Latest science news in Psychology & Sociology
Satellites and Sun connect isolated communities to the world
A mobile phone unit connecting isolated communities to the rest of the world using satellites and solar power has caught the attention of ESA and the World Economic Forum.
Facebook's '3.74 degrees of separation' is a world away from being significant | Matt Parker
Data sets are fun. But it doesn't mean much that a friend of your friends is buddies with an acquaintance of someone else's palThis week Facebook announced that there are on average...
Parenting and the Holidays: Professors Offer Advice for the Season
For the holidays, professors offer expertise on parenting-related topics such as gender and toys, sharing family history, video games and children, encouraging generosity, and how to make the holidays happier...
Science's attitudes must reflect a world in crisis
Science's attitudes must reflect a world in crisisNature 479, 447 23112011 doi: 10.1038/479447aColin MacilwainColin Macilwain welcomes a wake-up call to science policy-makers to address the consequences of current political and...
A study looks at the nature of change in our aging, changing brains
(Medical Xpress) -- As we get older, our cognitive abilities change, improving when were younger and declining as we age. Scientists posit a hierarchical structure within which these abilities are...
OPINION: Growing pains: puberty responsible for most teenage self-harm
The most important factor of self-harm is underlying emotional problems with depression and anxiety, George Patton writes.
150 per week equals better sleep
People sleep significantly better and feel more alert during the day if they get at least 150 minutes of exercise a week, a new study concludes. A nationally representative sample...
Nanotechnology risks get minimal press coverage
Newspaper articles are generally positive about nanotech, according to latest analysis
Nonverbal power cues: Higher rankings lead to less cooperative facial expressions
(Medical Xpress) -- New University of Michigan research indicates that people in higher-ranked positions tend to exhibit facial expressions that are perceived by others as less cooperative, influencing how others...
Foiling the plan of a cyberbully
Morgan Biggs, an eighth grade student at St. Anne's School of Annapolis in Maryland, has an opinion about cyberbullying. "Bullying comes in many different forms, from cyberbullying to physical bullying....
Computer spots micro clue to lies
(PhysOrg.com) -- Whether you are playing poker or haggling over a deal you might think that you can hide your true emotions.
Seals' personalities affect pups
Grey seals have different types of personality that affect how they guard and care for their young, according to new research.
Prescriptions Blog: Young Adults' Coverage May Cost Parents Even More
Some employers are charging "per participant" now that adults up to age 26 can be carried on their families' plans.
Vote for the greatest Science Geek Gift
Science editor Alan Boyle's Weblog: Dinosaur skulls? Uranium marbles? Cast your vote and help us crown the geekiest gift for the holiday season.
Wake Forest Baptist Offers Child Safety Tips For First-Time Parents
Some things all new parents should know not to do.
Optimal Performance Training Benefits Athletic Performance and Everyday Life
Biofeedback optimal performance training can benefit not only the sports performance, but also the overall life functioning of an athlete. Individual athletes, teams, and coaches can gain from a multidisciplinary...
Theatre Professor Designs Second Olympics Museum
When officials in Greece began assembling a team to create a museum dedicated to the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, they knew whom they wanted to design the project: Haibo...
Inmate Mikovits Meets Judge
VENTURA, CALIFORNIA—Judy Mikovits has been on trial of sorts ever since she led a team...
DARPA Shredder Challenge sizzling but no winner yet
(PhysOrg.com) -- With only days left until the December 4 Shredder Challenge deadline, DARPA is still asking the sharpest-minded computer scientists and simply the curious if anyone among them has...
Stigma among HIV-positive women complex and overlapping
In this week's PLoS Medicine, Mona Loutfy of the University of Toronto, Canada and colleagues report their study examining experiences of stigma and coping strategies among HIV-positive women in Ontario,...
Awareness biases information processing
How does awareness influence information processing during decision making in the human brain? A new study led by Floris de Lange of the Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour...
Anorexia nervosa study finds inner conflicts over the 'real' self that have treatment implications
"It feels like there's two of you inside like there's another half of you, which is my anorexia, and then there's the real K, the real me, the logic...
A season of helping
The 2011 campaign for Harvard Community Gifts is under way, with a blend of Harvard traditions and new opportunities. The campaign — a workplace giving program that dates back to World War...
Drug laws fail to protect children, experts say
“Would legal regulation and control of drugs better protect children?” is a question posed by former President of Brazil, Fernando Henrique Cardoso in a new editorial.
Olympic Villages: Public Good Works Or Wasted Spending?
Nearly anything can be rationalized if the value is subscribed to an intangible like 'good will.' The Olympic Games are big business and generate substantial amounts of revenue for the International...
Lying is more common when we email
A new study by University of Massachusetts Amherst researchers finds that communication using computers for instant messaging and e-mail increases lying compared to face-to-face conversations, and...
Why does religion keep telling us we're bad? | David Lahti
Evolution has carried us a long way, but we can become complacent, which is where religious admonitions come inWhen I told my father I was going to Cambridge to give a talk...
Optimism helps females achieve higher grades - males score lower when overconfident: study
Female students who were more optimistic achieved significantly higher grades than their less optimistic peers, according to a new study by Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) researchers. For male...