Latest science news in Psychology & Sociology
Alcohol may speed up age-related brain shrinkage
The more people drink, the smaller the size of their brains, a study finds. The association is especially pronounced in women. ...
Landmark Study Links Sleep, Memory Problems In Elderly African-Americans
A landmark study shows that African-American seniors who have trouble falling asleep are at higher risk of having memory problems -- raising the possibility that identifying and treating sleep difficulties...
Critical Genetic Link Found Between Human Taste Differences And Nicotine Dependence
Researchers report that two interacting genes related to bitter taste sensitivity, TAS2R16 and TAS2R38, play an important role in a person's development of nicotine dependence and smoking behavior. The researchers...
Pajama Gamblers Could Lose Their Shirts: Online Gambling Can Be Dangerously Comfortable
People who gamble from the comfort of their home tend to think they're more in control of their gambling than people who gamble in casinos, according to a new study...
What Do You Know? Not As Much As You Think
We've all met know-it-alls -- people who think they know more than they actually do. If they're talking about products, like wine or motorcycles, they might actually know as much...
Marijuana Use Takes Toll On Adolescent Brain Function, Research Finds
Brain imaging shows that the brains of teens that use marijuana are working harder than the brains of their peers who abstain from the drug.
Subconscious Encounters: How Brand Exposure Affects Your Choices
Products with visible brand names are everywhere; many times we don't even notice them. But how much do those unnoticed exposures affect brand choices? Quite a bit, according to a...
Searching The Internet Increases Brain Function
Scientists have found that for computer-savvy middle-aged older adults, searching the Internet triggers key centers in the brain that control decision-making and complex reasoning. The findings demonstrate that Web search...
Babies distinguish between happy, sad music
(PhysOrg.com) -- Babies as young as 5 months old can distinguish an upbeat song from among gloomier compositions; and by the time they're 9 months, they can also pick out...
Pleasure seekers: Clubbing is a controlled rave experience
Clubbers—people who dance the night away in dance clubs—are seeking communal, ecstatic experiences. And, according to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research, modern clubbers get a more...
When Seeing IS Believing
New research published in the journal Science explains why individuals seek to find and impose order on an unruly world through superstition, rituals and conspiratorial explanations by linking a loss...
Celebrity adoption of charitable causes oversold
Celebrities do have the ability to focus awareness on charitable and political causes but their power to move the news machine to shape policy agendas has been oversold, according to...
Looking through the broken mirror
Researchers at The University of Nottingham are hoping to learn more about the causes of autism and Asperger's Syndrome, by putting a controversial theory to the test.
Helsinki Urban/Nature Interactive Invites World-Wide Visitors Via Flickr
CityWall is a large interactive touch display in central Helsinki Finland. The interactive 3D touch screen display portrays the ever changing landscape of Helsinki as nature and urban life...
The Financial Fiasco: Emotional, Irrational, Inevitable
The global financial crisis of 2008 comes as no great surprise to people who study human behavior and decision-making.
Religiosity Curbs Teen Marijuana Use By Half, National Study Finds
While many congregations of different faiths preach against drug abuse, it has been unclear whether a youth's religious involvement has any effect on his risk of drug abuse. Now a...
American Culture Derails Girl Math Whizzes, Study Finds
A culture of neglect and, at some age levels, outright social ostracism, is derailing a generation of students, especially girls, deemed the very best in mathematics, according to a new...
Brain responds when women wear makeup: scientists
When a woman puts on makeup and looks in the mirror, it is as if she is seeing a different person, Japanese scientists said Tuesday.
Fertility reform held up by MPs, says watchdog
Plans to overhaul UK fertility laws held up by political squabbling over abortion rights, argues HFEA
Call for ban on primates as pets
A loophole in UK animal welfare laws that allows primates to be kept as household pets needs to be closed, an MP urges.
Pint-Size Eco-Police, Making Parents Proud and Sometimes Crazy
A growing number of “eco-kids,” steeped in environmentalism, are holding their parents accountable.
Peers, Not Profs Make College Students More Left-leaning
Exposure to peer groups shift students leftward during time at college, study shows.
Wheezing And Asthma In Young Children
The diagnosis of asthma in a young child may well be more challenging to pediatricians than previously appreciated, according to a review of research and clinical experience literature.
Curing Disease or Playing God: Obama and McCain on Genetics Research
Question 7: Genetics Research The extraordinary development of genetics over the last 20 years has resulted in both a wealth of new technologies and a wide range of ethical concerns relating...
Step-on scanner lets air passengers keep shoes on
LOD, Israel (Reuters) - Israel has introduced a step-on scanner that spares airline travelers the nuisance of having to remove their shoes so they can be X-rayed for hidden weapons,...
Exclusive interview: Deborah Swackhamer
New head of EPA’s science advisory board expects more influence on environmental policy
UNC's Pisano, Rimer Elected to Institute of Medicine
Two University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill faculty members have been elected to the Institute of Medicine, considered one of the nation's highest honors for those in the fields...
VIDEO: Family Keeps Webbed Fingers
A family in India chooses to opt out of surgery to correct a congenital condition known as syndactyly, in which one or more digits are fused together.