Latest science news in Psychology & Sociology
Gift Guide: High-tech happiness for $100 or less
(AP) -- No one's going to blame you for keeping holiday gifts minimal this year. But if you want to round out your handmade cards, scarves, pickles and jam with...
Movies promote smoking among Mexican-American adolescents
The more movie scenes of smoking they watch, the more likely Mexican-American youths are to experiment with smoking, researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center and...
Choosing a mate
In the first instalment of her new weekly column, the Guardian's Evolutionary Agony Aunt Carole Jahme shines the cold light of evolutionary psychology on readers' problemsI don't know who to chooseFrom Carry, age...
Love hurts: Why emotional pain really affects us
Have you ever felt overly upset by a social snubbing? Your genetics, not your friends, may be at fault.
Study reveals the paths of Ontario secondary students to their post-secondary destinations
A new study by researchers at Queen's University looking at the transitions young people make from secondary school to university, college, apprenticeship and the workplace found that over 60 percent...
Chinese 'herbal' cigarettes no healthier than regular cigarettes
Despite popular belief and some marketing claims, researchers have found that Chinese "herbal" cigarettes that combine medicinal herbs with tobacco are just as addictive and no safer than regular cigarettes.
Movies promote smoking among Mexican-American adolescents
The more movie scenes of smoking they watch, the more likely Mexican-American youths are to experiment with smoking, researchers report.
Will 2010 be the breakout year for e-book readers?
When Sheila Effan found a Kindle electronic reader among her gifts last Christmas, one of her first thoughts was whether she would miss the smell and feel of real paper....
Parents encourage underage drinking
Half of Australian adults and 63 per cent of Australians on a higher income believe 15 to 17 year olds should be allowed to consume alcohol under parental supervision at...
Improvements in School Nutrition Have Positive Influence on Youth Eating Behaviors
(PhysOrg.com) -- When schools serve healthier, more nutritious food, students do not compensate by eating more unhealthy food at home, a new Yale University study has found. In addition, the...
Hope for men with nonobstructive infertility
It has been thought that men with non-obstructive azoospermia (NOA), a lack of sperm in the semen not caused by an obstruction within the reproductive system, are poor candidates for...
Music and speech based on human biology
A pair of studies by Duke University neuroscientists shows powerful new evidence of a deep biological link between human music and speech.
Mammogram panel says guidelines 'poorly worded'
Members of the task force tell a House hearing that women in their 40s should begin getting breast exam procedures whenever they want. ...
Opinion: Innovation and social democracy underpin successful societies
Innovation is not an abstraction. Nor is it an end itself. It is how we make a better Australia and contribute to making a better world, writes Senator Kim Carr.
Sweden allows first wolf hunt in 45 years
Sweden will this winter allow its first wolf hunt in 45 years following a decision by the Scandinavian country's parliament to limit their number, authorities said on Wednesday.
Angola's new conflict: Who gets the oil?
LUANDA, Angola, Dec. 2 (UPI) -- Angola, the arena for a Cold War conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union, is now caught up in a new...
Videos can help cancer patients choose level of care they prefer
Patients with terminal brain cancer who watched a brief video illustrating options for end-of-life care were significantly more likely to indicate a preference for comfort measures only than were patients...
Male and female shopping strategies show evolution at work in the mall
Male and female shopping styles are in our genes---and we can look to evolution for the reason. Daniel Kruger, research faculty at the University of Michigan School of Public Health,...
Choose the year’s top gift for science geeks
Science editor Alan Boyle's Weblog: What do you give a budding science geek? A perfume chemistry set? A brainwave-operated toy? Vote for the top geek gift of 2009. ...
Danes Told To Go Green Ahead Of Summit
Some Bristle As Nation's Bombarded By Messages To Be On Best Behavior
Hair reveals ancient Peruvians were stressed
People in the past were very stressed out, suggests a new study that found high amounts of a stress hormone in the hair of Peruvian individuals who lived between 550...
Australia rejects carbon trading
Labor Party loses crucial vote amid political turmoil.
N.I.H. Makes 13 Stem Cell Lines Available for Research
The agency’s action followed a decision by President Obama to change a policy set in the Bush administration.
Physics Model Determines Dynamics of Friends and Enemies
(PhysOrg.com) -- Sometimes friends can become enemies and enemies become friends, and it`s difficult to understand exactly how or why the changes took place. A new study shows that when...
Research Suggests New Approach to Using Assessment Results to Improve Classroom Instruction
(PhysOrg.com) -- Education researchers at the University of Arkansas have taken an important first step toward better understanding both formative assessment and how to get the information teachers need to...
Monkey still traumatized after sister's abduction
The trauma of a younger sister being stolen seems to have left lasting effects on a monkey at the Cherry Brook Zoo.
In defence of homeopathy
As someone who has researched and published on the nocebo and placebo effect in homeopathy, I wonder why Ben Goldacre is so sure homeopaths cannot also be nocebo researchers (Bad science, 28 November)....
Child care size affects quality
According to a recent study, child care leads to less behavioural problems if class sizes are small – and parent wealth matters too.