical folks like us check a few of them out.
Oxytocin Levels Predict Longevity of Love Affairs
New research links levels of the “cuddle hormone” with falling, and staying, in love.
Gender Wage Gap Skewed By Survey Flaws
The wage gap between the sexes in America has been closing much faster than anyone realized, but that’s tempered by learning it’s been much wider than measurements had shown.
‘Orcas as Slaves’ Argument Sinks
An effort to identify five performing orcas as slaves failed in part, argues one scholar, because there’s no legal precedent establishing them as persons.
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?
